WRITE TO TALK = TALK TO WRITE: Using AAC Devices and Alternative Pencils!

Presentation Slides

Caroline Musselwhite, Ph.D.

 
When you ask to see students who are writing, do you observe students who are: practicing handwriting? copying? filling in worksheets? doing nothing? Too often, students who are AAC users have minimal opportunities to engage in writing. This workshop will focus on the integral relationship between communication and the writing process . . . and how easily that is overlooked for AAC users. This workshop will focus on generative writing (ex: generating novel thought and translating it into text, using the alphabet, word prediction, abbreviation-expansion, device dictionaries, word banks, etc.) The process writing framework will be demonstrated. A wide range of student writing samples will be shared. The workshop incorporates high success, daily writing activities across curriculum areas that are meaningful and motivating. Participants will receive a link to a dropbox with resources, sample activities, and forms.
 
Credits: Act 48, ASHA, Psych
Audience: Special Education Teachers; Speech Therapists; General Education Teachers; Supervisors/Administrators; Assistive Technology Specialists; Occupational Therapists; Physical Therapists; Parents, Guardians, Family Members; Paraprofessionals


Speaker Bio: Dr. Caroline Musselwhite is an assistive technology specialist with more than 40 years of experience working with children and adolescents with significant disabilities in a variety of settings, including Head Start, clinics, developmental day programs, homes, and the public schools. Dr. Musselwhite has written a number of textbooks and “how-to” books on a range of topics, and has also authored many books and software programs for youth with disabilities. She has presented thousands of workshops throughout North and South America, Australia, Europe, and Africa, and is a founding member and Fellow of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.  Honors include: Foundation Fellowship (West Virginia University), Educator of the Year (Association for Retarded Citizens, North Carolina), Honors of the Association, (North Carolina Augmentative Communication Association), and DiCarlo Outstanding Clinician Award (North Carolina Speech-Language-Hearing Association), and ISAAC Fellow.
Caroline Musselwhite