Minspeak E-Newsletter, Issue 54

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Send to Friend July 30, 2012 Pixon Teaching Tip: Provide a hands-on experience to teach the Pixon for “why”. The Pixon shows a woman pointing to her head with a question mark. One teacher made a question mark and attached it to a headband. The person who was wearing the headband would be “it” when playing the “why” game. The “why” game involves asking a series of questions about a situational picture, much as a little child continually asks “why” when you are explaining something. Situation = A girl is crying. A broken vase is on the floor. 1. Why crying = because she is sad 2. Why sad = because she broke something 3. Why break = because she dropped it 4. Why drop = because it was heavy 5. Why heavy = because she is too little to carry it Intervention Planning: Create more communication opportunities this week to encourage your person using Minspeak to ask “why” questions, combining “why” with another word or phrase (e.g., why not, do you know why, tell me why). Teaching Materials Exchange: Friendship Day is the first Sunday of August. Use the Friendship Day book to ask questions and learn about it. The book is coded with Pixons and icon sequences from Unity®45, Unity®60, Unity®84, and Unity®144. Core Vocabulary Webinar: Gail Van Tatenhove will be doing a webinar entitled “Using Core Vocabulary in General Education Classrooms: Dealing with the Academic Vocabulary” on Tuesday, September 11, 2012 from 3:30 − 5:00 EST as part of the ATIA 2012 Online Webinar Series. Don’t miss this opportunity.

SpeechGadget.com Apps for Ed Spreadsheet (Wow!)

Deb Tomarakos has posted a very impressive spreadsheet to the SpeechGadget.com blog. Download it HERE. 

 This masterpiece lists apps in the following categories:

·      Early Learning  

·      Elementary  

·      Middle Secondary  

·      Adult  

·      AAC  

·      Abstract Language  

·      Artic/ Phonology  

·      Auditory Processing/ Hearing  

·      Describing  

·      Early Concepts  

·      Executive Function  

·      Expressive Language  

·      Following Directions/ Receptive Language  

·      Grammar/ Syntax  

·      Literacy/ Reading/ Spelling  

·      Memory  

·      Pragmatics/ Social  

·      Semantics/ Vocabulary  

·      Speech  

·      Written Language  

·      Interactive Books  

·      Handwriting  

·      Visual Perceptual Skills  

·      Reference  

·      Math  

·      Other Curriculum  

·      Other   Games        

ASHA Perspectives Exams (for CEUs) are BACK!

Perspectives Exams/June Issue		Previous
From: Victoria Koulakjian To: SIG 12, AAC Posted: July 27, 2012 3:36 PM Subject: Perspectives Exams/June Issue Message: View Profile Add Contact Contact Author PDFs of CE questions are back! Responding to your requests, we're adding preview copies of test questions to Perspectives. In SIG 12's June issue, which published earlier this week, click the link "CE Questions (PDF)" from the issue's Table of Contents page: http://div12perspectives.asha.org/content/21/2.toc Over the next few weeks, we will be uploading the CE questions PDFs to older issues. Stay tuned! To take the test, click on the "Earn CEUs Now" link from the Perspectives page. This will take you to the ASHA Store, where you can simply locate your SIG's issue of Perspectives, purchase the exam for $5, and then: 1. Access the ASHA Learning Center using the link on your invoice or select "My Account" in the top right corner of the ASHA website. 2. Login using your ASHA login (your e-mail address) and password. 3. Select "Access Your ASHA Courses." 4. Locate the course name, click "launch," and begin the test by selecting "exam" from the left navigation bar. Please contact ASHA Professional Development (ashaprofdev@asha.org) with questions, concerns, and feedback related to Perspectives CE self-studies. Reminder: As a SIG affiliate, you may read the content of any of the 18 SIGs' Perspectives issues free of charge. ------------------------------------------- Victoria Koulakjian Rockville MD -------------------------------------------

5 Great Things (PrAACtical AAC)

New Favorite Blog: PrAACtical AAC! Link HERE.  A little taste...posted by Carole Zangari on July 14, 2012 and July 25, 2012 in PrAACtical Thinking 

5 Under-Used Strategies in AAC

1. Partner-assisted scanning (PAS) offers great flexibility and spontaneity. Don’t want to take your SGD to the beach? A print-out of the screens and PAS is a great option. Missing key messages for the trip to the doctor’s office? A minute of brainstorming and the use of PAS may just save the day. No way for your client to access her device once she’s in bed? A communication board/book and PAS just might do the trick.
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2. Voice banking: For people are likely to lose their speech due to a degenerative disease, like ALS, the option of saving samples of their speech and having it digitized for future use seems to hold great appeal. We’d love to see more SLPs familiarize themselves with this strategy and the tools to implement it, so that this option is more widely used about individuals whose speech is deteriorating.
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3. Qualitative rating scales to express opinions and indicate gradations in feelings. (This free app, Autism Help 4 Me, is a good example of a scale to indicate pain or discomfort in emergency situations.) Make your own for an easy way for a client to express opinions and preferences.
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4. Aided language input is a powerful way to build language in people learning AAC. If we had to name a top strategy for AAC clinicians to master, this would be it.
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5. Task analysis: SLPs are language teachers but we don’t always get the in-depth training we need in general teaching methods. The skill of breaking down a task to its component steps is helps us be clearer in our instruction and gives us the option of teaching through backward chaining or forward chaining.

