Social Communication:
Adolescents & Adults Developing/Expanding Communication Skills
Part 2: Storytelling
by Deanna K. Wagner,
MS/CCC-SLP
for the Angelman
Syndrome Foundation Biennial Conference, July 2017
Summary:
Learning to tell a
story, even if it is someone else’s story, helps build discourse skills. Using
personal photos as the context, we can encourage/shape communicative functions
of commenting, describing, and labeling in addition to information transfer. Use fun apps to add pictures, videos and/or
sounds. Include videos in “About Me”
books, including idiosyncratic communication.
This session will include demonstrations and discussion of features of
fun apps for telling stories.
Objectives:
1. Participants will
define basic elements of story-telling for emerging communicators
2. Participants will
describe how idiosyncratic and non-symbolic behaviors can be used when
co-constructing a personal story/narrative
3. Participants will describe
at least 3 reasons for sharing personal stories.
Session Highlights:
Storytelling can be
used as a means of information transfer while developing social closeness and
beginning discourse skills. This session
will provide ideas/strategies to expand on narrative and storytelling skills
that help the emerging communicator establish and/or maintain relationships. Using personal photos as the context, we can
encourage/shape communicative functions of commenting, describing, and labeling
in addition to information transfer.
Good “About Me”
books contrast what is special about the individual while encouraging
comparisons with others. “I have blue
eyes” can draw others into conversation about who else has blue eyes, or “What
color eyes does mommy have?” Use stories
to teach others how to interact with the individual, identifying and describing
how this person uses body language or idiosyncratic forms of communication to
indicate agreement/enjoyment vs. rejection/negation. Consider co-construction of an “I say ‘yes’
like this” book. Make recordings and
videos to share with others how and why we use the word “yes.”
Narratives describe
events across time (Soto, 2006). The
ability to participate in sharing a full narrative develops over time out of experiences
with basic discourse experiences (conversations, play, shared readings). “My Day” narratives can be used to share information
about events across the school day. With
scaffolds in place such as visual schedules, students can be involved in
co-constructing narratives that can give interpretive meaning (e.g., art =
good, fun). These can be quickly
recorded into a communicative system with a page for “my news” (Zangari, 2013).
Finally, learning to
tell a story, even if it is someone else’s story, helps build discourse
skills. Learn how to pause and then move
to the next line in the story. Use fun
apps to add pictures, videos and/or sounds (Musselwhite et al., 2012). This session will include demonstrations and
discussion of features of some fun apps for telling stories. Check out this section on our SPEDAPPS2 WIKI
for some inspiring ways to publish writing.
During this session
I will spend time demonstrating/exploring/discussing how to make stories,
starting with the basics of using www.tarheelreader.org
and Pictello, and moving on to ways to incorporate videos from Explain
Everything into GoTalk NOW books.
Readers may be interested in the #4
Tip of the Month 2016 on Caroline Musselwhite’s website,
aacintervention.com, for using GoTalk NOW to launch books in TarheelReader.
Here are a few of
the highlights:
Using the iPad
Camera Roll for Quick on the Fly Books
* Take pictures
using the iPad OR screenshots
* Select photos in your
camera roll and use the sharing icon (arrow jumping out of a box)
* Make a new photo
album and put pictures in it
* Turn Switch
Control ON, launch “Turn Pages” recipe to look through photos and decide
if some need to be edited / cropped.
Read a book on the
Tarheel Reader website (on the iPad)
with “Turn Pages” recipe (speech option can be turned on at the first page)
* Download your
Tarheel Reader book as an ePub book from the Tarheel Reader website on the iPad
and it opens in the iBook app.
* iBook app also
works with “Turn Pages” recipe, or swipe on the screen
* Add a Shortcut to
the Home Screen, they think they are launching an app
Create a Tarheel Reader Account if you want
to upload your own stories
* Upload Photos, or
search for images
* Enter one short
sentence for each page
* Check back to see
how others have rated your story
What words should we use? Text Matters…
* Emergent
Readers -- use more words to provide
enriched vocabulary
* About me, My day,
Kid in Story
* Transitional texts
often use repeated lines, consider using core words
* Early Conventional
texts – less words while readers are learning
* Controlled
vocabulary - Noun, verb, or adjective book
* Beware of focusing
too much on fringe vocab
Check out the Angelman Syndrome Foundation
Communication Training Series Webinars
About Me Books
* Contrast what is
special about the individual while encouraging comparisons with others.
* “I have blue eyes”
can draw others into conversation about who else has blue eyes, or “What color
eyes does mommy have?”
