Summary Carole Zangari Beyond the Basics: Core Consideration in AAC Intervention, AAC in the Cloud 2017 (Youtube) www.youtube.com
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Brian Whitmer Alright. Welcome everyone to this next session of AAC in the Cloud. We are excited to welcome Carol Zangari to come and present this session, and she will be, talking about core considerations in AAC intervention. So we will turn it over to Carol.
Carol Zangari Thank you so much, Melissa. And hello, everybody. Welcome. So glad to be here. Before we get started, I just have to thank Brian Whitmer for the very kind invitation to, participate in this amazing conference.
Carol Zangari And also, of course, to to offer my gratitude and and my congratulations to Melissa and the rest of the team at CoughDrop, first for Kinda conceptualizing this conference and then really hosting it, it's, you know, it's just been an amazing experience. I've participated in almost every, time slot. There are lots of things that I love about the AAC field, but I think the generosity and the commitment of those who work in it has to be, you know, very close to the top of the list. So unlike the online teaching I do for my graduate AEC classes, I can't really see who's in the audience. So I'm gonna have to trust the process a little bit.
Carol Zangari But I'll just do a quick, introduction and let you know that my background really is as a speech language pathologist. And I've been in academia most of my career. 1st in the session education and, session education in Audiology and Speech Sciences is what they call it at Purdue University. And then for the past 2 decades in the speech language pathology program at Nova Southeastern University here in Fort Lauderdale, Where it's a balmy 89 degrees and I think probably about 86% humidity, so not a good hair day at all. I also write a, a blog called Practical AEC and run some Facebook groups and things like that.
Carol Zangari If you're interested in a handout for this Session, please stay tuned. I'll be putting that together. Still working a little bit on the reference list, and I'm gonna be posting that to the Practical AAC blog, in Facebook group, next week. And 1 last thing, if you'll indulge me, I have To give a shout out to 3 of our NSU SLP alum, and Paige Sam Basics, and Amber Devine Stinson, all who've presented, earlier in this concept conference, and I think have done an amazing job. Super, super proud mama moment.
Carol Zangari So if you've been involved with AAC for for more than a couple of months, chances are really high that you know the basics of Poor vocabulary. You've gotten that memo. Right? You sure can't attend an SLP conference anywhere in our country Without at least a handful, of presentations on the topic. And it's certainly, you know, an approach that's implemented in 1 fashion or another, very widely across the world.
Carol Zangari So you might kinda be asking, you know, why talk about it again? Particularly me as a blogger, you know, I went back in, you know, getting prepared for this talk, to my blog and realized I've done 65 75 posts where core vocabulary was a keyword. Right? So isn't it time to move on? And we're almost there, almost.
Carol Zangari But, a few things led me to wanna talk about it with this particular audience. Observing in classrooms and talking with therapists, looking over lesson plans, reading conference proposals. Right? And all of those things kinda have the same theme. Right?
Carol Zangari And this the theme of growing pains, which is why I put a bunch of teenager on here. When we started prioritizing core vocabulary in our work with minimally verbal people, we made a rather rapid shift in the way that we implement AAC. Right? And when that happens in a field, there are usually some hiccups. We get really excited about the new Intervention, and we run with it.
Carol Zangari And I really love that session, personally. I love that enthusiasm. I would never wanna put a damper on it. But what happens is that we implement based on new information that we've gotten, and often that's at a fairly basic level. So The good thing is it gets us really, really motivated to try, and that's a that's a big deal.
Carol Zangari Right? We're surrounded by Colleagues who don't wanna do anything different than what they're do what they did last week. Right? So that's huge. But after those early days and those months, I think it's really good to pause, good to reflect on our practice practices.
Carol Zangari And then perhaps go on to refine them, tweak them a little bit. So these growing pains, they're they're a part of normal development. Right? If you've raised teenagers, you know this. If you were a teenager, you'd know this.
Carol Zangari Right. It's nothing to be scared at. There's no, about there there's no reason to feel guilty if you've made some missteps. Don't be embarrassed If, I mentioned a practice that you're not yet using, it's really good news. Growing pains are a sign of change.
Carol Zangari Right? And the only way they become a problem is when they cause us to to get stuck. So what I hope to do in the next 45 minutes or so is to Help us all go beyond core vocabulary 1 and 1 101 and kind of raise some issues to refine our practices. So whether you're, what, a single practitioner or you're in charge of a whole classroom or a whole program, whether you're a family member, whether you're a creator of products that you make and you sell. I hope some of the things that we talk about today, give you an opportunity, for some fine tuning.
Carol Zangari Alright. But first, we have to take a little bit of a detour. And I think as we as we sort of Together, think about advancing our own knowledge of how and when to prioritize core vocabulary. It can be helpful for us to take a moment to acknowledge The diversity of the group of individuals who need and use AAC. Right?
