Despite the growth in the development and use of communication aids and systems for those with special educational needs their use within informal situations is limited. Established interventional programmes do little to further communicative competence in those who depend upon aids beyond the selection and prescription of augmentative systems. The authors illustrate the differences between ‘aided’ and ‘normal’ communication and outline an intervention strategy which aims to modify the behaviour of both interactive partners. Mark Williams is a lecturer at Dene College, Tonbridge. Nicola Grove is a speech therapist at Mapledown Special School, Barnet. The material in this paper was developed for current Makaton Symbols courses in the UK and abroad.