* Use stories to
teach others how to interact with the individual
* Describe how this person uses body language or
idiosyncratic forms of communication to indicate agreement/enjoyment vs.
rejection/negation.
* Consider
co-construction of an “I say ‘yes’ like this” book.
* Make recordings
and videos to share with others how and why we use the word “yes.”
About My Day
* Narratives
describe events across time (Soto, 2006).
* The ability to
participate in sharing a full narrative develops over time out of experiences
with basic discourse experiences (conversations, play, shared readings).
* “My Day”
narratives can be used to share information about events across the school day.
* With scaffolds in place such as visual
schedules, students can be involved in co-constructing narratives that can give
interpretive meaning (e.g., art = good, fun).
These can be quickly recorded into a communicative system with a page
for “my news” (Zangari, 2013).
Pictello
works much like TarheelReader, only you can create stories without the need for
an internet connection. And you don’t
need to worry about sharing personal photos with the whole world. To create a story, just add a photo and 1 or
2 lines of text. You also have the
option to add a recording instead of text to speech. Share your stories. Here are some great examples we used at
Angelman Camp last year that started out on Tarheel Reader and were converted:
– Noses
6439-4987
– Extreme
ironing 5955-8938
– Blizzard 2239-9179
– Wheeling 4861-7652
– Who
Did It 8185-9177
– Get
Set For a Pet 5226-8770
– Lost Dog 2016-2049
Have some more fun saying “hi” with GoTalk
NOW
* Random greetings
(use symbol that looks like a pole between messages)
* Action = Jump to
Page (e.g., jump to People)
* Action = Play a
Video
Why use Explain
Everything?
* Use screencasting
to add recordings, multiple images, highlight details
* Save the video to
your camera roll; add button action (multimedia) to play the video in GoTalkNOW
* Save the video to
YouTube; share link or add the shortcut to the iPad desktop
* Upload an entire
PPT and then mark up the images and/or add recordings
Start off easy,
think about using predictable texts (repeated lines). Here is a link from Dr. Gretchen Hanser for
Predictable Chart Writing to get you started.
You can also find
many different stories on www.tarheelreader.org
with repeated lines. If you search for
“I like” books, you can find a great mix of personal stories and some funny
rhyming ones like this one from Jane Farrel.
What do you like?
-------------------------------------------
Session
References:
Musselwhite, Wagner, Buell, & Wilcoxon,
2012. Cool Tricks with New Apps - AAC
Intervention.com http://spedapps2.wikispaces.com/
Soto, G. (2006).
Narratives of Children who
Need AAC: Assessment and
Intervention
Considerations. ASHA Convention. Miami.
Zangari (2013).
Narrative Skills for People with AAC Needs. http://praacticalaac.org/strategy/narrative-skills-for-people-with-aac-needs/
Session Resources:
Beukelman, D. with
Fager, S. and Ball, L. (2006). Use of AAC to enhance social participation of
adults with neurological conditions. AAC-RERC State of Science Conference.
www.aac~rerc.com.
Beukelman, D. and
Mirenda, P. (2005). Message management: Vocabulary, small talk, and
storytelling. In D. Beukelman & P. Mirenda. Augmentative & Alternative
Communication: Supporting Children & Adults with Complex Communication
Needs. Third Edition. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing, 15 – 34.
DeCoste, D. (1997).
The role of literacy in augmentative and alternative communication. In S.
Glennen and D. DeCoste, Handbook of Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
San Diego: Singular Publishing Group, Inc., 283-333.
Dietz, A., McKelvey,
M. and Beukelman, D. (2006). Visual scene displays (VSD): New AAC interfaces
for persons with aphasia. Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative
Communication, 15 (1), 13 – 17.
Garrett, K. and
Lasker, J. (2005). Adults with severe aphasia. In D. Beukelman & P.
Mirenda, Augmentative & Alternative Communication: Supporting Children
& Adults with Complex Communication Needs. Third Edition. Baltimore: Paul
H. Brookes Publishing, 467 – 504.
Lasker, J. and
Beukelman, D. (1999). Peers’ perceptions of storytelling by an adult with
aphasia. Aphasiology, 13 (9-11), 857 – 869.
Light, J. and
Binger, C. (1998). Building Communicative Competence with Individuals Who Use
Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes
Publishing.
Musselwhite, C. and
Hanser, G. (2003). Write to Talk-Talk to Write! Second Edition. Litchfield
Park, AZ: Special Communications/Life Skills & Technology for Independence.
