Transition tips

Most of us spend well over a decade of our younger lives at school. The transition from school to work, school to university – or to whatever life after school looks like – can be a tough one! And it becomes even more complex when you have a communication disability.

In this insight article, we share some strategies and ideas for you to help prepare your person to begin their new life after school, and be ready for whatever the future brings.

Talk about life after school

You don’t need to prepare anything for this, just talk as you normally would. If possible, use your person’s communication system to model the messages. Here are some ideas:

• “At the end of the year you will leave school” or “soon school will finish”
• “Maybe you feel worried, or excited. That’s ok, it’s a big change”
• “You can ask questions like… When am I leaving? Who is coming with me? Why am I leaving school?”
• “We will make sure you always feel safe”
• “You can still see your friends from school after you leave”

Social story

Create a story using Microsoft Word or the Pictello App outlining what will happen. Use photos and symbols. It’s ok if you don’t have all of the answers when you first introduce the story, you can add to it as you go along. Try to include photos of the school, your person and the key people in their lives. If you know where your person is transitioning to, whether it be further education, work or something else, start introducing this.

On-site visits

When you know where your person will be transitioning to after they finish school, organise some on-site visits as early as possible. It is important that the new setting, whether it is another educational facility, a workplace or somewhere else, becomes a familiar place for your person, to reduce anxiety they may experience about leaving school. Take photos if you can. Ask your person their thoughts about the visits each time they go. Try to gradually work up your days at the new location, so your person has an opportunity to get used to their new routine after school has finished.

Visuals

A visual calendar is a great way to support the lead up to finishing school and the start of their life after school. This may help you to talk about changes in their routine with symbols. A visual schedule may also help your person with new morning or afternoon routines once school has finished.

New vocabulary

Leaving school is a big change, so it is important to give your person access to the vocabulary they need to talk about it. If your person uses a communication app as part of their overall communication, you can program additional vocabulary to support the transition from school. Include the name of the place they are transitioning to once they leave school and the key people that will be in their lives. You could also create a chat page about the transition from school and questions that your person may ask. Be careful not to erase their school vocabulary. Most young adults still want to talk about school after they have left.

Involve the new team

If your person is transitioning to a new place such as a workplace or day options program, it is important that their new team understand how they communicate. You, your person and/or your speech pathologist can create a communication video talking about:

• What your person likes / doesn’t like (favourite footy team)
• How your person communicates (voice, sign, body language, PODD book, iPad with Proloquo2Go)
• How to use their communication system
• General communication strategies
• Activity ideas

These videos are an accessible and engaging way for others to get to know your person.

Connection with others

Once your person leaves school for the final time, find ways to stay connected and enable them to have conversations about their school experiences.

• Ask their teacher or school principle to record a video message. They could say something like “Hi . We miss you here at school. We hope you are doing well. We would love to hear about what you’re up to now”.
• Make a class photo easily accessible to your person so they can use this as a way to start an interaction about school.
• Ask the teacher to connect your person with a pen pal. This doesn’t need to be writing letters to one another. Instead, your person could create a message on their communication system. You could record them sharing the message in a video and then send it to their “pen pal”.

Keep learning

Learning doesn’t stop with school! Your person will have the opportunity to consolidate skills they have learned at school and pick up new skills on their post-school journey. Using these strategies, your person will be better prepared for life after school and empowered to embrace whatever the future holds. This is a new chapter full of possibilities and with your support and the right tools, your person will continue to thrive and grow in their own unique way.

Is your person already a client with Two Way Street? Talk to your Speech Pathologist about creating resources to support the transition from school.

Written by: Erin Morley, Speech Pathologist

On October 14th, the people of Australia will vote in a referendum. The question on the ballot paper is: “A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

Voters will be asked to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to this question.

At Two Way Street, we think it’s important that everyone has a voice. If you are over 18, then you are entitled to vote in the election. If you are under 18, then it’s still a very important topic of conversation. Not just for the outcome of this vote, but to consider and understand significant events occurring in our country and the world. This will help you to relate to information you might hear in the news or on social media, as well as to be part of conversations both in person and online about current events.

