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In 2020, Two Way Street client Reagan started a small courier business. Affectionately known as ‘Ray’ amongst friends and family, Reagan’s business was cleverly named ‘DeliveRay’. Reagan is a fun-loving young man who is a big fan of long walks, chilling out watching YouTube and visiting the RSPCA with his Day Options program. Reagan communicates using body language, vocalisations, some key word sign and the Proloquo2Go application on an iPad. Proloquo2Go is a symbol based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app for iOS devices. You can find out more about Proloquo2Go via the Assistiveware website here.
The idea for Reagan’s business started when Reagan’s family heard about the Community Living Project (CLP). A family friend had recently started a micro enterprise business with support from CLP. Reagan, his family, a team of volunteers and the Community Living Project met, created goals and a business plan. From there, a board member gave the project to his students, using their design brief to create a business logo. Following this, the family hired Henry, a Personal Assistant (PA). Henry went shopping for a uniform with Reagan and had an embroidery studio sew the logo on their shirts. Reagan’s mum created a flyer and visual supports for Reagan to assist with his new routine. Reagan’s long-term support worker Indianna also assisted in this process.
Reagan and his PA deliver goods every Friday to local businesses. This started with a hot cross bun delivery to a workplace and expanded from there. Reagan communicates using his iPad with Proloquo2Go, to interact with the community and form relationships with clients. Reagan greets staff/customers, introduces Henry (PA) and himself and shares information about DeliveRay’s Services by means of words and messages stored on his communication device. The flow on effect of this, has meant Reagan now greets people with greater independence during social outings. Henry has reported that people have been in awe of Reagan’s use of AAC and how positive it has been in sharing other forms of communication with people. Reagan recently commented that working with support worker Henry makes him feel “happy” and that his favourite part is saying “good morning” to his customers.
Reagan’s mum Chrissa and dad Garry recently shared that “Reagan is now at the stage where he eagerly gets up on a Friday, with a sense of purpose, puts on his uniform, then checks his morning schedule and marks off what he needs for work. His PA reports back how super positive Reagan is during his interactions with the community and how proficient he is becoming using Proloquo2Go. As Reagan delivers on a Friday, every afternoon ends with Reagan and Henry having lunch together…usually at a pub. We love that Reagan and Henry have built a strong relationship and work well as a team and Reagan has work goals, creating a positive place in our community. Henry has also demonstrated a strong willingness to learn how to use Proloquo2Go and support Reagan”.
In 2021, Reagan and his family relocated meaning DeliveRay is still operating but on a smaller scale. Reagan and his team are now exploring new opportunities for his business. Well done to Reagan and his fantastic team, you are paving the way for people who use AAC in our community!
As it’s AAC Awareness month, we thought it was time for me to take a wander down and revise “Word on the Street”. My word is “Connection” I thought that would be easy! But nothing has jumped out at me, that was until the morning after our recent KYDX expo! I hope you all managed to connect with our Two Way Street booth, it was kind’a hard to miss our brightly decorated booth!
For those of you who have known me a long time, you’ll know that I prefer to use my natural speech. I guess it’s because I grew up before the era of communication devices. In fact, many of my childhood memories are of connecting with speech therapy, and learning how to sound letters such as “T” and “t” along with “Sss”! Having a device didn’t even occur to my parents, or if it did, I wasn’t aware of it – my natural speech has just been my default connection.
However, using my natural speech has made life a little tricky, especially when it came to employment. I got my first communication device in 2010, as part of a pilot program. It was also where I first connected with the fabulous Two Way Street director, Janelle.
I have to confess that remembering to use the iPad, to speak for me was difficult to change the default pattern of using my natural speech. I would make my presentation with it, but the minute they were done, I reverted to my natural ways! I hadn’t yet made the connection that using my iPad for everyday communication might help with everyday connections with people.
One of my roles at Two Way Street, is as a Communication Access Consultant and Trainer. Communication Access is somewhat new to SA, and aside from the fact that I am paid for that particular role, my personal reason for being a Communication Access Consultant is to make life a little easier for others in our AAC Community.
To be honest with you, there are days when having a communication disability is the absolute pits! I go from having a valued and respected role within society to being called a “good-girl” by a 25-year-old in a blink of an eye! But what is important is that we don’t give up on being out there, connecting with people and making a difference.
