Parents' Corner
May 2009
Entering a State of Independence: AAC, Evidence and Empowerment
by Robin Hurd
Children grow up. It’s a fact of life that we sometimes rejoice over, and sometimes regret. But it happens, whether we are ready for it, or not. Those cute toddlers and toothless 2nd graders become teens and young adults all too soon. We wonder whether we’ll be ready for it when it happens, but the bigger question-especially when our children use AAC---is will they be ready?
In August, the AAC Institute will hold our 7th annual symposium. As I began to plan for this year’s event, these thoughts kept running through my mind. Students who have disabilities get transition planning as part of their IEP. However, does that transition plan really do what it should do?
In many cases, school is a period of time when people do things to our kids and expect them to comply with the ideas of the adults in charge. Success in school involves compliance with the requirements, not necessarily thinking for oneself or even honesty. As an example, my oldest son was supposed to do a web search in his computer class of a college that he is interested in. He chose the college he’s wanted to attend since 6th grade—one that he knows a lot about already. One of the teacher’s questions on the form was to list something new that he learned about the college he researched. In the rough draft, John answered honestly: “There wasn’t anything that was new to me, because I have liked this college for a long time”. You can guess what the response from the teacher was!
It’s very difficult for both teachers and students to get out of the mindset of “doing things to” our children and expecting them to comply. It’s even tougher when our children have disabilities. Yet to be successful adults, our children need to learn how to do more than expect others to do things to them and to comply with it.
So the theme of this year’s symposium became “Entering a State of Independence: AAC, Evidence and Empowerment”, and the goal of the symposium became to look at transition to adulthood in a different way. That “different way” to look at transition is through the dreams of the young person who uses AAC.
Our annual symposium is always different from other conferences, because there is one topic and because we build in time for discussion throughout the day. In order to provide plenty of things to think about and discuss, this year’s symposium features several people who use AAC, sharing their stories and answering questions about their lives as adults and someone who has assisted with life planning and job coaching for people with disabilities. We have also been developing some transition materials that students can use (either at school or home) to help pinpoint their dreams and to develop skills they need to follow those dreams. Those materials will be unveiled at the symposium, but will be available afterwards at our web site.
No discussion of following a dream would be complete without a discussion about how much the ability to communicate affects success. Whether it’s personal relationships or interactions at work, everything goes better with effective communication. So one part of the day will be devoted to discussing ways to become as effective a communicator as possible.
Interested in being a part of what’s going on in August? Here are the details:
When: August 6th, 2009 8:30 am-5pm
Where: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sheraton Station Square
How to register: visit http://www.aacinstitute.org/Symposium/index.htmlIf you are considering coming to the symposium, you may also be interested in the Pittsburgh Employment Conference(PEC). Click here for an article on this year’s PEC written by Jen Lowe, executive director or SHOUT, the organization that organizes PEC.
As always, feel free to e-mail me at parents@aacinstitute.org with any questions or comments.
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