You´ve got to want it

I have gone to many interesting seminars so far at my conference. I am trying to focus on practical sessions as well as hearing from those who either use AAC or are parents of people who use AAC. These perspectives are really useful to my work as a professional in the field. I have known for a while that when a client cannot communicate verbally, finding a method and having success with it can be tricky and time consuming.

There are so many factors that affect the successful communication of AAC users. First, and very importantly, are the perceptions and comfort level of their communication partners. If the partners do not respond to subtle (or not so subtle) attempts to communicate, the system will fail (usually leading to frustration or passiveness). When the partners are afraid or uncomfortable with the technology that my clients depend on to communicate, the user´s views of the system change. For example, in a previous job, I worked with some clients who were learning to have a conversation. However, when they asked some people who worked at their school a question to start the conversation, the adult just stood there frozen. The clients kept trying but eventually gave up since they weren´t getting a reaction from their partner. After a while, the adult´s perceptions of the client as a competent communicator changed as did their own comfort interacting this way. Therefore, the client became more competent as a communicator.

Today I went to a session hosted by a parent. She has a daughter who is learning to use a high tech device (computer with touchscreen). The daughter "plays" with the device often but that is OK. That is a language stage that children go through. However, many people do not understand this and think that a client has to be successful as soon as they get the device. I also went to a lecture presented by a woman with cerebral palsy. She has her PhD and is a professor in the U.S. but grew up in South Korea. She talked about her family and the importance of her parents advocating for her. At one point, she started to cry because the subject was so emotional for her. She was talking about her son and a conversation with him about her disability. When she was crying, her son brought her a tissue on stage. I think most people in the audience teared up. It was amazing to hear this woman´s story. She was the first person with a disability from South Korea to get a PhD. She was one of the first included in mainstream education.

Whenever I go to presentations about AAC, especially those by AAC users, I am struck with a few thoughts. One, we are incredibly lucky when we can communicate through speech. Two, people with severe speech and language impairments have to fight and struggle to get what they need. It takes them so much effort to communicate. In other words, they have to want it. Badly. Their desire to communicate also hits home just how basic of human needs connection and communication are.