ATANZ is excited to host:

Supporting communicators with intellectual disabilities

"how do we ensure that informal and unintentional communicators are heard"

presented by Deakin University’s senior lecturer and speech-language pathologist/therapist

Dr Jo Watson                                                    

Pre-webinar online conversation                 6 July 2020   -  17 July 2020 on Facebook

Part 1 – one-hour online webinar available    27 July 2020 – 10 Aug 2020 

Part 2 – interactive online webinar                 10 Aug 2020     12:30-2:00

Cost: $50 individuals & $250 for groups 

Registrations close 24 July 2020

Dr Jo Watson will be facilitating a 7-week online programme focused on the communication support needs of people with intellectual disability. She will provide participants with an overview of the human communication continuum and its relevance to the use of AAC systems and supports. Jo will discuss the importance of informal and formal AAC systems within supported decision making for people with intellectual disability, with a particular focus on informal and unintentional communicators, who she believes are rarely heard.

The program will begin with a discussion via social media prompted by questions posed by Jo around the topic. 

This discussion will inform the one-hour webinar that participants can watch in their own time over a 2-week period. This will be followed by an online interactive seminar facilitated by Jo exploring the questions posed, the video presentation and any questions raised by participants.

Who can attend?
This workshop will be of interest to a wide range of clinicians including psychologists, speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, doctors, and other professionals who support people with intellectual disabilities. 

It is also open to whānau including adult siblings, educators, policy makers, NASC assessors, CAT-1 and 2 assessors, adult services, WINZ case managers, Assistive technology assessors and anyone interested in ensuring that children and adults with intellectual disabilities have the support they need to communicate and connect with the important people in their lives. 

Why attend or encourage others to attend?

The aim of this webinar is to ensure that the wishes and needs of all New Zealanders can be heard, respected, and understood.   To do this, we collectively can continue to advance our own skills as communication partners.  

The content will be relevant regardless if you are supporting and conversing with young people or adults. 

Presenter 
Dr Jo Watson is a Senior Lecturer in Disability and Inclusion at Deakin University in Victoria Australia. Jo currently co-directs and teaches in the Post Graduate program of disability and inclusion at Deakin. She has practiced as a Speech Pathologist since 1991 with a focus on supporting people with little or no speech to have their 'voices' heard. Jo is engaged in research focused on supported decision-making approaches specifically for people with intellectual disability who communicate informally.

For more information about Dr Watson, you may be interested in the following podcast and TedTalk

• https://www.informonline.org.au/supported-decision-making-inform-podcast/
• 2016 TedTalk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMerG7CULJE

ATANZ is hoping to organise the 2- day PODD Introduction Workshop late September-early October 2020 when the speaker Gayle Porter can come over from Australia depending on the developments with COVD 19.

We are looking for expressions of Interest from our members and the wider community. Please submit your EOI through this form https://forms.gle/G7tUgCzy52DVkBjc8

This workshop will be of interest to speech pathologists, occupational therapists and teachers working with children who have complex communication needs

The Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODD) approach provides strategies to support the design, production and implementation of communication systems to enable genuine communication for a variety of functions in all daily environments. PODD includes strategies to minimise some of the common difficulties associated with the use of multi-level communication books including:

• Supporting the child and communication partners to efficiently move between levels (pages) to locate vocabulary they require.
• Speed to access vocabulary to produce messages.
• Quicker access to predictable messages and access to a broad range of vocabulary for spontaneous, unpredicted messages.

The PODD resource provides generic templates which can be customised to suit individual requirements. Generic templates can be used for trial to enable more informed system development and then be customised to suit individualised needs. PODD can be used to create a wide range of communication books to suit varying communication, language, sensory and physical access requirements. Creative and practical solutions will be demonstrated through videos and case examples. Participants will have the opportunity for hands on supported practice using PODD communication books.

Participants will learn to:

• Describe the challenges faced by professionals creating communication systems in terms of vocabulary organisation, layout, design, range of access strategies and customizing for individual requirements.
• Discuss the features of a PODD communication system in terms of vocabulary organization, layout, design, range of access strategies and customizing for individual requirements.
• Use PODD generic template resources to produce customised communication books.
• Discuss the teaching and learning strategies for implementing PODD communication systems with students and team members.
• Teach children and partners to use PODD communication books in daily environments.

About the Presenter

Gayle Porter                                                                        

Gayle Porter is a Speech Pathologist with over 30 years hands on experience working with people with complex communication needs. Gayle lectures both locally and internationally about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Displays (PODD). Gayle currently works at the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre and has a private practice working with both children and teenagers with complex communication needs in their local schools. Gayle is the co-author of “Integrating Augmentation and Alternative Communication into Principles of Conductive Education”. She also contributed a chapter to the book "Communication Without Speech" (Bloomberg & Johnson 1991). Gayle is a highly sought after international presenter.

ATANZ is hoping to organise the 1-day PODD Alternative Access Workshop late September-early October 2020 when the speaker Gayle Porter can come over from Australia depending on the developments with COVD 19.

We are looking for expressions of Interest from our members and the wider community. Please submit your EOI through this form https://forms.gle/G7tUgCzy52DVkBjc8

The focus of this workshop is on PODD communication books designed for individuals who cannot point directly to a display with their hands.

This workshop will be of interest to speech pathologists, occupational therapists and teachers working with children who have complex communication needs

Prerequisite: Completion of a two-day Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODD) Introductory workshop is a prerequisite for this course.

Content:

The focus of this workshop is on Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODD) communication books designed for individuals who cannot point directly to a display with their hands. The content will build on the information relating to the purpose, design principles, intervention strategies and use of PODD communication books covered in the two-day introductory workshop.

A range of alternative access PODD communication book will be discussed including: eye-gaze (eye-pointing), partner-assisted scanning (visual, auditory, visual plus auditory scanning), combination access, and coded access. The design features to suit, procedures to operate and teach each access method will be presented. Participants will have the opportunity to practice using each access method.

Participants will learn to:

• Describe the different PODD design considerations/options to accommodate for alternative access methods.
• Outline the considerations for selecting different access methods to suit individual requirements.
• Perform the partner operational procedures to use a range of alternate access methods.
• Discuss problem-solving methodologies for developing operational skills for individuals who have severe movement difficulties (e.g. developing accept/reject movements for scanning).

About the Presenter

Gayle Porter                                                        

Gayle Porter is a Speech Pathologist with over 30 years hands on experience working with people with complex communication needs. Gayle lectures both locally and internationally about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Displays (PODD). Gayle currently works at the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre and has a private practice working with both children and teenagers with complex communication needs in their local schools. Gayle is the co-author of “Integrating Augmentation and Alternative Communication into Principles of Conductive Education”. She also contributed a chapter to the book "Communication Without Speech" (Bloomberg & Johnson 1991). Gayle is a highly sought after international speaker.