Make and Take: Communication Boards UM-NSU-CARD

1. Make and Take:Communication BoardsUM-NSU-CARD Dr. Robin Parker parkerr@nova.edu December 1, 2006

2. Focus • Terminology • Basic Decision Making Issues • Purposes of Communication Systems • Selecting and Organizing Vocabulary • Promoting Use of the Communication System • Resources

3. Terminology • AAC-Augmentative and Alternative Communication • PCS-Picture Communication Symbols (different from PECS-Picture Exchange Communication System) • VOCA-Voice Output Communication Aide • Symbol Set-type of symbols to use for communication system

4. Decision Making • Decide symbol set • Picture Symbols • Type-Mayer Johnson-PCS, real photos, dynasyms • Words • Both

5. Decision Making Continued… • Identify the purpose for the display • General expressive communication and language • Sharing thoughts, making requests, getting help, telling about past or future events, asking questions, social communication, answering questions • To actively participate in classroom activities or group routine • Reciting the Pledge, Calling attendance, Giving the daily news, giving an oral book report, doing show and tell etc. • For receptive language and organization • To follow instructions, to be more independent, to understand sequence of events etc. • For organization and navigation within the communication aide or device • A main page that allows exploration in an organized fashion to other ‘pages’

6. Decision Making Continued… • How will the child use the communication system? • To create new sentences by combining words /pictures/or letters • To communicate an entire thought • Look in my backpack, That’s not what I meant • Communicate a predictable sequence • Words to a song, lines from a book

7. For General Expressive Communication: For this Make and Take • Consider Activity Based Pages • Keep Commonly used vocabulary on the same place on each page (more, thank you, finished) • Organize vocabulary to teach sentence building • Left to right • Think sentence subject-object-action (Johnny more, Give juice, See plane, need marker, we go park) • Add in other word classes such as descriptors, conjunctions, prepositions, questions words, and social conventions as appropriate

8. Common Display

9. Other considerations • May sentence build for strong communication functions • May use one symbol to convey message in absent or limited communication function • Consider that requests may be very strong while comments may be more limited

10. Consider Color-Coding • More than looking good • Have a purpose • To distinguish between word classes • To have new communication functions stand out • Be as consistent as possible with color coding between displays

11. Some Examples Images courtesy of: www.dynavox.askinazy.com

12. Courtesy: TLC, Mary Ann Lowe

14. Courtesy of: Kim Berwa, 2003

15. 2003 Kami

16. Sharing Information

17. Alisyn Clayman, NSU, 2002

18. NSU,Autism Spectrum Disorder Class, 2002

19. Organization for Group Displays • Make display easy to use • There is often time pressure

20. Promoting Use of AAC Strategies • Use Aided Language Stimulation Techniques • Limit questions • Increase Pause Time • Use Communication Temptations and Sabotage Strategies • Provide Non-Verbal Cueing • Provide Appropriate Verbal Feedback • Expect To Provide A Lot of Practice • Think of AAC Strategies as Prolonged Visual Representation of Language • Use your team to work together to make this work for the child • Have Fun!!

21. Getting Started.. • Do not worry about perfection • Think about what you want the child to say/communicate • Use the communication display to talk about the activity or event before, during, and after . • Let’s Start Creating…

22. Websites…Just a few…. • Do2Learn • Do2learn.com • Mayer-Johnson • www.mayer-johnson.com • Mayer-Johnson • www.mayer-johnson.com • New 2 You • www.news-2-you.com • Social Stories • www.thegraycenter.org • Use Visual Strategies • www.usevisualstrategies.com • Speaking of Speech • www.speakingofspeech.com