During our last class we used Proloquo2Go to create a library of symbols and phrases for a specific student based on a case study description.What started off as a seemingly straightforward task (even though we were warned by Barb that it wouldn't be) revealed itself to be quite complicated when we began making up the various boards. Even deciding on what the four different settings should be was difficult.
Before beginning our assignment, we had a look at a couple of slideshows about communication. The discussion about moving from a static to a dynamic communication device really made me take a step back to think about how best to use the AAC devices we have available to us. My automatic reaction would be to provide a student who is currently very limited in their communication the best device possible - and in my mind that would be one that gave them as much communication abilities as possible. Now I understand better that there needs to be a very strategically planned out transition for each individual who will go from either limited or no communication to an AAC...and that plan will completely depend on the individual and their needs and cognitive abilities. Reinforcers are also critical to introducing an AAC device to a student - if they aren't reinforced for using it, and given what they're asking for immediately, they're not going to buy into it and no matter how fancy the equipment is - they won't want to use it.
Barb told us about a communication assignment she's assigned in the past where students have to go to a party and be completely non-verbal...without telling anyone what they're doing or why. I think you'd have to be really disciplined and brave to do that - and hope you have some pretty understanding friends. I could totally imagine one of the scenarios she described, when a student's friends stopped even trying to communicate with her after awhile of her not responding. I'd probably give up in frustration too. If I was the girl who was being temporarily non-verbal, I'd really really want to tell my friends what was going on - I'm honestly not sure how long I'd last. For our students who have limited to no verbal abilities, this is every day of their lives. They have so many valuable thoughts and ideas to share, and ways that I'm sure they'd like to contribute to class and peer conversations, but are limited in how they can do so.
I teach 40% in a grade one classroom right now, which means I teach the class every afternoon. Last week I was in for the full day because my teaching partner was out sick, so that meant I had to do the morning routines with the class. I've done them before, and I think I've pretty much got the schedule figured out. What I didn't anticipate, however, was that Allan's (not his real name) EPA would leave the room for about 10 minutes as the class was settling into partner reading. Allan has Cerebral Palsy, and at the moment uses picture symbols on the tray of his wheelchair to communicate (he's the student who's getting an iPad this month - yay!). When I went over to check on Allan and his reading partner, Allan was visibly upset and repeatedly pointing to the agenda symbol on his tray. I (foolishly) assumed that he'd already done his agenda with his EPA and tried to tell him that agenda time was over, now it's time for partner reading. He wouldn't accept this reply from me and continued to point to the agenda symbol while beginning to tear up. His reading partner and I tried to comfort him by reading him a story and immidating the animals in it, which made him laugh a little but he still kept going back to the agenda symbol. I looked around the classroom for his agenda but couldn't find it. When his EPA came back in the room I let her know that he was upset, and she explained to me that usually he and his partner would complete the agenda together and then the teacher signs it - and he doesn't like to go on with his day without having done it. There were so many frustrating aspects to all of this - that I didn't know where his agenda was kept (in his bookbag in a zipped up bag), I didn't know what he was trying to tell me, he couldn't tell me what he wanted to say, etc., etc. I'll be better prepared for next time if that happens but I'm also looking forward to him getting his iPad even more now.
That being said, working him up to using Proloquo2Go will take some time and, as I mentioned above, some very strategic planning to go from using the static pictures to the dynamic boards in the program.
Mary and I worked consistently for the day on Saturday to try to make 4 comprehensive boards for our case study student, to encompass 4 possible settings where she would need to communicate the most effectively. This is where the extremely original metaphor of the onion comes in, because as we delved into each of these categories more and more layers of possibilities for communication were revealed. I felt like we could've kept going for hours with this assignment and still not have finished, with all of the options that are available.
There are a few key things that I'll need to keep in mind when using Proloquo2Go with my own students, and that's that I will have to constantly ask myself what is going to be most effective for them to communicate (i.e. what messages and settings will they realistically be using in their everyday lives) and that the original boards we make as a team will, and should, change as we go along. It will be a learning process to discover what messages are useful and what aren't, and what scenarios we haven't thought of. The great thing about this program is that we can easily adapt it as the student's needs and abilities evolve, and various situations arise. We'll also need to find a balance between adapting for the student's needs and not overwhelming them with too much change or information at once.
This isn't really related to what we did in class last week but it's so neat. Here is a very cool TED talk about "sketching electronics". Some people's brains amaze me.
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