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Different dependent upon individual TO-Do list.

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Both districts connect often with the technology teams at the schools.

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All SLPs, ECE & ID teachers have iPads with WFL. Central trainings are full day. Morning - how to teach (ex: presume competence, motor plan might be good for AAC, modeling, etc) Afternoon - modeling and use. SMORES Principle. Include SMORES scorecard for feedback.

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Mnemonics are such a great memory aid, so when Dr. Jill Senner and Matthew Baud offered to share the visual support that they use in their clinical work, I knew it would be of interest to many of you. Combine that with content on partner training, and we have a real treat for you: S'MORRES. Dr. Senner is the owner of Technology and Language Center where she specializes in providing AAC and AT services including assessment, consultation and training, and workshops/lectures. She has presented at numerous national AT conferences and has taught graduate courses in AAC and swallowing disorders. Matthew Baud is the Assistive Technology Coordinator at Niles Township District for Special Education, performing evaluations, trainings and coaching communication partners. Matthew also has his own AAC private practice, and is an adjunct professor at Saint Xavier University where he teaches a graduate course in AAC. In this post, they share S'MoRRES, a strategy for building partner interaction skills. You can download the visual support poster here or in the Downloads section of the AAC eToolbox

Partner Augmented Input also known as Aided language input is a powerful, evidence-based approach in which communication partners point to the symbols on the child's communication board or device while simultaneously talking. One strategy we have used to help classroom staff remember the steps to successful modeling is Verbal Practice of Strategy Steps (Kent-Walsh & McNaughton, 2005). This involves naming and describing all required steps out loud.

Just as you may have used a mnemonic to help remember the planets or perhaps the cranial nerves, we use the S'MORRES (yes, with two r's) mnemonic to help school staff remember the steps for providing partner augmented input. You can also download this handy poster to hang in the classroom that outlines the steps below:

S Slow Rate - Slow speech rate. Speak in slow, clearly articulated manner.

MO Model - Say words/phrases that are related to the contextual information available while pointing to pictures on the child's board or device. Parallel talk (i.e., describing what the student is doing as he or she is doing it) and self talk (i.e., talking about what you're doing as you're doing it) are helpful tools for modeling. Think about modeling as providing the color commentary for ongoing classroom activities.

R Respect and Reflect - Provide the words to code the child's wants, feelings, and intended messages. When the child communicates something through gesture or word approximation, model a word or phrase to communicate the same thought or feeling without making the child repeat him or herself. For example, if the child points to a water fountain, the adult might generate "DRINK. WANT DRINK."

R Repeat - Frequently repeat utterances.

E Expand - Repeat and rephrase, building upon your own single word utterances by adding one to two words to provide a more complete phrase or sentence. You can build upon the child's communication as well (i.e., if he/she use one word or symbol such as "BUBBLE" try expanding the comment to two words, for example, "Yes, that's a BIG BUBBLE.")

S Stop - Provide an expectant pause to allow the child time to respond.

We wholeheartedly embrace multimodal learning, so of course we suggest making s'mores to help complete the learning experience.
References
Kent-Walsh, J. & McNaughton, D. (2005). Communication partner instruction in AAC: Present practices and future directions. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 21, 195-204.

Contact Information:

Jill E Senner, PhD, CCC-SLP, Owner and Director of Technology and Language Center, Inc. talcaac@gmail.com

Matthew R. Baud, MS, CCC-SLP, Assistive Technology Coordinator, Niles Township District for Special Education; Mbaud12@gmail.com; @mbaud12(Twitter)

This post was written by Carole Zangari

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How We Do It: S'MORRES and Partner Augmented Input with Dr. Jill Senner & Matthew Baud

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Mnemonics are such a great memory aid, so when Dr. Jill Senner and Matthew Baud offered to share the visual support that they use in their clinical work, I knew it would be of interest to many of you. Combine that with content on partner training, and we have a real treat for you: S'MORRES.

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SETT framework (LCPS version) as a guide. Summary shared with IEP team. Discussion to decision. No reports for most processes.

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Loudoun - emails for help, schedule based on those and then stop in classes at school. has certain area of schools. Uses Joy SETT model modified - fills out with team and then uploads that and summary to VA IEP system.

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Both teams do Staff Meetings once a month and have PD Development.

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Loudon staff have ~10 schools and are on call for those schools; flexible scheduling.

Loudon & FCPS staff have both found in the past that a very set, structured schedule (specific days at certain schools) is not effective.

Staff in both counties are experiencing challenges related to brand-new staff. We discussed inclusive tools per the computers that students have.

Loudon generally only does assessments with intense cases/advocates. Otherwise, consultative model.

There is no AT box on the Accommodations page of the IEP. Folks felt positive about not having a box.

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They have it for everyone, but it's not currently pushed out to everyone. AT team would like it auto pushed out to everyone.

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FCPS - everything thru the IEP

Loudoun - email request. no caseload. only does report if requested by the team, otherwise it's summary.

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Don't consider student numbers. School equals 1 and each program in a school equals 1.

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Coaches have assigned schools - maybe 11 or so each? No caseload. Respond to requests for support.