Written by: Margie Charlesworth
A sense of belonging is at the heart of inclusion. At Two Way Street, we believe this to be true. Inclusion is about more than a place, about more than just being in the same room as your peers. Inclusion is about a sense of belonging, about not only being accepted but about being valued and appreciated for who you are.
For students with complex communication needs, this also means being valued and appreciated for how they communicate, and that their voices are heard just as clearly as those of their peers. So how do we develop a sense of belonging for students with complex communication needs in inclusive schools?
To start with, we need to ensure that students with complex communication needs are able to connect with their peers and educators. When students with disability start school, there is often a lot of focus on how they will access the curriculum. But what is arguably more important is ensuring that from the outset, students with complex communication needs are able to form connections within the school community, and build and maintain relationships as they progress through their grades.
Some simple strategies to assist with building connections may include:
An important component of belonging is the sense that you are accepted and valued by your community. For students with complex communication needs, the presence of AAC within the environment sends the message that their language is important, and valued within the school community. As a speech pathologist working in schools, I find that this works best when symbolic language, perhaps in the form of an aided language display (ALD), is embedded into classroom routines and activities that already exist. This way, AAC becomes an enhancing component of existing activities, rather than an additional activity that educators have to fit into their day. Here are just some examples of how AAC can be embedded into the school community (all of these examples are from inclusive kindergartens or schools in South Australia).
Embedding AAC tools within the environment is an important starting point in developing a sense of belonging for students with complex communication needs. The next step is to support other people in the environment to use the communication tools during interactions. This should include everyone from the teachers, teacher aides, school administration staff, and perhaps most importantly, peers. When other people use a child’s communication system (or other AAC tools) while interacting with them, it implies to the student with complex communication needs that how they communicate is important, that their voice is valued, and that they belong.
Running a formal peer training session can be a useful strategy in supporting students to develop familiarity with their peer’s communication system, and building their confidence in interacting with their peer. It is important to note that peer training sessions should be developed and run in collaboration with the student with complex communication needs and their family.
Activities in peer training sessions can include:
When students feel as though they belong, they feel accepted and valued by their community. It is therefore the shared responsibility of individuals within a particular community to embrace each and every child for who they are, and to recognise their own unique strengths. For students with complex communication needs, this also means valuing how they communicate, by building a school community that understands and embraces AAC. This will allow students with complex communication needs to be who they really are; to belong, in their school communities. Because, to quote AAC user Sara Pyska, author of Inside My Outside,
“the feeling of being yourself with someone is priceless”.
To download free Aided Language Displays visit https://twowaystreet.com.au/online-learning-and-products/
For more examples of children who use AAC in inclusive settings, visit https://vimeo.com/showcase/8678812
For more information about building peer relationships for for beginning communicators in inclusive primary school settings, visit https://spaace.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Building-Peer-Relationships-2021.pdf
**Please note: this post was created in 2021. We acknowledge that some of the terminology such as ‘complex communication needs’ may not be current but the content is still valid.
Let’s find more of those autonomy marbles…
The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defines autonomy as:
the state of existing or acting separately from others.
Autonomy is one of the key psychological needs that drives human behaviour – it both empowers and motivates us. Within a society, we can’t always be autonomous. We are supposed to follow or comply with rules and social norms at least some of the time. Some of us seek more autonomy and choose activities that are less structured, some may even choose to resist or protest. Others may be happy to comply, or prefer to go along with someone else’s agenda some of the time. Governments the world over allow their citizens different levels of autonomy and communities, schools, workplaces and families balance autonomy and compliance all of the time. Though it is important that we comply with rules and social standards in many ways, it is autonomy that lays the foundation for motivation, engagement, and self determination. Think about the type of person you are and how often you exert your autonomy or comply with rules or standards throughout your daily life.
Now think about the person you know who has CCN (complex communication needs).
Autonomous communication is crucial to our overall autonomy. Gayle Porter (2018) describes communication autonomy as communicating according to our own intentions or, put more simply, the individual is able to say what I want to say, to whoever I want to say it to, whenever I want to say it, however I choose to say it. Consider how many times a day a person with fluent verbal speech is able to say what they are thinking, and the variety of those messages throughout our day as they interact with others.
Now think about the person you know who has CCN.
Sometimes our communication is less autonomous, and takes the form of answering questions posed by others (such as when we visit the doctor or dentist), other choosing from a list of options that someone else has prepared (eg. menu items at a restaurant, or which movie we will see at the cinema). What percentage of your daily communication would you say is like this? For me it’s easily less than about 5%.
