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Presenter(s)
Harvey Pressman, Managing Editor
Augmentative Communication, Inc.
1 Surf Way, #237, Monterey, CA 93940
Email: presstoe@aol.com
People who rely on AAC and their support-givers need tools that can help make the case for broadening their opportunities in school, in the world of work, in the broader community. Too many barriers still exist - to getting the right services, to gaining access to the right equipment, to acquiring the supports to which they are legally entitled. Advocates for the expansion of rights and services to people who rely on AAC need all the support tools they can get their hands on.
One promising new tool that can help break down some of the barriers is the Social Networks DVD. Although it was originally conceived more narrowly as a means towards informing AAC practitioners, people who rely on AAC, their friends and family members, and others about the various uses of Social Networks as an assessment tool in AAC, the Social Networks video and DVD is proving to have broader implications. When used strategically, it can serve a number of additional advocacy purposes, including:
(1) helping to make the case for broadened support services in schools;
(2) helping to make the case for inclusion in regular classrooms;
(3) helping to demonstrate the need to support a broader array of communication modalities to fit a wider variety of communication settings;
(4) providing the documentation needed to support device funding;
(5) helping parents to imagine new possibilities for their children;
(6) helping professionals to pursue more ambitious objectives with their clients;
(7) helping professionals on the "fringes" of AAC intervention gain a broader perspective about individuals who rely on AAC.
The DVD incorporates four components: 1) a 27 minute presentation featuring five individuals, their family members and support-givers, and their real-world experiences (also available on a separate VHS video); 2) an eight-minute explication from an especially articulate individual who relies on AAC about the reasons he needs to use a multiplicity of communication modalities in his daily life; 3) an interview with an expert on adults with aphasia about the value of a Social Networks approach to that population; and 4) an interview with a speech language pathologist who makes use of Social Networks in her daily work, about the specific strategies she employs when utilizing the Social Networks tool.
This session will enable parent advocates, caring professionals and adults who rely on AAC to explore the many ways in which the Social Networks DVD can help make the case for broadening opportunities in school, in the world of work, and in the broader community. Opportunities for them to share their strategies and experiment will lead to an even broader array of uses in the future.
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