2019 TASH Conference

In this workshop, presenters and attendees will help to answer the question: What can I do to expand access to communication for everyone across the lifespan? Presenters will examine issues of equity and social justice as they relate to communication access. Our team will examine ways in which attitudinal barriers, structural ableism, and structural racism limit autonomy and communication access for individuals with communication support needs. Presenters will share current data related to access gaps in services, training, and technology, as well as areas where additional research is needed. Finally, we will propose action steps and strategies to be taken by individuals and teams, as well as advocacy at the local, school, state, and national levels. Attendees will have an opportunity to develop their own "action plan" based on dialogue and problem-solving during the session.

People with little or no reliable speech receive (if fortunate) communication support during school ... but what happens after that, when real life begins? This panel of self-advocates and communication partners will present how this type of support happens in college, at work, on dates, during medical appointments, while traveling, and more. Self-advocates will bring pre-composed introductions and questions for the audience, and the entire panel will take live questions and facilitate discussion. Adult topics are encouraged, including relationships, sex, family challenges, etc.

This presentation will discuss findings from a qualitative research study that explores the experiences of students and those who support them in a school grounded in the neurodiversity paradigm (Walker, 2014), with a focus on multimodal communication access. Sensory, motor, and learning differences can create barriers to communication, academic performance and social opportunities (Donnellan, Hill & Leary, 2013; Hussman et al. 2011; Torres et al. 2013). Yet there remains much unexplored about educational strategies and supports in school settings that can effectively reduce those barriers from a strengths-based perspective; even less that draws upon experiences and leadership of neurodivergent people themselves. For example, it has been established that individuals with disabilities, such as autism, involving complex sensory, motor and communication needs benefit from a range of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) tools for supporting communication (Kagohara et al., 2013; Light & McNaughton, 2012). Yet less is known about incorporating AAC in grade level curriculum, what other concurrent supports are helpful to reduce barriers associated with sensory, movement and learning differences, or what it means to be a neurodivergent student. As this year's conference theme, Building Diverse and Inclusive Communities, reminds us, equity, opportunity, and inclusion rely on the contributions of broad perspectives and experiences. As such, this study explores the integral ways that the leadership and collaboration across neurodiverse experiences, particularly with self-advocates who utilize AAC or a range of communicative modalities, play into all experiences at school. This work is rooted in TASH's mission of centering and learning alongside those most at risk for being excluded, empowering self-advocates drive both research and practice that impacts them. This research will document practices, experiences and relationships that contribute to learning experiences for/with/across neurodiversity, while also supporting development of students' skills and identities as multimodal communicators. The presentation will translate findings into concrete strategies for practice, informed by experiences and promising practices of students and self-advocates with sensory, motor and learning differences, as well as those who support them at school from a strengths-based perspective that explicitly values neurodiverse ways of being and communicating.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) use amongst adults with significant support needs is often under researched and thus leaves practitioners with little base when developing interventions for this unique population. We present a review of the literature pertaining to all single-case research design intervention studies that included adults that use AAC. We will discuss the gaps in the literature and what we as an advocacy group can do.

This research summarizes the methodological rigor and findings of 80 peer-reviewed systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses of research conducted on aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. Participant and interventionist demographics, interventions, settings, outcomes, and recommendations of each review are reported and summarized. A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews Revised (AMSTAR 2; Shea et al., 2017) was used to examine methodological rigor of 80 included reviews. Published reviews have increased in methodological rigor from 2001 to mid-2018 but demonstrate a number of methodological weaknesses that detract from the strength of evidence for AAC interventions with this population. Suggestions for improving the methodological rigor of literature reviews and areas for future research in and specific to AAC interventions are discussed, specifically social validity, generalization, and vocabulary selection.