Carol Zangari A lot of the presenters that have talked previously, in the last 2 days, have talked about folks who are at the beginning stages, maybe to the middle stages, and some further beyond. In the late 1990s, I think it was, doctor Pat Dowden, who's at University of Washington, kind of introduced us to these 3 level of communicators, caters, using the terminology that you session the screen here. And, of course, all of us started out life as emergent communicators. Right. So emerging communicators, like our little Ella here, they use facial expressions and sounds, vocalizations, body language, gestures, And other non symbolic modes, and they may be a little bit idiosyncratic.
Carol Zangari They're not usually, all that Parent to unfamiliar partners. And so these people, folks communicating at this level, are really communicating primarily about the here and now. Unless, of course, they're with a really familiar partner who has shared experiences and can guess their intent. Right? In the middle there, We have content dependent communicators like Carlos, who use some kind of reliable symbolic form of communication, But it's pretty limited to certain partners, certain topics, certain contexts, and in most cases, they need some help.
Carol Zangari Their their their communication Has to be helped along with, a familiar partner. And then at the far end, we have our independent communicators like little Isaac here. Right? And these guys can interact with both familiar and unfamiliar partners. They can pretty much talk about any topic, any context.
Carol Zangari They're able to generate completely novel messages, and they can switch between a couple different modes of communication And use them appropriately across partners and contexts. So no matter how you look at it, this is a really diverse group player, motor ability, receptive language, intellectual ability, hearing and vision issues. Right? They're so different. But what they have in common is the need for AAC, but really such a heterogeneous, group.
Carol Zangari So given that heterogeneity, Does it make sense that we use core vocabulary with everybody? That we implement it in the same way? Right? Logic would probably suggest not. Probably that's not the best approach, that 1 size doesn't fit all.
Carol Zangari So why is it that as Practitioners, we go there sometimes. Why do we sometimes apply core vocabulary in sort of a universal way, for all of our AAC learners. And I think it's important to realize that this 1 size fits all Serves an important function sometimes. Right? But the problem is it's an important function for us, right, at least for a period of time When we're learning a new skill, a new concept, sometimes we just can't get our heads around all the details and nuances.
Carol Zangari Right? We get it conceptually that this should be individualized based on a person's specific needs and abilities, but in a very practical sense, That may just overwhelm us. So at the beginning of the Carole vocabulary journey, we may use a universal approach not because we think it's what's best for the kids, But it's the best way we know how to manage the complexity of implementing this new approach, given all the demands that compete for our time and attention, our caseloads, our classrooms, our families, our agencies. Right? So the idea is that we use this as a tool or a stepping stone To get some experience with the basics, to build our, you know, confidence and self efficacy, and then move on to kinda differentiate this approach more based on individual needs.
Carol Zangari And for us to really do that, we have to examine our own understanding of core vocabulary, beyond the definition. Right? And think about its role and our practices in teaching it. And sometimes that means it can be helpful to, look at the the the misconceptions that are out there so we can make any course corrections. So there are plenty of misconceptions about core vocabulary.
Carol Zangari Some of them have been mentioned in prior presentations. But as we go through these, remember, there's not this is nothing to feel guilty about. We are all on this journey to get better and better and better. And as we know better, we do better. Right?
Carol Zangari But 1 common misconception is that core words are everything kids need in their AAC systems. Right? Generally, that's not the case. In most cases, we all wanna talk about those specific things in our lives. Right?
Carol Zangari People and places and things. And and, sure, we could survive without those words, but why would we want to? So here in my visual analogy of a pizza pizza, The core is kind of the crust. It's sort of the platform that holds it all together. And on top of that crust, we have at least 3 other important things in a comprehensive AEC system.
Carol Zangari Right? Words that are really certificate the individual or to the context. Right? Our fringe words are critical. Right?
Carol Zangari It's not okay for me to talk about my husband using only he and him. I want my AAC system to be able to say his name. And when I hit a mid afternoon slump, I want my AAC system to be able to help me, get coffee, not tea or Coke. And when I'm working with the student, I wanna be able to tell her to bring her frozen book for our next therapy session. So I need these specific words and our AAC learners, are in that same boat.
Carol Zangari Also, I need to be able to say something some things quickly. Right? Some things with a minimum of effort. So the fact that I can put a whole question, a statement into my AEC app, lets me participate more readily. Right?
Carol Zangari I can say it's my turn, you skipped me. Don't worry about me. Don't forget about me. I can say that with a Touch of a button. It allows me to keep up with fast moving conversations.
Carol Zangari Right? I can say things like, I see what you mean. I'm not sure I agree. Can you tell me what you mean by that? It allows me to come across as maybe a little bit more articulate or competent than I feel under high stress conditions.
Carol Zangari So I might need to say things like, I'm sorry. I really need you to slow down and repeat that. This is too much for me right now. I need a moment to myself. So these pre stored messages have taken a bad rap, But they really play a very valuable role in comprehensive AEC systems, and I'm glad the pendulum is swinging back in that direction.
