Helping kids be heard, communication boards in shared spaces

From expressing our needs to sharing our experience, communication is an essential part of life.

“Communication is not just speech; it's also gestures and facial expressions and signs,” said Fran Talarico, speech-language pathologist with Lansdowne Children’s Centre. It can also include AACs, or augmentative and alternative communication devices.

“AAC is everything other than speech; all the other ways we use to communicate,” Talarico said.

This communication board in the courtyard of Lansdowne Children's Centre's Brantford location is an example of a low-tech augmentative and alternative communication device.

These can vary widely, from low to high tech devices.

Two of the simplest forms AACs can take are core boards and flip books.

Accessing AACs - Augmentative and Alternative Communication Resources

Talarico explained that core boards are popping up more and more often in places where children may be found, such as playgrounds.

“It’s essentially a kind of grid with some pictures and words that you can point to while you’re talking to the kids, to communicate with them,” she said. These might include words like stop, go, play, eat, etc.

Flip books, meanwhile, can be as simple as a portable version of a core board, or a more complex and personalized book.

“These ones have an expanded vocabulary, with more categories. So, we might have a page with animals or a page with colours and shapes, and people like family members,” Talarico said. “Sometimes we’ll customize them for kids who are using the core board and we need to expand their vocabulary and their ability to communicate; we might bump them up to something a bit more complex.”

Tablets are a form of high tech AACs, with numerous apps available to choose from. These might include features such as audibly saying the word that’s been selected.

Whatever form AAC takes, it’s used “for kids where they need support with face-to-face communication and their speech is not meeting their need to communicate with others,” Talarico said.

AAC education and resources at led by our speech and language department team at Lansdowne Children's Centre, who support infants, children and youth in homes, schools, and in our sites in Brantford, Caledonia, Dunnville and Simcoe.

Each October Lansdowne Children's Centre recognizes the role that the Speech and Language team takes in leading our education about AAC resources, and the excellent support they provide to client families across the region of Grand Erie, in schools and in Lansdowne sites - Brantford, Caledonia, Dunnville and Simcoe.

ABOUT LANSDOWNE CHILDREN’S CENTRE

Lansdowne Children's Centre is an accredited children's treatment centre (CTC) and SmartStart Hub, connecting caregivers with resources, services and supports for infants, children, and youth with physical, communication, and/or developmental needs.

Supporting over 6,900 unique children and families annually, Lansdowne works with child and youth clients and their families at centres in Brantford, Caledonia, Dunnville and Simcoe, and in a variety of community settings such as homes, schools, childcares, early learning environments, and camps, as well as through virtual means using streaming video.

Learn more at www.lansdownecentre.ca