Now think about the person you know who has CCN.
Most of us are okay with these less autonomous interactions because they are such a small percentage of our messages. As well, we often pair a compliant message with an autonomous one to make sure we maintain control of what happens to us. Here are some examples:
Now think about the person you know who has CCN.
Being able to say what we are thinking helps us feel calm and safe that we can influence what happens to us. Sometimes other people might try to predict what we are going to say and jump in before us. While this could be fun or beneficial if we are playing charades, or have just taken a bite of food, it is mostly frustrating and disempowering.
Now think about the person you know who has CCN.
Erin Sheldon (2019) described autonomy and compliance as either sides of a balance scale. She explained that whenever we are being compliant, we are not being autonomous and vice versa. Adding to one, takes away from the other. We are not autonomous when we comply with rules, or even when we have to choose from the menu at a restaurant. Of course we have a choice, but we must choose something that the restaurant has made available to choose.
In terms of building communication autonomy, I like to think of the autonomy and compliance scales as having a bucket on each side and throughout the day we drop marbles into each bucket.
Though all of us collect compliance marbles throughout the day, we also gather a big pile of autonomy marbles to balance them out.
| Typical interactions where autonomy is paired with compliance. | Compliant messages only (answering questions or making choices) which tends to happen when someone is still developing expressive language skills. |
|---|---|
| Doctor: Where does it hurt? Patient: Well on my foot mostly but also my leg gets really itchy. But it only happens sometimes. | Doctor: Where does it hurt? Patient: Foot. Leg. |
| Waiter: What can I get for you? Diner: Does the salad have eggs in it? Waiter: Yes it does. Diner: Ok, I’ll have the stir fry instead. | Waiter: What can I get for you? Diner: Stir fry. |
| Friend: Do you want to go for a coffee? You: Sure. When? Friend: This Afternoon. What time suits you? You: Well, I have to go for a run first, so is 4pm OK” | Friend: Do you want to go for a coffee? You: Yes Friend: This Afternoon. 2pm You: Yes (and miss your run) or No (and miss the coffee). |
Now think about the person you know who has CCN.
How does their balance scale look? Often we see the autonomy marbles are in short supply, and the opportunities to collect them are even less. So our challenge is to balance the scale with autonomy marbles whenever we can.
Jasmine is a 12 year old girl. She gets up at 7am, eats breakfast and gets ready for school with the help of her parents. She catches the bus to school, arrives at 8:45 and plays in the yard til class starts at 9am. Jasmine communicates using speech and between 7am and 9am when she starts class, she is pretty much talking constantly. Anything she needs to say or tell people is autonomously spoken as many times as she chooses to say it, and often that is multiple times until she gets the response she wants, or has to change the subject. Maybe she had a bad dream, maybe she is excited about the chicks they are bringing into class today, maybe she forgot to bring her excursion note. Luckily she can tell anyone and everyone if she chooses. When she sits down for morning group and the teacher asks her questions, she is happy to answer as she feels like she has been heard and had a chance to say what she needs already.
She has already filled her bucket with autonomy marbles.
Jenna is a 12 year old girl. She gets up at 7am, eats breakfast and gets ready for school with the help of her parents. She catches the bus to school, arrives at 8:45 and plays in the yard til class starts at 9am. Jenna communicates using AAC and between 7am and 9am when she starts class, she is pretty much thinking constantly. Anything she needs to say or tell people is in her head but she has to wait until someone has the time to sit with her to listen, or remembers to get her device off charge and have it available to her. Her parents are great but given her extra needs, there is a lot more to manage in the mornings and the accessible bus comes really early! Sometimes when she is not in her wheelchair, she needs others to scan on her PODD when she has something to say, but lots of people don’t notice when she wiggles her body to say “Hey, I’ve got something to say”. Maybe she had a bad dream, maybe she is excited about the chicks they are bringing into class today, maybe she forgot to bring her excursion note. Unfortunately she can’t always tell anyone and everyone if she chooses. When she sits down for morning group and the teacher asks her questions, she might use this as an opportunity to talk about her bad dream, or maybe she has learned that she doesn’t fit in here, or that people won’t take the time to listen so she just listens but doesn’t participate.
Jenna needs some autonomy marbles in her bucket first if we want her to successfully participate in her class activities.
How do we do this?
