Teachers’ Toolkit for Students with Little or No Speech Project overview November 2018

1. Teachers’ Toolkit for Students with Little or No Speech Project overview November 2018

2. Introduction • project commenced 2017 • NDIA Information Linkages and Capacity Building grant • increasing numbers advocacy cases involving education issues • students missing out on full education, mistreatment • situations where schools and teachers wanted to make it work but didn’t know how • advocacy is a reactive tool • need for proactive way to support students and teachers www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

3. Process • CRA & RMIT outlined project goal and process • Reference group to guide project direction • CRA staff to develop content • Reference group comprised: • Victorian Department of Education • school principals/teachers • speech pathologist • former student with little or no speech • parent of students with little or no speech • Communication Rights Australia • RMIT researcher www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

4. Goal • free, easy to use, practical resource specifically for teachers, especially those new to working with students with little or no speech (LNS) • to help teachers understand the issues commonly faced by students with LNS, and the kind of supports these students may need • about giving teachers the confidence to know how to best support their students • Note: • Focus of Toolkit is students with LNS who use AAC to communicate • There are many other communication disabilities that can occur separate to, or in conjunction with having LNS, such as: pragmatic disorders, receptive language disorders • Toolkit is not intended to specifically cover all of the other communication issues, but much of content is also applicable to students with these other types of communication issues www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

5. Common issues and supports • Common issues: • misperceptions about ability • being assessed using assessments requiring speech skills • misunderstanding behaviours when student has no functional means to communicate • limited knowledge about AAC and how integral access to AAC is for students to learn and demonstrate their ability • limited knowledge about/access to speech pathologists with AAC expertise • Supports commonly needed: • appropriate assessments • support to access a functional means to communicate • support and adjustments to utilise a communication device/method at school www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

6. Toolkit Content • Topics • Background on inclusion (legislative and policy overview) • Communication methods • Student profiles • ILPs and reasonable adjustments • Social supports • Sensory processing • Behaviour supports • Implementation tips for the classroom www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

7. Toolkit Content (contd) • Checklist of key issues and steps • list of questions answered by the content • interactive • Additional resources • references, key organisations, training options, useful websites etc • Note on geographic relevance of content • key messages are not jurisdiction-specific, it is about rights and approaches that are universal • some content is jurisdiction specific, eg inclusive education policies, state funding programs, key state-based organisations • content originally developed with focus on Victoria but has now been widened to include relevant information from all States and Territories www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

8. Key messages for teachers • There are alternative ways to assess students who don’t have speech skills to be assessed using standard assessments • Everyone needs a functional means to communicate • Speech pathologists with AAC expertise are key to this • There are many different types of communication systems • Importance of getting to know your students and their communication method and how this can be used in the classroom • Planning and preparation time is critical, need to take into account student’s communication method and recommendations/strategies from student’s speech pathologist • Many different reasonable adjustments and modifications can be made to support students with LNS • Behaviour as a form of communication • Need to understand sensory issues where relevant www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

9. How has it been received? • Since launch on 31 July: • approx 370 subscribers, with more new subscribers daily (note it is optional to subscribe) • nearly 3500 visitors to the website (4807 sessions) • over 10,000 page views • from 1 Sept to 23 Nov 2018: average of 19 users to website per day, with 25 sessions per day (indicating multiple visits) • on average over this period, number of visits to site per day increasing • High uptake given: specialist topic, infancy of project, focus to date on content and technical functionality (not widespread promotion), limited project team capacity www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

10. Subscribers breakdown Total subscribers to date 370 School staff (teachers, aides, principals, leaders) 154 Allied health professionals 55 Parents and students with CSN 31 Disability sector 20 (Balance: not specified) www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

11. Website visitors by country and state www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

12. Most frequently viewed pages Homepage Teachers’ checklist Communication methods Understanding inclusion Using this toolkit ILP and curriculum adjustments www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

13. Where to now • Raise awareness and increase use • presentations and workshops in schools • explore accreditation as professional development course • explore partnership opportunities eg SPA • Continual improvement • update content eg new programs, provide more examples of strategies and positive implementation • improve as recommended through ongoing feedback • Address challenges • funding & capacity www.studentswithnospeech.org.au

14. Thank you! www.studentswithnospeech.org.au