Communication

On Thursday I went to a course about communication during the school day for those with communication difficulties. (Run by TalkLink) It was great timing as one of the children I work with had only the day before received his "Big Point" recordable communication devices. They are set of 5 coloured recording buttons that are very simple to use, only a flick of a switch and press to record a short message (up to 20seconds I think) and the same to play it. On Friday I found the perfect opportunity to put one of the ideas into place and give Jack his 'voice.' We had some notices to be delivered around the school, so I recorded a message for him "Here are your notices. Please give them out today." He was taken to each class and was able to press the button to play his message. I watched him in one class where the teacher didn't listen initially (she was giving instructions to her class and Jack pressed the button while she was talking...so there is a learning point for him about waiting and not interrupting!). Jack knew she hadn't listened and kept repeating the message until she stopped and listened. Great for a first attempt in that context! Jack and Stevie's Teacher Aides will use their buttons for 'conversations' and greetings between the children.
Jack is lucky in that he has good control of one hand and is able to use his other hand if he puts his mind to it. He should be able to physically use the buttons so we need to give him many opportunities to learn how to communicate with them as they are the stepping stones to higher level devices. Stevie has used buttons for a while, mainly as a way to share things between home and school. Her mum told me that Stevie now tries to 'talk' when the recording is made so it's great to hear her 'voice' as she realises that the buttons are for communicationg with. Her limited physical control will be what limits her until a device that she can operate can be located.
Another idea that I liked was for those children who make up a story orally and then can't remember it when they need to write it. They can use the same buttons to record their story and then replay it as necessary. I will borrow one of the buttons and trial it for this use.
The afternoon session explored Core Vocabulary, and was a good follow up to the ATANZ forum session by Gail Tatenhove. The presenter had obviously been to the same session but it was good to hear the message again. Funnily enough just the day before I was retyping the notes I had made when at ATANZ.
I also made a good professional contact as I was sitting next to a teacher from the Awatapu College Special Needs Unit. We discussed playground equipment!! She also gave me a few good websites to look at, so I need to get onto them.
I will look forward to the session on Literacy that TalkLink is hoping to run at some time. The practical nature of the ideas was really good.