One aspect we needed to solve early on in our ALPS adventure was the physical setup.
In transitioning from working one on one to working in a group with Joey, I was surprised at how Joey’s physical device itself interfered with connecting him with the whole group lessons.
Until now, I’ve only worked with Joey sitting next to him, when I can track his eyes on his screen and I know he’s thinking about what I asked or if he’s gone on to something else. Without knowing what he’s thinking it’s easier for me to over prompt or go on to the next student, thinking he is unengaged. The physical placement of his device stands between him and the front of the class, which means that unless we bring the object of our joint attention directly in front of him, he isn’t benefiting from observing his peers interact with the lesson. Unfortunately, the very item that gives Joey the ability to express himself with his peers creates a physical barrier between him and everyone else.
After talking through the problem we re-designed our learning space so that Joey can both access his device and have a clear view of the classroom. We moved Joey’s seat from up-front to a place to the side where it is easier to see both his screen and the group. This involved monitoring the lighting in the room so that he has a clear view of his screen without a glare. We propped up cardboard in the windows – anything to help his access.
We then designed our seating arrangements for group meetings. We want everyone at the same height so having the group on the floor while Joey sits in his chair does not work. Yet having everyone at a desk makes joint attention difficult and puts Joey further away from the discussion. We began having everyone move (taking their seats if they don’t want to stand) to an area closer to Joey. Now everyone has access to the daily message and group activities, and Joey is more aware of the other students’ responses.
Another aspect of physical problem solving we’ve also discussed is monitoring how many adults are supporting any given child in the moment. Although we all want to help Joey – adding adults next to a child immediately changes the community
that child experiences. Instead of being a part of the classroom community, the child transfers to having a community of them and the adults – with the peers on the outside. This is the opposite of what we want, and yet it is easy to find ourselves in the trap of having multiple helpers/teachers.
Of course, our problem solving is ongoing and we will continue to tweak and make changes as we go. Stay tuned to hear more about what we learn on our journey.
As I’ve written about in the past, 
We included waiting for the speaker to finish on our group commitments, and then directly talked about what that means for the individuals in our group. For a child like Joey who uses the eye gaze, waiting for his words can mean sitting silently for up to a minute. We practiced sitting quietly for one minute – watching the sand run out of the timer. We also paired this with a large wait icon to act as a visual cue. The group got it, and sat silently while we waited – so much so that when Joey interrupted the silence to say “Hey, what’s up?” nobody moved until we told them they could respond to him. 
One aspect of our Inclusive Program that makes it so strong is our collaborative approach. Although so far you are only hearing about it from my perspective on this blog, I am only one piece of this program. This multi-perspective planning is by design so that both the speech pathologist and the special education teacher’s knowledge and insights are able to work together to determine the best way to increase language and academic success. 
tle Red Hen. Both of them took the project seriously, analyzing what type of characters we should have, where the play should take place, and what Little Red should cook. I looked across the room to watch the speech pathologist work with Joey and another first grader to use Bitmojis. Joey used his device to describe what should go into the Bitmoji for his friend.
Our Inclusive AAC Learning Group officially began September 14, 2020. After what somehow felt both like months of planning and yet still not enough time to be ready, we opened our group to a small but eager group of first through third grade students on Monday afternoon. We are looking forward to welcoming more students, but are taking advantage of the small group to find our sea legs and develop our rhythm.
h our knowledge grow. My hope through this process is that we engage all the students in deeper thinking and understand that everything we learn can help us answer broader life questions.
