How you can use AAC to help your child use AAC

Staci Neustadt, M.S., CCC-SLP

September 25th, 2012

Today we will talk about…..

Basics of AAC devicesRoles in AAC Using AACGoals in AAC

Myths about AAC

Myth: AAC will inhibit a child from talking

Truth: AAC can support and enhance speech production (Millar, Light, Schlosser, 2006)

Myth: The child doesn’t need AAC, I understand him/her.

Truth: When around peers or unfamiliar listeners your child may not be understood losing out on social opportunities.

Myth: The child is too young for AAC

Truth: Basic communication is learned in the first 3 years of life (Romski, Sevcik, 2005)

What most devices have in common?

The words are organized by categoryColors are either in

school/art/activities/coloring, etc

Food is under eat/kitchen/food

Bath/wash are under tub/bathroom, etc

All devices should all have core words

What most devices have in common?

Charger – need to be charged nightly

On/off button – our goal is to teach the children how to access their voice

Need a case/strap – comes with one from DDD or can order cases through AMDI, Amazon, etc

Troubleshooting

SEARCH – exploring a device can never hurt it

Support – most if not all devices have on-line access or a phone number for support

Contact me/your child’s DDD SLP

Take baby steps

Questions?

Questions about your child’s device?

Do you know how to turn it on/off?

Do you know where the food is or your child’s favorite activity is?

Everyone’s role is to……

Explore with your child and

MODEL!!!!!

Everyone’s role is to teach/model the power of AAC….

Have devices out and with your child at all times.

YOU use the device when you’re talking to your child

Navigate and find pages/vocabulary (While the user is watching!)

Ask or give commands using your child’s device

Encourage your child to own the power communication!

They all have carriers so the children need to carry the device

This is their voice, teach them to bring it with at all times

Don’t make it your responsibility to carry.

Roles and Responsibilities of the support TEAM………….

Remember that one person doesn’t do it all.

A team approach is the most effective.

Designating roles and responsibilities to all of those working with the student will alleviate unwanted stress.

Parent/Guardian

Programming new vocabulary into the device

Identifying situations in which the student experiences

Communication breakdowns to report to team for help in devising strategies

Identifying successes and useful strategies

Charging the student’s device on a daily basis

Carrying over strategies implemented at school at home (i.e. reading weekly books at time)

Teacher’s, SLP’s, Aide’s roles….(summarized)

Program

Provide language opportunities

Teach new vocabulary

Model

Provide and teach social language through social activities

Questions

How can you fulfill your role?

What help would you like from your team?

Where have you taken your child’s device or could you take their device to provide the power?

What have you programmed into your child’s device or what would you like to program?

This “box” “talker” “voice”

“computer”……

is your child’s

VOICE TO BE HEARD!Your child’s “voice” should be used and with your child at ALL times

Ways we communicate

Requesting (I want.. Can I have..)

Commenting (I like that.. Cool…)

Protesting (No, Don’t like)

Greeting (Hi, good morning)

Telling (Today at school I….)

Questioning (what’s that…)

Express discomfort or feelings (hurt, sick)

Joke (knock knock, that’s an apple with eyes)

Socialize (play with me)

What communication isn’t

Show meTell meSay….Do thisWhere is….

What kind of communicator is your child?

Emergent communicator

May use gestures or haven’t developed that skill yet

Need a visual cue to communicate

May have “lucky” hits

Does not yet understand that a word has a meaning (ex. “no” means no or “chair” means chair)

Context

Communication is intentional but dependent on environment and communication partner

Independent

the ability to communicate anything on any topic to anyone in any context

Where is your child in language development?

Brown’s Stages of Language Development

Single words

Two words or morphemes, use –ing, in/on, s-plurals (i.e. go car, walking)

Irregular past tense, possessives, copular verbs

Articles, regular past tense, third person, present tense

3rd person irregular, uncontractable auxiliary, verbs contractable copular verbs

Brown 1973

Teach communication and language

Communication:By modeling and providing

opportunities, teaching the cause/effect of AAC, children learn communication

Language:Reinforcing specific words (i.e.

cookie gets cookie, car gets a car) teaches language/vocabulary

Moving beyond non-verbal communication

How to:Play dumb (i.e. sabotage)Model (Ex. Your child brings you a

remote, you say “tv” with device)Provide visual cues

Why:Words are easier than gesturesTeaches vocabularyBeginning stage of language/speech

development – single wordsTeaches expressive language

Sabotage

Betsy walks over to her teacher holding her coat. (with the zipper stuck) Her teacher says “Yes, that’s a nice coat.” Betsy pushes the coat towards her teacher. “Oh, you want me to wear your coat,” says the teacher. Betsy grabs her coat back. The teacher points to the Dynamyte that is lying nearby. “I need to understand what you are trying to tell me.” Betsy gets her device and presses the button, “I need help.” “Yes,” says the teacher. “Now I see that the zipper is stuck.”

