Download Engaging Students with Special Communication Needs

Engaging Students with Special
Communication Needs
Department of Communication Disorders
Western Kentucky University
August 20, 2007
Lauren Bland, Ph. D, CCC-SLP
Richard Dressler, Ph. D, CCC-SLP
Joseph Etienne, Ph. D, CCC-A
Frank Kersting, Ph. D, CCC-SLP
Debbie Parsley, M.S., CCC-SLP
Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
stipulates that no otherwise qualified person
due to disability may be denied the
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or
be subjected to discrimination under any
program or activity receiving federal financial
assistance (29 U.S.C. § 794(a)).
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Title II of the ADA prohibits public entities
(e.g., state government, public schools,
public colleges) from denying qualified
persons with disabilities the right to
participate in or benefit from the services,
programs, or activities that they provide,
and from subjecting such individuals to
discrimination if the exclusion or
discrimination is due to the person having
a disability (42 U.S.C. § 12132).
What is a Communication Disorder?
Impairment in the ability to receive or
process information, represent concepts or
symbol systems, or transmit and use
symbol systems; can involve hearing,
language, or speech processes.
Nicolosi, L., Harryman, E. Kresheck, J. (2004). Terminology of communication disorders, 5th edition
WKU
• Demographics –
In the Spring 2007 semester, 391 students
at WKU self-identified as needing having a
special need
Demographics, continued
• Of the 391, over 200 had a disability of
either learning disability or psychological
disability.
• Other areas include
- hearing: 17
- physical: 50
Student Engagement at WKU
QEP Goal
Students will engage with communities
other than their own in purposeful learning
activities that explicitly address their
capacity and responsibility to contribute to
community and society.
Attendant Student Outcomes
Students will demonstrate
• their capacity to apply knowledge and
training to address relevant concerns in
community or society
• respect for diversity of people, ideas, and
cultures
• awareness of their opportunities as
responsible citizens working and living in a
global society
Students with Asperger’s
Syndrome and their success in
Higher Education
Didactic Issues
• Your classroom and style?
– Lecture while students take notes?
– Emphasis on note-taking?
– Lectures posted?
– Reliance on discussion format?
– Group work and reports
– Lectures? Are they multimodality?
Auditory
Visual
Tactile/Kinesthetic
-Use of WKU’s Blackboard?
What is the composition of your
students?
– Non-majors
– Majors
– Interesting topic
– Learning styles
– Students with Disabilities?
The Diagnosis
Asperger’s Syndrome,
• In general, DSM-IV and ICD10 base their diagnostic criteria for
Asperger's Syndrome on the following:
Impairment of social interaction
Impairment of social communication
Impairment of social imagination, flexible thinking and
imaginative play
Absence of a significant delay in cognitive development
Absence of general delay in language development but
probably have a delay in higher order thinking and
language skills.
• Recent research establishes the prevalence of Asperger's
Syndrome as approximately 1 in 300, affecting boys to girls with a
ratio of 10:1
Visual Teaching: a Requisite
• Therefore use of visual methods of
teaching, as well as visual support
strategies, should always be incorporated
to help the student with Asperger's
Syndrome better understand his
environment.
Group interactions
Students with Asperger's Syndrome tend to
exhibit a lack of effectiveness in social
interactions rather than a lack of social
interactions. They tend to have difficulty
knowing how to 'make connections'
socially. Social situations are easily
misread by students with Asperger's
Syndrome and as a result, their
interactions and responses are often
interpreted by others as being odd.
“Inner Language”
Think it=don’t say it!
• Characteristics: Children with Asperger's
Syndrome can "blurt out" their thoughts as
statements of factual information, resulting
in an appearance of insensitivity and lack
of tact. However these children typically do
not understand that some thoughts and
ideas can and should be represented
internally, and thus should not be spoken
aloud. Therefore, whatever they think, they
tend to say aloud.
Sameness
• Rigid, egocentric perceptions: Students
with Asperger's Syndrome tend to have
very rigid egocentric perceptions of the
world, and thus can become quite upset
when changes occur that "go against" their
preconceived "rules" or perceptions.
Therefore, when a new situation occurs,
they have to learn a "new rule"
(perception) which can be very upsetting
to them.
WKU’s Role
•
Community College
– Associate’s Degree
– Transfer to the main campus
WKU’s Supports
1. Student Success Center
The Kelly Autism Program
Circle of Support
• Housing, single occupancy
• Mandatory study hall
Goal:” support students as they strive to
achieve success in a higher education
environment”
Engaging Students with Acquired Brain Injuries
What is an acquired brain injury?
- traumatic brain injury
open/penetrating or closed
- stroke
hemorrhage or ischemic
- hypoxic-hypotensive brain injury
- tumors
- infectious diseases (e.g. meningitis)
- progressive disease processes
(e.g. MS, parkinson’s, dementia)
Types of injury
-Focal damage (e.g. stroke)
- disrupts discrete function(s) like
speech, language, voice,
hearing, fluency, or swallowing
- Diffuse damage (e.g.closed head injury)
- disrupts global functions like
attention, information
processing, cognition, memory
Disruption of discrete functions
Speech
poor articulation (e.g.