Carol Zangari And finally, there's the alphabet. Right? Even for those who can't read to write because how in the world are they ever gonna learn to read and write until unless we give them lots of access, to this. So we've got fringe words. We've got our free stored phrases and sentences and questions.
Carol Zangari And the alphabet, those are all our yummy toppings to the pizza. Would you eat the just would you eat just the crust? Well, maybe you would. Right? But the topics, they make it so much more appealing.
Carol Zangari Don't they? Now in a practical sense, Most nonverbal or minimally verbal students need access to both the crust and the toppings, but in different amounts. Right? So Carlos here, he's 1 of our context dependent communicators. And he's using AAC to express himself with symbols, but only Kind of in a limited way with partner support.
Carol Zangari And poor Carlos, he needs a slew of core words. Right? In order to for him to Develop his language to become proficient with his AAC. He needs I guess, 1 of those big big deep dish crusts kind of, When I was at Purdue, they had the the Chicago style pizza, really deep dish pizza. He needs that kind of crust.
Carol Zangari Right? And to be sure, he he's gonna need the toppings too. Right? Just maybe not as many as some other folks. Right?
Carol Zangari But he's gonna need fringe words. He's gonna need pre stored messages. I sure as heck want him to have the alphabet. Right? But for now, they're kinda taking a back See to the core.
Carol Zangari Right? Because everybody is different. And my little Ella. Right? Ella's in a very different place.
Carol Zangari She's sort of that amusing, that that emergent communicator. She's just getting the hang of this whole communication thing, this AC thing. Right? Elle is just learning that communication. Wow.
Carol Zangari This could be a powerful tool. I can use my body. I can use these squiggly marks, Right? To get what I want to have happen in my world right now. More time on the iPad, a snack, to lift YouTube to load.
Carol Zangari Right? So for Ella, my therapeutic priority is to help her experience that early success. Right? I want her to be successful early on in this AEC journey. I want her to love communicating.
Carol Zangari I wanted her to feel like a rock star. I want her to see communication as a gift, as Karen Owens so eloquently said yesterday and not as a chore. Right? So everyone's different. But for Ella, this means that I've gotta prioritize the Specific things that motivate her.
Carol Zangari Right? So I've gotta start where Ella is, not where I wish you were. Right? So we're going to need a lot of those really specific words. I hope that makes sense.
Carol Zangari So in Alice's case, Right. The crust is a is thinner, at least for now. That is gonna change. Right? Elle is a learner, but for now there are a lot of toppings.
Carol Zangari Right? While she gains experience and skills and develops player self-concept, as an effective communicator. I really love this handout that, the SLPs at Speak for Yourself developed about 5 years ago. And I think there's several versions of it Sort of floating around, but as far as I recall, memory is a it's a dangerous thing for me to rely on these days. But But I think the original credit, goes to them.
Carol Zangari And, what I really love about it is it really starts with the things that the person with APC see needs really values. And from there, we expand out and think about how our core vocabulary and other words fit in. But starting with what's important to them is, is really terrific. So This balance of core, right, our crust, and the fringe, pre stored message, and alphabet, this is really gonna vary from, Not only from person to person, but it's also going to change within a person over time. Another common misconception about core vocabulary has to do with how language is acquired.
Carol Zangari Right? So some people look at core vocabulary lists and they misinterpret them a little bit, thinking that it's a list of words, kind of the first words we should be teaching kids. Right? And that's not what core word lists are. Core word lists or frequency lists.
Carol Zangari Right? So if you follow people around and you write down everything they say. Right? And then how often they've said each different word, you tally that up, Carole words are the ones that rise to the top. They tell us how often people in a certain age group use these words, but they don't tell us anything about how those words were acquired in terms of develop developmental order.
Carol Zangari Right? So are there some core words that develop early on In typically, developing children, absolutely. But not all of them. So don't have that misconception When you're reviewing work, list of core words, whether it's from a research article or whether it's built into an AAC device or an app or part of a Product that you paid you you purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers. Don't assume that this tells you the order in which to teach words.
Carol Zangari Does that make sense, guys? Core words are power words. Right? We know this. They're high frequency words, and some are learned early in the in development, But others come later on.
Carol Zangari So the way to think about this, from my in my opinion, is that core word list can inform our of what we're gonna teach when. But we won't want don't want it to dictate the answer. We'd certainly consider those core words. Right? But the operative word here is consider.
Carol Zangari Right? We're making these decisions thoughtfully. So we're considering core words, but we're also thinking about developmental process. We're thinking, you know, we give consideration to the nouns that are acquired early in the process of language development, for example. So consider core words as you're making this decision, but consider them in a larger context.
