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Presenter(s)
Annalee Anderson, M.A., CCC-SLP
National Manager, AAC Services
2616 Beartooth Drive
Billings, MT 59102
406-655-0413 or 1-800-262-1984 ext. 496
Email: aaprc@wtp.net
Janet Lehr, M.S., CCC-SLP
Therapy Materials Coordinator
273 Michener Court West
Severna Park, MD 21146
410-975-0723 or 1-800-262-1984 ext. 462
Email: jlehr@erols.com
Unity™ vocabulary is available in all Prentke Romich Company's communication devices, including the Springboard, Vantage, Vanguard II, and Pathfinder, as well as the new Plus versions of all these devices. Having selected one of these devices for your augmented communicator, you are ready to start teaching language for communication.
Teaching Unity can be approached in the same manner as you would teach language to a speaking child. Some examples of commercially available language materials that were not developed specifically for use with Unity, but can be useful when teaching Unity, will be shared. It is also helpful to be aware of the wealth of resources available to you that were specifically developed to support Unity. This session will focus on presenting these resources, with particular emphasis on materials developed by clinicians who are involved in teaching Unity, many of which are available at little or no cost.
The Unity vocabulary contained in each device varies, depending on the characteristics of the user for which the specific device was intended. As a result, there are Unity vocabularies ranging from Springboard Unity, which is a small vocabulary that was developed for the emergent communicator, to Unity Enhanced and Unity 84 vocabularies that are available in the Vantage and Vanguard line of devices, and on to Unity 128 in the Pathfinder, which is a very robust vocabulary that empowers the augmented communicator to generate sophisticated novel utterances. Each version of Unity vocabulary is designed to provide you with a core vocabulary that is a framework around which you can customize vocabulary specific to your device user. A chart that compares the various versions of Unity will be provided to participants. Teaching ideas and support materials are available for all versions of Unity, so no matter which version of Unity you are teaching, there will be useful information for you.
This presentation will start with teaching materials and ideas for Springboard Unity, and will progress to Unity Enhanced, Unity 84, and Unity 128. Some of the teaching materials consist of a single teaching idea that includes a goal, objectives, target vocabulary, and procedure. Information about quick reference guides that provide easy access to vocabulary structure or specific vocabulary lists will also be presented. The teaching materials and quick reference guides are items developed by clinicians in the field who have created them as a strategy to improve their ability to manage the communication devices and teach Unity.
Materials available on various websites, as well a few commercially available items will be included. Software that will be presented includes the Unity Training and Assessment Curriculum, Unity for Writing with Symbols, and the Vantage/Vanguard Developer's Assistant. Particular emphasis will be place on new developments for Unity for Writing with Symbols, and some applications of Writing with Symbols will be demonstrated. Specific application of some of the features of the Developer's Assistant will be demonstrated.
For all of the teaching materials presented in this session, the availability, source, and cost, if any, will be provided.
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