Meeting the demands of Home and Community!

It's important to remember that the AC system chosen must meet the needs of the student not only in school but at home and in the community. Again, this must meet the needs of their daily lives.

So how can we do it?

 

How a Student's AC System can be Designed to Meet the Communication Demands of Home and the Community?

Home
- Consider family involvement, culture, and places/activities that students frequent
- Teachers must be actively involved
- Provide training to families
- Provide direct instruction on the use of the system
- Identify vocabulary that is relevant to the home
- Teach family members to provide opportunities for communication and to wait
- Provide sample data and evaluation sheets for home and community
- Give parents permission to expand the child's communication
- Keep it simple!

Community
- Teacher can plan field trips in the community and special activities with devices that have been programmed to ask specific questions
- Practice interacting with unfamiliar people!

 

I feel these are great ways to meet these demands. I never thought about how much would go into planning for a communication device, but all the work that goes into it is definitely worth seeing a child use it!

~ Michelle