It is great to see that more community places are coming on board with AAC and accessible communication. Maybe you’ve seen some of those cool communication boards in your local playground like the one below that we developed for the City of Playford Fremont Park Playground, in South Australia.

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?

• An activity (ie. playground) specific communication board. The playground board has been designed to include a range of words and messages that are ‘predictable’ in a playground setting.
• A representation of the way that some people in our world communicate. This shows that those who created the playground acknowledge and respect this form of communication. It also creates awareness of this form of communication and may prompt people to learn more about the use of symbol-based communication boards.
• An added prop to enhance interaction for others who might also need it, such as young toddlers.

Who are they for?

• Playground boards were designed to be used by a child/person who is not able to successfully communicate their message with speech. This might be someone with a communication disability, a small child or someone who does not speak the same language as their peers.

• Playground boards can also be used by anyone at the playground and can be part of the game or just a different way to say things.

How to use them:

The idea of the boards is that a child/person might point to the symbols to ask for, talk about, or direct activities. Below are some examples of the kinds of things you could say by pointing to the symbols on the playground board. Then their friend or parent, could use the symbols to answer them or take a turn about something else. It’s just like talking with symbols.

An important note is that if you do have verbal speech, you can still talk while pointing to the symbols. Using the symbols just helps to get the message across clearly, or can be an alternative to speech if someone has a communication disability.

If your child can’t independently go over to the board and point to the symbols, you might like to try some of these ideas:

• Point to (and/or read out) the messages and ask them to tell you ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when you get to the one they want to say. After they choose one, ask if they are done or want to add another word, otherwise you might only get half of the message.
• To speed things up, you might point to a column at a time first, then the individual messages. Watch this video to learn more about scanning the communication board.
• Maybe it would help if you take a photo of the board so that you can carry it around with you at the playground. That way you have it handy all of the time.
• If you are going back again, then print a copy of the photo, or download a copy of the playground board from the playground website if it’s available.
• If your child uses their own communication book or device, you could add some of the vocabulary from this board if you don’t already have it, or even make a page for this playground if you visit regularly. This is a great option because then you can talk about the playground before and after you go there too! It’s always great to tell others about the fun you’ve had or what you’re going to do first when you get there.

Extra Tips:

• Use the board yourself to talk to your child.  Doing this will help them learn how it can be used for lots of different messages (see examples below). It also shows them that it’s a good way to talk about things and to help them learn what all of those symbols mean.
• Don’t make them use the board if you already know what they are saying. This board is designed to enhance communication, not make them tell you something you already know.
• Encourage other children to use it with your child. There is nothing more motivating than seeing other children valuing and using something that you need to use. Your child will likely want to copy the messages they see others saying, or at least feel like they are not the only one using this board.
• The other benefit of encouraging other children to use the board is that they will always come up with more interesting messages. Children are not only good models for physical activity, but also for fun and interesting things to say.
• If your child is just beginning to use communication symbols, just show them 1 or 2 word messages rather than having to point to all of the words in a sentence.

Example messages: The playground board has a range of words and messages so that your child can say some of the predictable things they may be thinking when they are at the playground.

Below are some examples of things they might be able to say or that you could show them how to say. Interaction is not just about asking for something. Lots of times children can do that just by pointing to the place in the playground. This board also gives them the opportunity to say other types of messages such as those listed below in orange.  Under each message type, are some example messages. The blue text shows words that you might find on a playground board such as the one in the photograph.

We’ve also created 2 levels (Beginner and More Advanced) depending on the complexity of language you need to use.  

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.

Make sure it’s not all work, no play!

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”

ABC News

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):

• You and me (we) wash hands
• Stay away from sick people
• Try not to touch our face 
• Stay home
• You and me (we) have supplies if we need to stay home
• Go to doctor if you and me (we) get sick
• Doctors making medicine for sick people soon

 

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:

• What is COVID-19?
• Who gets sick?
• How do you get sick/COVID-19?
• What can we do?
• What about (person)? – If you think they might be worried about others. 
• What if you and me (we) get sick?

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. 

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:

• https://childmind.org/article/talking-to-kids-about-the-coronavirus/
• https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-04/how-to-talk-to-children-about-coronavirus/12020324

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:

• Opportunities to learn the  words they might need to talk about what they are thinking, feeling and doing as they start  back at school, 
• Opportunities to ask questions or clarify things, and to ask you to ‘tell me more or ‘tell me again’,
• Opportunities to say the same things over and over if they are excited or nervous, or just want to practice. Or to ask you to say the same things over and over if they want to hear things multiple times, and
• Opportunities to tell you things that you don’t already know. Don’t assume you know, let them tell you. Don’t steal their turns, let them share their own news. 

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. 

Get talking to your kids about school:

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. 