Of course, there will be situations where we need compliance both in behaviour and communication. All of us need to answer questions and make simple choices regularly throughout our week (e.g., “Are you dining in?” or “Do you want pasta or sandwiches for lunch today?”), but we should focus more on finding as many autonomy marbles as possible to balance out the scale. We call it the Autonomy Bucket Challenge for those who are communication partners to people who have complex communication needs, and here are some ideas…
At first, autonomous messages may not always be expressed in symbolic form. We may need to watch and listen for examples of autonomy and then model the language that maps onto what they are already telling us with their body. Other times we may need to wait until the person shows us they have something to say rather than just asking them a question or trying to get them to say something.
For those who are already using symbolic language within their AAC system, try to cut back on yes/no questions and just give them an opportunity to share something, or at least ask an open rather than closed question. Maybe you could even just tell them something that’s on your mind and then give them a chance to take a turn in the conversation – or not if they choose not to, it’s up to them.
Another key technique is to let go of your own agenda. To quote Daniel H. Pink, “control leads to compliance: autonomy leads to engagement”. Oftentimes, AAC systems are used to find out what we want to know from a person rather than what they want to tell us. Consider Jasmine again, maybe we ask her “What did you do at school today?” and she ignores our question saying “My friend got a new puppy?” She is more interested in talking about the puppy than what she did at school, and will become less engaged if we keep trying to talk about school rather than the puppy.
Though we may often think that we know what a person is going to say, quite often we are wrong. If we make assumptions about what someone who uses AAC is going to say, we tend to only give them the chance to say what we thought they were going to say, not necessarily what they wanted to say.
This might happen if:
So take the challenge and see where it leads you. Think about ways that you can find autonomy marbles for the person you know who has CCN. It’s okay to include some compliance marbles along the way, but just put an autonomy marble in the other bucket first.
Here are some ways you can do this:
Just remember that we all need autonomy. If we don’t get it one way, we will look for it elsewhere. If you don’t let individuals say autonomous things they will exert their autonomy another way and this may be through body language, resistance, avoidance or even challenging behaviours.
There are so many ideas and strategies to encourage autonomous messages, we can’t put them all into this blog. Hopefully, we’ve just given you some thinking points for reflection. What we know for sure is that autonomous messages are the ‘Gold’ that we seek as we support those who are learning to communicate using AAC. The more marbles in that Autonomy bucket, the more they will be motivated to express themselves more frequently and with greater sophistication.
When we hear what someone is thinking rather than just what we want them to say, we learn who they are, we connect with them, and we have true conversations. As we gather autonomy marbles, we better understand our children, we better teach our students, and we can better support those people we are paid to assist.
Now think about the person you know who has CCN and take the Autonomy Bucket Challenge!
Written by: Janelle Sampson
References:
Porter, G. PODD Communication Books Introductory workshop manual © 2018
Erin Sheldon Communication for choice and control – July 11, 2019 in goodthingsinlife.org
Don’t forget though that Communication is a Two Way Street.
A playground board is a wonderful tool for accessibility, but it’s only good if it gets used. Otherwise it’s just a nice decoration. We decided to put together some extra information and tips to make playground boards even better!
What are they?
