LAMP Words for Life - AAC app

Finally (September, 2012), the folks at Prenke Romich Co. have an iPad app all their own that combines the power of the PRC Unity® language system with Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP™) principles and strategies. Specifically, the LAMP Words for Life app ($299) supports the tenet that language development occurs through the combination of a consistent motor pattern, the sound that motor pattern produces, and the reaction they get from the environment. Three vocabulary files within the app support language development from current skill level to throughout life. 

  

• Read more about the three vocabulary levels/options in the LWfL app HERE.
• View LWfL in iTunes HERE.
• Watch video of the Words for Life app in action at www.aacapps.com

FREE Webinar Thurs: Transitioning From H.S. with AT

Assessing Symbol Association

When assessing symbol knowledge and association, there are a few issues to consider. Symbol assessment is often an early step in evaluating the feasibility of a symbol-based communication system, but should not determine eligibility without practical teaching of association within motivating activities.  For individuals that are not able to discriminate individual symbol meaning visually, assessment based on motor learning may also be worthwhile.

For learners with complex communication needs, symbolic understanding and the metaphoric association of visual symbols to their meaning may not be naturally present in the language development process. It is possible to teach individuals how to select symbols to communicate messages without initially teaching symbol meaning or the metaphoric association of the symbol to the word - instead, the association is established through cause-and-effect learning. 

Visual symbol association for MORE: The learner touches the symbol representation for MORE, and they receive more of a preferred activity. This symbol is presented in various locations, and discrimination of that symbol from others is taught by offering "more" of a preferred activity versus a non-preferred activity.

Motor learning of symbol location for MORE: The learner touches the particular location on a board or display, and they receive more of a preferred activity. This location is preserved for all occurrences of MORE, and additional motivating and non-preferred vocabulary are added to different locations on the display; each item with its unique motor plan.

The visual representation, or iconicity, for the meaning "more" may be irrelevant if the appearance -or- location is learned to mean "more" based on the consequating event. Therefore, the learner's ability to receptively identify a symbol when given a label (e.g., "Which one shows MORE?") should not qualify or disqualify them for consideration of a visually supported augmentative communication system. Due to the challenges inherent in visual association of meaning experienced by many individuals with complex communication needs, it is very useful to supplement symbol learning with motor learning principles in order to maximize functionality of any visually-based system. (More on motor learning in AAC in this previous post, HERE)

-->

Symbol iconicity in AAC refers to the continuum that describes symbols by their ease of recognition. Three terms are sometimes used to represent levels of iconicity and describe the explicitness of symbolic representations:*

• Transparent Symbols visually resemble their referent and are highly 'guessable.'  One example might be a photograph of a dog to represent the concept of DOG.
• Translucent Symbols are those that fall in the middle of the iconicity continuum. These symbols may not be readily guessable without additional information. An example would be a sparse line drawing of a dog.
• Opaque Symbols refer to symbols that do not show an obvious, visual relationship to the referent. This type of symbol assignment might be quite arbitrary.  An example might be the printed word—dog. Another, common in AAC, would be the various representations for pronouns such as IT, THAT or HER. Some verbs and also multiple meaning words (e.g., TAKE, HELP, CAN or ALL DONE) may also be assigned arbitrary, opaque symbols. Manufactured vocabularies use opaque symbols for their representation of a word like GO: Unity (PRC) shows a frog jumping, Boardmaker (Dynavox) shows a green traffic light, SymbolStix shows an arrow to the right. Opaque symbols are often required in order to represent all parts of speech when working with learners that do not recognize sight-words.

*These 3 labels themselves are not consistently associated with their referent meanings in symbol-based association; be warned - they are not necessarily translucent symbols. ;)

Commercially Available Symbol Assessment Tools

TASP - The Test of Aided-Communication Symbol Performance is a commercially available kit ($299) of Boardmaker PCS icons and paper visuals that can be used to assess transparent symbol recognition (search and find the named symbol in a field of 4 to 64+), opaque symbol association, categorization (food, animals, clothing transportation, people, places, things, actions), and syntactic performance (use of symbol boards for 2- to 5-part phrase construction). I would not recommend this tool beyond the transparent symbol recognition activity for any learner new to the use of symbols; however, it may be of use for determining an experienced learner's facility with PCS symbols after some time in practice. Watch a demo, HERE.

AAC Evaluation Genie - For those with an iPad to assist in evaluation, this app ($9.99) is an excellent tool. It presents many of the same tasks included in the TASP, but with the benefit of visual and auditory reinforcement.  The 14 available activities include: Visual Identification (visual scan and select), Visual Discrimination (search and select with distractors), Noun Vocabulary, Function Vocabulary (ID nouns by function), Verb Vocabulary, (visual) Category Recognition, Word Association (Go-Togethers), Category Inclusion (audio prompt, Which one is an animal?), Category Exclusion (Which one is not...), Pixon Core Vocabulary (opaque symbols), Unity Core Vocabulary (Minspeak opaque symbols), Unity Icon Patterns (Minspeak category associations), Picture Description (field of 24 Pixons, various parts of speech), Word Prediction (given a pic, discrim. written word from 3 similar-looking words). View a 12-minute demo video of the app HERE.

