Augmentative Communication Systems at Home and in the Community

Communication devices that are used at home or in the community can differ significantly from those used in a school setting. It is very important that parents and family members are included in the augmentative communication planning and implementation in order to allow them to properly support their child’s communication needs in environments outside of school.

Below are some tips provided by my course textbook for guiding parents to promote the use of augmentative communication (page. 294):

• Provide direct instruction on the use of the system.
• Identify vocabulary that is relevant to the home.
• Teacher family members to provide opportunities for communication and to wait.
• Provide simple data and evaluation sheets for home and community use.
• Give parents permission to expand the child's communication.
• Keep it simple!

^{Dell, A., Newton, D., & Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive technology in the classroom. (2nd ed., pp. 3-22). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.}

Augmentative Communication and IEPs

Augmentative communication devices are great assistive technology tools to help students with communication related disabilities to become more engaged in communication opportunities. In this post I will be focusing on how to integrate augmentative communication into the student’s IEP. Augmentative communication evaluations should be a component of the program development process. Once determined to be necessary for the students, the components of the system should be outlined within the IEP. The IEP should include the use of the augmentative communication system within the student's educational program. The student’s use of the augmentative communication device should be integrated within and across the school day, including both instructional and non-instructional periods. Augmentative communication devices are a great aid to students for reach their goals and to communicate to others both inside and out of the classroom. Below are some examples of IEP goals that include the use of augmentative communication devices:

• Barbara will participate in social studies class through a specifically designed overlay that is developed for her augmentative communication device for each unit. She is expected to volunteer answers to at least two questions per lesson.
• Michelle will use her augmentative communication device to sustain conversation by asking appropriate questions of others regarding topics initiated by herself or others.
• Jackie will participate in a cross-content unit of study such as a class play about the state of New Jersey by using pre-constructed messages on her augmentative communication device.
• Lori will use her augmentative communication device to comment appropriately or ask for assistance from a peer when engaged in play activities during free time within the classroom or playground.

Strategies to Overcome Learned Helplessness

One very important thing to consider when working with students who have disabilities that affect their ability to communicate is that they may develop patterns of learned helplessness derived from years of disempowerment. Teachers need to be able to identify signs of learned helplessness and be able to provide their students with support. Below is a listed tips to help students overcome learned helplessness:

• Build a daily expectation of communication through specific activities such as choosing the activity during recess, picking a book to read, or identifying where to each lunch.
• Construct a brief daily report to parents that is communicated by the student.
• Allow natural consequences to occur and provide avenues for repair. This includes setups that alter the environment to provide less support of sabotage.
• Provide for choice making whenever possible that requires that student to his or her augmentative communication system.
• Provide powerful phrases on the device for students to reject or protest something

Exploring Virtual Manipulatives

In a previous post I mentioned that the website National Library of Virtual Manipulatives was a great resource for virtual math manipulatives. I decided to provide you with a further example of the range of manipulatives that are available on the Website. I chose the option of algebra which led me to a list of options that I could use for grades Pre K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Each area had resources that pertained to the math content and standards for that grade range. I think that this website and its resources are absolutely amazing and would be a great aid in lessons for any grade! You can access the website here: National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

iPad Application for Teaching Math

Since iPads are becoming a very common tool used by both teachers and students, I am going to share and application that I have found that can be used to aid in teaching math concepts. I decided to explore the  Times Tables Pro by frogameleon Ltd . This application was designed to help users practice and test multiplication table facts. The app consists of a character, Bot, who the user competes against in answering multiplication problems. This app provides many options for students to practice, learn, test themselves, and review. Another great feature of this app is that it is customizable and can be adjusted in the speed of questions, presence of a times, the amount of problems to complete, and the answer input method (multiple choice or through keyboard). Overall, I really enjoyed this application and would use it in my classroom to help students who are struggling with their multiplication table facts.

Low-Tech and Mid-Tech Adaptations for Teaching Math

There are a variety of low-tech and mid-tech assistive technologies that can be used to make the general education mathematics curriculum accessible to students with a wide range of disabilities.

Some low-tech adaptations include:

• Fraction number stamps
• Base 10 blocks
• Manipulative number line
• Laminated addition and multiplication tables
• Ruler with transparent overlay

Some mid-tech adaptations include:

• Large calculator with oversized buttons
• Talking calculators
• See ‘n’ Solve calculators
• Coin abacus
• Coin-u-lator

Applications for Math Concepts, Skills, and Problem Solving

There are a multitude of educational applications that are available for students that address math concepts, skills, and problem solving. Below is a list of some examples of these educational applications:

1. Virtual manipulatives: These are great tools for helping students with problem solving. Virtual manipulatives can be found on a number of different websites. On great place to find virtual manipulatives is National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, which provides extended practice, visual representations of concepts, and interactive activities.
2. Math Playground: This resource provides a wealth of resources to support learning math concepts, skills, and problem solving. Free, online math activities are provided in the categories of math games, word problems, and logic puzzles. 
3. Conceptua Math: this resource revolves around the concept of fractions and provides visual models that are accompanied by spoken text. This also includes formative assessments that enable teachers to monitor progress and tailor instruction.
4. Destination Math: This resource targets the development of skills in math reasoning, conceptual understanding, and problem solving. This application uses animation and audio output to keep students engaged, and provides supports through explicit step-by-step instruction and practice problems. *There is also a Spanish version available: Destino Mathematicás