Hello all,

My client was very appreciative of all of the suggestions!  I had suggested (as well as others here) to have some "rules" that he could share with his family and friends.  I was not aware that he was attending a family reunion, which I think is why he was nervous about all of this.  Below is the list he created and gave me permission to share with the group.  He said that this helped a lot as he saw family members that he had not seen in a while and this seemed to help break the barriers to his new communication abilities.  This might be helpful for other PALS to use and modify for their needs.

Helpful Hints in Talking to Me

 

 

1.      I may speak in the normal way some and use a speech synthesizer some.

 

2.      Understand that my speech is slow and using the synthesizer is even slower.

 

3.      The synthesizer can sound terse and rude, but that doesn’t reflect what’s going on inside me.

 

4.      Yes/no questions are easier for me to answer than open ended ones.

 

5.      In normal speech we talk over each other constantly and that’s natural and OK!  But, I speak very slowly and quietly and it takes much effort.  So, let me finish my thought before you say anything.

 

6.      If I ask a question or say something that needs to be responded to, please wait for me to respond before changing the subject.  I have to conserve my energy and repeating things uses it up.

 

7.      If you do not understand what I’m saying, please ask for clarification. (Don't just smile and nod if you do not understand.)

 

8.      Assume that I literally mean everything I say.  I have to be economical in speaking and in using the voice synthesizer, and I try not say things that I don’t mean exactly as said. 

 

9.      Don't watch me type my responses and try to guess what I’m saying while I am typing - wait for me to complete me thoughts.  Also, I need practice in becoming proficient with the speech synthesizer!

 

10.   I’m OK with one-side conversations if you are.  Feel free to talk with me about anything, and I will nod my head, smile, or frown to let you know I’m engaged.

 

11.   If I want to enter a conversation at some point I may wave my arm or rap on the table to let you know.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Antoinette Verdone, MSBME, ATP

Owner, Rehabilitation Engineer

ImproveAbility, LLC

Office: 512-522-1705

Cell: 512-497-6026

Email: xxxxxx@improveability.com

Web: www.improveability.com

Fax: 888-501-1009

3310 W Braker Lane, Suite 300-424, Austin TX 78758

 

DARS Provider# 1-274278960-0-000

"One cannot consent to creep when one has the impulse to soar" -- Helen Keller

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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: How to have more natural conversations with AAC

From: <xxxxxx@improveability.com>
Date: Fri, July 08, 2016 6:33 pm
To: xxxxxx@alsa.simplelists.com

The handout did not come over, can you email to me directly?


Sincerely,

Antoinette Verdone, MSBME, ATP
Owner, Rehabilitation Engineer
ImproveAbility, LLC
Office: 512-522-1705
Cell: 512-497-6026
Email: xxxxxx@improveability.com
Web: www.improveability.com
Fax: 888-501-1009
3310 W Braker Lane, Suite 300-424, Austin TX 78758

DARS Provider# 1-274278960-0-000

"One cannot consent to creep when one has the impulse to soar" -- Helen
Keller

Follow Us




-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: How to have more natural conversations with AAC
From: Kelly C R Neff <xxxxxx@salud.unm.edu>
Date: Fri, July 08, 2016 1:40 pm
To: "'xxxxxx@alsa.simplelists.com'" <xxxxxx@alsa.simplelists.com>

Antoinette:

Check out this handout from Dynavox. Not all of it will be pertinent,
but it may give him some ideas on how to speed up conversations by
creating longer narratives before conversations. If the patient is
wanting to have real conversations, perhaps setting up narratives would
be the way to handle that. This might work for at least frequent topics
and conversations that this patient may have with people (e.g., trips
they have taken, topics of interest, recent movies he saw, etc.). It
won't solve everything, but it may speed up some conversation. Also, I
don't know if you patient is using eye gaze on the TobiiDynavox, but the
NoDwell trial software might speed up communication if it works for him.
I hope this helps!

-Kelly Neff, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
University of New Mexico Hospitals

From: xxxxxx@alsa.simplelists.com
[mailto:xxxxxx@alsa.simplelists.com] On Behalf Of
xxxxxx@improveability.com
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2016 11:15 AM
To: ALS AT Listserv
Subject: How to have more natural conversations with AAC



Hello AAC peeps,



I got the following question from a PALS that I would like to get
additional feedback on:





"I am now effectively at a point where people can no longer understand
me when I speak, except when I use individual words like yes. no,
hungry, etc. But no sentences; they come out slow and slurred. I've
taken the first step; I have a Tobii-Dynavox and am learning how to use
it. But that doesn't address how to actually be part of an interchange
with people and even with my wife. I feel like there's this person
inside me bottled up that can't get out.

Maybe this is just a pipe dream but Is there any good literature that
is available that would help me and other people to know how to achieve
this?"





I already gave him some pointers on how to facilitate AAC use, such as
letting people know if it is ok to guess and waiting for him to finish.
I also shared with him some low tech options, but I would like to know
others thoughts on this.





Thanks for your feedback.



Sincerely,



Antoinette Verdone, MSBME, ATP

Owner, Rehabilitation Engineer

ImproveAbility, LLC

Office: 512-522-1705

Cell: 512-497-6026

Email: xxxxxx@improveability.com

Web: www.improveability.com

Fax: 888-501-1009

3310 W Braker Lane, Suite 300-424, Austin TX 78758



DARS Provider# 1-274278960-0-000


"One cannot consent to creep when one has the impulse to soar" -- Helen
Keller



Follow Us