How augmentative and alternative communication changed a school

At Holy Family Special School, the staff strives to help kids develop independence. High-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices have given students the ability to more fully participate in their education.

“It’s [a student’s] basic right to have a say in their education.”

Life before high-tech augmentative and alternative communication

When Rachel became principal of Holy Family Special School in 2002, its nonspeaking students had few communication options. Low techaugmentative and alternative communication (AAC), like choice boards and visual schedules, helped them navigate basic wants, needs and issues, but limited their self-expression.

Holy Family serves children from ages four to 18 with moderate, severe and profound disabilities. Over 100 are on the autism spectrum. For Rachel and her staff, the most important goal is to help students achieve as much independence as possible by the time they graduate.

A few years into Rachel’s tenure, Holy Family began working with a speech therapist who recommended high-tech AAC devices as a solution for children on the autism spectrum. Rachel immediately saw the possibilities: communication devices could help students engage more deeply in academic and life-skills learning, participate in class and share their interests and personalities. She encouraged the teachers to integrate high tech devices into their classrooms.

“Day to day you might not always see progress, but over time you can make a massive impact on children’s lives.”

Special education teachers with a vision

Christianne became a special education teacher because she wanted to help kids with disabilities build a strong foundation for their lives. She and her colleague Sinead both run autism-specific classrooms.

Before their students had access to high-tech AAC, Sinead and Christianne witnessed a lot of frustration. Unable to express themselves clearly, their students struggled to self-regulate, which contributed to a more stressful environment.

The communication barrier also left students unable to demonstrate their abilities and achieve their highest potential. The teachers needed a solution that could support students at different levels.

“They guide us in what is right for us as a school.”

A partnership with Tobii Dynavox

In 2019, Holy Family’s speech therapists reached out to Tobii Dynavox to learn more about AAC as a comprehensive solution.

They connected with Conor, who introduced them to a five-step process designed to help kids achieve long-term AAC success. Together, they began evaluations to assess the students’ communication abilities and needs. Each child was given the opportunity to explore different devices and software to determine the best combination for them.

Conor explained that TD Snap, a flexible symbol-based communication app, was ideal for classrooms because it supports a variety of communication styles. Teachers could learn a single interface, while giving each student their own solution.

Once the speech therapists had made an AAC recommendation for each student, they worked with Tobii Dynavox to help families access financial coverage for the solutions.

When the devices arrived, Conor helped the therapists, teachers and parents with setup, customization and training to ensure each student’s care circle felt as comfortable as possible with high-tech AAC. Eventually, Conor started hosting regular Clinic Days: training sessions to answer questions, complete new evaluations and provide setup assistance.

The partnership has enabled Holy Family to bring high-tech AAC to dozens of children with communication challenges.

“Every student at every different level is learning to use their device. It’s very individualized.”

High-tech augmentative and alternative communication in the classroom

As more of her students began using speech devices, Sinead simplified her class’s daily schedule to leave time to incorporate high-tech augmentative and alternative communication. She and her teaching assistants began using devices to model AAC and ask the kids questions. Almost immediately, she noticed less frustration in her classroom.

One of Christianne’s favorite aspects of her job is connecting one-on-one with her students. Once they began using AAC devices, she got to know them even better. With such a wide variety of words and phrases at their fingertips, they could share their personalities and interests in more detail. Like Sinead, Christianne quickly saw an increase in self-regulation and a decrease in frustration.

All of Sinead and Christianne’s students now have their own AAC device. With help from Conor, both teachers have started integrating TD Snap into their lessons, using their classroom’s interactive smart board. Consistent exposure to the symbols helps students with language development and encourages participation.

From the beginning of her time at Holy Family, Rachel believed the children were what made the school unique. Through the depth and flexibility of high-tech AAC, the students can share that uniqueness with more clarity than ever.