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Communication Beyond Words:

Using Low-Tech Tools for Inclusive Education"

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Check her credentials….

Important before we get to how I got here, we first recognize where we have been.

You don’t know what you don’t know, but once you do it’s on you to do better.

This won’t be your normal power point presentation.

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Allyson Schwab (Jen and Len’s Mom)

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The Family

Doug

Allyson

Hayden

Hendrix

Jenna

Lennon

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Lennon Jenna

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OUR JOURNEY BEGAN IN NOVEMBER 2018

  • 15 MONTH CHECK UP- twins can typically be delayed, Born 34 weeks 6/7 days

- 18 month check up-REFERRED TO IOWA CITY

- BEGAN SPEECH AT EDI EARLY JANUARY, UNI LATE JANUARY

Iowa City - MArch 27, 2019

  • SAW MEDICAL DOCTOR AND PSYCHOLOGIST
  • DIAGNOSIS OF LEVEL 2 AUTISM WITH ACCOMPANYING SPEECH IMPAIRMENT AND GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY
  • RECOMMENDATION: ABA THERAPY & CONTINUE SPEECH THERAPY
  • Resume speech, began at balance autism august 2019

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AUTISM

WHAT IS AUTISM?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.

1 OUT OF EVERY 36 KIDS are on the autism spectrum( cdc)

Boys are 4x more likely to be diagnosed with asd.(cdc)

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Autism

Possible Signs:

  • Lack of Eye Contact
  • Not pointing to objects to show interest, not looking at others pointing at objects
  • Prefer not to be held/cuddled
  • Unaware of people talking to them, but respond to other sounds
  • Not engaging in pretend play
  • Trouble relating to others/ no interest in people
  • Fixation on certain objects/toys and repetitive behaviors
  • Sensory Seeking or sensory sensitive

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AUTISM

IF YOU HAVE MET ONE AUTISTIC CHILD,

YOU HAVE MET ONE AUTISTIC CHILD.

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Communication challenges an autistic individual could struggle with:

  • Difficulty with Social Communication:
    • Autistic individuals may have difficulty understanding and using nonverbal communication cues, such as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. This can make it hard for them to interpret others' emotions and intentions.
  • Literal Thinking:
    • Some autistic individuals tend to think and communicate in a very literal way. (may have trouble understanding figurative language, sarcasm, or metaphors, which can lead to misunderstandings)
  • Sensory Sensitivities:
    • They may be hypersensitive to certain sensory inputs (e.g., loud noises, bright lights), which can be overwhelming and distracting, making it difficult to focus on communication.

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Communication challenges an autistic individual May experience:

  • Difficulty with Theory of Mind:
    • Theory of mind refers to the ability to understand that others have different thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Autistic individuals may struggle with this concept, which can impact their ability to empathize and predict how others will react in social situations.
  • Echolalia:
    • Some autistic individuals may use echolalia, which involves repeating words or phrases they have heard, as a way to communicate.

Scripted Communication:

  • Autistic individuals may rely on scripted or routine phrases and responses in social interactions, which can make it challenging to engage in spontaneous or flexible conversations.

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Communication challenges an autistic individual may experience:

  • Difficulty Initiating and Sustaining Conversations:
    • Initiating conversations and maintaining them can be challenging for some autistic individuals. They may struggle with knowing when to start or end a conversation and may have difficulty shifting topics.
  • Selective Mutism:
    • In some cases, autistic individuals may experience selective mutism, where they are unable to speak or communicate in certain social situations or with specific people.
  • Anxiety and Overwhelm:
    • Social anxiety and sensory overwhelm can make it difficult for autistic individuals to engage in communication, as they may become anxious or shut down in social settings.
  • Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC):
    • Some nonverbal or minimally verbal autistic individuals may use AAC devices or methods, such as speech-generating devices, picture communication systems, or sign language, to support their communication.

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TO SUM IT UP…

Communication challenges can have a significant impact on students' learning, social interactions, and overall well-being.

If we do not provide support for the student in the environment,

then the environment could be traumatic for the student.

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How can Communication challenges impact…

  • Learning: Academic Achievement, participation, reading and writing

Social Interactions: Peer Relationships, conflict resolution

Overall Well-being: Self Esteem and confidence, mental health, behavioral issues.

  • Access to Support: inability to Advocate for themselves

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Communication challenges for our girls

Our girls began as nonverbal.

  • We used total communication approach. Baby sign, pictures, verbal cues and modeling, eventually pecs.
  • We saw behaviors such as meltdowns, frustration, disinterest due to not being able to communicate with them.
  • No better feeling than figuring out what your child needs and them knowing you understand them.

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Communication challenges for our girls

  • It was difficult for our families to connect to our girls because they too struggled to know what they wanted.

  • Didn’t leave much rest for us for fear we would leave them and not have their needs met because someone couldn’t understand them.

  • They couldn’t advocate for themselves or their own needs- fear of something happening to them and them unable to tell me caused a lot of anxiety.

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Communication challenges for our girls

  • Until you are a special needs parent you are unaware of the accommodations needed to just get through daily life.
  • I started to notice things like how far someone with a wheelchair would have to go out of their way to get to an elevator or ramp.
  • I started to realize places that very few Places had picture menus or an option other than verbally ordering.
  • I noticed places that provided sensory rooms, headphones ect.

