Day Two

Our focus today was Communication and the different modes of Communication.
Starting with a video on Tyler Roy’s journey through the public school system, and seeing UDL at work. Tyler is an amazing young man, who with the assistance of many community members -Occupational Therapist, Teachers, AT Specialist, family, and a close circle of friends – have created an incredible learning environment for him. As I watched the video of Tyler’s story, I was inspired by the following:

• Positivity and No limitations – From a very young age, Tyler’s parents advocated for him. You see how resourceful they were at getting the proper assistive technology to enhance Tyler’s life by meeting his needs at each stage of development.
• Support – Tyler has progressed to where he is today not because of one individual but because of many. Although, it started in the home with his parents, it quickly became the community that provided him the support he needed. 
• Assistive Technology is crucial in enhancing the individual’s education and life experiences. It was interesting to watch the changes in technology as Tyler grew from a young child into a young adult.

The video was a great segue into our discussion on defining communication “an act by which one person gives to or receives from another persona information about that person’s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states” and elaborating on how communicating is an essential part of interacting with each other, and for some individuals this can be extremely difficult.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Assistive Technology can help those who are unable to speak using verbal speech. Needing to expand on this definition, I began a google search, “What is AAC?” This resulted in discovering Glenda Hampton Anderson’s blog (the link is in my link list) who defines AAC as “a term that is used to describe various methods of communication that can help people who are unable to use verbal speech to communicate.”

During our discussion on AAC and communication, we were asked to list fifteen different modes of communication. The fifteen I came up with are: Speech, Music, Written, Texting, Body language, Eye movements, Facial expressions, Gestures, Signing (i.e.American Sign Language), Dance, Pictures, Art, VOCAs, Chart or Book, and Touch.

I left the class feeling excited about all that I am learning and the possibilities AT offers students…………….……looking forward to tomorrow!