In social interaction, exclusion arises when conditions are provided that certain children do not have the capability to meet. Such excluding communication situations pose problems for an increasing amount of children with complex communication needs and severe disabilities (Brady, Snell, & McLean, 2016). It is generally recognised that more effective communication interventions are needed to preserve their right to communicate. In the development of pre-symbolic communication, the concept of communicative intentionality has attained central place (Camaioni, 2017). Due to intentional communication skills like requesting a desired object or expressing personal preferences, the child identifies a relation between his communicative acts and the communicative reaction of his social environment in its daily interactions (Burgoon, Guerrero, & Floyd, 2016). A thorough investigation of communication interventions is important first step to support children with severe disabilities in the development of intentional communication. In daily life, the realisation of these interventions requires specific pedagogical conditions of intervention and support (e.g. participation of the parents). In our study we aim to evaluate these pedagogical conditions of the development of intentional communication of children with severe disabilities. Within our Reflexive Grounded Theory Methodology (Breuer, Muckel & Dieris, 2018) framework, we combine expert interviews (1), a systematic review of interventions (2) and an observational study (3) in three survey cycles. To determine these conditions, we will ask 21 experts in the field of intentional communication (e.g. speech therapists), how an ideal pedagogical intentional communication intervention for children with severe disabilities should be designed. Results of the first survey cycle show that the experts relied more on proximal interventions (e.g. expressions and gestures) than on the use of digital AAC devices to promote intentional communication. Citing Literature: Brady, N., Snell, M. E., & McLean, L. (2016). What Is the State of the Evidence? In R. A. Sevcik & M. A. Romski (Eds.), Communication Interventions for Individuals with Severe Disabilities. Exploring Research Challenges and Opportunities (S. 3-14). s.l.: Brookes Publishing. Burgoon, J. K., Guerrero, L. K., & Floyd, K. (2016). Nonverbal communication (2. Auflage). New York: Routledge. Camaioni, L. (2017). The development of intentional communication: a re-analysis. In J. Nadel & L. Camaioni (Eds.), Psychology Library Editions: v.8. New Perspectives in Early Communicative Development (1st ed., S. 82-96). Milton: Taylor and Francis. Breuer, F., Muckel, P., & Dieris, B. (2018). Reflexive Grounded Theory: Eine Einführung für die Forschungspraxis (3., vollständig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage). Lehrbuch. Wiesbaden: Springer. Retrieved from http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:1111-201705064549.

An inclusive classroom is one that is thoughtful about all abilities. For a student that uses AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication), the truly inclusive classroom can be a place to thrive, participate and engage with peers. in the elementary setting, communication and literacy are woven together, and provide ample opportunities for expression and connection. Adult-led and peer supports need to be specific and strategic in order to facilitate meaningful participation, and allow for spontaneous interaction. There is balance of support, challenge, encouragement and incentive that is critical for AAC users to be successful in the inclusive classroom. This presentation will expand on the possibilities for how AAC users can be fully included, how family members and school staff can partner to support learning and growth, and how school communities can both provide and benefit from the inclusion of students with disabilities who use AAC.

An important part of the work in building diverse and inclusive communities is ensuring that all members of a community are able to effectively communicate with each other and have access to the tools that will support their method(s) of communication. A broad perspective on communication moves beyond speech to encompass a variety of methods which might include augmentative/alternative communication (AAC), American Sign Language (ASL) and written communication where forms such as email and texting have become critical to social connection and community participation. This diversity in the way that people communicate requires that service providers also have a diversity of supports in place so that people have access to skilled communication partners, instruction in their preferred method of communication and access to any technology that is needed for communication. A panel of representatives from two developmental service agencies from Vermont will discuss steps that they have taken to improve support for communication across all levels of their organizations. Panel members will include an augmentative communication user who will discuss his work in advocacy, mentoring, and training within his agency and agency staff who will share ideas how to build a system of support for communication within a service provider organization.

Although substantial strides have been made to develop effective interventions to improve outcomes for children and youth who have complex communication needs (i.e., unable to use verbal speech to meet daily communication needs), a well-documented research-to-practice gap remains. A number of different factors influence this research-to-practice gap, with issues related to social validity likely being among the most important. Social validity involves the significance of intervention goals, acceptability of procedures, and impact of outcomes, as perceived by key stakeholders' such as parents and family members, educators, service providers, and children themselves. To bridge the research-to-practice gap and ensure that interventions are both effective and socially valid (e.g., acceptable, significant), concerted efforts must be made to understand and address the perspectives of diverse stakeholders. Doing so can increase the likelihood that research-based interventions actually make a sustained and meaningful impact on the lives of children and youth in real schools and communities. In this presentation, we will share the aim, method, findings, and implications from research focused on engaging diverse stakeholders to understand their perspectives on the significance, acceptability, and impact of interventions for children and youth with complex communication needs. Our work directly relates to this year's theme "Building Diverse and Inclusive Communities" because we recognize that developing and implementing interventions that actually make an impact on children's communication access, opportunity to thrive, and inclusion in their schools and communities must include input from the unique perspectives and experiences of diverse stakeholders.

While the use of facilitated communication grows, there is minimal research of the method being done. Past research has leaned towards "disclaiming" the method, yet the practice of the method persists. The question of why the practice continues, and what can be done about this quandary is explored in this workshop. Guided by documents including emails, presentations, and unpublished research, the workshop aims to implement an unobstructed discussion of this conundrum. This method is the only means of communication for some, and is too often swept under the rug. If this discussion cannot be held at TASH, the question is, where can it be held? The discussion will be guided by four questions; 1. What prior experiences have researchers in this area had? 2. What outcomes can newer researchers expect from work in this area? 3. If freedom of research is stifled, how does society expect to grow? 4. Where can users of the method turn to learn best practice, be accepted, and grow in skill?