augmentative and alternative communication for children...
TRANSCRIPT
Adelaide West Special Education Centre
Statewide Outreach Service
25th September 2019
Jennifer Young
Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Children with Complex
Needs
Overview
• Adelaide West Outreach Service
• What is AAC?
• Communication functions and strategies
• The importance of Modelling
• Visuals
• AAC systems
• Questions and Answers
Adelaide West State-wide Outreach Service
Provides tailored support for teachers, SSOs and
Student Support Services Staff working with learners
with disabilities or complex communication needs to
enable learners to access, participate and engage in
the school curriculum and community.
Services include but are not limited to;
• Curriculum Support
• Complex Communication Needs (CCN)
• Disability Awareness
• Assistance with Transitions
• Professional Development
• Make real choices
• Refuse, reject, say no
• Ask for what I want
• Share feelings
• Be heard and responded
to even if the answer is
no
• Ask for and get attention
and interaction
• Have and use AAC all the
time
• Know and ask about my
schedule
• Be taught how to
communicate
• Be a full member of my
community
• Be treated with respect
and dignity
• To be spoken with and
not about
• Be communicated with in
a sensitive manner
Communication Bill of Rights
Presume Competence
Just because a child may not be able to speak doesn’t
mean that he has nothing to say.
Just because a person may be overwhelmed in social
situations doesn’t mean that she doesn’t long for
friendship.
Just because someone has difficulty initiating movement
doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to participate.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication
AAC is the term used for all communication that is not speech, but is
used to enhance or to replace speech.
An AAC System means the whole combination of methods used for
communication, for example, gestures, eye pointing, vocalisations and
pointing to symbols, etc.
Novita Tech, (2018), www.novita.org.au/equipment/augmentative-and-alternativecommunication-aac/
What is AAC?
“AAC strategies can provide
children who have developmental
delays with an immediate means
of communication; can facilitate
expressive and receptive language
development until
other communication modalities
improve (i.e., speech); and can
serve as a bridge to future spoken
language development (Kangas &
Lloyd, 1988; Silverman 1995).”
AAC Myths
Why Do We Communicate?
Expressing wants and needs
• Asking for help, requesting food or
drink
Information sharing
• Answering questions,
giving directions
Social closeness
• Chatting with friends, telling jokes,
general conversation
• Fulfilling social etiquette rules
• Manners - please, thank you
(Light, 1997)
We all communicate through behaviour
We are all very good at using both verbal and
non verbal communication to express how we
feel
For a person with communication challenges it
can be very difficult to get their message across
Behaviour develops over time, people will do
what gets attention and is efficient
Addressing the communication, you may
alleviate some of the behaviour and be able to
begin to decode others
All Behaviour is Communication
People with Complex Communication Needs use:
• Facial Expressions
• Vocalisation
• Gestures
• Sign Language
• Body Language
• Pointing
• Choice cards
• Keyboards
• Visuals
• AAC apps on mobile devices
• Speech generating devices
Communication Toolbox
• Model
• Immersion in their AAC system
• Having AAC system available all of
the time
• Everyone using it
• Make the most of every opportunity
• If you can’t have it with you, make
alternate AAC available
Keys to Success with AAC Systems
A communication partner is anyone who
interacts with somebody else
The communication partner should:
• identify, respect and use the person’s
recommended communication system
• Model words on the AAC system
• Wait, prompt and respond to the AAC
user’s attempts at communication
• Make comments rather than ask
questions
• Accept all forms of communication
Who is a Communication Partner?
• Identify the methods the child uses to communicate
• Demonstrate respect and presume competence
• Cue the child to initiate a response
• Gain and maintain attention – maintain eye contact
• Avoid the temptation to anticipate needs/wants
• Offer choices
• Keep sentences short
• Listen attentively
• Be patient and allow processing time - wait 10-20 seconds before
prompting
• Support the child to develop his/her communication skills across a
range of environments and with different people
• Respond to all communication attempts
And what is the most important one of all?
Model Model Model
Strategies for Communication Partners
What is Modelling?
