aided language stimulation for all communication partners of children who use aac

Aided Language Stimulation for All Communication Partners of Children Who Use AAC

Eric Sailers, M.A., CCC-SLP Jhoselle Padilla, M.A., CCC-SLP

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Disclosures• Eric Sailers

• Worked for AssistiveWare and n2y, which created Proloquo2Go and Unique, respectively

• Owns Expressive Solutions, which created Percentally Pro 2

• Jhoselle Padilla • No financial disclosures

Teaching AAC ALgS Coaching

Overview

Teaching AAC

“The success of a communication interaction between an AAC user and a communication partner will depend heavily on the skills of the communication partner” (Kent-Walsh & McNaughton, 2005).

Teaching AAC

Core Vocabulary

Fringe Words 20%

Core Words 80%

NounsPronouns Verbs Prepositions Adjectives

Teaching Strategies• Questions - Yes/No, WH-Questions (e.g., Who,

What, Where) • Prompts - visual, gestural, verbal, physical

• Aided language stimulation (ALgS) - touch the symbols as you’re saying them

vs.

Teaching Strategies

Language growth

Prompts

(Barker, Akaba, & Thiemann-Bourque, 2013)Questions

ALgS

Teaching Strategies• Aided language stimulation (ALgS) - touch the symbols as

you’re saying them • Expansions - add more to AAC user’s utterance (e.g., “I

like” -> “I like it”) • Recasts - gently correct the AAC user’s utterance (e.g.,

“Ball want” -> “Want ball”) • The CAR strategy - comment-ask-respond during shared

reading tasks • Descriptive teaching - ask open-ended questions that

elicit responses with core words • Wait time - wait approximately 5 seconds or more

(Light, 2012)

ALgS

ALgS = “Touch n’ Talk”

(Goossens, Crain, & Elder, 1992)

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ALgS

Input Output

AACAAC

(Binger & Light, 2007)

AAC Tools

Make AAC tools available!

Contexts

Shared Reading Playtime

Games Arts & Crafts

Mealtime

Shopping

Communicative Functions

request I want it

protest You do not want that

comment You like it

ask a question Where is it?

share information I have it

ALgSDo This Not That

Teach with statements Test with questions

Model without expectations Model with demands

Follow up with expansions and recasts

Follow up with a prompt hierarchy

Zone of Proximal Development

Can do

Needs helpCannot do

E.g., 1 word

E.g., 2 words

E.g., 3 words

(Musselwhite, 2015)

Proloquo2Go

Demo of ALgS

Coaching

“We wouldn’t teach someone to drive by giving them a lecture, tossing them a book, and then turning them loose on the freeway. Nonetheless, when we provide traditional staff development in schools, that is pretty much what we do” (Knight, 2007, p. 110).

Coaching

Need for CoachingSLP 1%

Parents 49%

Gen Ed Peers 14%

SpEd Staff 35%

SLP: Leadership role

2,100 min/wk

60 min/wk 1,500 min/wk

600 min/wk

8-steps to Coaching1. Pre-test 2. Describe strategy 3. Demonstrate strategy 4. Verbally practice strategy steps 5. Practice in controlled environment 6. Practice in natural environment 7. Post-test 8. Generalization

(Kent-Walsh & McNaughton, 2005; Senner & Baud, 2016)

Staff

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Ashley Robinson Everyday AAC

Data Collection

Percentally Pro 2

Data Collection

Percentally Pro 2

Data Collection

Percentally Pro 2

Parents

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Intro Training Handout

Follow-Up• Offer monthly opportunities • 8-step coaching approach • With or without child present • Self-assessment of modeling • Provide resources as needed

• Handouts • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=vUY6oQoSTXw (One Children’s Place, 2013) • Websites

Coaching Parent

Video

Peers

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Communication Club• General ed peers in elementary grades

• Volunteered to do aided language stimulation at recess and in SpEd class

• Rationale • Language input and modeling by teachers is often

low during class interactions (Brady, Herynk, & Fleming, 2010)

• Like to help students with special needs • Pre-requisite job skill • Not afraid to fail

Task FrequenciesWeekly Monthly Yearly

Consult peers ✓

Consult parents ✓

Consult staff ✓

Provide resources ✓

Self-assess ✓

Deliver large training ✓

3:1 Model

1 week - staff and parent consultation

3 weeks - direct services

Contact

Symbolstix symbols by n2y

eric@expressive-solutions.com jhoselle.Padilla@cvesd.org

JhoselleEric

References• Barker, R. M., Akaba, S., Brady, N. C., Thiemann-Bourque, K.

(2013). Support for AAC Use in Preschool, and Growth in Language Skills, for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities. Augmentative and Alternative Communication. December 2013, 29(4): 334 – 346.

• Brady, N., Herynk, J. & Fleming, K. (2010). Communication input matters: Lessons from prelinguistic children learning to use AAC in preschool environments. Early childhood Services, 4, 141-154.

• Binger, C., Light, J. (2007). The Effect of Aided AAC Modeling on the Expression of Multi-Symbol Messages by Preschoolers who use AAC. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, March 2007 VOL. 23 (1), 30 – 43.

References• Kent-Walsh, J., & McNaughton, D. (2005).

Communication partner instruction in AAC: Present practices and future directions. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 21, 195-204.

• Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

• Goossens, C., Crain, S., & Elder, P. (1992). Engineering the preschool environment for interactive, symbolic communication. Birmingham, AL: Southeast Augmentative Communication Conference Publications.

References• Light, J. (2012). 2012 ASHA Conference Handout,

Building Communicative Competence with Individuals Who Require AAC: From Research to Effective Practice.

• Musselwhite, C. (2015). Model Core Language: Ideas for Beginners. Retrieved May 12, 2015 from http://aacgirls.blogspot.com/search?q=model+core+language%3A+ideas+for+beginners

• One Children’s Place (2013). One Kids Place Aided Language. Retrieved April 10, 2013 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUY6oQoSTXw