Some ideas for getting going with AAC
when the robust vocabularies seem too much.
This may be most relevant for older people being introduced to AAC where a short cut to functional communication is the aim rather than following a developmental language path.
Recently I have had conversations with clinicians wondering how best to move forward with AAC, with older clients who have either not had any AAC system and now are seeking a solution, or others who are wanting to move from the emergent activities, or are stuck on choice-making but feel that they are not ready or wanting to use the robust vocabularies for various reasons.
Emergent activities usually include the errorless activities, where every option on the display is a 'winner'. An example may be a "make-up" session where the display includes "lipstick", "brow pencil", "foundation", "more", "love it!" and so on. Every option works in the context of the activity. The display (whether low or high tech) can be used for modelling too. Any activity where the parts make a whole can also be used, for example, making a Mr Potato Head, sorting out football cards, or dressing Barbie and so on.
Topic-Setting, by Caroline Musselwhite is an reference I have returned to numerous times over the years.
- To read about this please download the PDF article, with examples and set-up steps.
- Topic-setting provides a way to initiate and have turns in a conversation. The conversation sequence is built-into the structure of the display.
- A starting point is to work out the topic so this is usually an interest or comething the person using ths system likes.
- Caroline also talks abvout Social Script and this short YouTube video explains the basis for the scripting and how the stratgey works.
- On Caroline's website www.aaacintervention.com it is possible to see her products and books. The most relevant here is:
- Can We Chat? Co-Planned Sequenced Soical Scripts. 22p. By Musselwhite & Burkhart. Sample scripts and how-to's to support real conversations for struggling AAC users (40pp). $12 + 2 p & h.
Social Scripts would be another stragegy that might be useful here.
- The article in my favourite website http://praacticalaac.org
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Beyond requesting: Using Scripts to Teach Conversation
- is a great blog about the topic and I would refer you here to start.
- Link to blog.
- You may also come across other references to Social Stories™. These are not AAC strategies but instead relate to social skills. Social Stories™ were developed in 1991 by Carol Gray, a teacher working with young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Tracey Bode October 2017