Carol Zangari Consider them in light of the developmental factors, the environmental factors. Because for a great many of our learners, The initial steps in the path to being successful communicators is really paved with words representing specific things, Specific people, specific activities that they love. And so what we really wanna, be sure to avoid is erecting any barriers in that path by having a 1 size fits all approach. Alright. So 1 of the most harmful Misconceptions, in my experience, is this 1, that they're too abstract for learners with intellectual disabilities.
Carol Zangari And I think in most cases, people who hold this Consideration, it's partly from old thinking, you know, before we knew what we know now, partly from misinformation. But in my experience, it also kinda comes from fear. Right? The fear that we're not gonna be successful in teaching them these abstract core words. Right?
Carol Zangari We want our kids to be successful. Right? And we might steer away from including core words or prioritizing them because we're really not sure of our own ability to teach them, effectively. We gotta get over that. Whatever the root, the reality really is that this belief is just not supported by evidence.
Carol Zangari Right? In fact, both our research and our clinical experience has demonstrated That kids with cognitive impairments, even significant cognitive impairments, can learn and can use abstract symbols and abstract words And I'll try to put some of these references on the reference list, for when I get that handout posted, next week on the Practical AAC site. Right? So those of you who've done this work for a while know, these kids learn what we teach them. And if we teach them well, they're gonna learn to use, core words.
Carol Zangari So what are some other misconceptions? I'm kind of peeking here on the, discussion board. Terrific. Oh, thanks for for putting that in there that link in there. Well, often when teams begin emphasizing core vocabulary with their AAC learners, another thing that happens is that there's a mismatch between the learning materials they're using and the AAC systems that the kids are learning to use.
Carol Zangari Right? And we heard this in some questions that came up earlier, in the conference. But the mismatch crime or crops up in 3 primary areas. Right? Which symbol sets or systems are being used?
Carol Zangari The layout or the organization of where the vocabulary is on the screen or on the page. And then that color coding schema, that's used to differentiate parts of speech. So in many situations, In my observation, in my conversations with with people, kids are being given materials that aren't well aligned 1 with the other. So if my student is using an AAC system that has PCS organized using the Guston's, Crane, and Elder method, And the classroom core board has a different layout, maybe using the modified Fitzgerald key and the visual supports, use smarty symbols. It's probably the case that I've slowed down the learning process.
Carol Zangari And I know that's not an easy thing for you guys to hear, for any of us to hear, because it means that we can't do things as conveniently as we would like. But I wanna explore it with a quick example. Here's some letters from the Cyrillic alphabet. And when I studied Russian in high school, I would constantly get tripped up By the differences in the printed symbols for the letters that were in the textbook, like you see on the left, and my teacher's writing on the board. Right?
Carol Zangari So can you figure out which of the handwritten letters in the purple boxes goes with the which of the printed letters in that green rectangle? There are just 2 ways to make the same symbol for a particular capital letter. Right? Print in cursive. And certainly they're related, But they do look a little different.
Carol Zangari Right? And when all of this is new to you, those differences can be a huge stumbling block. So, yeah, you could figure it out. Right? You can figure it out.
Carol Zangari But think about the extra effort, The extra time, how much concentration it takes you to do that. So for beginners, this can be a real roadblock. It makes communication harder than it needs to be. Right? So consistently consistency matters.
Carol Zangari Right? Particularly for our students who tend to learn slowly. If you're working with learners who catch on quickly, this may not be for an issue an issue for you guys. But if your learners, take a lot of time to grasp new material, Then you might wanna look at ways to eliminate as many speed bumps as possible. Right?
Carol Zangari And in this context, It means that we might wanna be consistent in the type of symbols we use. Right? Same ones that are on his AAC system. The layout of vocabulary between the high-tech system and the lower no text system, which color coding schema we use to differentiate pronouns and verbs and nouns and all of that. Okay?
Carol Zangari And I know that that people have a lot of questions about what to do in classrooms when you have multiple symbol sets and systems and layouts. I don't know if we'll have time to address that in the questions today, but I promise you I'm in the halfway through a blog post that lays out some options for you. Sorry to do that little bit of a misdirect, but I know we're we're also pressed on time. Alright. Another misconception.
Carol Zangari I'm a Huge fan of modeling. Not as a prompt, but as aided language input or stimulation or whatever term you fancy. I really believe that the single best thing I can do for a kid who has a robust AAC system is to get everybody else using it or some facsimile of it when they talk to him. Right? So having said that, right, as powerful as that is, it often is not enough to help learners achieve their potential.
Carol Zangari It's necessary, but not sufficient. Right. So we all know it's it's critical that we pepper our day, right, with competent AAC models that include core vocabulary. So in the course of our daily interaction, we're using aided language input or stimulation and modeling core vocabulary. Right?
Carol Zangari We know we're speaking AAC because that's what we're trying to teach our kids to do. Right. And they can't do a very good job of that in a vacuum. They can't do it through just communication activities, or flash Carole, or drill and practice. Right?
