1. Communicate & Participate 2013-2015
Comenius AAC project
Laurel Allen Lead SLT, Szilvia Kopor Conductor, Shleena Lee Conductor Teacher, The PACE Centre
Eva Ganzert – SLT, Percy Hedley

2. Dedication This presentation is dedicated in memory of
Kati Sasvari, Conductor-Teacher and Lead Conductor
at PACE, who tragically passed away before
the completion of this Comenius project.
Kati was wholly committed to this project and to the integration of CE and AAC. She was this project’s driving force at PACE and communication was fundamental in her daily practice.
It was her intention to present the project to CEPEG and we do so in honour of her.

3. The Communicate & Participate Project
2 year project
Funded by EU Comenius (now Erasmus+) which was part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Project.
An exchange of culture and learning, values and language to help young people and educational staff.
6 partner schools – PACE, Percy Hedley, Institute Keil Vienna, Ruskeasuo School – Ruskis - Centre for Learning and Training Helsinki, Phoenix Munich & Ecole La Famille Brussels
The project has been a very worthwhile and rewarding venture for us and has improved staff practice and thereby impacted positively on the students & families
Before we tell you more about it….

4. Interactive Brainstorm
Why is Communication essential
to the orthofunctional personality?

5. Communication skills are a prerequisite for successful inclusion of children with disabilities – not only into the mainstream educational system, but for their daily life and whole future.
The ability to express autonomous thoughts and needs and to engage in conversation and social interaction are inextricably linked to the empowerment of the individual.
The ethos and practice of CE seamlessly supports the learning and using of AAC
We are

6. Meeting Topics
6 Meetings were held, 1 in each partner school. Each meeting had a focus:
Introduce & compare existing use of AAC at the partner institutions
AAC for children with complex communication needs, including visual and hearing impairments
AAC in early intervention
Making communication boards for children with different access issues
AAC assessment methods
Good practice regarding parent involvement and support with AAC

8. Benefits
The international EU partnership highlighted the issues & difficulties with communication and Conductive Education in a constructive way
Visiting the partner settings and observing their practices, which stimulated discussion, problem solving, reflective practice and enhanced practice & inspired change in our own schools.
Receiving feedback on our own practice was appreciated by all staff
Sharing of good practice through presentations and visual examples using videos, photographs and actual resources
The opportunity to ask questions and receive good advice
These benefits went beyond AAC – across our practice of CE & therapies

9. Advantages
Despite differences of training, professional background, culture, educational system, an experience with AAC, it highlighted our common beliefs and commitment to communication
We gained specific ideas for AAC use and new approaches including:
activity ideas and boards,
communication environments,
awareness activities for staff/parents/adults,
games for peer awareness and interaction
Increased expertise by all partners
E-Twinning: was used for internal group communication and sharing. This was really helpful, because everything is saved there
We would encourage others to become involved in Erasmus+ projects.

11. Website
A useful reference for parents and our multi-disciplinary colleagues in other CE Centres.
Includes a cordial invitation in all the partners´ national languages to contact us with any questions. The invitation is linked to a person concerned with the partnership, speaking the respective language.
Provides links to other existing AAC forums. In this way, teachers, parents and experts in the field of special education are provided with the opportunity to ask specific questions concerning their pupils/children and use examples of specially developed material for their own practice.

12. Website and ‘Products’
Products are targets set out at the beginning of the project
Many are shared on the website
All products link directly to each topic of the 6 meetings held
The website itself is one of our products
Lets have a look