Augmentive Communication devices desgined to meet the communication demands in the community

Augmentive communication boards are a great tool for a student who is unable to communicate verbally. They can use it in school, but as I stated in the last post, the eventual goal is to have the student use them at home and in the community.

Luckily, communication devices are very versatile in the their function. Most boards are able to switch out overlays and change the verbal output to match different activities/social situations. It as if you were to bring an Easter Basket to a Christmas party. That wouldn't fit, so you wouldn't use a overlay designed for a Christmas party, for an Easter Dinner with family. There are also lots of programs out there that can create custom overlays for special occasions. As a special education teacher, you should be able to access Board Maker, a computer program that allows you to create a board using visual pects. Some other resources such as I Can Cook, Too! and Art for Me, Too! are two collections that have activities and board overlays customized for the activities.

In order to maintain that the student will be successful at home and in the community, it is imperative that teachers arrange for family members to be instructed on how to use the device. This will help the student to continue to learn the independent use, and in case the family needs to trouble shoot any problems with the device.