Carol Zangari And hey, those of us who've studied a foreign language, we know this. Right? We took Russian or Spanish or German and French in high school. And how's that working out for you? I am such a long way from being proficient in any of the languages I studied.
Carol Zangari Right? Because really, I never got immersed in it in an environment where it was spoken by people other than me throughout the day. Right? And it's similar for our AEC learners. They need to be immersed in an environment where it is spoken throughout the day.
Carol Zangari Right? No argument there. Right? But I view aided language input like the atmosphere. It's oxygen.
Carol Zangari It's critical for survival. But for many students, The oxygen alone isn't gonna allow for language and communication to become as sophisticated as it could be, given this child's ability level. Right? For others, they're gonna learn a lot of core vocabulary through our modeling and aided language input. But if that's the only strategy we're using, They're not gonna develop proficiency as quickly as they could.
Carol Zangari So I'm not arguing that they'll make growth. They will totally make growth. Right? But How fast that they become proficient, is a different question. So it's necessary for sure, but usually not sufficient for optimal learning.
Carol Zangari Right? For optimal learning, a few other things have to be present. And 1 is that they need communication partners whose style invites interest and curiosity and engagement. Right? And that idea of an engaging interaction style, that means a lot of different things, I think, to different people.
Carol Zangari For me, it's kind of interacting in a way that makes the kids wanna communicate with you. Right? We've all been with people who are just fun to talk with. But what makes it fun to talk with people? Right?
Carol Zangari Well, in an AAC context, here are the things that come to mind. Certainly talking about things that that that kids care about is 1 element. And that may mean that I use Carole' special Intervention when I'm picking out therapy materials or planning activities for our session. It may mean that I'm connecting the dots in or informal Consideration to help relate what I'm doing, what we're doing together to things I know he values. And I'm thinking of a young lady I work with, Brianna.
Carol Zangari If for her, it meant helping her see how long her sentence is, which is my my goal for her. How that would help her have better conversations with her friends, how it would help her fit in better, and that was which is super important to her. Right? So when what You say is more like what the other girls say. It's easier to develop new friends, to build those, you know, relationships.
Carol Zangari So part of what I can do is really to help her see the connection between my goal for her and her own goals for herself, having more friends and hanging out with them. Right? And that really boosts engagement. Another part of us using an engaging style is communicating for authentic purposes. Right?
Carol Zangari Communicating something that matters in the context at hand. So, it would be inauthentic and sincere for me to ask Josh what His name is, given that he just put on his name tag. Right? Communicating for authentic purposes means that you're communicating when the content Kinda makes a difference when someone needs the information or wants to connect. It means that we're communicating because it's a valued part of the experience from the client's perspective.
Carol Zangari Not just they're not just communicating because somebody else wants us to do that. Right? That's a big difference. And you don't have to work with kids with to have for very long before you realize, that they know what matters. Right?
Carol Zangari They know when we're asking them to do things for Our purposes and our goals, and not anything related to what they want or what's expected for the context. Right? So I really find that that authenticity and trust, they really go hand in hand. A third element of kind of this engaging, interaction partner style is someone whose style doesn't obligate a response. We're not asking a ton of questions.
Carol Zangari We're not saying things in a way so you have to respond. We're using what Gail Van Tatenhove calls descriptive talking. We're narrating our own experiences. We're also thinking aloud as we do things. Right?
Carol Zangari Self talk. We're narrating what you see the student doer doing. And in a way, I kind of view these as sort of signifiers of respect. Signifiers that we are presuming competence. We use a style that provides a dish of information, But it it doesn't force your head down in it.
Carol Zangari Right? It's a style that invites interaction and interest, but it doesn't demand it. Right? Who wants to be with people who put us on the spot all the time? Right?
Carol Zangari Who tell us what to do all the time. Right? Who assault us with a barrage of questions. That's no fun. I avoid people like that, like the plague, and I bet you do too.
Carol Zangari Right? Certainly, our AAC learners are very much within the bounds of normal human interaction When they tune out, when those people come around, who despite their good intentions, are a little bit pushy, a little bit confrontational, put us on the spot. Right? So if part of our goal is to help kids wanna communicate so that we can teach them better ways of communicating, Then that non confrontational approach, I think, is the way to go. Another element has to do with how we respond to our learners.
Carol Zangari Right? Acknowledging and validating their their communicative intent. Acting on the intent of their message. These are other signifiers of respect. It's 1 way That we operationalize this sort of touchy feeling notion of presuming competence.
Carol Zangari Right? So there's that. We provide scaffolding. We provide support when it's appropriate. We co construct messages with them when that makes sense.
Carol Zangari And we give them feedback that helps them move forward in their journey toward communicative competence. So in this slide here, Right? In the context of a therapy session, a supportive response might start with Consideration. Right? So this young lady is working on morphology, And she says to me, he was very annoyed, she says to the clinician.
