The materials are freely provided for anyone supporting very young children with severe speech and language difficulties who need to use other methods of communication such as symbols and assistive technology.
Do join us whether you are a teacher, therapist, parent, support assistant, carer or family member.
The training is divided into three levels. Each level will take around six hours to complete and will be broken up with a series of topic units containing activities and quizzes.
The aim is to guide participants through the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) training materials in a sequential manner.
The three levels start building on very limited knowledge and skills and move to level 2 where basic knowledge and skills can be put into practice to complete tasks.
Finally, at level 3 it will be possible to gain more knowledge about the facts, principles, processes and general concepts with skills to support assessment, implementation and adaptation on the AAC journey.
Choosing where to start ...
- Understanding of a typical child’s speech and language development
- Awareness of the types of AAC available for initial use.
- Knowledge of Assistive Technologies provided to encourage communication.
- Recognition of the importance of communication partners and family
- Understanding impact of speech and language impairments (sensory, physical and cognitive)
- Awareness of individual AAC user needs for assessment purposes
- Have a good understanding of communication difficulties related to the use of AAC
- Understand impact co-occurring physical, sensory and cognitive difficulties have on learning and progression.
- Able to Identify and report child’s needs with strategies required for progression
- Share knowledge about the design and creation of different vocabulary boards
- Advise about AT use for different strategies and skills
- Implement and train others.
- Evaluate progress, report and respond to outcomes.