Session 2 - October 3, 2020, Augmentative and Alternative Communication

 During Session 2 on October 2, 2020, my three big takeaways were the following: 

1. Effective Communication 

2. Aided Language Input

3. Location of Core Words

Effective Communication

Through today’s session, we were made aware of how important effective communication is when trying to communicate with someone who requires Assistive Technology. We learned during session one and session two that effective communication requires a communication partner, a common language and joint attention.  During our session, we role-played a few scenarios where we had to try to communicate with a non-verbal person without the use of an AAC board. In one scenario, we had to communicate with an AAC board but it had limited language and therefore we were unable to communicate our message effectively. Luckily, during these scenarios, we had a communication partner and joint attention, but we were lacking a common language to communicate. Some of us were able to get some of the messages across by doing charades, but it was not an effective means of communication. Especially, if an individual who is in trouble is trying to communicate. These activities stressed the importance of being an effective communication partner and the necessity of a common language. 

Currently, in my role as a Learning Support Teacher and Classroom teacher, I am working with a student who is using Proloquo2Go. It is my first experience with this program and I am learning to be an effective communication partner by learning to model, wait, prompt and respond when using the device. The student is new to this program too, along with her Teaching Assistants. As a team, we are collaborating and working together to learn this new common language. As well, the student’s classmates have been introduced to the AAC device and we have a poster in the room with the core words. The article below gives six ways to build your communication partner skills. The six ways are:

1.  Learn how to model

2. Make comments rather than questions

3. Pausing and waiting

4. How to provide prompts

5. Consistent responding 

6. Accept all forms of communication 

https://www.assistiveware.com/learn-aac/build-communication-partner-skills

Aided Language Input

After watching the video One Kids Place Aided Language, my big takeaway was how long it would take an AAC user to learn a language if they were not using it the recommended 20 times per hour. If they do not use it this much, it would take an AAC device user 84 years to learn a language. That really resonated with me and really showed me the importance of how often a device must be used.  After watching this video, I realized that I need to work on pausing and lots of repetition when working with my student who uses Proloquo2Go. As well, I learned that modelling is very important and paying attention to the body language of the student. For example, if the student is smiling and laughing, you could say and model “I think you’re happy”. 

In my student’s classroom, we have added a low tech communication system, a large poster of the core words. We introduced the AAC device to all the students in her class and have explained that this is her way of communicating. We have encouraged them to participate in modelling language using her AAC device and with the large poster. I found this animated video explaining Aided Language Stimulation that I plan to show to my class this upcoming week. 

Click on the picture to watch the video.

 

Location of Core Words 

We learned during this session that it is very important to keep the location of the core words the same on every board. The core words make up the majority of everything we say. The location of these core words is critical for the AAC user. That way, when the student learns the location of the button, they do not have to go searching for it in a different location in another board or folder. It is similar to learning the QWERTY keyboard. It becomes muscle memory. Although the location of icons is unique to the product, those core words must stay in the same location. According to Marden (2015), “Studies across different languages and age groups have found that around 50 words account for 40-50% of our daily communication. 100 words account for 60%, and 200-400 words make up 80% of the words we use every day. Core words are usually verbs, adjectives, and pronouns, and less likely to be nouns.” It is very important to teach those core words to AAC device users so they can increase their communication output. Currently, we are working on a Core Word of the Week (CWW) with my student. Last week, her CWW word was I. This article describes four strategies to teach core words: Choosing core words: Communication Functions, Choosing core words: Activity-based, Choosing core words: Core Word of the Week and Descriptive Teaching Model.

Click on the picture to access the article.