)
Language
disrupted ability to express thoughts
difficulty comprehending speech
unable to formulate written responses
difficulty comprehending writing
Voice
hoarse, strained, mute
Disruption of global functions
Attention - relatively intact during routine tasks but greater
difficulty with novel or complex tasks
Memory - Working memory appears to be particularly
vulnerable following acquired brain injury
- it’s a set of processes that allows us to hold onto
information until it can be utilized or encoded, or
to keep stored information readily accessible
- resources for working memory are split between
those processes that are being accessed
(visual, hearing) and short term storage
- the coordination of this resource allocation is the
prime function of working memory while storing
information requires other demands of the
system
Engaging students with brain injuries
Discrete impairments
speech - refer to WKU’s C D Clinic
- allow student to present in alternative
modality
- have student communicate using
speaking device
language - refer to WKU’s C D Clinic
- give students instructions in both
verbal and written forms
- encourage the student to use
alternate words of expression
voice - refer to WKU’s C D Clinic
Global impairments
attention - refer to the Acquired Brain Injury
Program
- use as many visual and audio aids
as possible
- ask the student to repeat the
instructions
memory - refer to the Acquired Brain Injury
Program
*
- have student use memory aid e.g.
diary, PDA
- review previous information before
giving new
- have the student use alternate
methods for testing
Facts about Hearing Loss
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Nature and Degree of Hearing Loss
Treatment of Hearing Loss
Hearing vs. Understanding
Effects of Hearing Loss
Compensatory Strategies
Nature of Hearing Loss
• Conductive Hearing
Loss: Outer/Middle
Ear Disorders
• Sensorineural
Hearing Loss: Inner
Ear Disorders
• Mixed Hearing Loss:
Combination
Degree Of Hearing Loss
• Descriptors of Degree: Mild, Moderate,
Moderately Severe, Severe, and Profound
• Impairment Relative to Everyday Sounds:
Intensities of Common Environmental
Sounds
Intensity Examples
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0 dB
10 dB
20 dB
50-60 dB
70 dB
80-90 dB
100 dB
115 dB
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Just Audible Sound
Soft Rustle of Leaves
Whisper @ 4 ft.
Conversation/Speech
Busy Traffic
Niagara Falls
Rivet Gun @ 35 ft.
Hammering on steel
plate @ 2 ft.
Hearing Versus Understanding
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Issues Contributing to Clarity
Vowels vs. Consonants
Background Noise Levels
Availability of Visual Cues
Use of Hearing “Aids”
Effects of Hearing Loss
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Lack of Volume
Lack of Clarity
Ability to Attend and “Focus”
Changes in Behavior: Too Agreeable,
Isolation, “Everyone’s Looking at ME”,
Misunderstanding the Conversation,
Defensive
Compensatory Strategies
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Use of Amplification/Assistive Devices
Use Interpreter, if appropriate
Maximize Availability of Visual Cues
Don’t Hesitate to “Ask” (Rephrasing)
Be Aware of Distracting Stimuli in the
Environment
• Use a “Buddy System”
AAC
Alternative and
Augmentative
Communication
What is AAC?
• Augmentative/Alternative
Communication Systemsupplementation or
replacement of natural speech
and/or writing using aided
and/or unaided symbols.
Unaided Communication
– requires no additional pieces of
equipment. Uses only the
individuals own body as the
mode of communication (e.g.,
manual signing, gestures,
miming, pointing, finger spelling,
and eye gazing.
Sign Language
Aided Communication
–uses of some external device or
equipment ( e.g., from very
simple handmade materials to
highly complex electronic
devices that produce
synthesized speech.) Needs a
transmission device.
AAC Devices
What students may be using AAC?
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Cerebral Palsy
Autism
Traumatic Brain Injury
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Persons who stutter
Deaf/ Hard of Hearing
Any disorder that effects speech
intelligibility
AAC Intervention
• AAC interventions offer valuable
options for persons with severe
disabilities when the individual’s
strengths and needs are carefully
assesses and appropriate goals
are established.
AAC Intervention
• AAC helps individuals with severe
expressive communication disorders
interact with people in their environment.
• Develops independence, increases
productivity, and allows for active voice in
decision making
How to engage AAC users
• Open communication
• Encourage use of device
• Consider the ways students can be successful
• Accept mode of communication in class
• Seek out help where needed
WKU’s
Student with Disabilities Services
• Dr David Coffey 745-5004
•
Mr. Matt Davis
• A Letter of Accommodation, based on
Section 504, documentation of a disability
• Accommodations
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Extended test time
Books on CD
Priority registration
Note takers
“Captionists”- for hearing impaired