AAC in Education - Think Ahead and Be Able to Form a Zone of Proximal Development

The second day of the conference was filled with information on the practical aspects of the application and use of the AAC.
Yulia Davydova, speech therapist, specialist in alternative and additional communication,a member of the Association of AAC Users focused on the transition of children from the PECS system to a full-fledged dictionary.
Ekaterina Sedova, Head of the Information Department for Special Pedagogy and Psychology of St. Petersburg  State Special Central Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired  talked about two main approaches in the work of a library for special children that uses AAC. The first direction is the organization of the library environment (space marking, communicative tables), which is important for AAC users. The second direction is support for employees and families of children with special needs. The listeners were especially impressed by the placement of information for parents on the site (diagnostics, which allows to identify the system of children's communicative abilities for effective interaction).
Also, the social stories of the library, which are posted on the site and are freely available, seemed interesting for the preliminary acquaintance of children with the space of the room. Thus, the library staff has created all possible conditions for organizing an adaptive environment and an effective system of communication between adults and children.
Olga Solovieva, Deputy Head of the Center for the Development of Vocational Education, Associate Professor of the Department of General and Professional Pedagogy of the Republican Institute of Vocational Education, shared information on the training of specialists, retraining of specialists in various specialties, which dealt with the topics of training people with disabilities on using AAC. The institute is constantly improving the training programs for specialists in their work teaching the students  to the means of AAC. Thanks to the activities of specialists who conduct the learning process, there are more and more specialists studying AAC every year.
Larisa Semenova, a teacher at the State Educational Institution "State Center for Correctional and Developmental Education and Rehabilitation in Grodno" spoke about the importance of creating contact with others and creating a comfortable environment. One of the main directions in working with children with autism is the visualization method. She shared her personal experience, the experience of conducting classes with children with autism, which was very important for practitioners. Larisa Semyonovna shared her practical materials which she created during her practice.
Olga Dyakova, a representative of the State Educational Institution "Mogilev Regional Center for Correctional and Developmental Training and Rehabilitation", spoke in detail about the work of the center of the Central Committee for Development and Rehabilitation, where she works. She spoke about the importance and necessity of creating communicative motivation. She revealed the problems she faced in her work. The main problem is the desire of parents to do everything for the child. She drew attention to the principle of structure and clear sequence.
Anastasia Blinova, revealed the important question "Communication is more than communication." She described in details the work strategies that she uses in her work together with her colleagues. (Modeling strategy, paraphrase, pauses, spontaneity, creating a situation for communication, fewer words). The main idea of Anastasia’s speech is to create situations for communication between adults and children without suppressing the child’s initiative:
1) ask fewer questions;
2) slow down;
3) give more time.
Alternative and complementary communication takes time and creates a unique opportunity for mutual understanding.
To be continued ...
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