The Process
You have selected a speech disability.
You will work in groups of three. Within the group, each of you will take on one
of the following roles:
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Teacher While you want to enable Darla to be as successful as possible, you feel Darla can be understood virtually unaided. You notice that she has been working hard to communicate her thoughts through her own speech since her picture board is no longer adequate for her vocabulary.
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Parent
You want to find the communication tools and techniques that will enable Darla to expand her vocabulary and communicate easily with her peers. You believe that the school should spare no expense in providing the best technology available for you daughter. |
Speech Pathologist
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1. Individually, you'll examine the sites below and jot down some notes of your opinions of each from the perspective of your role. Your task is to learn a little more about her problem, determine what would help Darla achieve her potential, and determine what would be considered reasonable accommodation. Each of your team members will research possible solutions while playing a role of one of the members of a multidisciplinary team. REMEMBER not to get out of character.
2. Your job will be to determine the best solution and present that solution to the principal of the school. The principal will ask you to justify the cost of the solution based on the benefit to the student and ask you about what kind of needs you will have for the implementation and evaluation of the proposed solution. He will also want to know his legal responsibility. Be prepared to speak to these issues
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3. Study the evaluation rubric before you begin so you know what is expected of you and how you will be evaluated. |
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4. Here
are a few resources to get you started. Hopefully they will lead you in many
interesting directions.
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Links to Helpful Websites |
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Understanding Disabilities Creating Opportunities http://www.ucpa.org/main.cfm/1 |
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Ability Hub – Assistive Technology Solutions http://www.abilityhub.com/index.htm |
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Suite101.Com Real People Helping Real People http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/assistive_technology/33540 |
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National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media and Materials http://www2.edc.org/NCIP/ |
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American Speech-Language-Hearing Association http://www.asha.org/speech/disabilities/disabilities.cfm |
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Augmentative and Alternative Communication http://depts.washington.edu/augcomm/ |
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Circle of Inclusion http://www.circleofinclusion.org/english/augcomm/ |
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Cerebral Palsy – A Multimedia Resource for Children and Parents http://hsc.virginia.edu/cmc/tutorials/cp/index.html |
5. When everyone in the group has seen all the sites, you will convene in the chat room to discuss the problem, alternative solutions and to come to agreement on the best solution for Darla's problem. You are encouraged to use these steps in your process:
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Define
the Problem |
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6.
There will
probably not be unanimous agreement, so the next step is to talk together to
hammer out a compromise consensus about your team's recommendation. Pool your
perspectives and see if you can agree on what's best for everyone involved.
8. Evaluate
yourself and your group using the
evaluation rubric.