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Don't really work one on one with students but with student and teacher/case manager. Instead of evaluations they use the resource consideration guide.

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Include families and school staff through the process. LCPS seems less siloed than FCPS in terms of decisions and management of AT. Guide docs and equip more managed by schools.

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LCPS has a guided conversation with stakeholders (kid, family, SLP, teacher, etc) where the needs are discussed and we determine what specific tool would meet those needs. No IEP needed!

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Before coaching in the classroom they have teachers have the background knowledge. In person or synchronous through schoology. Then start coaching in the classroom.

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FCPS still lends toward the "expert" model. In some schools, teachers look to staff in FCPS even to try inclusive tools. Teachers feel like they need to at least talk to AT staff first. In some stronger schools (dept. chairs and school tech staff), a more facilitative approach can work.

Framing AT in a tiered model has been very helpful in Loudon and FCPS.

Loudon uses "Resource Consideration Guide." When someone calls staff, it is not viewed as a process, just a structured conversation guided by the form. They use the table with the student factors & considerations. AT staff facilitates the conversation.

Who is on team and what is role of parents in Loudon's process/information-gathering? Parents and potentially others (outside providers) may attend the meetings. These meetings do not necessarily occur in an IEP. Teams encourage involvement of the school SLP, but there is a variety of knowledge bases for both SLPs and teachers.

FCPS staff shared that they would like to move away from the "formal" assessment.

Loudon has a set coaching process to support teachers who are new to AAC. FCPS staff asked how they get teachers to do the process. Chris shares that, since the whole team has been involved in the completion of the form and selection process for AT tools, teachers have increased buy-in and this helps with them being willing to participate in the coaching.

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FCPS - read and write is ours, kids on caseload, some schools bought it, trying to get county to buy it, request thru the IEP, assess, report, IEP documentation. We look at require vs. benefit. we use database for tracking.

LCPS - read and write available to all, show how to use it, available to the parents as well, kids use it, a few very good teachers use it in classes, used to be paid for under special services - now it's under their IT dept b/c it's deployed to all students. they are paying for iPads now as well?? Apps are paid for by special services. uses spreadsheet for tracking devices. uses LAMP most often, if it doesn't fit then look at other apps - always consider 2-3 different options. all teachers have an iPad with communication app based on what their kids are using

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Discuss with school team include all members of the team. OT, PT, SLP, teacher.

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How do you make cultural change for school teams?

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How do you make cultural change for school teams?

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What should a best practice approach be for coaching AT service and AT modeling?

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What should a best practice approach be for coaching AT service and AT modeling?

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AT Facilitators (coaching, modeling, facilitating) - role is to facilitate more than coach. Some coaching, but goal is to build capacity through conversations within school teams. They use a specific model of power coaching when they use it, but they do more facilitation.

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How are decisions for AT placements and services made?

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How are decisions for AT placements and services made?

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Consideration Guide first. Then a selection meeting to put a tool in place. List of 8 to 10 possibilities. Then implementation plan. Who is responsible for what? SLP, Case manager, AT and parent in implementation meeting.

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LCPS AT facilitators don't go to IEPs ever. IF requested to be there to do the forms, they would go before or after the meeting for that discussion. Not during the IEP meeting.

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What are best practices for approaching contentious and difficult planning conversations?

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What are best practices for approaching contentious and difficult planning conversations?

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FCPS and LCPS do similar processes - go into schools to support/facilitate learning and implementation. FCPS process is more lead by ATS. LCPS does synchronous discussion instead of external documentation and reporting.

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FCPS - eval, use WATI and put in the report, we make recommendation and team makes decision.

LCPS - there is no student who would not get a communication device even if not looking at it - would still place for modeling and hope that student will use it.

documentation - all have access to spreadsheet - just for devices/equipment. for their day - they have spreadsheet for contact notes/visits - justifies their job. also pull data from the spreadsheets to compile how time spent.

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FCPS - tracks students and AT use

LCPS - excel spreadsheet to track placement of tools; documentation log (similar to FCPS visitation log but LCPS uses Google Doc with dropdowns). LCPS doesn't have a shared documentation between all AT folks.

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DOC: Loudon uses the Resource Consideration Guide. Loudon AT staff finish writing it up after meeting, send it to the team to be sure it looks correct, then it's uploaded to VA IEP.

DOC: Loudon: Considerations Resource Guides are shared internally (to see how these are being written across the county, etc.)

Where is the equipment? Separate spreadsheet for tracking. Main inventory, and this where things are checked out to students.

DOC: Thirdly, each staff maintains a Google sheet with what they do (coached a teacher, dropped off a device, etc.). Chris pulls this information together and looks for patterns (e.g., are staff spending too much time dropping off items, how is time relative to AAC?

How do AAC back-ups happen in Loudon? Teacher or SLP at the school does this.

How do they track little items? Where Loudon is hopefully headed is for school depts to buy items.

We also touched on universal Read&Write.

LessonPix is viewed as a Tier 2 AT tool.

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FCPS has central data manager. LCPS would like one but keep good info in different ways.