Modelling or Aided Language
Stimulation is a communication
strategy where a communication
partner teaches symbol meaning and
models language by combining their
own verbal input with a selection of
vocabulary on the users AAC
system.
This is done by simultaneously
selecting vocabulary on the AAC
system and speaking.
Things to remember when modelling
• Model one to two words more than you expect the child to respond with
• Communication happens everywhere, all of the time
• It is ok for children to explore
• Involve everyone
• Use all of modes of communication
• It is OK to make mistakes
• It is not a quick fix, little steps will see success
• Better understanding and use of device
• Improved engagement
• Improved communication across the range of
communicative functions
• The ability to initiate, protest and participate in the
conversations happening around them
• Increased independence, confidence and well
being
Modelling is vital for AAC success
What does modelling lead to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flFNMky22-U
Aided Language Stimulation Explained
• Identify opportunities within
natural routines/tasks
• Pause frequently during
tasks/activities
• Talk about upcoming events
• Allow time for child to chat
Providing Informal Opportunities for Communication
Visual Schedules
Provide structure and predictability
Reduce stress and anxiety
Easy to create, use and adapt
Cater to a variety of people and don’t
require literacy skills or verbal output
Instructional Visuals
break
Organisational Visuals
Aided Language Display
• Topic specific
• Symbol, picture and text based
Pragmatic – The ways that we use language socially
Organisation – Words and symbols arranged in a
systematic way
Dynamic Display – Changing pages
What is PODD?
Developed over the past 15 years by Gayle
Porter, a speech pathologist from the Cerebral
Palsy Education Centre (CPEC) in Victoria.
PODD is a way of organising whole word and
symbol vocabulary in a communication book
or speech generating device to provide
immersion and modelling for learning.
Background
The aim of a PODD is to provide vocabulary
for continuous communication all the time
for a range of messages
across a range of topics
in multiple environments
PODDs are set up for the individual according to
their physical, sensory and communication needs
Direct access – the user points directly to what they want to say.
Alternative access – Modified for the user who may not be able to point and turn
pages themselves or may have a cortical vision impairment, require an eye gaze
setup or partner assisted.
Group PODD – Commonly used in the classroom.
Electronic PODD – The PODD grid sets available on either dedicated devices or the iPad
For further info: http://www.novita.org.au/Content.aspx?p=683
What is Proloquo2Go?
• Communication application for an IOS device
• Proloquo2Go means “speak out loud” in Latin
• Is symbol based with auditory feedback
• 25,000 “Symbolstix” symbols
• ‘Basic’, ‘Intermediate Core’ and ‘Advanced Core’
Vocabularies
• Natural-sounding child and adult Australian voices
• Import from Google images or photo gallery
• Developed by AssistiveWare TM
• AU$399.99 – available at the App Store
• Bedtime
• Getting Dressed
• Cooking
• Reading Books
• Puzzles
• Toy Cars
• Sensory Play
• Shopping
• Watching TV
• Mealtimes
• Arts and Craft
• On the go
Core Words at Home
https://coreword.assistiveware.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOxfeYeExoo&feature=youtu.be
No More Boundaries
Communication Breakdowns –
What do you do?Being able to repair communication breakdowns
is essential
If the person is not understanding you
Repeat or rephrase the information
Break it down into smaller chunks
Use visual supports
Seek assistance from their more familiar communication
partners
If you do not understand what someone is saying to you?
Let them know, Do not pretend you understand
Ask them to show you if they can
Ask them to say it in a different way
Ask them to show you using visuals or their system
Questions
Resources
Novita Tech, (2018), www.novita.org.au/equipment/augmentative-and-
alternativecommunication-aac/
Light, J.A. (1997). Communication is the essence of human life: Reflections
on communicative competence. Augmentative and Alternative
Communication, 13, 61-70.
http://www.novita.org.au/Content.aspx?p=683
https://coreword.assistiveware.com
https://www.assistiveware.com/learn-aac
Adelaide West Statewide Outreach
Service Contact Information
Phone: (08) 8248 9100
Email: [email protected]
Facebook Group: AdWest Outreach CCN Group