| Beginner (point to 1 or both of the symbols for the words in blue) then just say the other words. | More advanced You can show them how to combine words on the board. (point to the symbols for the words in blue) then just say the other words. |
| Talk about what they did or want to do | |
| I bounced on the trampoline | I bounced on the trampoline |
| I want to go on the slide | I want to go on the slide |
| We had a BBQ. | We (I/me and you) had a BBQ. |
| Can you play the music | Can you play the music |
| Ask a parent or friend to watch them | |
| I (me) can do it (watch me) | I can do it. |
| Can you see me? (Look! ) | Can you see me? (Look!) |
| Let’s go basketball. | Let’s (you, me) go basketball. |
| I want you to look/(see). | I want you to look/(see). |
| Ask a question about something | |
| Where is the slide? | Where is the slide? |
| What do I do on this? | What do I do on this? |
| Uh-oh. I don’t know how to climb up. | Uh-oh. I don’t know how to climb up. |
| Can you help? | Can you help? |
| Direct others | |
| Can you bounce me? | Can you bounce me? |
| Stop the swing. I don’t like it. | Stop the swing. I don’t like it. |
| Can you help me go to the pond? | Can you help me go to the pond? |
| Can you push me (go) fast. | Can you push me (go) fast. |
| Tell you what they think | |
| I like it. It’s fun. | I like it. It’s fun. |
| I don’t like (it) the trampoline. It’s scary. | I don’t like (it) the trampoline. It’s scary. |
| The music is too loud. I don’t like it. | The music is too loud. I don’t like it. Stop. |
| Enhance the activity | |
| Go faster | Go faster |
| More climbing | More climbing |
| My turn again (more) | My (me) turn again (more) |
| Stop. Go. Stop. Go. | Stop. Go. Stop. Go. |
| Interact with others | |
| Do you want a turn? | Do you want a turn? |
| I’ll help you. | I’ll help you. |
| Let’s play. | Let’s (You me) play. |
| Where are you going? | Where are you going? |
| Talk about problems | |
| Uh-oh. The boy fell over. (point to boy). | Uh-oh. The boy fell (fall) over. (point to boy). |
| I’m not finished. I don’t want to go. | I’m not finished. I don’t want to go. |
| I’m tired. Something’s wrong. Rest. | I’m tired. Something’s wrong. I want a rest/break. |
| And many more…. Are there any other messages that you can think of? Please remember these are just example messages and examples of the symbols you can use to say them. It’s important to use messages that are meaningful and useful to your own situation. |
Image shows a hand drawn swing set
So that everyone can participate, we’ve made an aided language display to go with our now most frequent daily activity. You can download it for free at the end of this post.
There are already lots of visual supports available for the sequence of hand washing, and we’ve been using the World Health Organisation’s How To HandWash Poster but many people are adapting this. It’s impossible to list all of the options here so pick your favourite or type ‘hand washing poster’ into your browser and find one that best suits your needs.
Watch this video for the washing hands procedure in full.
Our aided language display is designed to go alongside a hand washing poster so that you can talk about it before, after and during the process. We’ve added some song choice buttons so that you can opt to sing Happy Birthday or add in a couple of your own favourite songs before you laminate the board.
Some example phrases might be:
Your turn / My turn to wash
Uh-oh – do it again
Uh-oh – slow down. Wash the germs away.
Uh-oh. More soap.
Great washing. Time to dry.
Not clean yet. Keep going.
Let’s wash and sing Happy Birthday (or insert different song).
We recommend laminating the board and implementing routine cleaning processes as well when using the board. It might seem easier not to have one that you have to keep clean, but it’s only easier if you can speak and understand spoken language!
Click here to download our free washing your hands aided language display
We also recommend reading our Talking to kids about COVID-19 resource and blog post.
“Kids worry more when they’re kept in the dark”
Rachel Ehmke, Child Mind Institute
This blog post was written in March 2020.
With the outbreak and ongoing uncertainty of the Coronavirus/COVID-19, we feel it is important to provide resources and ideas to ensure those who have communication challenges also get the information they need.
Please download our aided language display (available at the end of this article) designed specifically to support these conversations. Please note that this is a general resource and may need to be personalised or modified to suit your child/person’s vocabulary and/or layout of their system. You may need to reduce the number of items, program the vocabulary onto their device, or use partner assisted scanning rather than pointing. Please talk to your speech pathologist or AAC specialist if you have questions in relation to this process.
Give the facts:
The recommendations from experts is to buffer children from the ongoing news feed about Coronavirus, but it’s also important to give them the facts at a level that suits their age and understanding.
With the changing face of the virus, we can’t make a display that covers all of the facts. We suggest that you stay updated with credible news sites and use your child/person’s system to talk about additional facts that are not on our display. For example, this might be a good time to explore countries of the world, and talk about them. If you don’t have them, maybe add them to your system or onto the places list if using PODD.
Talk about what you can do:
“ Teaching kids what they can do to keep themselves and others safe is a positive way to make them feel empowered”
We’ve provided vocabulary to talk about the virus but more importantly, the recommendation from experts is to talk to your children about what you are doing to stay safe.
For example (words in bold are what you would model on your AAC system whilst speaking the whole phrase):
Check in and keep talking
Take an opportunity of time to talk about the virus with your child/person who uses AAC. By using the display provided and also their own system, you can help to show them the words they might need to use to ask questions or tell you things that they already know about it.
You might also model to them questions they might be thinking about.
For example:
It’s not something you need to talk about constantly, but it is important to update when needed or check in occasionally. Remember, the intention is not to scare your child/person into panic, but it is to acknowledge that they are likely hearing people talk about this virus. Maybe on the radio, people at school (students or staff), or within your home. Just because you are not talking to them, it doesn’t mean they are not hearing things. The power and control for them (and for all of us) is in asking questions and talking about it.
