Transcript NQT Additional support needs

Good morning!
Developing effective methods of
learner engagement for students with
complex communication support
needs
Sally Millar
6 October 2011
[email protected]
www.callscotland.org.uk
(Whose) communication problem?
• Communication is two way business
• Our communication can sometimes be a
barrier, for some students
Thinking about
•
Becoming Communication-aware
•
Creating Communication Friendly Zones
•
Inclusive Communication across all settings
and services
Being Communication-aware
• Aware of range and types of communication
support needs
• Aware of the experiences of people with
communication support needs
• Aware of own communication
• Aware of the law
• Aware of need for accessible information
• Aware of sources of resources
Communication Friendly Zones
In a communication friendly zone • All barriers to communication are removed, to provide a
safe and accessible (learning) environment for everybody.
• Supports are provided so that everybody can make sense of
his/her environment, understand others, be as independent as
possible, express him/herself to the best of his/her ability,
participate actively and have his/her voice heard.
Creating Communication Friendly
Zones means
• Removing barriers & adapting the
environment
Liberal use of Signs, Photos, Pictures and Symbols
• helps people to feel safe and confident
• supports understanding of language
• Developing staff awareness
• Making educational materials accessible
• Sharing Templates and Resources
No Smoking
Doors
Welcome and name of each room on door.
Labels are at eye level height, easily seen.
.
Doors to each room
may display
photograph & name
of staff member
Communication
understanding / comprehension
expression
interact
participate
reading, writing, getting
information
Communication Support Needs
This term applies to any individual who requires
support to:
• understand (verbal and written
communication)
• express themselves
• interact with others, and participate
(family & friends, education, local community,
wider society (national / civic))
Social Communication Difficulties
Calum has AS type difficulties.
His Mum asks him how he got on at college.
‘I don’t know, the teacher just kept saying my
name.’
Word Finding Difficulties
• Think of a real object in your house or garden.
• Tell your partner what you are thinking of, without
writing or drawing. You can speak a little, but you
cannot use any ‘names’.
• For example, you can say ‘big, you switch it on, you
can watch it’
(so now you’ll have to think of something other than a
TV!!)
Language & Communication in education
•
ICAN research reports that over 50% of all children entering school in the UK have
some kind of difficulty with speech, language and communication.
•
Around 10% have communication support needs persisting beyond Primary
•
Language difficulties can be hidden - difficulties with language input and
comprehension may be overlooked in schools & colleges, where emphasis may be on
expressive performance and on literacy.
•
Communication is at the core & across all education curricula (it’s not just
‘language/literacy’)
•
Difficulties with language/communication are closely linked with literacy difficulties
•
Nisbet & Aitken (2007) estimate about 15% of all school pupils in Scotland have some
kind of print disability (incl. VI)
•
Language and communication issues impact on every aspect of learning, literacy,
personal and social development– and later life chances and quality
of life. (J. Law 2007).
Hidden Language Difficulties
Annie is often absent.
When she is there, she is always ‘in trouble’
in class and around the college.
• Doesn’t listen
• Work incomplete
• Slightly challenging behaviour
• Pretends to be feeling ill when asked to do
something
I never got the present
Laurie Lee Cider with Rosie
How to know if person hasn’t
understood
Looks ‘blank’
or puzzled
Seems to guess
Doesn’t react
at all
Looks around for
clues or help
Doesn’t follow
instructions correctly
Asks you
to repeat
Repeats what’s
been said
Asks ‘odd’
questions
Seems to go
a bit ‘off message’
Early Language Development
Key words are Information-carrying words
Key words are the words that you need to make
sense of what is being said.
Let’s put the pens back in the box.
Put your coat on.
Do you want banana or grapes?
Were you watching something good on
television last night?
Key words only
What can go wrong…?
• Try not to let the paint go on Jamie.
• Unless you remembered to bring your stuff,
you can’t go to the swimming pool.
• Finish that quickly first, then you can go out
and get a drink..
• I’m afraid it’s broken, so you can’t watch
television.
• You’re not going to see Mrs. Pearson any
more.
Inclusive Communication
across all settings
People with communication support needs have
access to the same services and experiences
as other people, without barriers.
• Embedding best communication practice
within an organisation
• Linking across organisations
• Sharing resources
6 Communication Support Principles
1. Recognise that every group may include people
with communication support needs.
