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Inclusive Technology... News... Overcoming the barriers to communication

Overcoming the barriers to communication

I currently work in an LEA primary special school in Bristol, where approximately sixty-five children with physical difficulties attend on a daily basis. Six years ago, the Speech and Language Therapy Department launched the Paediatric Communication Aids Service (PCAS), which assesses children for communication aids, offers advice and acts as a training service.

Initially, charitable funding was needed to develop a resource library of communication aids. This funding received a tremendous boost last year with a generous donation from the Wooden Spoon Society, so the library was named The Wooden Spoon Library of Communication Aids.

Exciting new range of communication aids

We were very excited to learn of the new AMDi range in the Inclusive Technology catalogue and subsequently to see a demonstration of the speech output devices at a national conference in Lancaster. We were particularly impressed with the Tech/Talk8, the Tech/Speak32 and the 4talk4 from Penny & Giles, to the extent that, six months ago, we bought several of each for the resource library.

The products have already been extremely well used. A wide range of children use the aids - those with varying degrees of learning and physical disabilities, preschool children who need a more complex device than the BIGmacks and those who need a supportive device to their occasional unintelligible speech. Many have borrowed the devices for a short assessment period, to determine their efficacy in promoting communication for the individual child. The result has been that the LEAs have purchased the recommended communication aids for the children's long-term use, both at home and school.

The advantages of the 4talk4

PCAS has recommended the use of the 4talk4 with many children. Four large, coloured buttons each carry a recorded message and pocket inserts allow pictures to be used to represent the different recordings. The product can also be connected to a toy or other device to allow it to be operated via the coloured buttons.

So let's have a look at the advantages of this communication aid as highlighted by teachers, speech and language therapists and nursery nurses within the school:

• Low cost
• Robust
• Easy to programme and to use
• Loud volume if required, without disturbing the clarity of speech
• Enable different switches to be used, to suit the individual child
• Large size of cells enables finger or fist pointing
• Extends the vocabulary
• Easy to change levels allow up to sixteen messages to be stored
• Can be used by an individual child or a group

To illustrate the efficacy of the 4talk4 as a communication device, I shall describe its use with three children with profound and multiple difficulties. I have also liased with a teacher and nursery nurse to also gain their views on the efficancy of the device.

Paul Paul is eleven years old and has multiple difficulties; he is profoundly deaf. He started to use the 4talk4 in April 2002 and immediately responded positively, using it to support his non-verbal means of communication. The volume could be increased without distortion, which meant that Paul could hear some of the message. He uses the 4talk4 in the following ways on a daily basis: 1. At 'circle time', to choose who to say hello to (using photograph pocket inserts). 2. To select drinks, progressing from two to four choices. 3. At home, to choose between playing, watching TV or having a drink. 4. Within 'literacy hour', to repeat a repetitive line of a story, or a noise which recurs throughout. Paul's teacher encourages sequencing using the 4talk4, programming noises which occur in a certain sequence during a story, or directing others by giving instructions in the appropriate sequence.

Carol Carol is nine and also has profound and multiple difficulties. Unlike Paul, who has already grasped the concept, Carol is learning to realise the value of cause and effect. She loves hearing her parents' voices, as well as listening to her favourite music, which has been recorded into the 4talk4. Carol tends to flap her hands around and is resistant to touching objects and switches. However, she is gradually tolerating the touch of the four pads on the overlay. A sturdy device is important for Carol, and because her physical tone varies from day to day, the aid can be positioned differently to allow easy access. Carol's parents love using the aid and send in messages on a daily basis, all relevant to Carol's level of understanding and interests.

Tom Tom is six years old and has just acquired his own 4talk4 from the LEA. He is using the two end cells to introduce himself to new people and to initiate interaction with a 'hello'. Tom is also controlling other external devices using the 4talk4. In class, for example, it is connected to a fan which Tom can then operate by pressing the required symbol, with the additional bonus of a spoken message as feedback. A switch can be placed on his tray that corresponds to the coloured background on the aid, encouraging colour matching. His teacher is particularly impressed with the capacity to operate a connected device or a toy through the product.

The above are just three examples of the successful use of the 4talk4. When introduced to the aid, staff and parents immediately respond positively, mainly because of its easy programming and clarity of speech. The instant motivation of the carers or communication partners would of course be insufficient without the child's enthusiasm to use the aid, but to date that has never been lacking.

Sally Chan
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Paediatric Communication Aids Service
Claremont School, Bristol
September 2002

4talk4 product information.