1. AAC, IEP Goals and Beyond
Margaret Perkins, M.A.CCC-SLP, ATP

2. IDEA
A major focus of IDEA has been to address meaningful access to general education.
Alignment of IEP goals to state standards is how we insure accountability to the access of general education curriculum

3. Special Education and IDEA
Today in Special Education overall
Goals written are moving towards
Grade Level Curriculum (with modification)
Alignment with State Standards
Meaningful and functional
Today in Special Education:
Assistive Technology is addressed in every IEP.
Purpose of Assistive Technology is to insure access to curriculum.

4. Special Education, AAC and IDEA
Today in Special Education
Augmentative and Alternative Communication is often approached as a separate and isolated skill resulting in a disconnection from educational goals.
AAC Goals can be written that address:
Grade Level Curriculum (with modifications)
Aligned with State Standards
Language skills that are meaningful and functional to the individual student for both educational and communication needs.

5. “If you don’t know where your going any road will take you there”
Lewis Carroll
quotation from
Alice in Wonderland

6. AAC in the school setting: Where do we want to go?
Students to achieve proficiency in the ability to communicate using AAC.
Students to achieve success in meeting educational based goals because they are adept AAC users
Remember:
The use of technology should not be considered an educational outcome, but rather a means toward achieving independence and success through active participation.

7. How do we get there? 1. Start with assessment: Team assessment
2. Determine present level of performance: strengths and needs
3. Determine how present level of performance affects involvement and progress in general education curriculum and grade expectations
4. Connect this information to accommodations and/or modifications
5. Write Goals based on present level of performance identified
6. Provide authentic opportunities to use the skills that they are being taught

8. Areas to address
Operational competence: Technical skills required to operate a system - i.e. the motor and cognitive skills required to signal a message or to operate specific device features
(touching scene, navigating, visual scanning, operating switches, etc.).
Linguistic competence: Language (vocabulary and grammar) understanding and use of the code (e.g. signs or symbols) required to operate the AAC
Social competence: Knowledge and use of the social rules of communication, (i.e. eye contact, turn taking, initiating, talking and using communication for a variety of reasons - commenting, requesting items, responding, questioning, directing, etc..
Strategic competence: The ability to adapt communicative style to suit the receiver i.e. repeating, clarification, speaking louder or turning device up…
Light J (1989) Toward a Definition of Communicative Competence for Individuals using Augmentative
and Alternative Communication Systems AAC Vol 5 (2).

9. Team
Operational competence: O.T., SLP, Educator: Motor and operational Linguistic competence: SLP, Educator: Language (vocabulary and grammar) Social competence: SLP, Educator: Pragmatics Strategic competence: SLP: Pragmatics

10. A Noun Focus May Be Appropriate for Typically Developing Children
Manual
A Noun Focus May Be Appropriate for Typically Developing Children
Standardized tests in the field of speech and language exert pressure on professionals to emphasize nouns
Language tests for young children focus on noun identification
Basal or entry scores often require five or more consecutive noun identifications
Functional core vocabulary, however, is not noun rich
Clinicians are systematically directed toward noun teaching as opposed to language teaching to prepare students for success on standardized tests

11. What Words do Children and Adults Really Use?
Manual
What Words do Children and Adults Really Use?
78 percent of the words we use daily are drawn from a core of fewer than 400 words
These 400 words are used over and over and are called core vocabulary
Core vocabulary is consistent across clinical populations, activities, places, topics and demographic groups
Less frequently occurring words are called fringe vocabulary (typical adult vocabulary has 10,000+ fringe words)

12. The Vocabulary of Toddlers
Manual
The Vocabulary of Toddlers
Banajee, DiCarlo & Stricklin, (AAC 2000)
Participants
50 toddlers between the ages of 2 & 3 years
Thirty-four girls and sixteen boys
Used a variety of 2 to 3 word utterances
Spontaneously initiated interaction, maintained interaction by taking turns, and terminated interaction appropriately
Consistently followed simple one step directives and some two-step directives without gestures
This slide speaks for itself. You may wish to read certain lines and ask participants to read certain lines.