Through conversation we learn more and gain the information we need to feel in control.
Aided language display for augmentative and alternative communication AAC to talk about Coronavirus or COVID-19
Download our free COVID-19 aided language display
There are 2 pages to the ALD as it is intended to be a double-sided board. Printing each page and laminating them together is the most robust method for regular use.
Suggestions and information in this blog post are based on the following website information:
Last year (or was it the year before), I posted some ‘conversation placemats’ to encourage conversations about starting back at school. It’s been on my mind again lately as my daughter shows signs of excitement, nervousness, and trepidation about her return to school.
Strong feelings can be related to not knowing (or in some cases knowing and remembering) what to expect. They can also depend on their age, how school ended last year, and pretty much any random contributors at that moment. At our place, we talk a lot about the same things and sometimes different things. The key point is…we talk a lot.
For us parents, school means back to the packing lunch, washing uniforms and signing notes routine, but for kids, the thought processes are not always so predictable or rational. As always when it comes to kids, we really don’t know, even when we think we know. Whether your child is overly excited, overly nervous, or overly disinterested, chances are they are overly something. The best option is to listen and talk with them.
To make this easier if you have kids who use AAC systems, we’ve made some example boards to help you start the conversation, and to give your child some vocabulary for the things they might want to say.
You can print and use them as they are, or copy the vocabulary to your child’s device. However you choose to do it, be sure to give them the following:
Before I wrote this post, I had a look at a few websites talking about the transition back to school. One was a youtube clip where children say how they feel going back to school – watch it to give you some perspective if you need it, I counted the most hits on “nervous”.
Also, this informative Beyond Blue site that gives suggestions on how to talk to your kids about going back to school. From these and a bit of very current life experience, I created the boards below. Feel free to take these ideas and modify them as you need depending on your child and your family.
Use the example boards above in combination with your child’s speech, sign and/or augmentative and alternative communication system. We could make you a special board with a lot more vocabulary, but we think these conversations are a great opportunity to familiarise yourself with your child’s system and add in any extra vocabulary they might need for school. If you find you are missing a lot of words, have a chat to your speech pathologist or AAC support person to problem solve ideas.
You can talk about any or all of the following, and add words that your child might need to talk about things that are important to them.
If you are new to your child’s AAC system, this will be a fun challenge to explore it and find the vocabulary you need to say these messages. Remember you don’t have to point to symbols for all of the words, even just the key words is helpful. (eg. “I’m telling you something – it’s going to happen – home – you – me – cuddle” or even just “cuddle” will do).
These boards are designed for kids to say the things on their mind. Parents can use them to show them ideas for things to say too.
Remember, these are just ideas. You will get the best ideas about what they want to talk about by giving them time to say what they are thinking, offering ideas if they need them, and watching their response to different ideas and messages during your conversation. Watch and listen – taking the time and giving turns is one of the most important strategies you can use.
Rating scales are great for all sorts of things. It may take a bit of time to learn to use one but once your child understands how they work, you’ll find it useful for many different things.
Rating scale
Rating Scale ALD
Click here to download the back to school chat boards and rating scale
Start by using it for fun things like how much you like different foods, or what you thought of a book or movie, or how funny was your joke.
Then your child/person can start to learn how to rate important things like how bad is the pain, how did it make you feel, how did your first day at school go?
We’ve put a basic description in each box but the best thing to do is to add in your own personal words to match what you say in your family eg. some people may use words like ‘rockin’ or ‘spectacular’ others may prefer to use swear words or less-offensive stuff like ‘crap’ etc. We’ll leave that up to you. Have a fun family conversation deciding what words or phrases are best to go in the rating scale.
Enjoy the start of school and the conversations you’ll have. Good or bad, happy or sad, it’s the conversations that give us the best connections. Happy chatting…
UPDATED September, 2023.
This post is specifically about PODD (Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display) Communication Books (i.e. the non-electronic paper books) developed by Gayle Porter. Although other systems are also great, the list function in PODD books has been on my mind lately so I thought I’d write about it.
