It was so exciting to be a part of the conversation about AAC devices. Two of my students are "nonverbal" (although one is emergent verbal and speaks in short phrases and the other can communicate his wants and needs extremely effectively without uttering one word) and use two different AAC devices. One uses a ProxTalker, which is just a static display voice output device much like a PECS book but you can pre-program the icons with your own pictures and record your voice. The other now thankfully uses TouchChat HD on the iPad. Both have been successful with Proloquo2Go on the iPad.
One of the students I have talked about before: "One of these students used to communicate through the use of a DynaVox. Needless to say, his level of cognitive functioning is extremely high and he was able to navigate impressively through the DynaVox features. Before he became my student, however, his DynaVox broke and the only other piece of assistive technology we had in the classroom was a PECS book that we customized for him. This student does not emit aggressive behaviors; on the contrary, he is quite social and very appropriate with his social interactions albeit his nontraditional form of communication. However, in my classroom he became increasingly agitated as he had to adjust to a new form of communication that wasn't truly suited to meet his needs...Eventually, after weeks, he was able to receive his own iPad with the communication device he had been using most frequently in my classroom. Ever since then, he has been notably less agitated and anxious, and more happy because he is able to communicate not only his wants and needs, but also participate in a more fluid way in daily activities by commenting and answering and asking questions."
It is so important for us to reflect on WHO we are teaching, and all of our abilities that we take for granted. I remember when I first started teaching in September, one of the paraprofessionals in my room tried to use a PECS book as an instructional tool for a student. She would grab his book and put a "Listen to Teacher" symbol on it, or a "Quiet" symbol on it. I had to find the right way to tell her that what she was doing was incredibly violating, that she was using HIS voice to give him commands and demands. It is one thing if she was showing him those symbols, but to put them on HIS communication device was wrong. She could use her voice by speaking or choosing a symbol to represent what she wanted to say. He could NOT speak.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing we special educators have to remember about AAC is that this device is the student's VOICE. You must NEVER take it away from him/her. Every time you think about taking it away, or you see someone take it away, put it on the shelf, strap it behind the chair, put it in the closet because he's "not using it," imagine someone putting a sock in your mouth and taping your mouth shut. You have the luxury of being able to access speech and use your mouth to speak in the traditional and conventional way that we are socially programmed to think is appropriate. But some of my students can't. So don't Duct tape their mouths closed by using THEIR voices to communicate YOUR want or need! UGH that is my biggest pet peeve about AAC devices. Well-meaning professionals don't even recognize the difference sometimes. Whose fault is that?
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