Finding the Words Sept - Oct 2008

Finding the Words…with augmented communication!

Part 3

Hello, dear readers and welcome to our third column on 'finding the words' with augmented communication! Let's begin by reviewing where we've been so far. In our first column, we described augmented communication as a natural process, one that parents and teachers use every day with their language-developing children. We provide pictures, for instance, to make our language easier to understand, and to help our kids express themselves more successfully.

In our second column, we featured a teenager named Thomas, who has explored many types of AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) over his 15 years, rejecting some modalities, while embracing and self-styling others. We recommended that you begin the story of your own child's communication, and use it as the jumping off point for AAC decision-making.

Now, in this third column, we will help you get started, by first asking you to describe what your child loves. What are the things that make him happiest? Next, you will describe how your child communicates those loves. Before long, you will have begun a process of decision-making: how to support your child's communication, how to individualize supports, and how to help your child continue to develop speech and language along the way!

It all begins wherever your child is now. Let's start with what you know.

Chapter 1 – What my child loves

What delights your child? What makes him laugh? Or jump up and down with delight? Let Thomas, or teenaged mentor, reassure you that one's loves simply are! They are a treasured part of what makes each of us unique. For Thomas, you might recall, they include laughing, bugging his friends, making a mess with bubble juice, going to the grocery store, leading his mom on a drive to a destination known only to him. That's Thomas!

I'll give you one more example. Three-year-old Russel, whom we featured in an earlier column series on visual thinking, used some echolalic language, and was formulating only a few phrases on his own. His loves were pretty clear, however. He loved automatic doors, watching cars go down the street, boxes with well-fitting lids, sticky-sweet desserts, his dad's whiskers, 'Exit' signs, and a complete alphabet puzzle, for starters.

Now that you have some examples, please stop and write Chapter 1 for your child. Jot down 5 or more things that delight him. Don't worry about 'how' you know what you know; just make a list. Don't judge yourself or your child… Don't discount something because you think it's 'a stim'. Just keep writing.

Chapter 2 – How I know what my child loves

How did you learn your child's loves? What were the clues? Does he carry around the letter 'B' all day? Does he cry until you rewind his favorite scene in a movie? Does he fuss unless you dress him in one of his gold shirts, every day?

Let's take Russel as an example. I knew what this 3-year-old loved when he:

(1) looked, smiled, and laughed each time an automatic door opened or closed

(2) stood by a window to watch for cars going down the street, laughing whenever one went by, and occasionally sharing eye contact with an adult who was watching too

(3) went to every 'Exit' sign in a building; if carried, leaned towards them

(4) assembled alphabets from sets of letters, and cried if a letter was missing

Now, please think about the items on your own child's list, and how he demonstrated enjoyment of each. How did you know he loves Barney, or sand, or whatever it is… Please take your time!

Done? Great! You have just proven that you are your child's best communication partner! In the process, you have described your child's communication, and taken the first steps of an AAC assessment!

Chapter 3 – My child's communication modalities

Now let's look more closely at the modes of communication your child uses. To get you ready, consider the modalities Russel used in indicating his loves. They included eye gaze, facial expression, body orientation, manual manipulation, and vocalizing.

Now, consider how each modality fit into Russel's life:

* Eye gaze – As a visual youngster, Russel always looked at the objects of his desires, thus pointing out with his eyes what interested him. Although Russel never pointed with his whole hand or finger, he always 'pointed' with eye gaze. Eye contact is a special kind of visual referencing Russel has always reserved for moments when he and someone else share something special.

* Facial expression – Russel never used manual gestures, but his facial expressions were always indicators of his loves, dislikes, and questions.

* Body orientation – Low-tone as a toddler, Russel was still able to lean in the direction he wanted to go! As he was being held, his body 'reached' in a way his arms were not ready to. Once he could walk, Russel's body orientation included moving himself to the object of his affection!

* Manual manipulation – Russel's eyes always seemed to 'control' his hands. Even before he could coordinate his hands with his arms, he could control his hands if they were close to his face. Russel made choices, moved things, handed things to others, and spelled with plastic letters.

* Vocalizing – Russel has always been vocal. While his language has taken years to develop (at age 11, he is still working on it), his voice has always been available to him. He could not always find the words he wanted, but he could always scream or cry, and almost always laugh or cheer with delight.

Yes, it takes some thought to come up with the 'modalities' your child uses, and, we will tackle this together in the next column. In the meantime, we wanted to give you a sneak preview into what you will discover once you do.

For Russel, eye gaze told volumes at an early age. As a language augmentation, it was flawless. His parents could just look at his eyes and know where his brain was going! Eye contact was rare, but highly meaningful. Since it was always spontaneous, it told great stories, and could be considered AAC at its best. Russel's eye gaze, facial expression, and eye contact needed free reign to be meaningful, however. We could not, and did not, target them to work on.

But Russel's other augmentative modalities were ones he could work on, and he enjoyed it! Russel loved 'manual manipulation', and, as he got stronger, his hands became coordinated with the 'body orientation' of whole body activities. Russel didn't focus on pictures, but he loved the alphabet, so spelling, reading, and writing became natural augmentative modalities. Over time, in fact, Russel's beautiful hand writing became a much more reliable communication mode than his hard-to-retrieve oral language.

But Russel's story is his own, not your child's…and not the same as any other child's. Next time, we'll continue to help you look at your child by presenting a completely different scenario: a child with less manual dexterity, but with more interest in pictures. Again we'll look at how the best AAC builds on modalities a child prefers and finds most salient.

In the meantime, we know your child will enjoy your focused attention on his communication, and we know, too, that his augmented communication will benefit from it!

Call quote: The best AAC builds on modalities a child prefers and finds most salient.