The Joseph Robert Shaw Foundation

Helping Children Recover from Brain Injury

Starting an inclusive AAC Pod!

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There are times when dire circumstances lead to the best ingenuity and creativity. After all, isn’t necessity the mother of invention? This fall, Joey’s Foundation is introducing a new inclusive learning opportunity to support Joey and children like him in maintaining their use of AAC despite virtual instruction. 

By the time this post is published, Joey will have had his first week of on-line first grade learning. And, just like all parents and advocates of rising first graders, we spent the summer wondering exactly how this virtual school is going to go. There will be aspects of virtual school that will work even better for Joey than when schools are open in person… and then there will be aspects of virtual first grade that are difficult to juggle. (As a former first grade teacher I bow down to all of you virtual first grader teachers out there preparing to keep this energetic, talkative and excitable age group engaged on a screen all day.)

While this virtual learning environment will be a challenge for many students, it will be a particular challenge for kids who use AAC devices to communicate. This will be especially true for those students like Joey who use the eye-gaze technology AAC. Accessing learning on the computer will be difficult (but doable), but we also cannot forget that social experiences and being in school with grade level peers are so important to Joey, who is motivated by watching peers participate in school. 

Since last spring Joey’s Foundation has been examining the problem COVID has created for our most vulnerable students and decided that this was the time to act on an idea they have had for awhile – to create a unique, inclusive class setting for students who use AAC. 

After thoughtful planning, research, and many problem-solving meetings, the Foundation is introducing a two hour, three-day a week after-school pod that will bring together both typically developing students as well as students using AAC. I am honored and excited to be a part of this. 

Preparing for opening

I am passionate about inclusion and often work with school programs to develop or increase their inclusive settings. Now, we have the opportunity to build an inclusive after-school program that will enhance academic, social, and problem-solving skills of all students involved. Through using problem-based learning philosophies, as well as small group, direct-instruction with me and a speech language pathologist who specializes in AAC, we are hoping to give each child what they need. 

Perhaps more importantly during this time, our small group numbers allow us to be safety conscious and follow strict COVID guidelines to keep everyone safe, healthy, and ready to learn. 

This is certainly going to be a learning adventure for all of us, so stay with us as I chronicle what we learn from the group from the perspective of teaching, learning, and supporting inclusive practices. 

 

Back in Person!

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On July 6th, after last seeing Joey in the beginning of March, I was finally able to meet with Joey in person. As I walked up his driveway I found myself apprehensive about what I was going to find when we got to work. We had been working so hard during the winter months – tackling those early kindergarten skills of learning high frequency words, counting, phonemic awareness activities, and using his AAC eye gaze device to share his jokes, thoughts, and ideas. 

I had a deep feeling of dread that I am sure every teacher feels as they think about where their students are academically during this pandemic- what happened during those long months? Will we still even have our rhythm? Will we be able to reconnect? What will we need to reteach? 

As I settled into our session I tried to remind myself to go slowly and to focus on my relationship with Joey instead of the academic skills. I tried… but as we got into our work I would find myself pushing ahead, focusing on skills instead of communication. I could feel my own agenda to get back into normalcy. 

In truth, I probably forgot more about where the words are on the device than Joey did. During our first ten minute data sampling he only used his device about 12 times. I began to worry when we finally hit our rhythm. We seemed to find our old back and forth and we both became more comfortable. In our last data sampling Joey used the device over 20 times. He showed me that he remembered many of his high frequency words. And of course he remembered where his jokes are.

More than anything I was surprised at how off my own rhythm was. It was not just Joey that needed to warm up – I needed to remember our patterns, routines, and even needed to remind myself where words were on his device. How did I forget so much in such a short time?

I left our session feeling hopeful and excited. We will take a few more sessions to fall back into our rhythm – and we may need to create new routines and rhythms. He has gone from being newly six to nearly six and a half. We have both grown and changed and our work going forward will need to honor that. 

But the worry about him losing his skills is gone. We will need to keep working to return and exceed where our work was in the winter, but I do not think I will dream about this anymore. It will come back. The skills are there and the capability is there. I am excited to see where we will go from here.

Don’t forget to include all your learners in your important read-alouds

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One of my favorite books to encourage children to discuss discrimination and racism is The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. Although I cannot meet with Joey in person yet, I found myself re-reading it with a view from how I would integrate it into my AAC work with Joey. It’s important for us to remember to share the same books and messages that we are reading and discussing with our typically developing students. The inability to engage in an oral conversation around an important topic does not mean we should shy away from it. Instead, we need to look into other ways to engage with all students.

The Other Side is a beautiful picture book about a girl whose mother tells her that she cannot play on the other side of the fence that separates her house from the white family’s house because it isn’t safe on that side. The story is told from Clover’s perspective as one summer she watches a white girl about her age sit on top of the fence that separates the two houses. As the summer goes on, Clover becomes brave enough to sit on top of the fence with her neighbor. From there, a friendship emerges that ends with the girls predicting that one day someone would come along and tear down the fence.