Carol Zangari So we validate that. Right? But we're our focus is really on word endings and applying those to more nuanced emotion and feeling words, because we want her to be able to speak in grammatically correct sentences like her friends at school do. Right? And this is just a little slimmer into a much larger pie that was stuffed with lots of Intervention.
Carol Zangari But look at the informative feedback. Right? Oh, it really bothered you. So we're acknowledging it, but now it's informative. And noise is the right word to describe it, but let's listen to that in a attendance, and we do a little bit of that.
Carol Zangari It sounds a little off. Right? So let's look at our word endings together and try some so we can make it sound just right. Right? So this informative feedback piece helps her apply some of the new word learning that she's doing and with giving her some support in doing that.
Carol Zangari Excuse me. So these elements of an engaging interaction style, They're signifiers of respect, as I said a couple times. There are ways that we operate operationalize this idea of presuming competence. Right? But they also help us teach kids who are working really hard to communicate by making communication work worth it.
Carol Zangari Right? And so as we move forward, let's think next about other things that these AAC learners need in order to advance their Skills with core vocabulary. And boy, do we all know this. They need practice. Lots and lots of practice.
Carol Zangari Practice using the skills they already have So that communication gets faster, communication gets easier, it takes a lot less thought. Right? So think about the AAC users with whom you work. Chances are your students, they can say and do a lot more than what they actually do do in the course of a normal day. Right?
Carol Zangari They probably do not use all their skills. I know mine now. Right? For them to be fluent communicators, we want to have an impact on that. Right?
Carol Zangari We want to have them use what they know all throughout the day. And so these really have to be planned Opportunities, meaning we plan moments through the day where we're creating opportunities for them to demonstrate their skills. And if they're not doing independently, Then we might support them. Right? So we have to keep up with something to get better at it.
Carol Zangari How many of you had the opportunity, quote unquote, To work out this week, go to the gym, get on your exercise break, like, watch a workout video. Right? So if like me, you're out of shape or new to exercising, It's really easy to pass all those opportunities. Right? But if somebody holds me accountable, to it, it's a lot less likely Then I'm gonna skip my workout.
Carol Zangari Right? Are you with me on that? And I think our kids are no different. So AAC is hard for them. If they can skip out on it or do it the easy way, they will.
Carol Zangari And we have to be there to create these opportunities To be able to hold them accountable and to be able to support them through the process until it gets easier and more automatic, for them. So we're always looking for ways to up our game and having them practice in meaningful context. Right? We wanna set the stage with those opportunities to, you know, give them aided language, input, to create that engaging communication style. Right.
Carol Zangari What do you think we might say? Give them their expectant pauses for fine, or for 10, or 15 seconds, or whatever they need. Support them in creating the response if they need help. Right? So so Joey, I was in the classroom and Joey looked at my new glasses and he made a face.
Carol Zangari Right? But he need a little help to use his core vocabulary to say, no. Not good. Right? And then I try to set up more practice for him saying not good because he wasn't good at saying not good.
Carol Zangari Right? So we might repeat that in a new context, but in a meaningful way. So I might call over Miss Stacy, miss Stacy, did you hear what Joey just said when I asked about my new glasses? Joey, I bet she'd like to hear what you have to say. Right?
Carol Zangari And Joey gets another chance To say, not good. Right? So it gets repetition, but not in a boring do it because you have to do it, sort of way. Now, as our students get the hang of these, skills, they need a ton of practice, where they know they are we're gonna make them use their new skills, because a lot of things that they, have in their core vocabulary Basics systems are under the category of emerging skills. Right?
Carol Zangari So we have to give them practice, in opportune in areas where they know we're gonna hold them accountable, and we're gonna help them if they get stuck. Right? Because this is really the stage Where we wanna seed their day with lots and lots of practice in supportive environments. Because the more they use it, the better they get. And the better they get, the easier it will be for them to use, new skills.
Carol Zangari Right? It really goes a long way to solidifying things. Right? So that's a start, but they have so much more to learn from a language perspective. That's what I'm focusing on in this is the SLP.
Carol Zangari Right? They have small vocabularies. They speak in sentences that are 1 or 2 or 3 words long. Right? That's Toddler speak.
Carol Zangari Right? To move beyond the toddler phase of language development. We've gotta teach them new language and communication skills. And so modeling isn't enough. I have to get involved in explicit language teaching.
Carol Zangari You know, 1 thing that keeps me awake at night It's the just the fact that there are so few AAC users going to college. It doesn't seem like there's any more now than there were 10 years ago despite The fact that we know an awful lot more now. Right? So they're not working at jobs that are a good match for their abilities. And of course, this is an enormously complex issue, But at least part of it, and this is the part that keeps me up at night, is my fear that we don't go far enough, nearly far enough in teaching them complex language.
