more effectively, foster independence and enhance their qual- ity of life. This article will further define self advocacy as an area of communication competence for AAC users and outline how our middle school classroom is developing a comprehensive curriculum to teach knowledge, build skills, and train commu- nication partners concurrently. SELF ADVOCACY AS A COMPETENCY AREA When we consider communication competencies, we are stating that a person should have a set of skills or strategies to use to engage in various communication opportunities effi- ciently and effectively; ideally we are striving for independence achieved through development of mini milestones or acquisi- tion of stepping stone skills Self-advocacy can, and should be, considered an area of communication competency used to consider and set goals to move towards a person’s ability to communicate efficiently and effectively in a variety of commu- nication settings with a variety of communication partners. Self advocacy can be defined as a set of skills and subskills used to engage in the complex process of speaking on your own behalf to share needs, beliefs, opinions, interests, and desires (Singer & Morgenson, 2021). For students with complex communication needs (CCN), self-advocacy is essential as it empowers them to navigate their environments, communicate effectively, and as- sert their rights and preferences. When considering a definition for self-advocacy, we want to think about self-determination as a driving force. Self-determination refers to an individual’s ability to make choices and take control over their actions and decisions such as setting goals, solving problems, and pursuing opportunities that reflect their desires and needs. Without self determination, we can’t advocate for what we want. Therefore, we want our students to develop comprehension of “self” be- fore, or while simultaneously, teaching skills on how to act on desires, motivators and preferences. Using the above to lay the foundation, there are two broad areas to target: knowledge of self and individual needs and skills needed to self advocate that move towards self advocacy. While the ultimate goal is to develop competency in these two areas, the following knowledge and skills areas can be consid- ered markers towards achieving independence. For knowledge of self and individual needs, we are looking to build awareness of:
To support competency in self-advocacy, we need to build skills such as: • Comprehension of language; (content vocabulary as well as words to use) • Effective protesting • Expressing preferences, choices, and needs • IEP participation • Active participation in decision making • Conversation strategies; (different strategies for familiar and unfamiliar partners) • Problem solving With our content and skills identified, we need to look at the opportunities needed to build, facilitate, and practice while as- suring that the environments assure meaningful, and authentic opportunities. We need to consider if the environments our stu- dents are using these skills in are ready to respond. Will peers know what to do when a student says “Give me time to make my message”? Will a general education teacher be prepared to provide an accommodation requested at the start of class? Will a communication partner be ready to accept a protest even if it goes against the classroom agenda? Asking these tough ques- tions as we as we develop our lessons and activities will ensure that teaching and coaching of communication partners is of equal consideration. Taking into consideration the individual level as well as the immediate and larger contexts contributes to a comprehensive approach to teaching and building skills in an effective manner. OUR CLASSROOM CURRICULUM In a busy middle school classroom, time is tricky. Balancing therapies, inclusion classes, individual work time, and social op- portunities is a challenge. Throw in a 6-day waterfall schedule and it’s next to impossible. As a team we started by identifying the “must haves” and unanimously, self advocacy made the list. We dedicated a once per week, 50 minute block to this topic to tackle the explicit teaching as a group; students and parapro- fessionals attendance required. Integrating both the classroom teacher and speech pathologist’s perspectives, units of study were, and continue to be, created by a) identifying the knowl- edge to teach (i.e., content) 2) identifying how to expressively use the gained knowledge (i.e., skills), 3) identifying commu- nication partner skills to respond to student skills (i.e., partner training and coaching), and 4) tools needs to engage in the learning process (i.e., permanent products). With a structured approach, we can create a comprehensive plan to teach and skill build in a holistic manner. Units are additionally driven by an environmental need. New team members or teaching staff drove the unit for choice making and protesting. Challenges with building peer connections set in motion a unit targeting respect and acceptance. Repetition of units has and will con-
• Individual communication strategies • Disability awareness and disclosure • Accommodations to access education • Low and high stakes choices • Role of communication partners/ allies • Personal preferences and motivators • Public and private information
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