It is a deep story to use with upper elementary students to teach metaphor, theme, and author’s message. For kindergarten and first grade students, the message is simpler. It often begins a wonderful discussion around friendship.

Looking at the book again with an AAC lens, I can see so many opportunities to work on vocabulary. The season of summer plays a large role in the book, as does the weather. Just holding up these pictures would offer an opportunity to practice using AAC vocabulary around weather and seasons. And of course – the opportunity to dive into prepositions, which I always love – to sit on the fence – or even negatives – mom said “don’t” or “not” to go over the fence.

What I would want to dive into though, with open ended questions – is the concept of friendship. What words would Joey use to describe the friendship between the two girls? What words would he give to the idea of not being allowed to play with a peer? What emotion words would he use to describe how the girls are feeling?

It is hard to know. It is a story that can often go over children’s heads, and yet, that shouldn’t keep us from reading it to them. When we provide children with opportunities to answer open-ended questions and engage with the deeper, more complex life issues, we help them develop the patterns involved in higher-level thinking. And of course, what is the worst that can happen? A child becomes bored and disengaged with the book? Then we move on, find another activity, and try again later. But at least we showed the child what we believed he or she was capable of engaging with.

Since I cannot meet with Joey right now, I can’t tell you how reading the book with him would go. But I do encourage all of you to consider how you can take the books and text that others in the same age group are reading and use them with your conversation partners. 

 

What About Next School Year?

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As our virtual learning school year has wrapped up in Northern Virginia, we are all left wondering what will be waiting for our students at the end of this summer “break”. The public schools are trying to figure out exactly how to walk the fine line between addressing a public health crisis while also maintaining high levels of instruction for children, and attempting to achieve programs that provide equity for all students. Truthfully, I am thankful I am not making the decisions. In the end, the decision made will inevitably leave many people frustrated. The truth is, there are no “right” decisions. 

For my own typically developing children I have worries, but I also know we will be OK. They may not receive the great instruction they would in school, but being “behind” in first or third grade along with the rest of their peers is not going to topple them over in the long run. But for kids like Joey?

It’s nearly impossible to provide the needed instruction virtually for children like Joey. So what will happen? What’s more – a compromised immune system can make it even more difficult to go back into a fully functional school building. Add those concerns onto the idea that now we desperately need to make up for lost time and rebuild any communication and academic skills that were lost.

Where do we start planning, especially with the unknowns of what the schools will be able to offer next year?

One idea is to start to look beyond the schools and look at what we can potentially offer in addition to the limited school programs that will be available. What if we can create small groups that are able to safely meet in person while providing the social and academic support on those days that the schools will not be open. 

Digging deeper into this idea – what if these small groups are able to offer the inclusive opportunities we know are best for students? What if these small groups could provide communication and academic activities to students like Joey, while also providing challenging projects designed to enhance academic skills to the other children included in the program. What would that look like?

What could a program like that achieve? Could we offer all students opportunities for higher level thinking while focusing on communication skills and academic content? 

The wheels at Joey’s Foundation have been spinning for some time on this. Stay tuned for what’s to come. 

Language is about Connection

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This past week I had the opportunity to listen in to AAC Learning webinar by Lauren Enders. It was chalk full of ideas, tips, and resources, and I am sure I will slowly reflect on them over time. The tips and ideas made me miss Joey and my work with him so much. I cannot wait to be back in person!

The first tip Enders gave was to ask yourself – “Would this be fun for me?” 

This question resonated with me. Our goal for teaching communication on the AAC is for children to be able to fluently use it, and have the desire to do so. AAC users must be engaged and motivated to communicate. Although as adults we can easily check a box and note that we taught a new word or skill, teaching does not translate to learning. What’s more – we do not want our students to simply learn where the words are – we want them to own the words. The words need to get into their long-term memory, which means we need to do our best to make the learning fun, motivating and truly meaningful. 

We communicate with one another in order to connect with one another, either to have a need met or to feel safe. When we connect with another person we are creating a mental model of who are we as an individual, and who our communication partner ends. When we teach using the AAC we must keep this in mind – in order to be a communication partner we must be connected to our partner – they must trust that we will listen to them. Being able to find all the words on their device flawlessly will not help them truly communicate if they do not have meaning behind the words – or if they do not trust that anyone will listen when they speak. 

These two messages – the need to make it fun and the need to connect – were excellent reminders to me, particularly as our communities begin to open back up. Many of us are anxious to help our students make up for lost time during the closures. Instead of worrying about a child’s output and packing more words into their vocabulary, we must first regulate our own emotions. Are we having fun? Are we connecting? Are we focused on the speaker and not just what is spoken?

Allowing ourselves to reconnect, reunite, and laugh with our students will move us closer to making progress. 

Saturday Serenade

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Test post for Saturday Serenades https://www.musichealsglennjan.com/saturday-serenades

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