5 Ways to Use Rating Scales to Enhance Communication with AAC

In an earlier post, we lamented the under-utilization of a quick and effective strategy: qualitative rating scales. You may not know them by that name, but we all know them. Also called Likert-type scales, we’ve seen these a multitude of times when we were asked to give an opinion. Strongly agree to Strongly Disagree. Excellent to Poor. Always to Never.
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There are only a few guidelines to using these with AAC folks. One is to make sure to use appropriate visual supports.  Literate AAC users may be very comfortable with text-only options, but for other learners, we need to add images so it makes sense to them. Another suggestion is to stick with an odd number of options: 5 seems to be the norm in clinical practice, but you can certainly adjust to fit the learner’s needs. For some a 3-point scale would be best. Others may want more detail and use a 7-point scale. Finally, once you have the scale, create a short activity to teach the AAC learner how to use it. For example, you might have a stack of pictures of foods, some of which are wonderful and others which are awful. Going through those one-by-one and placing them on a scale (e.g., Love It/Okay/Hate It, Yummy/OK/Yucky, Great/Not Sure/Awful) give the learner a better understanding of what to do.
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Here are some ideas for how to use rating scales in your AAC therapy.

1. Express opinions: We can create scales to help clients give an opinion.

• Possible Anchor Points: Love it/Hate it, Wonderful/Terrible, Beautiful/Ugly, Cool/Geeky, Awesome/Boring

-2. Choose topics to be included in their vocabulary: Involve the learner in selecting vocabulary for his/her device by presenting options and getting their input on content.

• Possible Anchor Points: Essential/Not Essential, Keep it/Toss It, Absolutely/Never, Love It/Hate It, Perfect/Perfectly Awful

-3. Choose wording for the messages: Once the learner has rated the content you suggested for vocabulary, you can use rating scales again to have them give input on the specific wording of the message. For example, a client who needs messages to be able to interrupt others might be given these options to rate using the scale you made for # 2: Excuse me; Pardon me; May I tell you something?; Need you for a second; I have something to tell you; Do you have a minute? etc.-

4. Quick way of indicating pain: Pain scales are becoming more popular in hospitals, but they’re also useful at home and in school. If you’ve ever had a migraine, you know how important it would be to differentiate that from a regular headache. Our AAC learners need these options, too.
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5. Inviting the opinion of others: Use rating scales to give the AAC learner a way to engage partners in dialogue. Some years ago, we had campers in our AAC & Literacy Camp do daily surveys on topics of interest and have people around the clinic rate things such as how well they liked a song, movie, or book. These scales can be used to invite people to rate things like current events, hobbies, foods, vacation spots, pets, outfits, places to eat, etc.
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We’d love to hear more ideas of how you’re using rating scales with people who are learning AAC. Send a comment to Praactical AAC and Carole by clicking HERE.

JOBS! AAC Advisor, Jharkhand, India

Posted by www.vsointernational.org on UN Jobs. Read the entire ad HERE.

Start Date: November 15, 2012

Term of Assignment: 12 months

Application Closing Date: Sunday, 30 September 2012 

What does the role involve?

You will work with the staff of Deepshikha (agency) to build their capacity and improve their knowledge and skills in working with children with disabilities and specifically autism. To do this you will:

• Assist community based rehabilitation (CBR) and institution based programmes
• Train staff on Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC)
• Organise workshops on alternative means of communication and enabling staff to work effectively with children with disabilities, especially Autism.
• Assist the existing CBR & Institution based programme
• Organise workshops for staff on alternative means of communication both the theory and practice.

Perspectives: Review of 21 Communication Apps

Today's Division 12 Perspectives has a great-sounding article. If you're not a member of this ASHA Special Interest Group, join HERE.  Click on the title below for a link to the article (requires login).

 

A Review of 21 iPad Applications for Augmentative and Alternative Communication Purposes. Authors: Ashley Alliano, Kimberly Herriger, Anthony D. Koutsoftas, and Theresa E. Bartolotta. Source: Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication 2012;21 60-71

Abstract

Using the iPad tablet for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) purposes can facilitate many communicative needs, is cost-effective, and is socially acceptable. Many individuals with communication difficulties can use iPad applications (apps) to augment communication, provide an alternative form of communication, or target receptive and expressive language goals. In this paper, we will review a collection of iPad apps that can be used to address a variety of receptive and expressive communication needs. Based on recommendations from Gosnell, Costello, and Shane (2011), we describe the features of 21 apps that can serve as a reference guide for speech-language pathologists.

We systematically identified 21 apps that use symbols only, symbols and text-to-speech, and text-to-speech only. We provide descriptions of the purpose of each app, along with the following feature descriptions: speech settings, representation, display, feedback features, rate enhancement, access, motor competencies, and cost.

In this review, we describe these apps and how individuals with complex communication needs can use them for a variety of communication purposes and to target a variety of treatment goals. We present information in a user-friendly table format that clinicians can use as a reference guide.

• © American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

 

The Assistive Techology Blog

The Assistive Technology Blog is a publication of the Virginia Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) at VCU.

The Case Against Assistive Technology (Don Johnston)