• What’s going to happen? – you will probably need to talk about this multiple times. Try to use the AAC system as often as possible and give your child time to react or take a turn after each point. Watch their responses if they are not yet able to use a lot of words for themselves. 
• The school day routine – include things like time they need to wake up, whether you will be rushed and busy or have plenty of time, what other things you need to do, siblings needs and roles, uniform requirements, lunch preferences, important things to pack, what time you need to get to school, etc. You will know what things are important to your child, or if not, watch them as you talk about things and this will help you to know what they pay the most attention to. 
• How will you get to school each day? Talk about things that are likely to happen and the details of your trip to school, or your morning routine (especially for those who don’t like change). You could even try making a video of the trip or routine, or a video of you talking about it. That will give your child an opportunity to watch this over and over again to gain the reassurance they might need. 
•  Get their clothes ready early and pack the bag – talk about what they need, show them it’s packed so they don’t feel anxious. Don’t forget to talk about how important it is that they take all of their AAC books and devices so they can chat with friends, teachers and ask questions when they learn new things. Also to tell you about their day when they get home. 
• Talk about the things they will likely do at school. Do a pretend day at school, or role play using their AAC system to talk about what’s happening or show them how to say some things during playtimes (eg. “my turn”, “I like it”, “‘what’s that”, or when something happens that they are not ready for (eg. “stop”, “I don’t know” – giving them this vocabulary will give them control and power. This is very important for peace of mind. 
• Some other things to say are things like:
  • I am (feel) proud of you. 
  • I will miss you.
  • You can do it
  • I know you. 
  • Let’s talk when you get home. 
  • I can’t wait to hear about it.
  • I wonder what fun new things you’ll do. 
  • When you get home, let’s have a big cuddle. 

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). 

Let your kids tell you their own thoughts about going back to school

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

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…

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 (or as we sometimes say, the waterfront properties) 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 I 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. In all of the world, I would never guess that as a place name, and even if she had used the numbers page to tell me, I probably wouldn’t have made the connection, but on the ‘Holiday Places’ list, I figured it out easily.

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 Harry’ 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 Harry?” 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 Harry was added to the list of famous people.

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.

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 I 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. (our vision statement). Lists and adding new words to any system is the process by which conversation can be personalised for someone who uses AAC, and allow them to say the words they are thinking.

Recently, I’ve read and listened to alot about people’s views on inclusive education for children with disabilities. I am an advocate of mainstream schooling options for children with disabilities and see in our future a world where schools welcome (not just accept) children of all types, with programs that support all learning needs across all spectrums of abilities, backgrounds and interests. However I also understand that many parents are currently making decisions for their child based on the best options they have available at any given point in time. Until mainstream schooling is well resourced, well supported and easily accessible to all, the choices families make for their children are their own, based on a multitude of considerations and should not be judged.

In this post , I want to reflect on my own experience as a parent of a child without a disability, but who has been exposed to disability since birth due to the nature of my work and interactions with some of my friends who have disabilities.

I’m extremely grateful for what she has and will continue to learn from these experiences. She is learning to embrace difference and to have compassion for people who have different challenges in their lives, she is also learning the following things:

• Resilience, adaptability, and perseverance – who better to learn these things from than those who must exercise these characteristics every day to participate in an often inaccessible environment?
• She is learning that there are alternate ways to do things, and that people have strengths in different areas. This has been helpful when we try to teach her about learning new things, or that you can’t be good at everything.
• She is learning that if you have trouble doing something one way, then try another. There is a wonderful creativity in the adaptation of getting to the same end but in a different way.
• She is learning that how you look or behave on the outside is not an indication of who you are on the inside.
• She is learning not to fear difference but to ask questions in a respectful way so that she can understand.
• Through watching and participating in some of the activities that may be modified to include a child with disabilities, she has the opportunity to learn another way, consolidate her learning, or pick up on something she may have missed. She can learn strategies for learning that she may otherwise not have been exposed to.

Currently she does not have a child with a disability in her class but she did have in Kindergarten. I welcomed this and would do so again in the future. I see it as a benefit to her learning rather than a detriment. Just as I do when there is a child from another country, culture, or with lives with differences to hers. All children take up the teacher’s time. That’s the point of school. Some take more than others and some need more than others. Most teachers manage the competing demands of a class full of children masterfully and with a fairness that is sometimes difficult for parents of individual children to perceive.

None of us are without risk of some day also having a disability or challenge to our participation in mainstream life. One day my daughter may grow up to have a child of her own with a disability, or a friend or family member. Maybe she will be tasked with caring for me in the future. I’m proud and thankful that she has had the opportunity to develop an awareness of the types of support, equipment and creative problem solving that she may have to undertake in her role as a caregiver. She knows about wheelchairs, powered mobility, sensory considerations, PODDs, speech generating devices, and eye gaze technology. She knows that just because someone can’t speak, or she can’t understand them immediately, that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to say. She is excited to hear of the accomplishments of my friends or other people with disabilities that we read about and often asks questions like “How do they drive a car?” or “How does he brush his teeth?”. I answer her with as much information as I can share because learning these things is a huge asset to her, to me and the whole of society. Maybe one day she will invent something that will change peoples lives (which may include mine and yours) because she has learned these things as a child. In fact she already wrote about this as a 5 year old.