Voting is both a right and a privilege in Australia, as well as being compulsory for those over 18 (remember to enrol to vote if you haven’t already!). For those under 18, events like this referendum give us opportunities to talk about voting, laws and topics that help to build our understanding and capacity to make decisions, and to vote as an informed citizen after we turn 18.

Accessible resources for the Voice vote

The Australian government and others have created some accessible resources relating to this referendum. We’ve included links to these below.

We also think it’s important to provide opportunities for people to talk about the referendum, their reasons for voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and to ask questions before they make a decision. Good decisions include more than just being told information. Most people have conversations with friends, family, colleagues and even those who disagree with us in order to make decisions and prepare to vote.

To get the conversation started for people who use communication symbols to augment their communication, we have created a ‘Talking about The Voice’ aided language display (ALD). Of course there may be many more words required for a robust discussion on this referendum. This ALD is just to get the conversation started.

The Talking About The Voice ALD

The first page has vocabulary to talk about the Voice and express opinions. The second page (reverse side) includes some common questions as well as space to add the individual’s own questions that they might like to ask people. We’ve also included some spaces to add personal opinions or preferences to share with others once you’ve had a chance to think about it. If you are a parent or support worker, be sure to only add messages that have been created by the person or at a minimum, agreed upon by them.

After these discussions, you might also like to add messages to the person’s own AAC system for use in all situations, or consider sharing information on social media, or by joining their selected campaign. It is crucial that you gain consent for any action you take on their behalf and that you keep your preferences separate from theirs when sharing their message.

Tips when talking about the Voice with the ALD

• Point to (and/or read out) the messages on the board as you talk to the person, and give them opportunities to say things with the board too. They may not point to the messages but may use their body, voice or facial expression to show agreement or disagreement with your messages. Watch and listen to hear their opinions or questions.
• If a person can’t point to the symbols, then read out the options and ask them to tell you ‘yes’ or ‘no’. When you get to the one they want to say, ask if they are finished 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.
• Scan the QR code -> for an example of what that might look like.

• It may help to take a photo of the ALD, so you have it handy at all times. You never know when the topic of the referendum will come up. (Maybe when you’re out for coffee, or visiting friends).
• The Two Way Street talking about the Voice referendum ALD can be used to share information with a person who would benefit from symbols to aid their understanding, and/or it can be used by the person to ask questions or talk about the referendum and their decision.
• Remember that voting is a personal decision and it’s important to respect each individual’s views. When you are talking about The Voice with someone who uses AAC, be very aware of your own personal preferences and try to avoid any bias or coercion.

Examples of phrases using the ALD

Giving information:

• Start by reading the Easy English Fact Sheet this is a helpful way to share information to start the discussion.
• You could also ask the person to point to a section of the fact sheet if they don’t understand.
• You could say tell me more if you want more information.
• Let’s talk about the referendum.
• It’s on October 14, 2023
• It’s about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice/ The Voice
• You can vote. (Or You can’t (not) vote yet but we can talk about it).
• You can vote Yes or you can vote No.
• It’s your choice.
• (I have a question) What do you know about it?
• (I have a question) Do you have any questions for me?

Talking about the referendum:

• You tell me more and point to the Easy English Fact Sheet or any documents or websites you’ve been looking at.
• I want to learn more (communication partner to offer options for the ways the person could do that such as watch, listen, read, talk with others).
• (I have a question) Why do we need it?
• (I have a question) What do you think?
• (I have a question) What will happen if yes/no?
• I don’t know.
• Tell me more.
• I choose/think/vote Yes
• I choose/think/vote No
• That’s not fair.
• That’s fair.
• Me too. (to agree with something someone else said)
• I heard/think it’s good/not good for All Australians
• I heard/think it’s good/not good for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• I heard/think it’s good/not good for people who are not Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• We (all Australians) should vote yes/no.
• We don’t need The Voice to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• We need The Voice to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• I feel proud of Australia because of this vote.
• I am worried for Australia because of this vote.
• We (you and me) should ask some other people what they think (I have a question) What do you think?

