May 2008 Edition - agosci

ccommunicationo m m u n i c a t i o nppartnersa r t n e r sSupporting Parents... (cont)(such as asking questions or making comments on new toys,encouraging requests for a turn, developing metacommunicationskills within pretend play etc).The ALS workshops we provide for parents, who are encouragedto bring siblings, extended family members, carers and otherprofessionals involved with their children, create excellentopportunities for participants to learn about and be exposedto ALS in action.ModellingIt is important that good communication partners rememberthat competent communication is not innate, rather it mustbe learnt, and to be learnt, it must be taught (Light, 1997).All children need huge amounts of receptive input before anyexpressive output is achieved in language terms and childrenwho need to learn to use AAC methods must equally be exposedto high quality examples of their AAC system of language inuse. As we know children learn to communicate in the waythey experience their system of communication being used(Beukelman & Mirenda, 1998; Porter, 2007; Porter & Kirkland,1995).Throughout group sessions, we emphasise to families the needto model multiple modes of communication so that their childcan learn to be flexible, adopting whatever communicationtool will allow them to be most effective and efficient at thatparticular moment. The group situation allows families tobecome confi dent that the use of AAC will not prevent speechdeveloping and that the use of symbols will not discouragesigning, as they can learn from the experiences of otherfamilies within the group, as well as information provided bythe Teacher-Conductor and Speech Pathologist.We model the use of aided symbols by pointing to theappropriate symbols as we speak – on ALDs and in multi-levelcommunication books. We use ‘group’ communication booksbased on the ‘Pragmatically Organised Dynamic Display’(PODD) templates (Porter, 2007) which include pragmaticfunctions and activities used specifically within the groupsessions. The group books are matched in their vocabularyand visual presentation to the general needs of the children ineach group, taking into account their current communicationskills and those they need to develop. We also model the useof partner-assisted scanning to demonstrate to both childrenand their communication partners how to use these methodsto access the children’s own individualised PODD books. Weoften use small torches to further highlight and draw visualattention to the symbols as we point.Modelling is also applied to the use of voice outputcommunication aids, including simple single message devices,multiple message devices and more complex dynamic displaydevices because access to technology itself is not the answer(Jones, 2007; Millar & Aitken, 1996). Input must be providedto enable children to use these technologies for competentcommunicative output. On all displays, low or high tech,we always seek to provide enough vocabulary to meet thechildren’s current communication needs, as well as to enablecommunication partners to model vocabulary for furtherdevelopment. Group sessions allow parents to learn how tomodel a range of devices from the group leaders as well asother parents and, more importantly, they have the opportunityto practise this skill in a supportive environment.When providing workshops, we show videos clips ofcommunication partners modelling and children using varioustypes of PODD communication books, ALDs and voice output devices taken from current and previous SfP groups, anda training package from Education Queensland (2001). Weallow time for parents to practise saying messages whilstmodelling the appropriate symbols on ALDs and in variouscommunication books, so they experience modelling in a nonconfrontingway.Observing and RespondingWe teach parents that, in order to be able to observe theirchildren’s communication and potential for development, weneed to start with a system that can be easily modelled by allcommunication partners across all environments and aspectsof their daily routine. For example, when a child fi rst comes25