Thanks for making the 2017 convention a great one! Please help us plan for next year by completing a session evaluation for those sessions that you attended. For every online evaluation form that you complete (you must supply your email address) you will be entered in a draw for one of three parking spaces at the GP Composite High School for next year’s Convention. Two of those spaces are INSIDE the high school’s automotive shop and one is outside in the principal’s spot. Simply choose any of the sessions below and click on the "Session Feedback" button (or go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MPTC17 directly). We are also collecting information about the overall experience teachers had at Convention. To complete this survey please go to http://fluidsurveys.com/s/MPTC2017/.
The ATA is also collecting feedback on convention as an overall event and is looking for your ideas about how teachers’ conventions could be changed so they better meet your professional learning needs. Please take the time to fill out the Convention Review and Looking Forward surveys which can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ConventionReview.
This session is for teachers who have students with complex communication needs (CCN) in their classrooms. Children with CCN do not develop speech and language skills expected due to motor, language, cognitive, and/or sensory perceptual impairments that may result from developmental or acquired disabilities such as cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injury etc. (Light, 1997). These children/adolescents may be non-speaking or have limited verbal output and cannot communicate in conventional ways. This heterogeneous group of children with complex communication needs typically experiences restricted access to the environment, limited interactions with their communication partners, and few opportunities for communication (Light, 1997). Alternate and augmentative communication (AAC) systems/strategies offer potential offer potential tools to meet the communication needs of our CCN students. Attendees will learn how to support and teach students with CCN at school and in the classroom. We will introduce the concept of Aided Language Stimulation and also discuss different AAC strategies/ systems; including low tech (i.e., picture boards) and high tech (Proloquo2go, Touch Chat etc.) AAC options. This session is applicable even if your student does not currently have or use an AAC device. We will discuss affordable low-tech strategies that can be implemented immediately. If your student has an AAC device - are they using it? do you know how to use it? we will teach you how! Please join us for this session and help our students start communicating! Reference Light J.,Drager K. Improving the design of augmentative and alternative communication technologies for young children. Assistive Technology 1997; 14:17–32.