2. Find out what support is required. Ask!
3. Match the way you communicate to the way
people understand.
4. Respond sensitively to ALL the ways an individual
uses to express him/herself.
5. Give people the opportunity to communicate to
the best of their abilities.
6. Keep Trying.
Hints and Tips for
Clear Communication
Helping student to understand
•
•
•
•
•
Keep your own language simple!
Speak slowly and clearly
Point to relevant things/people while you’re speaking
Use simple gestures
Use objects and pictures to illustrate, like show a cup
for coffee break time
• Emphasise key words
• Break up sentences, keep each short (one idea)
• Repeat important things
How we can help
Asking Questions… the right way….
What kind of questions?
How does it feel?
Diary
Student ‘writes’
own news diary by
marking all the
things she did, and
which she liked
Visual Timetables
Information
about Review
Meeting is
accessible to
student.
Learning to wait…..
Useful Symbol Software
Widgit Symbols
Communicate in Print, SymWriter et al
www.widgit.com
Picture Communication Symbols (PCS)
• BoardMaker 6 Plus!
• BoardMaker Studio
www.boardmakershare.com
www.ltscotland.org.uk
Mulberry symbols (free)
www.straightstreet.com
See also CALL Info sheet
Increasing Participation
• Making Posters
• Voting
• Polling
Personal Communication
Passports
Can help to represent the views of people who cannot
easily speak for themselves, by:
• presenting person positively as an individual, not as a
set of ‘problems’ or disabilities.
• drawing together background information from past &
present, and from consultation with different people
and contexts (and the person him/herself, if possible!).
• Not a ‘list’ but a synthesis.
• describing the person’s most effective means of
communication, so others can be better communication
partners/interviewers
Hey !!!
NO Nuts!
NEVER!
Deadly
serious…
You need to know...
1. Routine is a very big thing for me – I’m
happiest if we all stick to it firmly!!!
2. I can get very anxious and upset if my routine
is altered.
3. When I’m upset, I may bang my head against
a wall.
4. I tend to get anxious and upset in strange
surroundings and in noisy crowded places.
Busy cafes and especially big supermarkets
are a no-no! So I should never go to the
college canteen, I eat my own lunch in a
quiet room.
Talking Mats
Powerful Technique
Joan Murphy of Stirling University, talks to Greg
about how he would like to spend his weekdays, and
where he might like to live after he leaves college.
Photo of a completed Talking Mat acts
1) as a record of the person’s views
2) as evidence of consultation process
Communication Aid Technology
• Low Tech / No Tech – symbol or word boards , books
• Lite Tech / simple Tech (context linked, can be
shared)
• Medium Tech (usually personal)
• High Tech complex communication aids (always
personal)
Communication book
Single message devices
• Big Mack, One Step, Partner One etc.
Sequenced single messages
• SmoothTalker, Step by Step, Sequencer
Simple Tech VOCAs
voice output communication aids
Go Talk 4/9/20/32
TechSpeak 32
Digivox
Messagemate
Multiple Message Devices
•
•
•
•
For example:
GoTalk
TechTalk/Speak
DigiVox
Tobii 32
Digitised dynamic display devices
SpringBoard Lite
M3
Handheld VOCAs
Specialised Palmtop and CE devices
Tellus Smart
Palm 3
Mainstream Handhelds
iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Nintendo DS Lite
Communication Apps
See
http://www.callscotland.org.uk/Resources/Apps/
& http://appsforaac.net
Complex powerful VOCAs
Sophisticated Devices, based on lightweight touch screen PC
dynamic screen - synthetic speech – good battery life – loud
speakers – wide range of access possibilities, including eye gaze
Tobii (eye gaze)
Tellus
DynaVox Maestro
Vantage
Resources and Tools
•
Talk for Scotland Toolkit
www.communicationforumscotland.org.uk
•
National Autistic Society’s SPELL framework
(Structure, Positive (approaches and expectations), Empathy, Low arousal,
Links)
http://www.autism.org.uk/ (search SPELL)
•
www.communicationpeople.co.uk
•
www.communicationpassports.org.uk
•
www.talkingmats.com
•
www.communicationmatters.org.uk
•
www.ccallscotland.org.uk