Transcript Slide 1
TEAM SOPHIE 18 years and counting … Sophie McMullen & Nick Trapnell Sophie … •born in1993 •diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 10 months •referred to physiotherapy at 10 months •referred to speech & language therapy at 11 months. Sophie’s VOCAs Big Mack Health Alphatalker (Stepping Stones on 8 then 32 Locations) Health Deltatalker (Stepping Stones on 32 Locations, LLL on 128 locations Vanguard (Wordcore) Health Vantage Lite (Wordcore) Education Services ECO2 (Wordcore) Own Funding Own Funding Sophie’s Education: •started an assessment placement at the Children’s Centre aged 2 years •started at Frederick Holmes School (for children with physical disabilities) aged 3 years •started at Hull College aged 19 years The Communication Access Forum (CAF), looking at ‘whole picture’: Sophie referred aged 2 years. CAF brief to assess and develop Access/Switching for: •Communication •Play and Leisure •Participation •Computer Access •Powered Mobility •Environmental Control What did they do? The Extended Team: Their role included contributions to assessment, review & planning for Sophie’s development of communication and her use of assistive technology. The Core Team: Their role included delivering programmes, maintaining equipment and supporting Sophie on a very regular basis. When were they involved? Extended Team role: •For assessment and regular reviews •When something changed Core Team role: Talked on a regular basis (SLTs based in school, working in classroom, weekly input from Rehab Engineer) How the teams changed: Extended team: •has had fewer changes •still includes SLT, OT, Medical Physics, Physiotherapy •has lost teacher input Core Team: •changed as Sophie assumed more responsibility •composition of team now controlled by Sophie The Core AAC Team Helen (Mum) Sophie’s P.A.s (Amanda, Sharon) S.L.T. Team Judith, Nick, Gail, Cathy Sophie O.T. Team (Fiona, Harold) Class Teacher Rehab Engineers (Barry & Dave) Bob & Kumba (Liberator) The Core AAC Team Helen (Mum) Sophie’s P.A.s (Amanda, Sharon) S.L.T. Team Judith, Nick, Gail, Cathy Sophie Rehab Engineers (Barry & Dave) Class Teacher Bob & Kumba (Liberator) The Core AAC Team Helen (Mum) Sophie’s P.A.s (Amanda, Sharon) S.L.T. Team Judith, Nick, Gail, Cathy Sophie Bob & Kumba (Liberator) Rehab Engineers (Barry & Dave) The Core AAC Team Helen (Mum) S.L.T. Team Judith, Nick, Gail, Cathy Sophie Kumba (Liberator) Rehab Engineers (Barry & Dave) The Primary Teachers .. • Mrs Bean (“how many things can you do with a Big Mack and a switch?”) • Mrs Hornby (switching & scanning) • Mrs Broadbent (switching, reading & using the computer) • Mrs Hunt (spelling & reading) • Mrs Fowler (writing sentences & beyond) The Secondary Teachers .. Mrs Ribey • “please use your Talker” • “please use your Talker” • started ICT GCSE dual award Mrs Clarke • ICT skills • Independence skills Powered Mobility: • Smart Wheelchair • indoor powered chair at 8 years (switch swapped manually between chair and talker) • DX system with first indoor outdoor chair The Negatives • Struggle and frustration with Minspeak S.L.T.s telling me to use my Talker when I didn’t want to! The Positives Discovering Wordcore!! The Positives Being an AAC Ambassador for school: • Talking to Humberside Fire & Rescue Service (who needed to know how people with communication impairments could call 999) about the difficulties encountered if you are an AAC user. • talking to new school staff about using communication aids. • talking to parents of children who may need to use communication aids about my own AAC journey. • involved in reviewing new AAC hardware and software. • Involvement in planning activity days for children using AAC. The Positives Winning the CM Achievement Award in 2001! Carrying the Olympic Flame in Bridlington, nominated by Judith Chapman (SLT). What helped along the way? • • • • • • Chocolate and biscuits SLTs being on site Continuity of staff (a lot of informal contact) Trust and honesty Humour and having a laugh Drinking coffee together Why the coffee and chocolate? •Because we didn’t always have the answer! •As ‘experts’ we were happy to tell Sophie & Helen that we didn’t always know the answer! •There wasn’t always one obvious way of doing something •Sometimes things just went wrong We think our Team worked because: •Everyone had something to contribute •We worked to help parents to recognise that they are ‘experts’ too •We looked at ALL the aspects of assistive technology from the beginning •Sometimes the best solutions were ideas that emerged over time or as we debated over a cup of coffee! Sophie’s AAC Team Mr Boyes Mr Barcynski Bob Kumba Jane Judith Nick Gail Cathy Caroline Danny Lee Ann Andy Keith Andy W Steve Dave Barry Andy Harold Fiona Diane Sharon Amanda Angela Sue Sophie Mrs Delasaux Mrs Bean Mrs Broadbent Mrs Hunt Mrs Fowler Mrs Ribey Mrs Clarke Helen Wendy Wendy L Lyn Nick Trapnell: [email protected]