APH Intervention Continuum of Communication Skills Monica Turner Field Services Representative

APH provides a line of products which – when used sequentially - helps teach individuals with no formal means of communication methods of effectively making their wants and needs known. Sensory Learning KitSymbols and MeaningTactile Connections

These three products help nonverbal individuals with visual impairments shift seamlessly from haphazard movements and touch to purposeful actions and use of symbols to communicate. SLK SAM Tactile Connections

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor – 1 st stage – Trying to make sense of the world using senses and movement. Preoperational – 2 nd stage – Onset of language and use of symbols, pretending. Still lacks concrete logic. Operational – 3 rd stage – Beginning to think logically and abstractly.

Sensory Learning Kit (SLK)

Purpose Builds cognitive skills at the sensorimotor level of cognition, which is the first of Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development – trying to make sense of the world using senses and movement.

Target population Cognitive age: 0-2 years Chronological age: 0 and up  Infants with atypical responses  Toddlers with atypical responses and mild to moderate delays  Pre-school and early elementary students with moderate to severe delays  Late elementary and secondary students with severe to profound delays

Contents the SLK Guidebook, which is divided into three main parts - Introduction, Learning, and Teaching; the SLK Assessment Forms, which consist of five tools to be used sequentially; the SLK Routines Book, which includes an introduction, routine templates, and worksheet for modified routines; and an assortment of tangible items to be used during assessment and when teaching routines.

Tangible Items Adaptable stick switch Adaptable tactile switch with snap-on plates Bell bracelet Combination penlight/flashlight with colored lenses Ice bag Massager Mirror Multicolor metallic pinwheel Personal music player Personal fan Power Select control unit Scallop Switch Tactile roller with roller covers Vibrating pad

Philosophy Build a positively bonded relationship between the learner and the practitioner Provide social experiences that facilitate access to sensory information – stimulates curiosity – motivates interactions – develops skills

Can assist in increasing one’s quality of life in these areas: Agency - Control over people and events Anticipation - Something to look forward to Participation - Shared experience

Use of Routines Routines are highly structured activities to encourage reactions and interactions with the SLK components.  Familiar  Predictable  Allow for controlled pacing  Minimize sensory clutter  Consistent  Frequent  Low-stress

Three levels of sensorimotor learning Quiet alert - Attention to stimulation provided by partner Active alert - Exploration of learning media Partial Participation - Outcome directed motor sequences

Routines teach: Object exploration Object permanence Imitation Causality Means-ends Basic spatial relationships

Assessment Forms Sensory Learning Summary (SLS) Arousal State Profile (ASP) Sensory Response Record (SRR) Appetite/Aversion List (AAL) Level and Strategy Guide (LSG)

Symbols and Meaning (SAM)

Target Population Students with visual and multiple impairments and pre- school children with visual impairments who are just beginning to use symbols - the late sensorimotor, early preoperational stage of cognitive development

Symbols and Meaning SAM includes a guidebook which provides strategies that help develop a strong sensory foundation for concepts about people, objects, actions, and places. Through use of these strategies, such symbols become meaningful.

Symbols and Meaning Games & activities focus on words & objects representing: – People – Objects – Actions – Places

Symbols and Meaning Once meaning is established by pairing symbols and concrete referents, additional games give individuals the opportunity to use object and word symbols in communication contexts.

SAM enables learners to understand: What is it? What does it do? How does it relate to other things?

SAM kit contents: 2 baskets Digital recorder 25 plastic story pages Assessments and Games book Electronic assessment forms Flash drive Large Print Guidebook SAM videos Sport bag

SAM kit contents cont’d: 3 sizes of story bags 3 sizes of story binders Vinyl story box liners 6 story boxes Non-glare plastic tray liner Vinyl tray liners Two trays Black Velcro strip and coins White Velcro strip and coins

Without vision, help is needed to Make sense out of random experiences Provide the breadth of experiences required for good concept and scheme development Expand from a self-referential point of view to an “other-oriented” point of view

Steps in building word symbol bridges Say the word while learner is exploring, using, doing Use real objects only Make sure sensory bridges are in place, touch paired with sounds, sights, smells Use word when referent is heard, seen, smelled at distance

Tactile Connections

Symbols for Communication Tactile symbols are created when part of an object is mounted on a hand-sized card representing core vocabulary categories (e.g. people, places, actions, objects, etc.). Perkins School for the Blind

Target population Allows practitioners to create communication symbols for learners in the late preoperational through the operational stage of cognitive development, where use of symbols is more extensive and complex.

Is your student ready for tactile symbols? Two prerequisites for tactile symbol use are intentional communication and symbolic representation.

Tactile Connections Note that a student at the “whole object” stage may be at a pre-symbolic cognitive level and therefore may not be ready for tactile symbols. Home of the Innocents, Louisville, KY

Tactile Connections Symbols such as words and pictures become tools for problem- solving, pretending and socializing.

Tactile Connections This kit contains many of the essential components needed to create an effective tactile communication system – from an individual’s use of only simple nouns and verbs to fairly complex sentence construction.