| Times |
Speakers |
Activity/Speaker(s)/Presentation Title |
| 8:00 – 8:30 |
|
Registration |
| 7:45 – 11:00 |
|
Coffee, tea, water and juice
Morning Tea |
| 8:30 – 10:00 |
Karen Erickson |
Plenary: Karen Erickson
Waves of Words: Creating the Conditions to Learn to Read, Write, and Communicate
Without the ability to read and, perhaps more importantly, write, individuals with complex communication needs lack the tools they require to communicate precisely about their thoughts, hopes, dreams, emotions, and of course, their wants and needs. Unfortunately, providing individuals with complex communication needs with instruction that effectively addresses these literacy learning requirements often presents an ongoing challenge. Building upon the stories of literate individuals in the book, Waves of Words: Augmented Communicators Read and Write (Erickson, Koppenhaver, & Yoder, 2002), this presentation will focus on the conditions we must establish as we endeavor to teach reading, writing, and communication to students who use AAC. Through videos and references to the research, participants will learn how the right conditions positively influence literacy and communication for individuals with a broad array of complex communication needs, including those who have multiple disabilities and deafblindness.
» Handout (available after the conference) |
| 10:00 – 10:15 |
|
Break |
| 10:15 – 11:30 |
Karen Erickson |
Concurrent Session: Karen Erickson
Reading Comprehension Instruction that Improves Communication
Reading or listening comprehension instruction that is carefully planned and implemented offers a unique opportunity to develop a broad range of communication skills. Most often efforts to address comprehension focus on assessing the student’s understanding of the text through a series of questions without purposefully teaching the student to develop increasingly sophisticated understandings of text. In this presentation, participants will learn specific reading comprehension instructional approaches that incorporate the use of AAC to build understanding and communication skills. The approaches can be applied across light- and high-tech approaches to communication and are specifically designed to meet the communication needs of students with all levels of competence in using AAC. Participants will receive lesson planning frameworks and guidelines for selecting vocabulary and texts to use when addressing reading or listening comprehension.
» Handout (available after the conference) |
|
|
|
| 10:15 – 11:30 |
Christine Wright-Ott |
Concurrent Session: Christine Wright-Ott
Mobility for Discovery
Mobility for discovery encourages the use of standing mobility devices and strategies for young children to achieve self-initiated mobility for accessing and exploring their environment, particularly indoors where they spend 80% of the day. Research studies on the significance of self-initiated mobility, ideas for encouraging exploration, and matching a standing mobility device to the client and environment will be shared through slides and videos.
» Handout (available after the conference) |
| 10:15 – 11:30 |
Margie Goldware |
Concurrent Session: Margie Goldware
VOCA Magic for Visually Impaired, Nonverbal Communicators
From jump starting oral verbal language to enabling high level text-to-speech communication, find out how voice output communication devices provide daily educational and social opportunities for nonverbal students at The California School for the Blind.
» Handout (available after the conference) |
| 11:30 – 11:45 |
|
Break |
| 11:45 – 12:45 |
Sarah Blackstone |
Dr. Blackstone will provide a summation of the conference and pose thought-provoking questions and challenges for you to ponder.
» Handout (available after the conference) |
| 12:45 – 1:15 |
|
Evaluation |
