Workshops

Topics:

The following is a list of topics for AAC workshops that can be presented over 2 days and a summary of the information that will be covered under each topic.

a) Social Stories… What are they and how do they help?
Social stories assist to effectively share social information with children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other social-communication difficulties. Social stories are individualized and explain in an explicit manner the events that take place in any social interaction along with the reasons for the required behavior that is expected of the individual. This workshop will cover the following:
  • Rationale for using social stories (e.g. attention, theory of mind, central coherence, self regulation, executive functioning)
  • Writing a social story to help the individual walk through the situation
  • Tailoring the social story to meet the individual's needs (e.g. vocabulary, sentence structure, comprehension and print reading ability)
  • How to implement social stories
  • Use social stories in conjunction with other visual supports as the social story may be one strategy of a behavior or positive programming plan
Various examples will be provided on how to use social stories with very young children, older children, adolescents and adults in a variety of settings to help them cope with new situations, transitions and changes in daily routines, any situations that may cause anxiety, social interactions; and learning tasks.
b) Keys to successful communication intervention for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder
This workshop will provide information on behavioural, communication, sensory issues and cognitive learning style of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Innovative intervention techniques and strategies to address these areas to maximise the individual's social communication skills will be discussed. Information on how to create and use visual strategies specifically with the individual such as PECS, schedules, mini schedules, choice systems, social stories, comic strip conversations, activity checklists, wh-boards?, rating scales etc. will be provided. Anxiety management strategies will be discussed along with communication partner and environmental strategies related to facilitating positive communication, behaviour and participation.
c) Practical communication therapy ideas for individuals with Asperger's Syndrome
Asperger's Syndrome is characterised by difficulties in social relational, social communication, language comprehension/auditory processing, sensory processing, flexible thinking and social imagination. This workshop will provide innovative intervention techniques and strategies to address these areas. We will discuss ways to facilitate the generalization and maintenance of skills for all age groups.
The following topics will be covered in the workshop
  1. Definition, causes, prevalence of people with Asperger's syndrome
  2. Understanding the triad of impairments in relation to
    1. Communication difficulties
    2. Social dysfunction
    3. Imagining and predicting outcomes
  3. Deficits associated with executive functioning which include planning, organising, sequencing, problem solving and other goal oriented behaviours
  4. Sensory issues associated with Asperger's syndrome
  5. Difference between Asperger's Syndrome and High Functioning Autism
  6. Assessment of people with Asperger's Syndrome
  7. Use of visual strategies for people with Asperger's Syndrome
  8. Helping people with Asperger's Syndrome cope with anxiety and frustration
  9. Understanding social stories and comic strip conversations
  10. Working with a team
  11. Parent's perspective on the impact of having a child with Asperger's syndrome on personal and family life
d) Introduction to Communication and AAC
This workshop will introduce the participant to the basic concepts, terminology, definitions and principles of communication and Augmentative Alternative Communication. Participant will gain an understanding of the What? Where? Who? When? Why? How? of AAC.
e) AAC Assessment of individuals who are intentional and symbolic communicators
This workshop will focus on the key assessment principles involved in conducting an AAC assessment to identify potential users of AAC. Participants will learn how to use the 'Individual Profile' which is an assessment tool to gain information about the individual's unique communication abilities, challenges and preferences. Participants will also learn how to use the 'Communication Partner Profile' and 'Unit Profile' to identify any environmental barriers that are impacting on the individual's ability to successfully participate through communication.
f) AAC systems for developing communication skills for intentional and symbolic communicators
This workshop will focus on how to use a variety of AAC intervention techniques to support the individual's development of communication skills for home, school, work and community. The participants will become familiar with both unaided (e.g. gestures, signing) and aided techniques (e.g. schedules, choice systems, activity checklists, task organisers, Wh- Boards) to help the individual communicate a variety of messages more independently and successfully. A variety of examples will be provided to demonstrate how AAC can be used effectively to increase the individual's attending, receptive, expressive and social skills.
g) Tips for using AAC systems
This workshop will deal with barriers that limit the individual's ability to have full access to AAC systems that will support their lifestyle. Some of the barriers discussed include access, portability, design, maintenance of the AAC communication systems, storage, insufficient updating of the communication systems and communication partner related issues.
