Transcript AAC class night 1

Applying AAC Strategies
Everett Public Schools
Discovery Ridge
Barb Lark, SLP, ATP
3/24, 4/7, 4/21/09
Class Agenda Night 1
 How to get the most out of online participation
 Sharing the same AAC lingo
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Definition of AAC
Components of AAC
 Continuum of Communication for AAC users
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Who uses AAC
 Ultimate goal – start with the end in mind 
 Assignment
Class Agenda Night 2
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Purposes of Communication
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ala Janice Light and Beukelman & Mirenda
Vocabulary, Vocabulary, Vocabulary
Strategies, Strategies, Strategies
Assignment
Class Agenda Night 3
 Finally, AAC Systems
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Low tech
Mid tech
High tech
 Strategies, strategies, strategies
So many different needs, so little
time…
 A lot of different participants in this class
 A lot of different students represented
 Cerebral palsy - dysarthria
 Cognitive delays
 Apraxia of speech
 Autism
 Cover some basics about AAC tonight
 Hopefully give you some different things to
think about
 Focus on strategies the following nights, built
on this framework
Definition of AAC
An area of research, clinical and educational
practice. AAC involves attempts to study and
when necessary compensate for temporary
or permanent impairments, activity
limitations, and participation restrictions of
persons with severe disorders of speechlanguage production and/or comprehension,
including spoken and written modes of
communication. (ASHA Div. 12, 2005)
Important aspects of AAC
 Augmentative
 Alternative
 Compensate
 Participation
How might we apply that definition
specific to our educational setting?
 What functional activities should students
participate in while at school?
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Greet people they know; meet people they
don’t know
Make choices
Tell what they know; indicate when they don’t
understand
Protest, refuse, negate, negotiate
Ask for things; ask for help
Share feelings; express health needs
How might we apply that definition
specific to our educational setting?
 What functional activities should students
participate in while at school?
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Joke around; make people laugh; compliment
others, accept compliments
Ask questions to gain information, share what
is learned
Give directions; ask for clarification
Gain attention, establish identity
Organize oneself
This is not an exhaustive list
When you look at this list, how would you
prioritize these activities for yourself?
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Greet people you know;
meet people you don’t
know
Make choices
Tell what you know;
indicate when you don’t
understand
Protest, refuse, negate,
negotiate
Ask for things; ask for help
Share feelings, health
needs
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Joke around; make people
laugh; compliment others,
accept compliments
Ask questions to gain
information, share what is
learned
Give directions; ask for
clarification
Gain attention, establish
identity
Organize oneself
Let’s think about some common
activities in our classrooms
 Activities
 What communication do
you need to participate
in each activity?
The ultimate goal of AAC is…
 Not to find a technical solution to
communication problems
 To enable individuals to
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Efficiently and effectively engage in a variety
of interactions, and
Participate in activities of their choice
AAC has 4
primary components
 Symbols
 Aids
 Techniques
 Strategies
Symbols
 Different symbol types for different AAC
users:
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Graphic (words, numbers, pictures, objects)
Auditory (spoken word)
Textured or tactile symbols (objects or learned
tactile/textures symbols
signs
gestures
facial expressions
Aids
 A device or system used to either transmit or
receive messages
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Why are we talking about receiving messages
too, rather than just “expressing”?
 Aids = Devices – but they don’t need to be
electronic to be considered a device
 Some examples of Aids?
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Electronic
Non-electronic
Techniques
 Techniques = the way messages are
transmitted
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Direct selection
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Pointing, touching, exchanging
Joystick use
Head pointing, eye gaze, eye pointing
Scanning
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Single switch auto scan
2 switch step scanning
Strategies
 Refers to the ways messages are conveyed,
by the most effective and efficient means
possible
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Enhance message timing
Support grammatical formulation
Enhance rate of communication
A special note to SLPs:
 When you are looking at recommending a
device for a specific user, you will need to
look at these 4 components to support your
recommendation.
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Symbols (what type and why, including need
for spelling)
Aids (often, no, always need non-electronic
along with electronic)
Techniques (i.e. physical access)
Strategies (rate enhancement, message
timing, grammar strategies)
Continuum of AAC Independence
 A continuum, not discrete categories.
 No pre-requisites for AAC use
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Can’t assume why a person is at a level –
need to rule out possible contributing factors
 Knowing a student’s general functioning level
on the continuum helps you determine
appropriate goals.
Continuum of Communication
Independence
Emergent
Has no reliable
means of symbolic
communication.
Probably:
Uses non-symbolic
methods
Context Dependent
Independent
Can talk to some
people about some
things.
Can communicate
anything to anyone.
Many partners = need
for additional training
Can interact with
familiar and unfamiliar
partners on any topic.
Many contexts = need
for additional
vocabulary*.
Has strong literacy
skills, so can use
spelling.
May:
have severe sensorimotor impairments, May not have received
appropriate training,
be very young,
strategies, technology Patricia Dowden, Ph.D., CCC-Sp(L)
hasn’t received
appropriate AAC
http://depts.washington.edu/
technologies,
augcomm/
techniques or
strategies.
What does this continuum mean in terms of
selecting appropriate intervention goals?
 Emergent Communicator:
 identify that 1st method of symbolic
communication
 Context Dependent Communicator:
 expand vocabulary
 and partners
 and contexts
 Independent Communicator:
 Use their goals and desires for improved
communication
Remember
The ultimate goal of AAC is…
 Not to find a technical solution to
communication problems
 To enable individuals to


Efficiently and effectively engage in a variety
of interactions, and
Participate in activities of their choice
Communication is not
"independent" if..
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utterances can only be understood by some people, or...
other people have to preprogram all vocabulary in a device, or...
he cannot spell well enough to compose novel utterances, or...
she is given no opportunity to communicate what she wants to say, or...
his communication system doesn't match his motor skills making it difficult to
control, or...
her communication system doesn't match her communication needs, or...
there are partners who influence communication through cueing, or...
he has hidden vision impairments making it hard to see the symbols, or...
she has a hidden hearing impairment making it difficult to hear what is said,
or...
he has been given insufficient training and time to learn to use his AAC
system, or...
she has no access to a communication system at times, or...
he cannot see the display on his system in some light conditions, or...
no one believes she has anything worth listening to....etc
A case for communication
independence
 This was best articulated by Bob Williams, former
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary, and himself an
AAC user.
 "Every person, regardless of the severity of his/her
disabilities, has the right…to communicate with
others, express everyday preferences and exercise
at least some control over his or her daily life. Each
individual, therefore, should be given the chance,
training, technology, respect and encouragement to
do so." Vermont Communication Resource Guide
(2002)
Sources: http://www.state.vt.us/dmh/ddscommunicationresourceguide.pdf and
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020508/82364_2.html
And http://depts.washington.edu/augcomm/03_cimodel/commind1_intro.htm
Assignment  Think about a student you work with now, or
have worked with in the past. Where do you
think that student is on the continuum of
communication independence? Why? Come
prepared to share at our next class.
 To learn more about this continuum, visit Pat
Dowden’s (UW) website:
http://depts.washington.edu/augcomm/03_ci
model/commind1_intro.htm