Transcript
[Patti Singleton]
All right. Hello and welcome and thank you for joining us on the state of HDI. A podcast of the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute. This is Patti Singleton. And with me in the studio again is Jacqui Kearns, program director of Communication Initiatives. Jacqui has spent her career as a champion of students with significant disabilities and ensuring all students have access to communication. Jacqui, welcome.
[Jacqui Kearns]
Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be back.
[Patti Singleton]
Yes, And this is a follow up to the episode four of the state of HDI, where we had an opportunity to really kind of talk through what communication is and why it’s important. And today we are going to actually walk through some facts or fiction based on Jacqui. A lot of the information that you’ve gathered over your career.
So what I’ll do is state something and then you can follow up with whether that is actual fact or fiction. So to start the absence of clear expressive communication, like oral speech or a sign and the perceived presence of intellectual disabilities means that the student may not benefit from communication intervention. Jacqui Is that fact or fiction?
[Jacqui Kearns]
That is fiction. The fact is the belief that children who experience delays in communication and cognitive development are unable to benefit from language intervention has not been substantiated. And that’s from our researchers. Buchanan and Miranda and the National Joint Committee on the Communication of Persons with Severe Disabilities, which still exists. Their most recent one is 2016. So, there is no literature that says students with intellectual disabilities will not benefit from communication intervention.
All students benefit from communication intervention. I can’t say that strongly enough, loud enough. And the more emphasis, less emphasis. It’s truth or intervene. Do it now.
[Patti Singleton]
For our next one. Speech language services should be discontinued if the student is not going to use oral speech. Jacqui, is that fact or fiction?
[Jacqui Kearns]
That is also fiction. The fact is that speech language services should be continued in order to facilitate language development. The use of robust augmentative alternative communication systems or devices, literacy and social engagement. And this is part of the American Speech and Hearing Association practice guidelines. So releasing students for students from services based on their lack of development of progress in oral speech is fiction now progress in learning to use a device depends on the extent to which the people in their circles, their communication partners use that device with them.
[Patti Singleton]
All right. Jacqui, next fact or fiction? The student’s perceived level of cognitive functioning has an impact on their candidacy for use.
[Jacqui Kearns]
And this one is also fiction. And very similar to the first question we had. The fact is, no empirically validated method for making candidacy decisions based on cognitive ability exist. That was in 2003, and it continues to this day. There is no empirical validated data to say, well, you have a severe disability, therefore you aren’t eligible. That is incorrect.
What is more important is that we find the factors that impact a student’s ability to communicate, and we mitigate those factors. And we found the right system that matches them their abilities.
[Patti Singleton]
So next, Jacqui fact or fiction? Inclusive settings are not conducive to intensive communication intervention.
[Jacqui Kearns]
Well, interestingly, this is kind of counterintuitive. This is also fiction. The fact is students with disabilities and communication challenges in general, education classes were involved in significantly higher levels of communication interactions than those in self-contained settings. So that was in 2004 and then most recently repeated in a study by Kathy Ji in 2018 or 2019, in a randomized pairs study where communication improved so students in the inclusive classrooms who had communication needs significantly improved when compared to the peer who was in a self-contained classroom with a similar level of communication need.
So inclusive settings counterintuitive but inclusive settings are the best place for students with complex communication needs because of the presence of robust peer of peers who have robust use of communication and language.
[Patti Singleton]
Next, we must require the student to use the AC device for all communicative intentions. Is that fact or fiction?
[Jacqui Kearns]
Well, best fiction too. The fact is we all use a variety of ways to communicate our intentions. We use facial expressions, we use body language. We do use our vocalizations or our words and those are, in our words are effective. But that means that kids need to have devices that have words on them. So we want to we want the students to use the device for the things that that they can’t communicate otherwise.
And for the purposes that require our more robust system for communication, for making sentences, for saying I hurt, I hurt here, my fingers hurt, rather than pointing and maybe getting it or not being able to point. And I have something that hurts and not be able to tell you.
[Patti Singleton]
So, fact or fiction? AC as instead use interferes with the development of speech.
[Jacqui Kearns]
You know, I’m so glad you this one is in here. First of all, a speech generating device is an SD speech generating device. And the fact that it interferes is a big miss. The fact is AC has been shown to facilitate the development of oral speech. And we’ve seen this over and over in our core vocabulary training, even with a folder that has pictures on it that makes sentences when the model, when the communication partner models the use of that folder, they have to slow their speech down because they have to find and point to the picture.
I want more, which is different than I want more if I want more. When you slow your speech and you model and most people are modeling backwards to you know that you give the person the communicator, enough time to process what you just said. And so that improves their use of verbal speech. So does it make a huge improvement?
I don’t know. We don’t know that. But it does improve, improved significantly. So that gives them another mode. They have both a speech generating device for when it’s not working, but then that also gives them some improvement in some of the other modes that they use.
[Patti Singleton]
All right, Jacqui, last one factor fiction Aided language modeling is an evidence based practice for communication intervention.
[Jacqui Kearns]
And that one is the fact it is an evidence based practice. And I just described it. When you are using a device and you are using it and you’re pointing to the pictures for the student, and what’s important about aided language modeling is there’s not a requirement that they follow the model, just that you model. When we teach children to speak, we don’t say now say it.
We say, “Oh, you want more? Okay, here’s more.” When you’re modeling, you go, “Oh, you said you want more.” So, you’re showing them how to use the device where the words are. The words don’t move on the page. They stay in the same place. And then we go ahead with the communication exchange. They get to see how it works.
Then when they need to use it, they’ll be able to find it.
[Patti Singleton]
Jacqui, thank you again for sitting down with us today. And any last words.
[Jacqui Kearns]
I would say, the last word is never too early. It’s never too late. Using a device does not make an individual dependent on it. And we want to use all the communication modes that a person has. We want to use the device, but we also want to use all the facial expressions and body language and all the ways that we all communicate.
And we want to be good communication partners. And maybe our next segment will be how to be a good communication partner. Thank you for having me.
[Patti Singleton]
Absolutely. Thank you.