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Let’s talk aac

AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

It refers to a set of tools, strategies, and methods used to support or replace spoken communication in individuals with communication disorders or difficulties.

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Low Tech AAC Examples:

Communication Boards : These are simple boards with pictures, symbols, or letters that individuals can point to in order to communicate. A basic communication board might have images of common needs like food, drink, and restroom.

Picture Exchange Systems (PECS): PECS involves using a set of pictures or symbols, often stored on a Velcro board, that individuals can select and exchange to communicate their needs or desires.

Communication Books: These are similar to communication boards but more extensive, containing a wider range of symbols or pictures for various situations.

Visual Schedules/Routines: Visual Schedule of what the day looks like or tasks at certain stations.

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Low Tech AAC at school:

Communication Boards : These are perfect for big Spaces and little spaces. Playground, Pe, Classroom

Mini Communication BOards ( offered by epm as well) : Can be carried to and from specials, classrooms, school and home, promoting generalization across environments.

.

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Low Tech AAC at school:

Communication Books/ Communication wallets: These are similar to communication boards but more extensive, containing a wider range of symbols or pictures for various situations.

Visual Schedules/Routines: Used around the classroom or ask the desk to help eliminate the question or anxiety of what’s next.

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Benefits to adding low tech aac to your classroom

1- Participation by those who otherwise do not have a form to communicate.

2- Less disruptive behaviors and frustration- the child can advocate for themselves as well know they have a way to share their needs. They feel “heard”. By behaviors I am not referring to stemming, I am referring to dysregulation that could be triggered by needs to being met due to lack of communication systems offered

3- Confidence in the classroom

4- Ability to connect with classmates, be included, participate , and in turn educating others about communication differences.

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Implementing aac within the classroom

1- Get to know your students. Don’t wait until they get into the classroom. We met with teachers before school started, met with paras before back to school night to walk around the classroom and make sure we had the accommodations that our girls needed.

2-learn the communication system your student uses. ( in an ideal world paraeducators would have training prior to the school year on communication systems and there would be pd on this throughout the year).

3-Model, model, model, get the children involved. Teach a lesson using visuals, the communication board, visual schedule ect. The more you normalize it’s use the more it becomes normalized to everyone.

4- Have the school SLP or Guidance counselor come in and talk about differences and celebrating differences including different forms of communication!

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Implementing aac within the classroom

5-open communication and coordination with home- creating generalization across environments

6- total communication approach- honor everything and always assume competence.

7-Foster an inclusive environment

8- Not getting the results you hoped for? - what need of the child is not being met?

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Fostering an inclusive environment

(in classroom)

  • We can’t view it only from the perspective of what the autistic child has to gain from the inclusive environment, but also what their neurotypical peer has to gain from their inclusion.

- Empathy and Understanding

= Different perspective

- Flexibility and adaptability and problem solving skills

-Social skills

-Reduced stigma and stereotyping

-Advocacy and allyship- instead of just focusing on preventing bullying- lets work to create allyship

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Inclusion begins with communication…

“Inclusion works best when:�1. administrators are supportive�2. good communication and collaboration exists between home and school,�3. teachers have received specialized training ( including the paras who work side by side) and if it is not offered, they work to learn the communication of their students.�4. Scan the environment. What could be a distraction or cause dysregulation for a child in turn making communication more challenging.

5. peers are educated

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Some things of importance…..

-Find Autistic people to learn from

-An autistic individual’s brain is feeling/thinking/all the things

-Autistic is an adjective

-Label didn’t change my child, it changed the help i received

-Always Assume Competence

-just like you wouldn’t talk about a neurotypical peer in front of them as if they aren’t there or don’t understand, the same goes for an autistic individual.

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Every Piece Matters- www.jenandlenblue.com

Our mission is to provide communication tools for the community to create an environment that is inclusive to those with diverse communication needs.

-We have donated over 300 communication boards to classrooms, gyms,

and playgrounds to provide an opportunity for all to communicate.

-” If they don’t learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn”. - I. Estrada

- we offer new mini communication boards, laminated and easily carried

By the para or child around the classroom or specials.

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Every Piece Matters- www.jenandlenblue.com

Reasons why we felt communication boards would be helpful:

1- bridge gap between those who verbally communicate and those who can’t yet. Also a benefit to the child with a para or teacher who hasn’t had training in aac. Everyone first learns with pictures.

2- creates conversation! bring awareness to the different forms of communication. The younger we introduce the more of the “ norm” it is for people to communicate differently.

3-what better place for kids to learn different forms of communication? The same place they learn social interaction. - playground and school

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Every Piece Matters- www.jenandlenblue.com

Some other things to think about:

1- some kids have been denied aac devices ( we were 2x before approved). Trial devices are usually due back before their personal device is received.

2-Some kids haven’t had early intervention by the time they reach school and need a way to communicate.

3-autistic kids are not the only kids who can benefit from communication boards. Anyone with communication challenges including esl kids can benefit from communication boards.

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Every Piece Matters- www.jenandlenblue.com

You may go on our website and contact us to request a communication board for your school.

These Boards are FREE we have no expectation of you other than to hang it, explain it, and implement the use of it!

How to implement: lesson on communication difference by guidance, bringing in slp to show devices, visual aides ect, take time to let the children interact with their peers using the board, and the mindset of “ how cool is it that we are able to communicate in different ways”. Kids will follow your lead.