Hi Erin,
A great place to start is by getting the packet that ALSA National
provides. It has lots of communication boards.
I will attach AlphaCore to this which is the board I use for most
direct selectors (laser pointer, finger, stylus). I give out a few
AlphaCore boards on most of my clinic days. I shrink the board for
people with less ROM and make them into wall posters for laser users.
For those who can't direct select I use the AEeyeOU board, Etran or
EyeLink typically.
I also like to hand out small wallet cards from ALSA that say
something like "the reason my speech is slurred or I am unable to speak is
because I have ALS, etc". The card has an ABC board on the other
side. It can help bulbar folks communicate on the fly and even has
helped patients out of a suspected DUI when shown to the officer (also
reportedly useful when trying to get a cocktail and the bartender has
said you have had enough already).
I always have a few adapted laser pointers on hand. I keep a few
that clip on glasses, a few attached to hand styluses and some just
velcroed to barrettes. Two options are available for all my
lasers. Patients can have the kind that are switch adapted or ones
that just have an on off switch. I like the adapted ones that toggle
on or off with a switch activation. I think it is important for pALS
to be able to turn their own laser on and off. It not only alerts
people in the room when they are ready to communicate but also makes it
easier not to shine it in their partner's eyes when the partner is
talking.
These are just a few of my favorite things...
P.S. Margaret Cotts will be opening a web based education
site and store for low tech AAC for pALS in the near
future. I can't wait to stop making my own Etrans and adapted laser
pointers and let the expert do it!
Sincerely, Amy Roman, MS, CCC-SLP Augmentative Communication Specialist Forbes Norris ALS Research Center 2324 Sacramento Street San Francisco, CA 94115 P (415)600-1263 F (415)673-5184 CONFIDENTIAL OR PRIVILEGED: This communication contains information intended only for the use of the individuals to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from other disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any disclosure, printing, copying, distribution or use of the contents is prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender immediately by telephone or by returning it by reply email and then permanently deleting the communicationfrom your system. Thank you. --- On Thu, 4/22/10, Erin Singleton <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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