Enjoy the conversations and we look forward to a referendum where everyone has a voice about the Voice!

Other information sources

The Voice website, includes:

• a fact sheet written in an easy to read way with pictures to explain ideas
• videos in Auslan under ‘translated resources’
• First Nations toolkit featuring a Conversation Guide
• resources in languages other than english under ‘translated resources’

Visit the Australian Electoral Commission for more accessible resources and information on enrolment and voting.

Civics Australia also provides information about the referendum in an engaging way.

When you’re little, emotions are big! Think back to when you were young. Did you throw an occasional tantrum? Did you have a bad day and go over it again and again in your head? Until you eventually talked about it with someone you trust and finally felt that huge sense of relief from a problem shared… Probably. 

We’ve all had a tough few years and kids have watched their world evolve in ways we could never imagine a short time ago. One of the main messages conveyed when the world was in the turmoil of a pandemic was to ‘stay connected’. We stay connected with one another through sharing stories, ideas, thoughts and even our sense of humour. And we use language to manage our emotions – to tell people how we’re feeling, to validate ourselves, to get help and to regulate ourselves. 

What happens when you have a communication disability?

So just imagine, you have a million thoughts in your head – some are worries about the future, some are funny stories about your day, some are wondering about what’s happening with your body… but, you need an augmentative communication system like a PODD or communication device, and maybe also a communication partner to share your thoughts clearly. You may not get the same opportunities to talk things through like your siblings or peers.

Emotional development is extremely intertwined with language development. During early years of communication, parents describe their own emotions and the emotions of their child. This ‘emotion talk’ is how we navigate our feelings and start to create our belief systems that stay with us through life. So it’s time to start talking about the important stuff with children with a communication disability, as early as possible, so they too can build a strong foundation for emotional well-being.

Here’s our top strategies on how you can start ‘talking about stuff’ to help manage those emotions

Set the scene

Just being aware that emotional development and language development go hand-in-hand is important. Think about all the things that happen in a day that can affect a child emotionally. Create a supportive environment, where you notice when your child may have had strong feelings about something. Celebrate and acknowledge those feelings when you notice them, and do that often! There may not be a response from the child yet, but it’s a great way to ensure they feel heard and can navigate those feelings. And keep talking about stuff in age appropriate ways! 

Provide learning opportunities

Make vocabulary available. Further to that, model emotional conversations. These conversations may be about something that happened that day or what’s happening in a story you’re reading. You can also scaffold and co-construct messages, to figure out what is happening for your child and help them learn what it means to feel a certain way, how to share their feelings with others and how to indicate why they’re feeling that way. 

Promote independence

It is crucial to encourage independent exploration and problem solving from an early age, no matter how a child communicates. Ask children to direct you when appropriate, respect preferences and begin to negotiate. Perhaps you could include your child in interviews with support workers. Any time you find yourself advocating for your child, add those messages to their communication system and show them how to advocate for themselves. Let them hear from people with lived experiences of communication difficulties. Always respect and enable privacy and authorship for anyone using AAC. Do they have the opportunity to talk privately? Can they tell you ‘don’t say that’ or ‘don’t tell anyone’?  Can they clarify a message, or say ‘that’s not what I meant’? 

By adopting these simple strategies, you can help your little one manage big emotions and navigate their world with confidence and resilience. 

Learn more

To learn more about positive emotional development in children with communication difficulties, take the FREE Two Way Street online course ‘Talking About The Important Stuff’. The course gives parents and key communication partners the skills and knowledge they need to enable meaningful conversations with their kids. 

Apologies to those who thought I may be a regular blogger. It’s just not the case for many reasons – we all just do what we can fit in. I’m sure I’m not alone on that front!!!!

Anyway, with Christmas fast approaching, I decided to share some of the examples and ideas I’ve been sharing with my clients who use AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) and at my workshops. In my view, there are 2 key things to consider:

·       How can the AAC user learn to use, or make better use of their existing comprehensive communication system (ie. the device, book, or app that is used to communicate a range of messages across a range of environments and communication partners) to participate in Christmas related activities? If you, or someone you are supporting, does not have access to a comprehensive communication system, I strongly urge you to follow this up with your speech pathologist or support team to get started.

