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    The idea of progression for children who use AAC is not an easy one as children develop at such different rates. 

    Here we explore ideas related to:

    • Ensuring the AAC solution is ready for the child to develop their language beyond the here and now
    • Monitoring progress as a child improves through language activities
    • Using  logs to keep a record of improvements, or otherwise to help support the child to become a competent AAC user

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    Preventing Missed or Mixed Messages

    Some children can get ‘stuck’ with a communication aid which limits their ability to explore and use new words or they are limited only to making requests through nouns. 

    Other children are left with an inability to develop their language further by not being given the vocabulary that allows them to progress.   Messages fail to happen in a way that they expect and the communication cycle breaks down.  Adler and Towne (1978) (whose adapted communication cycle we have used) said;  "If everyone were to have the same experiences, all messages would be encoded, transmitted, and decoded alike. Symbols would have the same meanings for everyone, and all communication would be received as the senders intended."

    
    

    
    

    
    

    This idea is especially important when remembering that the average communication aid user communicates at 12-50 words per minute compared to 140-206 words per minute for the typical adult speaker (Walker, 1988).

    We need to plan to encourage the best communication skills possible, using multiple means with a large vocabulary, increasingly more core words, modelling and considering Janice Light’s four competencies as well as creating an AAC-friendly home environment and classroom.  But...

    

    • Who do you think is responsible for creating this positive AAC environment? 
    • How would you go about making sure this is a collaborative process?  
    • Which is the most influential document that plots the progression of a child over time?  
    • What strategies can you develop to ensure what is written down is implemented?

    Once at school age in many countries it is the Individual Education Plan (IEP) or something similar that details the goals and objectives.  Add some ideas of how these questions could be answered in your situation using your reflective journal. 
    

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    Individual Education Plan (IEP)

    "An Individual Education Plan (IEP) – sometimes known as an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) - is a tool to help plan, teach, monitor and evaluate a particular student's progress."

    One way to ensure that everybody is on the same page is to document important considerations for AAC progression as a series of statements.  These need to be developed collaboratively with the involvement of the family and professionals from the school and regularly reviewed. That way if there is any doubt about how the communication solution should be supported, this document can be referred to. 

    The IEP should contain AAC training opportunities for the staff as well as for the child. 

    It is also important to remember that you do not need to mention specific communication devices, applications or other products, but write about the strategies used by the child e.g. using a coreboard, choice board, and fringe vocabulary rather than the use of Boardmaker, Lessonpix, etc. as products tend to change over the years. 

    You can also use the SETT Scaffold for Implementation (discussed in Level 2) as a way of supporting a plan. 
    

  • Goals, Objectives and Targets

    Goals tend to be long term aims; objectives are relatively short term milestones to be accomplished, while targets generally refer to achievements that can be counted or classified e.g. number of gestures or words, requests or other successful interactions.

    IEPs provide a good opportunity to set small targets to work towards as well and longer term goals. 

    Goals

    Specify your goals and how you are going to measure them

    Small Objectives

    Schools are busy so start with small objectives, saying ‘hello’ in the morning is part of a wider social goal

    Progression

    Go beyond ‘requesting’ when stating goals – include commenting, asking questions, sharing stories etc.

    Non-Linguistic Goals

    Consider non-linguistic goals – remember Janice Light’s four areas of competency

    Finding goals and planning progress is difficult for those unfamiliar with AAC. Fortunately there are a range of free resources to help teachers, families and speech & language therapists to make sure they are supporting their children in the best way possible.  They have all been mentioned in Level 1 and 2 in various topics.  As a reminder:
    

    • Communication Matrix
    • Pathways
    • Project Core
    • AssistiveWare
    • AAC Language Lab

    The Communication Matrix is a free website that can be used both as an assessment tool and to monitor improvements in communication skills.

    Tobii Dynavox’s Pathways provides a free set of lesson plans, activities, banks of pre-written goals which can be ticked off, and videos. Pathways Divides competency achievement into Janice Light’s four areas which makes it really easy to ensure you are not missing anything out. Although it was designed to accompany Snap & Core First, these resources can be applied for all symbol communication aids and provide a clear and easy way to measure and orientate progression.

    Project Core is a free resource to skill up teachers and other people who support emergent communicators such as young children. It is seen primarily as a professional development package for therapists, teachers and other professionals but the resources can be used to support implementation of AAC in the classroom with a wide range of individuals.

    The makers of Proloquo2go and Proloquo4text also provide a well-researched and easy-to-read articles on their website. They cover everything from the basics of ‘presuming competence’ and ‘modeling,’ they also provide a lot of useful to help you with:

    • Engaging when interacting
    • Developing language
    • Teaching grammar
    • Preparing for literacy

    AssistiveWare also offer a range of free worksheets and other resources to help support the learning of core words in the classroom.  The three founding principles of the Core Word Classroom are: 

    • Use core words
    • Use Modeling / Aided Language Stimulation
    • Communicate everywhere!

     AAC Language Lab provides lesson plans, activities and resources to help keep children’s AAC language development on track. There are some free resources but if you want to make the most of the content you will need to pay a subscription.

    
    

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    Logging Progress

    Making a daily note on how the child is developing their communication aid skills is very important to ensure that the right communication aid is in place, and it is being used in a way that will help them progress. It’s very useful for reviews and also to send information home to parents. 

    Many people will keep a written log of what happened in the classroom. For most users it is best for a teaching assistant or teacher to record the progress made. It is difficult for the Speech and Language Therapist to do this as they are rarely in the classroom with the child. Some AAC devices, such as CoughDrop can log actions automatically. This is a  time-saver and the data can be easily visualised. A written log will also need to be kept of the activities used and the response of the child. (See below CoughDrop log example)

    
    

    There are some ethical dilemnas when logging as the child has a right to privacy. 

    You need to consider what is being recorded and how this information is stored and used. It is important to get the consent from the child if possible, or at least from their parents. This will need to be compliant with local policies and laws, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 
    

    
    

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    Summary 

    • Make sure you document requirements for AAC in the IEP or equivalent so that the school or other organisation has a commitment to make improvements
    • There are many free resources that will help you ensure that the AAC user you are working with will make improvements and reach communicative competence!
    • Logging progress can help understand what is happening now and plan for the future, very useful for discussions with parents and during review meetings

    
    

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    Further Reading 

    • “Natural Language and AAC” Gail Van Tatenhove (2016) discusses "How should a normal language acquisition (NLA) model be used when working with children who use AAC systems? " (Download Word .doc)
    • Role of the IEP Team when integrating AAC into the classroom. from American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
    • Collaborative Teaming for students who require AT/AAC : Working effectively to meet the needs of students who require AAC/AT in the educational setting Marilyn J. Buzolich, Ph.D.,CCC-SLP
    • Hunt, P., Soto, G., Maier, J., Müller, E. and Goetz, L., 2002. Collaborative teaming to support students with augmentative and alternative communication needs in general education classrooms. Augmentative and alternative communication, 18(1), pp.20-35.
      
    • Team Communication: AAC Communication Log (Example Download PDF)

  • Reflective Journal 

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    Reflective Journal Günlük

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  • Presentation slides

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    URL

    Planning for Progression URL