Picture Perfect!

If we were to work together, you would quickly learn that I love AAC. AAC stands for Augmentative-Alternative Communication and it is what lead me to the field of Speech-Language Pathology (even though I didn’t know it at the time). I was enlisted in and wrote orders for the United States Navy. Within the office, there was a typist who was deaf. Me, being the talker that I am, couldn’t communicate with her because I didn’t know a lick of sign language. This got me thinking about what it would be like to not be able to communicate. As I mentioned, I’m a talker and this sounded like a fate worse than death! (Okay, so at twenty I may have been a little dramatic.)

Many, many years later, I am entrenched in the world of Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) and coming up with alternative ways for individuals who have no functional means of communication to make themselves heard. It’s a tough but rewarding job. If you want to know more about the life of an SLP, drop me a line and I would be happy to chat with you about it.

One of the ways we help students express themselves, at Re-Education services is to use low tech communication boards known as Topic Boards. A topic board is an activity specific visual that can be used in several ways. For a student with limited or no communication, the items on the board can be pointed to as a means of expressing a message. For a student who is verbal but seems to “lose” their ability to communicate when frustrated or excited, the board can provide them with vocabulary items related to that activity. Having those words handy reduces the cognitive demand during such a situation making communication easier. Topic boards can be made for just about anything.

They can be useful for:

• Expanding or recalling vocabulary
• Easing transitions
• Decreasing anxiety with schedule changes
• Communicating wants, needs, preferences etc.
• Increase independence
• Breaking complex activities into smaller steps
• Allowing the communication partner to follow a conversation where the student is difficult to understand.
• Allowing the student to control the environment
• Increase communication for social purposes

Here are some examples because of course, a picture helps us to better understand what a person is talking about when learning.

My favorite new topic board is Visiting Santa. The thought of a child not going to see Santa because they or their parents feel like it would be too difficult breaks my heart. Everyone should be able to visit Santa and feel successful during their visit. For a free copy of my visiting Santa board click this link.  Visiting Santa Board 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years. If you are a Re-Education parent and need an activity specific Topic Board please let me know. I would be happy to work with you in creating just what you need.