·       How can we supplement or augment their system with fast, simple and where possible ‘error-free’ options (let’s call these ‘add-ons’) to ensure successful and enjoyable participation within Christmas activities? 

For both of these approaches, it’s important to think about the communication opportunities and challenges that will or may arise at Christmas time. We all have different experiences, traditions and priorities at Christmas. There is no recipe for the vocabulary you will need, but it may help to think through this worksheet (based on the Choosing Apps for Communication flowchart on my website). The flowchart was put together to in response to questions about Apps, but could be applied to the use of any AAC system, not just iPads. I’ve included some examples on the worksheet to give you the idea, but it is important that you consider your own activities and social circles to make it work for you.

As you work through the document, you will find that some of the communication opportunities and challenges are easily accomplished with your existing system but others may be better achieved with an add-on.

It’s important to practice and develop use of the ‘existing’ communication system so that:

·       The vocabulary is available at all times and not reliant on another device or activity specific board to be provided to the user.

·       The vocabulary may be transferrable to other situations or events e.g. Using the word “Cheers” is not just a tradition at Christmas, but may be used regularly at other social and special events.

·       Christmas-related words can be combined with words that are not necessarily considered in the  ‘Christmas’ category. (E.g. It’s common to use question words in combination with Christmas events, activities, objects, etc.)

·       We are ensuring that the person using AAC can also talk about something other than Christmas!!!

 The best way to support and teach use of Christmas-related vocabulary and messages within a person’s existing system is to model the messages yourself on the book, or device. This will help to figure out what items you may need to add, as well as the best and quickest way to navigate to words or phrases.  Be sure to remember the last 2 steps on the worksheet and flowchart– ‘Practice’  and ‘Use and Review’ to ensure that the person who uses AAC knows how to use any new vocabulary you have added and how to find it in their system.

When using an existing system, make use of pages or options within that system to include Christmas related interactions. Eg. If you have a ‘My Stories’ or ‘anecdotes’ page, you may want to link to a subcategory about ‘Christmas Stories’. Additionally, you could create pages or vocabulary items that set the topic or start the conversation – such as:

·       Remember that Christmas when….. (then link to ‘Categories’ or ‘Main’ page)

·       My favourite thing about Christmas is……

·       I’ll tell you what always happens at Christmas…..

·       I’ll show you my photos – Can you open the Christmas folder in my photos app?

You might also consider some temporary changes for this time of year. For example, on your communication book, instead of navigating through a range of pages to get to the ‘Christmas’ page, add a ‘sticky note’ or sticker to the front page that says ‘Go straight to the Christmas page’. You can take this one off once the Christmas fever has worn off, but it will speed up the conversation at this time of year.

(NB. You can use this strategy at other times of year or if important topics are a temporary ‘buzz’. Also be sure to consider access considerations if you are doing this – it’s possible that it may not work out within a scanning sequence)

 Add-ons are best used when speed and success are important priorities. For example, the Santa at the mall may not be a skilled communication partner, and know that he should wait patiently while a young AAC user navigates from page to page on her device to construct her message. In this situation, an ‘add-on’ strategy such as a pre-programmed sequence on an app (eg. TapSpeak Sequence) or a Step by Step Communicator may be the most appropriate option to ensure participation. Of course the young girl would be involved to whatever extent possible in preparation of the message at home to ensure that Santa gets the right information! Here’s a video example of a simple 4 step message sequence on the TapSpeak Sequence App.

 If your device or app has a ‘recents’ (eg. In Proloquo2Go) or a ‘store text to button’ function, this is a good way to combine use of an existing system with some temporary add-ons to ensure speed and success. Instead of programming the ‘add-on’ into a separate app or device, set up the messages in advance and then when the moment comes, use them from the ‘Recents’ tab. 

 Below are some other examples of Christmas related ideas and add-ons:

·       Photograph a message created on a device, or a combination of words created on a non-electronic book (E.g. PODD) and send these by email or other electronic means. 

