Part 4 of 5 Children with Complex Communication Needs

appropriate for all students with ASD! In the author’s experience, it is possible that highly complex displays are not accessible to every student with an ASD diagnosis and quite often the students are un- able to interact with them using a visually guided reach. FINAL THOUGHTS Information gathered from various disciplines should inform interventions for children and youth with CCN and CVI. Care should be taken to understand the combined impact of com- munication, vision, motor and other sensory impairments. Fur- thermore, teams should take care to move beyond myths and misconceptions that are negatively impacting access to AAC for many children with CCN and CVI. Working outside of profession- al silos will help reduce barriers and help address the fact that, at least not at the present time, there is NO COOKBOOK approach to AAC intervention for children with CCN and CVI. Ongoing, DYNAMIC assessment involving professionals from various dis- ciplines and a range of assessment tools is the only answer. “It is essential that vision and communication therapies be in- tegrated and that visual specialists, speech-language pathologists, and other professionals work collaboratively with family members to increase the child’s ability to use his or her functional vision so he or she can access language, communication and participate.” (Blackstone & Roman, 2019) Yes, AND, “It is essential that visual specialists, speech-language pathol- ogists, and other professionals work collaboratively with family members to help children develop language so that they can un- derstand (put words to) and express (talk about) what they are see- ing” (Howery, 2019). REFERENCES: Beukelman, D. R. & Light, J. (2020, 5th Edition). Augmenta- tive and Alternative Communication: Supporting Children and Adults with Complex Communication Needs. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Brady, N C, S Bruce, A Goldman, K Erickson, B Mineo, B T Ogle- tree, D Paul, M A Romski, R Sevcik, E Siegel, J Schoonover, M Snell, L Sylvester and K Wilkinson. 2016. Communication Services and Supports for Individuals with Severe Disabilities: Guidance for Assessment and Intervention. American Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 121, no: 121–38. Burkhart, L. (2018). Stepping Stones to Switch Access. Per- spectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, SIG 12, 3(1). Burkhart, L., & Costello, J. (2008, March). CVI and Complex Communication Needs: Characteristics and AAC Strategies. CSUN Conference. Los Angeles, CA. Cress, C. (2018, October). How to Use a Communication Sig- nal Inventory to Assess and Plan Intervention for Early Commu- nicators. Webinar for Alberta CCN PLC https://arpdcresources. ca/consortia/complex-communication-needs-ccn/?index=16 Dada, S., & Alant, E. (2009, Feb.). The effect of aided language

stimulation on vocabulary acquisition in children with little or no functional speech. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 18, 50-64. Dickinson, D.K. & Tabors, P. O. (2001). Beginning Literacy with Language. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Dutton, G. N. & Bauer, C. M. (2019). Cerebral (cortical) visual impairment in children: A perspective. In John Ravenscroft (Ed). The Routledge Handbook of Visual Impairment. New York, NY: Routledge. Erickson, K. A. & Geist, L. A. (2016). The profiles of students with significant cognitive disabilities and complex communi- cation needs. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 32(3), 187-197. Fitch, A., Fein, D.A. and Eigsti, I-M. 2015. “Detail and gestalt fo- cus in individuals with optimal outcomes from autism spectrum disorders.” retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC4442733/ on February 16, 2020. Hanser, G., Musselwhite, C. & Wagner, D. (2019a) Comprehen- sive Emergent Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities, Including Cortical Vision Impairment and Complex Communication Needs. Closing the Gap, October/November. Minneapolis, MN. Hanser, G., Musselwhite, C. & Wagner, D. (2019b). Providing Emergent Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Dis- abilities, Including Cortical Vision Impairment: Predictable Chart Writing. Closing the Gap, December/January. Minneapolis, MN. Harris, M. D. & Reichle, J. (2004). The Impact of Aided Lan- guage Stimulation on Symbol Comprehension and Production in Children With Moderate Cognitive Disabilities. American Jour- nal of Speech Language Pathology, 13 (2), 155-167. Hoff, E. (2006). How social contexts support and shape lan- guage development. Developmental Review, 26(1), 55–88. Howery, K. (2017). Communication and Literacy for Every Child. The Inclusive Educator, 2(1). Iacono, T. (2014). “What It Means to Have Complex Commu- nication Needs.” Research and Practice in Intellectual and Devel- opmental Disabilities 1(1),82–85. Light, J. & McNaughton, D. (2011). Supporting the commu- nication, language, and literacy development of children with complex communication needs: state of the science and future research priorities. Assistive Technology, 4(1), 34-44. Loncke, F. (2014). Augmentative and Alternative Communica- tion: Models and Applications for Educators, Speech-Language Pathologists, Psychologists, Caregivers, and Users. San Diego, Calif: Ruffin. Lueck, A. H. & Dutton, G., Eds. (2015). Vision and the Brain: Un- derstanding Cerebral Visual Impairment in Children. New York: NY: AFB Press. Perry, A, S Reilly, S Cotton, K Bloomberg and H Johnson. 2004. “A Demographic Survey of People Who Have a Disability and Complex Communication Needs in Victoria, Australia.” Asia Pacif- ic Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing 9, 259–71.

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