Look2Talk - An Update Katharine Buckley & Clare Latham Overview • • • • • • Background to the project Introduction to Look2Talk Walk through the stages Practicalities On reflection Talk Together Background to the Project Where did we start? • A Guide to Developing and Using a Communication Book • Stable core vocabulary that is available whatever is being talked about • Recognition that extra support needed for eyepointing communicators – not a simple adaptation! First Attempt (2004)! Look2Talk • Worked on the eye pointing book on and off for 2 years • Then the Look2Talk project enabled us to try it out with six families over an 18 month period • The project came to an end in April 2008 • Funders: Elsevier Science Ltd, Eranda Foundation, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Gatsby Charitable Foundation, Good Neighbours Trust, John Horniman Children’s Trust, Kirby Laing Foundation, St James’s Place Foundation Project Outcomes • Guide Book • DVD with clips of children and tutorial clips • Templates for Boardmaker • Core and sample pages • Sturdy binder Introduction to Look2Talk Look2Talk Communication Book • A five-stage approach to making and using a communication book • Core vocabulary is available from every page • Core vocabulary develops and increases along developmental lines • An emphasis on the functional use of language • Enables achievement at identified speaking and listening P-levels • At each stage there are suggestions on ‘readiness’, and aims for both the learner and the communication partner • A lot of attention is given to communication partner skills • There is an emphasis on developing use of symbols through play Key Themes • Ideas rather than perfect sentences Key Themes • Taking the pressure off • Acknowledge difficulty of reading eye pointing – harder for the partner than the child • Value current communication strategies – this is adding to their existing system • Importance of the communication partner • A team approach Walk through the stages Stage 1 • ‘Taking the pressure off’ led us to move away from using an E-tran frame at this stage • Introduction – Empower the learner’s eyes within communication (pause, watch and respond) – Introduce photographs (for pleasure rather than choice-making) Picture/video of child Stage 1 • Next steps – Introduce the individual symbols ‘more’ and ‘stop’ Picture/video of child Stage 2 • Introduce communication book with core vocabulary ‘more’ and ‘stop’ • Suggest using either two or four topic symbols Stage 2 What We Learned • Encourage all family members to use the symbols too • Help the child be in control of activities • Help the child to physically hold the toys • Be ready to change activities quickly • Change positions and allow for ‘wiggle time’ • Get the communication book out at bedtime alongside other story books What We Learned Cont’d • Need to think about how the book is positioned • May begin by keeping the book between you and your learner then move to side • Play doesn’t always take place at a table! Picture/video of child Stage 3 Stage 3 • Two new core words – ‘help’ and ‘no’ • Introduce page turning within discrete activities • Encoding What We Learned • Encoding can feel quite baffling at first • Note how Milly really emphasises her eye pointing to support her communication partner • DVD has tutorials on what is encoding, how to model encoding, and introducing the child to encoding Picture/video of child What We Learned Cont’d • Make just one page around a favourite game or story book and begin by using this yourself so your learner can see how encoding works • We started with two colours • Its the child’s communication system - if they aren’t grasping encoding quickly, hold back on encoding for now so that their communication remains comfortable Stage 3 Continued Stage 3 Continued • More symbols on the page and more core words • Introduce a top page • Tamsin is able to use her communication book to share information Picture/video of child What We Learned • Re-tell strategy a useful way of practising the vocabulary • An expectant pause can be used to encourage the child to join in • Scribbling (see Karen Erickson’s work re. emergent writing) Picture/video of child Stage 4 Stage 4 Stage Four • Core vocabulary now fills a whole page, but some core can be seen from every topic page • Core vocabulary includes ‘question’ and some early describing words What We Learned • Changing role of communication partner • Notice how Tamsin’s mum is beginning to challenge her a little e.g. what shall we do about it, would you like to ask me something, how can you ask me that • Also notice that they are just using the core vocabulary to support the activity • Eventually Tamsin does say ‘question’ ‘more’ to ask for some more Picture/video of child What We Learned • Play may change so that it can tell more of a story e.g. safari park, doll’s house, cooking sets, etc. • With the move to more vocabulary on a page, the learner needs to be given more looking time • Also, as the play becomes more challenging, more thinking time may be required Stage 5 Stage 5 Stage 5 • Now full range of question words • Also words for working alongside peers e.g. idea, fair, etc. • Bliss type strategies now on every topic page – combine, part of and opposite to • We introduced these through games • 8 blocks of 8 symbols on a page Stage 5 • Sophie uses her communication book to support her homework • Task: write a story about someone that had inspired them • Mum selected vocab around the story • Sophie used it in her own way to tell a story, adding in hands and legs • Mum then reads aloud Sophie’s story Picture/video of child What We Learned • A dedicated page of verbs felt important at this stage • Communication partner’s role different again – big job holding the conversation together e.g. Sophie’s mum sometimes wrote it down to avoid losing thread • But still a role for pause, watch and respond • Having a lot of vocabulary on one page does reduce the number of page turns but it makes it harder to read the eye-pointing, and ‘which colour’ does get asked a bit! Bridge to Stage 5 Bridge to Stage 5 • Tamsin became ready for some of the Stage 5 vocabulary but Tamsin and her family weren’t ready to move on to the Stage 5 page layouts • Pros and cons Practicalities Changes to the Folder • As it got fuller things started to go wrong! • Easel files are commercially available, but are designed to hold a small number of sheets of paper • Fine for getting started but we found that regular replacements were required Picture/video of child New Folder • Designed to hold more pages, to be more durable, and to be more sturdy On reflection On Reflection • Taking the pressure off in the early stages is absolutely vital • The communication partner’s role needs to develop and change across the stages • Families liked seeing all five stages • All families said felt would have struggled without demonstrations (DVD) • Siblings – someone to play with, someone to talk about, someone easy and fun to talk with, the younger the better • Timing is important e.g. health issues, other life issues • Must not see it as a failure if symbol communication doesn’t ‘take off’ at any given time Talk Together Talk Together • A complementary vocabulary package • Full of tips and suggestions drawn in part from Look2Talk Contact Details Katharine Buckley buckley@ace-centre.org.uk 01865 759 820 www.ace-centre.org.uk