You can even use an app like ‘Doodle Buddy‘ or ‘Drawing Pad’ to make them more festive.

·       Use iMovie to create a video message. Example video (See my previous blog post for other ideas on using movies)

·       Create simple ‘Christmas message’ boards for use during the festive season. These are ‘add-ons’ and typically set up to be ‘errorless’. If you (or the AAC user) typically use scanning access, sometimes a simple direct access board can be a lot of fun.

o   Here are some examples on:

§  Go Talk Now– includes a couple of Christmas messages, a video created from a PODD message (from example above) in the red box, and a Christmas carol video downloaded from YouTube using a suitable app on the ipad (e.g. Santa Claus is coming to town).

§  TapSpeak Button (or similar app that allows a single message) or a single hit device (such as a Bigmack Communicator) to say “Cheers” or some other culturally appropriate toast.

§  Answers:YesNo (Yes/No App) – use of the Favourites option to have access to 2 simple Christmas messages.

§   Using a sequenced app or device – add a variety of Merry Christmas messages rather than just boring people (and yourself) with the same one over and over. You can say different messages like “Merry Christmas”, “Seasons Greetings”, etc or just say the same message with different intonation. 

§  Scene and Heard– Use a visual scene display to show off what you got for Christmas. See video example. 

Please note, there are lots of apps that do the same type of thing, I’m not recommending any specifically, but just giving examples of how to set things up.

 Other ideas:

• Use Photo Albums within your photo app, and store your selected photos related to a particular topic (e.g. Highlights of 2012, Things I’m looking forward to in 2013, etc.) It may be a good idea to create a ‘photo’ that includes the title of the topic to include in the slideshow, or use an app that allows you to add text to the photos before you put them in an album. The person using AAC could swipe through to find the photograph they want to show, or they could simply be set up as a slideshow to play during a party that will stimulate or initiate conversation with those who are not so familiar with using your main communication system.
• Talk’n Photos or SpokenPhoto can also be used for this purpose, they just take a little more programming time than just dragging photos into an album.
  

o   Create a “Remember the Christmas when….” page on your device or in your book. You can use this to tell of your favourite Christmas memories. You can include memories, traditions, or just your favourite things. Remember that these need to be your memories, not someone else’s!!! It’s worth the time it takes to put them together if you save them on a page like this and you can use them year after year.  If you prefer, you can create this as a separate little booklet and then program a message in your device or communication book to direct someone to get your Christmas book (“Could you get my Christmas book from my bag?” or “I need to tell you a story from my Christmas book”). One other little tip is to put this book away when you pack up the Christmas tree and that way you will remember it again next year and be prompted to update it when you set up your tree

• Take photos throughout the holidays to use to talk about Christmas when you see friends again or go back to school. One of the most common topics of conversation in January that you could prepare for is “How was your Christmas?” “What did you do over Christmas?”  If you are creating a sequenced message e.g. In a paper flip book, on a Step by Step Communicator , or in TapSpeak Sequence app, or in an iPad book like BookCreator or  Pictello, it’s always good to include a partner-focused question at the end. E.g. “How about you?” (other people love a chance to talk about themselves J)

o   Partner-focused questions are really important for good conversations. This will be helpful during the Christmas social events. Practice using some of these from your questions page before you catch up with someone, or go to a party. Think about what you could ask and practice putting together the message so that it’s quick and easy when the time comes.

• Other ways to give Christmas greetings:

o   Post messages on Facebook and update your status with news of events, Christmas memories, and favourite things. If you have a Facebook page in your communication book or device, this is a good time to familiarise yourself with this page. Keeping in touch with friends online is a great way to provide context to the conversation next time you see them.

o   Record a video or audio message from your device and post it on Facebook, YouTube or email it to your friends. This would be a great Talking Christmas card.

I hope these ideas are useful, or have sparked some other ideas. Feel free to post your own ideas to share with others. There are many different ways to participate in the Christmas season. I’m sure there is much more creativity out there than the simple ideas I’ve posted here today.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all, Janelle.