To those children, families, teachers, support staff and principals who are or have been in mainstream environments. Thankyou. You guys are the Suffragettes for an inclusive and accessible society. Of course we need more resourcing, support and learning to make this thing work well, but the solution is not to give up. You guys are paving the way for better inclusion, and we will learn from the challenges you face today. Just because something is hard, it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it.

So let’s all do all that we can to achieve our goal faster:

• offer your support to the teacher and school by volunteering to help in class with reading or other activities,
• show your encouragement and acceptance to the parent of the child with a disability who has to show up at school every day wondering if other parents are resenting their child’s place in the classroom,
• invite them on a play date or to birthday parties,
•  talk to your kids about the things they can learn from every child in their class. Use the child with disabilities as an example of positive traits like resilience, adaptability and perseverance and talk about their personality and interests rather than their disability.
• if you don’t know what to do, how you can help, or what to tell your child when they ask you questions, then ask someone in a respectful way. For example, “My son is really excited to have your daughter in his class. What is a good way to explain to him about her communication book?”

One day the word inclusion will not be necessary. We won’t need a word for it as it will just be a thing. It’s up to us how long we take to get there. Proactive messages and actions will speed things up. Don’t just accept it, promote it!! I’d like to see it in my lifetime please!!

Recently I attended a planning meeting for a client’s transition into a mainstream Reception class (the South Australian equivalent to Kindergarten). We talked alot about how to best prepare him for school and all of the things we needed to put in place AT school, but when I thought back about my daughter’s first year of school, (and the following years), it was the after school conversations that were also really important.

Starting school is a major time of transition for us as parents as well as our children. For the first time, they are spending a significant amount of time away from us and we are dying to know what they have done, thought and experienced throughout the day.

• Are they ok?
• Do they like their teacher?
• Are they worried about the other kids?
• What interesting or funny things happened?

In subsequent years, we gradually get a clearer picture of the process but the subject matter gets more complex. Although most parents find that getting their child to talk about school is not as easy as it seems, it does of course pose extra challenges for children who use AAC and are still developing their language and communication skills.

So today, when I was chatting to my client’s mum after the school meeting, I suggested they begin a routine at home that creates a habit and models the process of talking about your day. Of course, we can never know what to expect from our kids, nor can we ensure they will always tell us the things we want to know (as far as I know, no parent has figured this one out), but we can create a situation where they are given the opportunity, where talking about your day becomes a family routine, and where their favourite people in the world are doing something that they might want to learn to do too (sharing with each other – not just the what, but also the good, bad and ugly).

I decided to modify an idea that I have used previously to encourage conversation at dinner time.

These are just a simple place mat (print and laminate) with some conversation starters. Click here to download a pdf.  There are lots of options you can use on the place mat.  We chose to limit the starting one to 4, but make yours with as many as you like, and as simple or complex as you like  depending on the people in your family.

Other ideas might be:

• ‘My favourite thing today was…’
• ‘I’m really excited about….’
• ‘Something I’ve been thinking alot about is ……’
• ‘In the news today…..’

For school children, you could try something like this one (click here to download a pdf)

Then of course you have to help your child learn to use them! It’s just a tool not a magic bullet.

Here are some of my suggestions for implementing them. The amount of modelling and scaffolding you use will depend on the individual:

• Just start by using them yourself and show the child who uses AAC what they are all about.
  • Model indicating that you want to say something,
  • Model choosing a ‘conversation starter’ from the place mat,
  • model how you think about what to say,
  • model how you can tell about it using their AAC system,
  • and if they seem excited about it, let them take a turn or model how they could tell their news (if you know what it is)

• Of course if they are already initiating use of their system, you are good to go. You might just want to model some more creative responses if things get a bit dull 🙂

• Some children might just need experience in taking their turn without the pressure of selecting the words on the spot. Try setting up an ‘errorless’ pages on their device using the 4 sentence starters as the buttons and each night you can change the message underneath.This speeds things up if there are others at the table who are not so good at waiting for their turn (like little sisters or brothers !!)
• It’s important to co-plan the messages ahead of time so that it really is their message and not yours, and that they know what the button will say when they press it! (Imagine being asked to take a turn in a conversation and not knowing what you were going to say!)
• You could also co-plan before dinner time and then use a sequenced message device or app, or make a video of their turn as a time efficiency, or as a way that they could independently take their turn. Then just one or a few hits of an iPad or switch could share their stories. This could be particularly good if partner assisted scanning is needed and the partner is busy eating their own dinner!! As as added bang for buck, you could then share the video with others like grandparents who may not be at the dinner table but would still love to hear what’s going on at school. Facebook messenger, text or email videos are a great way to stay in touch.
• Once they get some practice and confidence, you may see more spontaneous messages with their system, and you could start encouraging them to make comments or ask questions when another person takes their turn etc.

This version is just a simple starting point, but goes beyond common mealtime boards that often contain only”more”, “finished”, “yum”, “yuck” and the names of food items. It can also promote a fun family sharing time together.
For older children and adults, here is a link to some cool place mats I found on the web chowtimechat.com

I’m sure with all of these ideas you can modify these or make your own to suit your family.