There are so many people who we could feature in this month's blog! We asked TVCC ACS clinicians to share some of the success stories that they see every day. If you want to share your success stories, please contact us.
Janet & Ethan
Janet Lyle is an Educational Assistant at Mitchell Hepburn Public School in St. Thomas, ON who supports Ethan's use of his voice recognition software in combination with a voice amplifier to help him meet his writing needs. Janet has helped Ethan to learn the voice recognition commands that he needs to use with this specialized software. Janet also sets up his laptop, microphone and amplifier so that he can be successful. Janet has encouraged Ethan to increase his independence in writing using this system and as a result he is now producing a larger volume of work on his own. Way to go Janet and Ethan!
Sabrina, Carrie & Ali
Sabrina is a Teacher and Carrie is an Educational Assistant at Mitchell Hepburn Public School in St. Thomas, ON. They both work with Ali to help him discover how he can use low tech and high tech ways to engage in writing. For example, they use a carpet square with Velcro letters and sight words to let Ali explore words and letters. This allows Ali the ability to interact with the letters and words on his own.
Graham, Roseann, Nancy & Jorja
Graham is a Teacher and Rosann and Nancy are Educational Assistants at Fairmont Public School in London, ON. They support Jorja's communication using a variety of means including use of a communication dictionary, use of an encoded core vocabulary on an eye gaze frame and use of a speech generating device. This team excels because they provide opportunities for communication throughout the day and model core vocabulary. Graham has incorporated all Jorja's communication goals with her curriculum goals to help use core vocabulary to meet her educational needs.
Shelley & Jackson
Shelley is Jackson's Educational Assistant at John Wise Public School in St. Thomas, ON. Shelley is helping Jackson to gain more independence when using the computer. He is currently using automatic scanning in Clicker 5 to participate in writing activities. Shelley has learned how to use the software and customize new activities for Jackson. Way to go!
Ms. Fredericks, Mrs. Pawlak,
Noah & Hunter
Kelly & William
Ms. Kelly Austin, classroom teacher at FD Roosevelt in
London, ON, has been supportive of her student Will from the moment we started
exploring Augmentative Communication strategies last fall. Ms. Austin, along
with educational assistants Mrs. Hutter and Mrs. Bradford, have learned how to
add words, symbols and pictures that meet William’s needs. More importantly, they have helped him use it
in a natural way throughout the school day, reminding him to “have your voice
ready” so he can use it whenever he needs it.
The school team has been teaching William new vocabulary to help expand
his language, but also to give him a way to joke with others, tell peers what
he thinks, and express his good-natured
self. Ms. Austin and her team are always
thinking of creative ways they can support students like Will in using AAC.
They are using the strategies they’ve learned to incorporate a variety of
symbols with other students in their class. In her own words, Ms. Austin has been
surprised and excited by how quickly Will has learned to use his device “to
communicate new things, or use the symbols in new ways, all on his own.”
A full-day kindergarten class at St. Jude’s
Separate School is a busy place with lots of little voices exploring the world
around them. Among those voices is
Ava’s; she uses the Touch Chat communication app to help her peers and school
staff hear and understand what she wants or thinks. Ava is able to talk about the weather and calendar
at circle time, say her prayers, ask for help, participate in reading stories, and
talk about her favourite activities just like her peers. In addition to her own willingness to try new
things, her success has been due to the wonderful team that supports her: Her
mother, Lili, her teacher, Ms. Comiskey, and educational assistants, Ms. Boyce
and Ms. McManus. In Lili’s own words, “As a parent, I try to do as much as I
can for her but I recognize that it takes a dedicated team to make it all come
together. The school team has been wonderful and are more than willing to do
what it takes for Ava to succeed.”
Teachers and Educational Assistants at Ashley Oaks Public School
Teachers and Educational assistants in the Developmental Centre at Ashley Oaks Public School in London, ON, made communication a primary focus over this school year. They dedicated professional development time to learning more about Core vocabulary and partner assisted scanning, recognizing that putting these strategies in place could benefit all of the students under their care. Their enthusiasm and drive to learn more about what they could do to support students with complex communication needs was evident during the after school workshops. Now they are putting that knowledge into practice by creating core vocabulary boards for their classrooms and modeling language for the students throughout the day. Kudos to all of the team, the teachers in other classes at the school and the administrators who put their support behind the training, and - thanks for going the extra mile for your students!
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