May 2008 Edition - agosci

eviewsBook ReviewThe Communication Access ToolkitReveiwed by Kathryn McKinleySpeech PathologistRoyal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre, Austin Health, MelbourneKathryn.McKinley@austin.org.auParr, S., Wimborne, N., Hewitt, A. & Pound, C. (2008).The Communication Access Toolkit. London: Connect – thecommunication disability network.Price: $500, includes toolkit and two-day training courseThe Communication Access Toolkit is a new resource designedby Connect, a UK charity working to promote effective services,new opportunities and a better quality of life for people livingwith aphasia. This new toolkit was published in January 2008and is the product of a three-year project undertaken byConnect. The toolkit is sold as part of a 2-day training course,run by trainers at Connect, titled “Making CommunicationAccess a reality”.The toolkit has been designed to be used as a resource tohelp clinicians raise awareness of communication access issuesin health and social care settings, as well as voluntary sectorsettings. The resource provides step-by-step guidance on howto plan, run and evaluate the training. Communication accesstraining is aimed at all service providers, from professionalsand clinicians to assistants, administrative staff and volunteers– anyone who has day-to-day contact with clients with acommunication disability.The aim of the toolkit is to equip the clinician and the serviceproviders they train, with the skills, techniques and resources tomake their service accessible to people with a communicationdisability. The toolkit provides the clinician with everything theyneed to plan, prepare, run and evaluate the “Making your serviceaccessible: communication matters” training programme. Thetoolkit includes:- the trainer’s book, for the clinician to use, which containsbackground information, the training program and extraresources (e.g. how to plan for the training, resourcesrequired)- a CD, which has all the Power Point presentations requiredto do the training, a set of tools to help with courseadministration (in PDF and Word templates e.g. a certificatefor course participants, an agenda for the training day) andpages of the trainee book so that they can be printed andgiven to the trainees- a DVD, which has video clips about communication accessto be used in the training, and- a bound copy of the trainee’s workbook.The training program works through eight modules including:- Thinking about communication access- What is a communication disability?- What is communication access?- Making interactions accessible- Making documents accessible- Making environments accessible- Communication access stories- Action planningWhilst the toolkit training program was developed by and withpeople who have aphasia, the principles of communicationaccess hold true for other groups including people withintellectual disability, developmental language delay, dyslexia,depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions affectingcommunication, and other communication difficulties i.e. no orlimited English.The toolkit gives ideas regarding course structure, and canbe adapted to be run as a one-day session, two three-hoursessions, three two-hour sessions or six one-hour sessions,allowing for the training to be delivered fl exibly to suit trainees’work patterns and shift requirements. The toolkit also providesthe clinician with practical ideas for setting course dates,attracting potential trainees, recruiting trainers, choosing avenue, equipment and resources, and support and follow-up.The training programme uses Kagan’s (1995) “Supportedconversation for adults with aphasia” as a framework for theirtraining, particularly when discussing making interactions anddocuments accessible. However, Connect have moved awayfrom using terms such as supported conversation, read easy, oraphasia friendly, towards the term communication access whichcan be readily used for all people who have a communicationdisability. The training has the potential to be used across awide range of settings, from hospital and community health todisability and education.As the toolkit has been developed in the UK, there are someparts of the training that need adapting to be used with anAustralian population. For example, the UK’s DisabilityDiscrimination Act is discussed in one of the modules and thispart would need to be changed to discuss our local state andfederal disability acts.This is a great resource, and one that is ready for busyclinicians to start using, with all the hard work done! For moreinformation, visit Connect’s website www.ukconnect.org oremail lukechamberlain@ukconnect.org.43