Carol Zangari Tier 2 vocabulary, complex sentence structure, narratives, inferencing, you know this stuff. Right? We've gotta keep them moving towards sophisticated language and not rest on their our laurels when our kids are, you know, saying an 8 word attendance. Right? Or retell a story in 5 sentences.
Carol Zangari Guys, 4 year olds do that, and our kids are capable of so much more if we just would commit to teaching them more advanced language. But even when we have the best of intentions though, we sometimes get tripped up in the how, Right? Of the teaching. And I watched, Jenna, a budding SLP, do a terrific set of science themed, activities with Wilson who's a, context dependent communicator. She created a Tar Heel Reader book about some Experiments, she had a symbol list of all the materials that they were gonna need for an experiment.
Carol Zangari They made predictions about their the outcomes of the experiment, Then they did the experiment, then they wrote about it in the Science General, journal. Creative, well prepared, fantastic materials. Oh, she was So sweet. She's so engaging. She modeled AAC when she remembered and all of that.
Carol Zangari And I'll never forget, she came out of the session. She was all bubbly and smiles. And when we met, I asked her to list some of the therapeutic strategies she used in that session. And when I did that, she paused and she struggled. Right?
Carol Zangari And as we talk things through, a little bit of a cloud came over her face. Right? Not the good kind. Right? I kind of felt bad about that.
Carol Zangari But When, you know, we worked through it. Right? But when I asked her to sum up once she once she learned from the experience, it was this. Activities can make for pleasant session, but that's not what builds new skills. To maximize the outcomes, we should focus more on our Session of instructional strategies and less on the activities and materials.
Carol Zangari Right? We've all seen situations Where the same activities and materials have very different outcomes depending on who's doing the teaching. Right? And it's not just the person, but what that person does with those activities and materials that make all the difference. So our competency in applying good instructional practice is the best investment we can make.
Carol Zangari It's great to buy cute new materials. I can't stay off teachers pay teachers either. I'm not suggesting otherwise. But we should spend our time and our effort becoming a better implementer of the evidence based strategies so that we can get the most bang out of our buck for the things that we purchase. Oops.
Carol Zangari Sorry. It's Going a little wonky here. Alright. So here's something, we could all probably stand to get good at. Right?
Carol Zangari Understanding the difference between conversation and therapy or instruction. Right? It's not that 1 is bad and the other is good. Learning can and does happen from both. However, those of us who are therapists and teachers, We should be doing therapy.
Carol Zangari We should be doing instruction. Right? That's our charge. That's the way we demonstrate that we're acting in the client's best interest. So I find that it's a very useful exercise to review and analyze our our therapy or instructional sessions to try and identify What are the specific things that we've done that differentiate our work from having Consideration, quote unquote, or doing activities, quote, unquote.
Carol Zangari Right? So I find that when I can identify specific things that I'm doing that makes it a skilled service and not something I can teach a smart partner to do, it means I should probably slow down, take a breath. Right? And see where the gaps are. Right?
Carol Zangari Because therapists do therapy. Right? And whether or not I have a written lesson plan, I should be able to articulate for you the specific things I'm doing, that really make this a skilled service. Right? So a conversation and activity can be spontaneous or player, but therapy and Intervention, right, most of that is planned.
Carol Zangari Right? It uses the existing skills like we have in conversation and activities, but also builds brand new ones. Right? Or Emerging ones. With conversation and activities, we might address goals, but those that's not what drives the conversation the activities.
Carol Zangari That isn't the case with their viewers' instruction. Those both should be goal driven. Right? And here's a biggie. Right?
Carol Zangari In a conversation or an activity, what you say is what you get. There isn't a scope and sequence. With therapy, they're damn there should be. Right? We should have a scope of sequence.
Carol Zangari I should know where I've been and where I'm going next. Right? Because that's the only way for the little bit I'm doing with him in this 30 minute session. And next week and the following, It's only way for that to add up to more than a bunch of 30 minute session. Right?
Carol Zangari Is using that scope and sequence concept. Now, conversations and activities may include supportive strategies that have attendance Basics. We've heard from some great, Families who do this very, very well in this conference so far, and so there's a lot of wonderful things happening In conversations and activities, in therapy and instructions, we don't have a choice. We must use evidence based strategies. Right?
Carol Zangari Performance monitoring. How are they doing? And I mean this in the sense of us measuring, for our own purposes, how much learning is occurring. I'm not talking about any way that you might have to do it for your school district or your agency. Right?
Carol Zangari So for conversation and activities, it's sporadic or non existent. Right? But with therapy and instruction, I'm always looking at the data. Right? I never take more data than what I can deal with in order to plan my next session.
Carol Zangari Right? So I hope this kinda makes sense the way I've laid it out here, and I'm not trying to say 1 is bad or the other is good. Right? They all have their Carole, absolutely. Right?
Carol Zangari But We want to be sure we really understand our role and what makes a skilled service. So A quick example here. Right? If I'm using an activity based communication board, we're reading the book, I went walking. Right.
