Creating Litbased

AAC Intervention.com

Augmentative/Alternative Communication Intervention
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Dr. Caroline Musselwhite & Julie Maro

Caroline Musselwhite, Ph.D. CCC/SLP
916 W. Castillo Drive
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
carmussel@cox.net

Class Information

Website Creation Class Resources

AT Training - AlphaSmart, Inspiration, WYNN

Teacher Resouces

Tools for Transforming the Teaching of Students with Special Needs

Creating Literature Based Communication Boards

This handout was developed for: AAC Make It/Take It Presented by Lori Tufte/Julie Maro March, 1999
May be used if credit is given to the authors.

Objective: To develop emergent literacy/communication overlays to facilitate communication and
vocabulary development during literacy activities.

1. Select a story book.

A. Utilize Repetitive Phrase story books
Using repetitive phrase stories during reading time is a quick and efficient way to engage students with
limited verbal skills in the literature process.

To do this, you will need to:

pull the repetitive phrase and/or phrases from the story
find symbol representations for these phrases using BoardMaker or some other picture library system
place the picture symbols for the repetitive phrases on a simple communication device
record the message into the communication device
model the use of the communication device during initial story readings
cue students to activate the communication device when reading the story. This can be done using a visual cue such as highlight tape on the repetitive line of the book and on the communication device.

        Examples of repetitive phrase story books:
                The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
                Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley

View a List of Repetitive Line Books

B. Choose from other recommended children's literature
       Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting two early childhood teachers whose love of children's literature was infectious.
         Each has compiled a list of "Favorite Books" which are reprinted here with permission. Incidentally, we met at a
        "book share" which was organized by our early childhood consultants. The "book share" was held at our local
        Border's books. FYI - Border's offers teachers a discount on all books purchased for classroom use!

        Lori Von Asten, EC-EEN Teacher for the New Auburn School District in Wisconsin has grouped her favorite books by
        theme. Marianne Daw, EC-EEN Teacher for the Augusta School District in Wisconsin has titled her list "101 of My
        Favorite Books for Preschoolers. Each provides a rich resource of excellent children's literature.

2. Sequence the Story on an Augmentative Communication Device
         Simple stories can be easily sequenced on an AAC device. In this method, students activate keys in sequential order
            to read/retell the story. This method works best when each page of the story contains no more than one line of
            text. For students who are scanning, set the communication device to step scanning so each time they activate their
            switch, the cursor advances to the next line in the story.

To do this you will need to:

Pull the text from each page of the book
Find symbol representations for the text using BoardMaker or some other picture library system
Place the picture symbols on the communication device and record the text
Model use of the system for the students
Cue students to activate the communication device in sequential order to read/retell the story

Examples of simple stories that are easy to symbolize:
The Birthday Cake by Joy Cowley

3. Provide Access to Main Theme Vocabulary
        Create a "generic" communication story board which can be used with a number of story books. For example,
            many books feature colors and numbers within the plot. Creating a communication overlay that can be used whenever
            you have a story dealing with numbers, colors or another theme will give you easy access to vocabulary pertaining to
            more than one book.

To do this you will need to:

Identify the main theme vocabulary from the story
Find symbol representations for this vocabulary using BoardMaker or some other picture library system
Create an overlay using the main theme vocabulary for your augmentative communication device/system
Record the vocabulary into your communication system if using voice output
Model use of the system for the students
Cue students to use the theme vocabulary when reading the story

            Examples of Main Theme Overlay Topics:
            Color Overlay
            Number Overlay
            Interaction Overlay (e.g. Turn the page!, What's that?, Read that again!)

4. Use Aided Language Stimulation Boards for Story Reading
Goossens', Crain and Elder have developed aided language stimulation overlays that can be used to promote
expressive communication during story time. You may use their overlays or create your own.

To do this you will need to:

Buy or loan the appropriate aided language stimulation overlay book(s). (See Mayer-Johnson, Don Johnston links)
Create a custom overlay based on the boards designed by Goossens', Crain and Elder or design your own from scratch
Find symbol representations for this vocabulary using BoardMaker or some other picture library system
Print the overlay and use separately or record the messages into the augmentative communication system
Model use of the system for the students
Cue students to use the vocabulary during story reading activities

5. Novel Stories Based on Favorite Literature or Songs
            Retelling favorite stories or songs in a new way provides an opportunity to promote communication. Taking a story or
            song such as Goodnight Moon, Brown Bear, Brown Bear or Mary Wore a Red Dress and revamping the vocabulary
            to make a novel story/song allows you to tailor the new vocabulary to the season, the classroom theme or curricular
            unit. For example in the winter, Brown Bear, Brown Bear can be changed to "Snowman, Snowman".

To do this you will need to:

Identify the story to be redone
Identify the new vocabulary
Find symbol representations for this vocabulary using BoardMaker or some other picture library system
Create a story overlay using the new vocabulary
Print the overlay and use separately or record the messages into the augmentative communication system
Model use of the system for the students
Cue students to use the vocabulary during story reading activities

            Examples of Novel Stories/Songs based on Favorite Literature:
            Rainbow, rainbow what do you see . . .
            ...... wore her pink shirt

See also the excellent songbooks and other materials created by Caroline Musselwhite - Available through
Creative Communicating (see links page)

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