Language opportunities (see attached)

Activity :

Non-verbal communication/intent

Inferred communication intent

Language that can be taught

Ex. Mom is vacuuming

Pulling on mom’s shirt, reaching for vacuum and making noises

Making upset noise

Child wants to vacuum

Child does not like vacuum

“my turn”“I do”

“I help you”

“stop” “don’t”

Teaching Language Acquisitions

You have to provide the foundation, start where your child’s language development is at (i.e. single words, short phrases, developing syntax/grammar etc. )

Don’t get stuck (i.e. “I want”)

Model expansion (i.e. car-car go, cookie-yummy cookie, etc)

Provide opportunities (i.e. missing spoon with cereal, commenting on fun activity, refusing undesirable food/toy)

Model words that go together to make a phrase/sentence (I like that, she/he is + action)

Teaching powerful words - language

Motivating words (i.e. food, sensory toys/activities, movies, etc)*Fringe words

Core words:

In Banajee, M., DiCarlo, C., & Buras-Stricklin, S. (2003). Core Vocabulary

Determination for Toddlers, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 2, 67 – 73

1. all done/finished2. go3. help4. here5. I6. In7. Is8. It

9. mine10. more11. my12. no13. off14. on15. out16. some

17. that18. the19. want20. what21. yes/yeah22. you

Teaching phrases - language

Model expansion (i.e. more-more that, go-you go)

Carrier phrases (i.e. I like, I go, I play)

Model what you say showing how you put the words together

Talk at the same level as your child (amount of words)

Model verbs that go with noun

Ex. Your child says cookie, you model “eat cookie”

Ex. You child says “car,” you model “play car”

StoryJosh enters the classroom each day as the other students are circling around the teacher to tell some exciting thing they did the night before. Today when Josh gets his Dynamyte out of his backpack, he takes it up to the teacher’s desk. Pushing a single button on the comments page, he announces, “Guess what I did last night.” (sentence based message). His teacher looks over and responds, “Well, Josh, I don’t know. What did you do last night?” Josh quickly navigates to his core page and presses “I” “go”, then to the people page he presses “Grandma”. (word based vocabulary) His teacher responds again, “Oh, you went to Grandma’s house. What did you do there?” Josh navigates again on the Dynamyte and presses “eat” “popcorn” …back to the comments page “That’s yummy in my tummy.” His teacher says, “That does sound like a good snack.” She then moves on to another student who is seeking her attention. And Josh walks happily to his seat, Dynamyte in hand. Today, Josh had his chance to communicate too!!

Child/Home communication

Please record what your child does the night or weekend before so he/she can share like his/her peers do in class (under “at school I…”)

Personalize your child’s device with favorite items/activities, soothing activities or items, desired food/drink

Use real pictures or pre-stored images of people in your child’s life

Ask your child what he/she did at school, who they played with, etc

Beyond the basics (“my child talks”)“My child talks, why do I need AAC”?Some of our kiddos think in pictures, can’t find word (Temple Grandin)

YOU can model longer sentences/grammar with device to help your child learn longer sentences

AAC is truly “alternative” communication, sparks the thought

Most often, won’t be needed long term

How to use AAC when they “say” the word?Acknowledge what your child says, YOU support by repeating and expanding on what your child says using the device

Don’t make them say it again, MODEL the next word or help them be specific

Ex. Child “says” ball…. You can find out if they want to “throw ball, bounce on ball,” comment “cool ball” by modeling the phrases with the device

Questions

When does your child “attempt” to communicate?

How can you start to use AAC at home?

What routines do you have common vocabulary in everyday?

What does your child love to do?

Goals

Teach your child to be an independent communicator

Help your child learn the power of communication

Provide your child with a voice to comment, refuse, request, command

Give your child a voice to tell us what they know or may want to learn

We are a TEAM!

We work TOGETHER!

We all take a step up to teach your child to use

their VOICE!