The Training and Technical Assistance Center at ODU has a small selection of translucent and transparent visuals to use in determining a learner's preferred level of iconicity. Download the PDF HERE.

(Some of these valuable resources were harvested from another, stimulating ASHA Community SIG 12 conversation)

PrAACtical AAC Giveaways for AAC Awareness

(Click the collage, below, to enter)
From PrAACticalAAC.org...
We are incredulous!  In a GREAT way, an AWESOME way, an EPIC way.  The generosity  of the AAC community has honestly made us speechless for a moment. Then we quickly had a lot to say about AAC Awareness Month and the PrAACtical Celebration.  

So ENTER THEIR GIVEAWAY BECAUSE:

1. The GIVEAWAYS are awesome!
2. You can learn about a lot of new resources!
3. You can get AAC Awareness  ideas.
4. You can help promote AAC Awareness Month!
5. It’s fun to try and win!
6. There are a lot of giveaways!
7. You can learn about cool companies to ‘like’ on facebook.
8. You or someone you know may be surprised.
9. AAC Awareness is important!
10. The GIVEAWAYS are awesome!

 

Motivate, Model and Move Out of the Way (repost)

(From Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs, Monday, October 1, 2012)

I received a text message today from a proud parent.  She had heard from her daughter's speech therapist who told a story about how the child had independently used her speech device to access iTunes and turn on Adele when another child was playing music she didn't like.

This post is for all the proud parents and parents with high AAC hopes.

That mom commented that it was like I had mentioned before, "You need to move back!"

It's true.  Communication is sloppy and nearly impossible to teach in a formalized structure.  I have discussions with parents all the time about how to "bring AAC home".  Here are some tips from my experience:

1) Set it and forget it!  - Set up and turn on the speech device and then take the focus off of it.  The device is a tool.  It is your child's voice but in reality the focus is on interaction and connection.  The more you try to focus on the device and just asking questions of your child or insisting they "find _____" the less motivating communication will be.  Once the device is set up...

2) Motivate - focus on the fun or connection in an activity or family situation.  Around the dinner table?  Don't force asking to pass the peas or for a glass of milk - boring!  Instead tell jokes, share about your day and encourage interaction.  Focus on comments, descriptions and the AAC user asking, not answering, questions.  Make communicating irresistible and then...

3) Model - language in equals language out (to paraphrase  Linda Burkhart).  The device is set up, you have a topic at hand and it is fun.  Now YOU use the device.  Have your other children use the device.  Have visitors use the device.  Communicate with the device as you communicate with your voice.  Want to say that something is awesome?  Use the device!  Want to tell someone to quiet down?  Use the device! Show, don't tell, how to use AAC to communicate and then...

4) Move out of the way.  Leave the device set up, there is no such thing as "device time being over" or "being too tired".  If someone is too tired to communicate then they just won't say anything.  It is absolutely fine to have a device set up and then not say anything!  You don't talk the every minute your mouth works, do you?  Moving out of the way means letting life unfold and being ready for the surprises your child throws are you.  You never know what they are going to say until you give them the time and space to say it!

5) Finally - Grow the device before the user needs it.  By this I mean add vocabulary and information slightly faster than your child learns to use what is there.  Make sure there are new mountains to climb.  Rarely have I seen someone have too much vocabulary, but constantly I see someone have too little.  If you only had the same 4, 32, 128 or 400 things to say over and over and over and over would you bother making the effort?

Good luck.  Comment with your stories of communication success here (CLICK TO LINK) or on Facebook (TLWMN)!

October is AAC Awareness Month

AAC Month Campaign 2012
High Performance Communication – Best Life Experience

Share a story…mentor…teach…advocate…lead…perform…and show the world what is possible with an effective communication method of one’s choice!

In 2007, ISAAC established International AAC Month to celebrate and promote access to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for all who need it.  In October 2012, we mark the fifth year of AAC Month, and we hope that you will join us to focus the world’s attention on the need for access to AAC and to literacy instruction for people who have difficulty speaking effectively.    

Writings and videos by people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) have been a centerpiece of the AAC Awareness Month campaign since 2008.  Again this year, people who use AAC are invited to help spread the word about the importance of AAC and literacy by contributing writings, stories, videos, and multimedia entries for the online AAC Collection.   Entries, submission forms and consent forms go to stories@aacawareness.org.    

This year we also encourage people who use AAC and people who support AAC to get involved in your communities, to teach and mentor on AAC, and to raise funds for communication devices and services.  Events such as Power of Communication Relays, festivals, and fairs and other events will be held to raise funds and to inform the public about the many ways people communicate using technology.  For ideas on organizing a relay, see this video that Faye Warren posted in 2011.  

The AAC Month Facebook page (International AAC Month) and follow them on Twitter (AACawareness).  The fourth annual 24-hour online AAC Chat / “Read-a-Thon” on Skype, Facebook and Twitter is being planned for October 18, 2012, starting at 8 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (USA).  

Send inquiries or submit information on your event to info@aacawareness.org 

- ISAAC International AAC Awareness Month Task Force

Follow us on Twitter

@SCAACN