Carol Zangari I've made an activity based communication board to go along with it. It's harder for me to do instruction or therapy. Right? So if the goal is for you to communicate using a picture based AAC system, and this board gets put away when we're done reading the book, or it doesn't match symbols that are in your AAC system. It's hard to justify that following a scope and sequence that will lead to communicative competence.
Carol Zangari It's not impossible. I'm not saying that. There's some talented folks, you know, out there. Right? But it's certainly not the best way.
Carol Zangari Okay. Oops. Sorry. This is going wonky again. Right?
Carol Zangari Now it's easier if we're using the same AEC year materials that the has access to all day long. But still, I have to ensure that I'm doing this plan fully, thoughtfully, using their existing skills, building new ones, like moving from a single symbol utterance to 2 word phrases. Right? That plan should be very, very goal driven. Right?
Carol Zangari It should be part of that larger Scope and sequence. I know where we've been. I can tell mom where we're going next. What we did today, what we did last week adds up to more Then the sum of the parts. We're using strategies that are evidence based, scaffolding and recast.
Carol Zangari I'm constantly monitoring how my kiddo is Doing and adjusting what I say, what I do to maximize learning. Right? So therapists and teachers, We have to keep challenging ourselves in this area. That's my opinion. Right?
Carol Zangari I think we have to keep building our intervention skills. And Holy smokes. It takes time. It takes focus. Don't give up on yourself.
Carol Zangari Don't feel guilty, if you're not further along. We are all on the Same journey. Right? But but I think really that the outcomes are really worth it. Alright.
Carol Zangari So what else? Carole. We all have a role in in, generalization. Therapists and educators, we've got a plan for this. Not just train and hope they generalize.
Carol Zangari We don't have time to get into the particulars there, but I have given you a link of more about the how to. I wrote a post a while back, kind of beyond train and hope, 5 strategies or something like that. Or you can Google the idea of loose training. Behaviorists are really good at this, So you might chat with the ABA person on your team as well. We've got to make this an integral part of our therapy.
Carol Zangari We don't often pay enough attention to it, And we've really got to change that. Right? Because this is the prize, baby. Right? It's the brass ring.
Carol Zangari It doesn't matter how well they do in your classroom or in my therapy room If they're not doing it in other player, with other words, with other people. Right? And, of course, friends and family are just critical to this process. Absolutely. 100%.
Carol Zangari Right? But as therapists and education, educational specialists, you know, Those folks Carole professionals on the team. We really, you know, might need to step up our game in this area as well. Finally, what else does it take to build competence with the core vocabulary? We've got to get them to be able to habitualize these skills.
Carol Zangari Right? Usually, our learners really need help in moving From core words being a skill he can do to a skill that he really does do. Right? And how many of us work with kids who know and can do so much more than what they really do do every day. Right?
Carol Zangari Our kids often look way less competent than they are. Right? You know this. And a part of that is helping them get to the point where they use these skills automatically. Just like you don't think about the sequence of writing your name, or starting your Car or answering a friend who says, what's going on?
Carol Zangari Right? You just respond without thinking. And we've got to get our kids to that point. Right? If you have to think about how to use your AEC, you're slower and less available for learning new things or making friends, engaging with people, getting out like what you wanna get out of it.
Carol Zangari Right? And so to get them there, we've got to do a lot of the things that we've discussed before, so far and have been covered in this conference. We've gotta hold them accountable, right? Opportunities to use the skill, space for doing so, supporting them when they falter. And they do falter, right?
Carol Zangari That's expected. That doesn't mean failure. That's part of a normal learning process. Right? And they are still very much learning.
Carol Zangari The role of family and friends, So important in this part of the journey. Right? They're with the kids most. They love them to death. They're in it for the long haul, and they can do what us therapists and teachers can't.
Carol Zangari Right. They can help these kids use their skills all day long so that they do become automatic. I'm just watching my time here. So there's certainly more than 1 way to support AAC learners, in their ability to use core vocabulary. And the truth is, You're probably doing a lot that's right right now, and that's a really good thing.
Carol Zangari But there also might be 1 or 2 things that you can tweak to make good teaching and good therapy and good support even more effective than what it already is. So thank you so much for your patience, as, in indulging me and talking just a little bit more, about poor vocabulary. I hope it was helpful.
Brian Whitmer That was great, Carol. Thank you so much. We appreciate your insights. And I know I learned a lot, and I'm sure that Yeah. Our other attendees have learned a lot as well.
Brian Whitmer Yeah. I was gonna say maybe we could take a question or 2, but I'm looking at the time and, nope, we can't. So Thank you again. If anyone is interested in asking, Carole questions, you can post things in Slack. And if she has a chance, she'll take a look at them.
Brian Whitmer But we'll get ready for our next session. Thank you again Carole. We appreciate it.
Carol Zangari Thanks everybody. Take care.