Lists are one of my favourite parts of the PODD. As a certified PODD presenter, I love the part in the workshop where we get to talk about lists and show examples of how they are used for real and meaningful interaction. There is a great video of a young girl talking about her holiday and listing off all of the places they visited on their last holiday. She uses words (names of places) that she didn’t even know before the holiday, and may not use regularly after a few weeks, but they were definitely motivating and relevant at that point in time. Had her mum not added these words to her list while they were on the holiday, she would never have had the opportunity to tell others where she had been – something all of us enjoy when returning from a vacation.
Lists in a PODD communication book are a way to add vocabulary that is not frequently used or pre-planned. When Gayle Porter, the developer of PODD, created the vocabulary within the PODD it was intended as a starting place. Core words along with others that had been frequently used by others in the process of development were included and less frequent words may have been left off to avoid a book that is double the size. Vocabulary selection in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an exercise in prioritisation. The most common words and those that need to be used quickly get the prime position on the front page and then the rest of the vocabulary is prioritised on other pages depending on the speed of navigation. Some words just don’t make the cut in a generic starter PODD especially those with fewer items per page as they have less vocabulary options available.
Never fear though, Gayle added ‘Lists’. Along with blank squares on some of the pages for people to add their own individual priorities, each section of the PODD has access to a list. The lists come in various shapes and sizes, but all of them allow for vocabulary to be added when it is needed. For more information on the Lists in PODD, refer to the Printable book Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display Communication books available on the Direct Access templates CD, or or the 2 day Introductory Workshop manual if you have attended a workshop. Gayle explains it much better than we do. If you don’t have access to these, then ask the person who made or prescribed your PODD for more information.
What I love about lists is the ability to add words in the moment and to talk about things that are specific to an individual, or that others may not know. The girl in the PODD workshop video tells her friend that she went to a place called ‘Seventeen Seventy’ in Qld, Australia. Many people would never guess that is a place name, and even if she had used the numbers page to say 1770, most would probably not make the connection and think it’s a date. When it is used through the pragmatic branch of places, then the ‘Holiday Places’ list, it is much easier to understand. She could also talk about lots of other places she travelled too.
Being interesting to others means we have things to say that others cannot guess or even figure out. Fringe vocabulary is a very important part of our conversations and sharing the information we have learned. Many children learn about new places, things, people and concepts at school, but without those words being added to their communication systems, they will not be able to share with others what they have learned. What is the point of learning something if you can’t tell anyone about it? Who knows when you will need to use the word ‘Rumplestiltskin’, ‘Hogwarts’ or ‘Prince William’ in the context of a conversation? That’s why we learn about these things – to connect that learning with other learning or experiences and talk about them to learn new things, or to share information with others. Imagine someone telling a person who uses AAC that they have just returned from a visit to England. The AAC user might ask “Did you see Prince William?” because they had just heard about him the week before at school. That would be a very appropriate comment to make, but only possible if Prince William was added to the list of famous people.
List of books
As discussed in the PODD manual, lists can be words or symbols, and lists can also be sub-categorised. As a general rule, if you are a communication partner and the child/person who uses AAC is experiencing, talking about or showing interest in something and the words are not in their book, that’s the time to add some key words to the lists. The person may not immediately use these words, but it’s important that they know they are there and how to find them (you can do this by modelling their use). It might be 6 months before they are used again, or 6 minutes. But if they are not there, they cannot be said. Remember that a person who uses AAC but is not yet literate, can only say the words that we have provided for them to use. Yes, it might take a while for someone to find a word on their list, but at least they can do it. If we neglect to add the word then even if they are thinking about that word, there is no way for them to say it when they want to. The time it takes you to grab a pen and write the word into the list is far less than the time it will take you to figure out what the person is trying to say at a later date.
You might think that a word is not relevant to someone else and decide it’s not worth adding, but when you do this, you are making decisions for the person. Of course you can try to prioritise the words on the list and put the most likely ones at the top, but remember, it’s not your voice, it’s theirs. Imagine if someone else were filtering your experiences and deciding which ones you could talk about in the future and which ones you could only think about.
‘Like words’ symbol list with a wider range of words to describe and comment.
So go ahead and fill up your lists. It will make for much more interesting conversations for both the person using the PODD and their communication partner. There are other strategies for expanding vocabulary that we will talk about another time, but for now have a go with your lists and explore diversity in your child/persons conversations.
Remember, communication is how you show your personality. It’s sharing, boasting, questioning, complaining, loving and saying something just because you want to. Everyone should be heard. Lists and adding new words to any system is the process by which conversation can be personalised for someone who uses AAC, allow them to say the words they are thinking and connect with their people.