h) Using AAC to jumpstart literacy
The "Let's Read Together - Circle of Literacy" provides a framework for developing literacy skills for all individuals with disabilities. Participants will learn innovative ways on how to incorporate a variety of AAC strategies with the Let's Read Together process to engage and support the individual in developing literacy. Information on how to use commercially available material and creating personalised material (e.g. Chat system, Individualised stories and simple sentence books) will be provided to illustrate how literacy instruction can be provided from both a functional skill and creative expression perspective.
i) Using Positive Behaviour Support to manage challenging behaviour
This workshop will focus on concepts, principles of developing and implementing positive behaviour support strategies to minimize the occurrence of challenging behaviours in the school, home and community setting. Participants will be guided though a set of key questions to determine the communicative function of the challenging behaviour, identify environmental and instructional variables that are contributing to and maintaining the challenging behaviour. A variety approaches will be explored to provide positive behaviour support (e.g. environmental redesign, using reinforcement, AAC strategies, teaching functional communication skills and coping skills). Examples of behaviour support plans will be used to illustrate the use proactive tactics geared towards supporting the individual with challenging behaviour to participate in a variety of settings.
j) Assessment and intervention for individuals who are pre-intentional communicators
This workshop will provide information to the participant on how to use the 'Individual profile' to assess the individual's receptive, expressive, social and cognitive skills. Intervention ideas on developing the individual's skills in daily routine, preferred and sensory activities in a variety of settings will be discussed. Strategies that communication partners can use to create a responsive environment will also be provided.
k) Involving individuals in the Person Centered Planning Process by using AAC
The process of 'Person Centred Planning' (PCP) involves learning how a person wants to live and then describing what needs to be done to help that person move toward that life (Smull & Burke Harrison, 1992). Communication barriers impact on the individual's ability to actively participate in the process effectively which further limits self-determination. In this workshop information will be shared on how to use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to help individuals with high/medium/low support needs participate in the PCP process by being involved in the decision making, choice making, problem solving, goal setting etc. Information on how to match the information to the individual's ability level and learning style will also be provided.
l) Using AAC Strategies to enable Success at Work
In this workshop information on how to use Augmentative and Alternative Communication Strategies in conjunction with vocational training methods will be provided to help the person gain and maintain a job. Strategies for developing the individual's understanding of what it means to do a job well, developing social awareness and encouraging a work ethic particularly when they may have a limited work history will be provided. These AAC strategies will also highlight how effective two way communication between the employer/support worker/job coach and the employee can be promoted.
m) Using Softpics with Fantasticpics
In this workshop participants will learn how to use the picture program Softpics with Fantasticpics to make visual displays for promoting communication, literacy and positive behaviours in the home, school, work, group home and community. Ideas on how to make displays on Microsoft Word, Power point and importing images into Boardmaker will be provided.
n) Signing in everyday interactions
Creating scripts is a useful way to ensure the use of AAC systems is interactive. Information on how to write and use the scripts to promote interactive communication will be provided. Participants will learn about a core bank of words that that can be used in any given communication interaction. In 'Let's Talk Together' we have called this the Interactive Message Pool (IMP). There are usually about 100 words in this IMP that are used regularly with the individual and they can be divided into categories such as: verbs, concepts, WH question words, emotions, and days which are generally signed. Participants will about how to combine IMP with Topic Specific Vocbaluary to make any given activity interactive.
o) Using AAC to develop emotion and problem solving skills
This workshop will provide participants with information on how to help develop the individual's understanding of emotions and develop their ability to use a range of techniques to change the individual's thinking and behaviour to help them manage their emotions. The topics covered within this workshop include helping the individual identify and express their feelings appropriately; learn how to recognize, understand and respond to other people's emotions, utilize emotions in decision - making and problem solving processes. Strategies on how to assist the individual develop problem solving skills by actively participating with the communication partner in a systematic problem solving approach will be provided. A variety of AAC strategies for managing positive and negative emotions related to anger, stress, frustration and anxiety will also be included.

Who should attend?

Parents, Disability workers, Educators, Administrators, Caregivers, Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists, Behaviour support personnel and students.

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