Musselwhite, C. and
Wagner, D. (2006). Poetry Power! Jump-Starting Language, Literacy, & Life.
Litchfield Park, AZ: Special Communications/Life Skills & Technology for
Independence.
O’Mara, D. &
Waller, A. (2001). Joke telling as an introduction and a motivator to a
narrative-based communication system for people with severe communication
disorders. Computers and Fun-The 2nd British HCI Group One Day Meeting.
http://www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/projects/writetalk/yorkfinalversion.asp.
O’Mara, D., Waller,
A., Tait, L., Hood, H., Booth, L. and Brophy-Arnott, B. (2000). Developing
personal identity through story telling. Write:Talk web site.
http://www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/projects/writetalk/finalieepaper.asp
Rush, E. (2005).
Supporting communication through shared reading. Part 2. Enabling Devices
Newsletter #7 (Sept. 2005). http://enablingdevices.com/newsletter_7.aspx.
Schlosser, R. and
Lloyd, L. (1993). Effects of initial element teaching in a story-telling
context on Blissymbol acquisition and generalization. Jnl. of Speech and
Hearing Research, 36, 979-995.
Senner, J. E.
(June/July 2001). Emergent writing activities for dynamic display AAC systems.
Closing the Gap, 20(2), 6-7.
Shane, H. (2006).
Using visual scene displays to improve communication and communication
instruction in persons with autism spectrum disorders. Perspectives on
Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 15 (1), 8 – 13.
Shank, R. (1990).
Tell Me a Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Memory. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons.
Stuart, S. (2000).
Understanding the storytelling of older adults for AAC system design.
Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 16 (1). 1 – 12.
Soto, G. (2005).
Narrative skills of children who use AAC: Assessment and intervention
considerations. AAC by the Bay. San Francisco, CA.
Stuart, S.,
Vanderhoof, D., and Beukelman, D. (1993). Topic and vocabulary use patterns of
elderly women. Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 9 (2), 95-110.
Waller, A., O’Mara,
D., Tait, L., Booth, L., Brophy-Arnott, B. and Hood, H. (2001). Using written
stories to support the use of narrative in conversational interactions: Case
study. Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 17 (4), 221-232.
L. Meyer, Approaching Communicative Competence Through Storytelling
T/TAC Conference June 2006
Books by AAC Users:
Bauby, J-D. (1997). The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life
in Death. New York: Vintage Books.
Jean-Dominique Bauby tells his own story (written by using an alphabet
board and eye blinks) of having locked-in syndrome after suffering a massive
stroke at age 43.
Brown, Christy. (1982). My Left Foot. Cambridge, MA: Applewood.
Brown eloquently
describes his difficult birth, the hopelessness of his doctors, and the persistent
love of his family, especially of his mother. He relates in detail that
profound moment when, at age five, he inexplicably grabbed a piece of chalk
from his sister's hand with his left foot and, with great difficulty and
incredulity, traced the letter A on a piece of slate. For the first time, his
family knew for sure that his intellect was intact. And for the first time, he
could start to communicate with them.
Fried-Oken, M. & Bersani, H. (2000). Speaking Up and Spelling It Out: Personal
Essays on Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Baltimore: Paul
H. Brookes Publishing Co.
A collection of first-person accounts of how living with AAC has
affected the lives of people with disabilities – includes essays, poems, and
interviews.
Koppenhaver, D., Erickson, K. and Yoder, D. (Eds.). (2005) Waves of Words:
Augmented Communicators Read and Write. Toronto: ISAAC Press.
An international collection of stories of people achieving literacy
despite the challenges of their complex communication needs.
Sienkiewicz-Mercer, R. & Kaplan, S. (1989). I Raise My Eyes to
Say Yes.
Houghton Mifflin.
Ruth Sienkiewicz-Mercer was born in 1950. She has never
spoken a word; never walked, never fed herself, never combed her own hair.
Trapped in a body that is functionally useless, her mind works perfectly. This
is her story.
Tavalaro, J. & Tayson, R. (1997). Look Up for Yes. Kodansha
America.
A memoir of Julia Tavalaro who opened her eyes after spending seven
months in a coma. Nobody in the hospital ward to which she had been consigned
even noticed that she was alert. Paralyzed and unable to speak, Tavalaro had no
way of making them take notice. She spent the next six years languishing in her
bed, and although able to hear everything around her, she was unable to communicate.
Tavalaro is able to recall her past in minute detail and weaves her memoir from
threads of the past, her present, and her poems that transcend the two. Look Up for Yes is the courageous
story of a woman struggling to find her voice and make it heard.
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