If you read the title, and thought, “I’m pretty knowledgeable about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), but I’ve never heard of ReAACtion Therapy,” you’re probably right, but you probably know what it is. I *may* have made up the name, but the-AAC-technique-where-you-respond-to-what-a-person-says-as-if-it-was-intentional is kind of long to write. If this technique has a different name, feel free to comment and let me know. When people in the field talk about “Presuming Competence,” this technique is crucial. Whatever you call it, if you’re not already using it, when you finish reading this, start.
The way it works is that the child has the device in front of her. She accesses whatever buttons she chooses, and the communication partner responds to what she’s said like she meant it.
Here’s an example: A child touches “sad” on the device and the communication partner starts crying…or says “Are you sad?” (pouting lip)…or says, “Are you telling me about something sad?”
Here’s a more difficult example: The child touches “Golden Gate Bridge” on her device. The communication partner says, “That’s the red bridge in California,” or says, “I drove across the Golden Gate Bridge once,” or “What about the Golden Gate Bridge?”
If you’re not sure how to respond, respond as you would if someone verbally said the same thing to you. It’s not likely that you would dismiss your friend if she came up to you and said, “Golden Gate Bridge.” You’d assume she had more to say about it. You’d assume that she said it on purpose because she wanted to tell you something. You’d ask for more information if it didn’t make sense to you. Treat communication from AAC device users as if it is intentional, and eventually it will be.
While I love modeling/Aided Language Input/Aided Language Stimulation, and we all agree that it is incredibly important and beneficial, there are a couple of reasons I think that ReAACtion Therapy is a great way to begin implementation if the child is willing to explore a device independently.
First, it’s easy. There is no pressure on the person using AAC or the communication partner. Communication partners don’t have to know where words are to help the AAC user learn the meaning of words. You’re treating every attempt at communication as intentional and purposeful. There are no wrong answers. There are no wrong attempts. You’re honoring someone’s effort and initiation of an interaction.
Here’a a scenario:
You watch your two-year-old child walk up to an adult at her day care, she says, “Cold.” The adult says, “Oh she thinks her voice is a toy. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. Just ignore her when she does that.” Then the adult turns her back.
She walks up to another adult, and says, “Cold.” That adult says, “Aww, are you cold? Do you want me to zip your jacket? Brrr (dramatically shivering), I’m cold too! It’s freezing in here!”
Which response teaches the child more about the meaning of the word cold? Which values her attempt at communication and sends the message that what she says is important and has meaning? Which adult would you want to interact with your child? When we consider how our responses impact our students who are using AAC, here is the real question: Should our response to a child be any different if the child has a disability and interacts using a device? I don’t think so.
This brings me to the second reason to start responding to everything the AAC user in your life says as if they meant it: he’ll start to realize that anything he says to you is correct. Imagine having someone in your life that when you talk to them, you always say exactly the right thing. How much would you love talking to that person? Who would you go to when you wanted to know what an unfamiliar word means? When you give someone the freedom of expression that allows him to say anything he wants, the burden of correctness is lifted. He doesn’t have to “try again” because no matter what he says, there is a response. If the response is fun and animated, it’s much more likely that he will find the word again. There are no mistakes.
Of course, you’ll have skeptics, who say things like, “How do you know she’s not hitting random buttons?” “How do you know that’s what he meant to say?” “I don’t think she really knows what ‘acceptance’ means? She just hit it by accident.”
The answer is I don’t know. I don’t know if the button presses are all by chance. I don’t know if he meant to say that. I don’t know if she knows what “acceptance” means, but I don’t mind being the one to teach her. I don’t know…until I know. Presuming competence is a little like having faith. It’s believing without proof. In the case of AAC implementation, it’s believing with the expectation of proof. It’s looking for a child to prove you right, instead of making her prove herself worthy of more language.
Jess is a 23 year-old young lady with Angelman Syndrome. She started using Speak for Yourself when she was twenty-one, and her mom writes about their journey with AAC (and other things) on her blog, You Don’t Say AAC. Jess wanted no part of physical prompting, which I think is true of many students, but she is a master explorer. A great deal of her language and AAC use was acquired through ReAACtion therapy…people just responded to what she said as if she meant it. And she loved it. Her voice was validated so she was motivated to learn more. She can now put words together to convey thoughts and give information. Jess initiates conversations or jumps in when she has something to add. She continues to try out new words to explore their meanings, and then she uses them to interject into conversations. She comments and figures out the context that makes sense for that word based on how people respond.
In this first video, Jess is on her way to lunch and the movie theater to see Cinderella (2015). She demonstrates her receptive language skills as she looks toward the stores when getting wine is mentioned. She then points out a wine store in an area that is unfamiliar to her, which required her to read the sign. She uses AAC to talk about getting to the movie theater and comments about Cinderella’s dress. Jess’s fine motor skills have been described as “poor” but it’s important to notice that she accesses the small (half inch) buttons on an iPad mini to say exactly what she wants to say and then beams with pride.
In this video, she is talking about plans for the afternoon, which include lunch and a movie. She asks about the ice cream shop, then verbally says “Mommy” and uses AAC to say “bought pretty t-shirt movie theater.” She then nods excitedly about getting off of the exit to go to the restaurant. Jess uses all of her communication modalities to interact, participate in making plans, and initiate conversation about her new shirt.
She’s pretty incredible, but her mom had to believe that to put a robust language system in her hands and respond to her. Jess would not have had an opportunity to prove her competence unless someone presumed it was there. Thanks to Jess and her family for allowing us to share their story and celebrate her success.
If you’re not sure of someone’s language capabilities because they don’t have a way to express them, that cycle has to stop somewhere.
If you think Speak for Yourself is a tool that will help someone in your life, the price will be discounted by 50% ($99.99 USD) on April 2nd, 2015 in honor of autism awareness, but also in honor of all individuals who have thoughts, dreams, beliefs, ideas, and needs that they are not able to effectively and consistently express. Give someone the opportunity to demonstrate competence.
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