Communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices (AAC)

The main focus of tonight's class was to have students really think about communication and ways in which we communicate - something most of us find fairly easy and take for granted.  We then discussed ways in which a person, who had difficulty communicating through verbal or written means, could communicate to others with the aid of Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices (ACC).

1.)                 Communication is . . . a way to express your needs, emotions, wants and desires.

2.)                20 Different Ways to communicate:

-      Body language

-      Voice

-      Sign language

-      Facial expressions

-      Not speaking to a person

-      Listening

-      Actions

-      Pictures

-      Text

-      Email

-      Drawing

-      Telephone

-      Letters

-      Dancing

-      Shaking head (yes, no)

-      Eyes

-      Stories (reading books)

-      Social stories

-      iPad

-      Hitting/tapping

-      Songs

-      Mimicking

-      gestures

3.)                 Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)- is a way to communicate other than through verbal or written methods.    (It can augment or enhance oral communication). 

4.)                 There are no typical users of AAC but oftentimes people with speech and language impairments such as cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment , autism, stroke patients, ALS, and Parkinson's disease.

5.)                Three criteria of Effective Communication:

-      Communication Partner (Attentive person)

-      Joint Attention (Active Listening)

-      Common Language

ACC Devices

Low Tech for ACC

Homemade Card Holder

The Ring

The Switch

Wrist Band Communicator

Social Stories

Communication Books

for story writing

Communication Chart

Communication Chart

These are for individual use.  Items are arranged on a single board or sheet. Some individuals have a number of charts with vocabulary suited to specific activities. Example:  they would take their ten pin bowling vocabulary chart to the bowling rink, their health chart to the doctor’s, their haircut chart to the hairdressers and their picture of a Big Mac to McDonald’s.

Adapted Paper

Pencil Grips

Slant Boards

Medium Tech for ACC

Portable Deluxe Picture Communication Unit (Hardware)

TextSpeak Large Key Wireless Speech Generator Keyboard (Hardware)

Dragon Natural Speaking (Software)

Dragon Dictation (app)

JAWS for Windows (software)

Choiceworks (app)

Predictable (app)

ReadIris (app)

Claro (app)

Galaxy Tablet (Android device) - iPad

High Tech ACC

An Inspirational Video:

Meet Tiago - a young child with CP 

 

Extras:

To Take a Snapshot of your screen: Command-shift-3

Speech to Text on a MacBook Pro: Press "Edit" then "Start Dictation"

Text to Speech on a MacBook Pro: Press "Option" and "Escape" together.