13. Manual
Language Analysis
10 words were used across all activities and environments
Syntactic functions expressed included pronouns (I, you), verbs (want) and demonstratives (this, it)
Pragmatic and semantic functions expressed included requesting action (want), negation (no), affirmation (yes), and establishing joint attention (that, it)
A lack of nouns was noted

14. Why the Problem?
Why do Speech Pathologists and clinicians focus on noun labeling and noun vocabulary growth?
Easy to assess
Clear, definable target goals
Clinicians determine noun labeling skills to be precursor to language development
Most early assessment tools focus on noun labeling skills

15. Not Applicable to AAC Users
Focus on noun labeling does not teach communication skills necessary for language growth
Students are trained to label objects, but lack language skills to be able to use in language context

16. Which Assessments to Use?
Review of commonly used vocabulary assessments for preschool language
Determine frequency of core language vocabulary as opposed to noun “fringe” labeling
Determine which assessments provide the clinician information on a student’s ability to acquire and use core vocabulary

17. Vocabulary Assessments
Breakdown of words by parts of speech
Amount of core vocabulary addressed
26 core words (Banajee, DiCarlo & Stricklin)
333 core words (Marvin, Beukelman, Bilyeu)
Ceiling levels for testing
Addresses vocabulary up to the 6 year level

18. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- III
Parts of Speech
Total number
26 core words
(Banajee)
333 core words
(Marvin)
Noun 31 1
(hand)
Verb 14
(going) 5
(drinking, jumping, fly, painting, going)
Adj. 3
Preposition
Ceiling: 8 or more errors in a set (12 items)

19. Beery Picture Vocabulary Test
Parts of Speech
Total number
26 core words
(Banajee)
333 core words
(Marvin)
Noun 34 1
(girl)
Verb
Adj.
Preposition
Ceiling: 8 consecutive errors

20. (car, house, chair, hand, door, people)
Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test
Parts of Speech
Total number
26 core words
(Banajee)
333 core words
(Marvin)
Noun 34 6
(car, house, chair, hand, door, people)
Verb 7 1
(cutting)
Adj. 3
(open)
Preposition
Ceiling: 6 or more errors in a set (8 items)

21. Expressive Vocabulary Test
Parts of Speech
Total number
26 core words
(Banajee)
333 core words
(Marvin)
Noun 29 6
(car, dog, ball, hand, house, leaf)
Verb 3 1
(going) 2
(biting, run)
Adj. 5
(red, blue, green, three, five)
Preposition
Ceiling: 5 consecutive errors

22. Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test
Parts of Speech
Total number
26 core words
(Banajee)
333 core words
(Marvin)
Noun 36 5
(tree, bird, swing, leaf, cup)
Verb 1
(paint)
Adj.
Preposition
Ceiling: 6 consecutive errors

23. Concepts Preschoolers talk about
Core vocabulary studies demonstrate a large amount of testable concepts to be words that preschoolers most often use
These include: up/down, before/after, in/out, open/shut, first/middle/last, big/little, mine/yours, some/many/all/more/most

24. Comprehensive Language Assessments
Many have an expressive vocabulary subtest component
Vocabulary skills are usually 1/3 or greater of overall language score
Vocabulary subtests follow similar patterns to standard vocabulary assessment tools
Assessment tools that addressed Concepts tended to utilize more core vocabulary than others

25. Some Language Assessment Tools that include concepts and a variety of parts of speech
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) - Preschool*
Boehm Test of Basic Concepts*
Preschool Language Scale (PLS)
Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test
Preschool Language Assessment Instrument
Test of Language Development
Evaluating Acquired Skills in Communication - Informal Communication Skills Inventory
* receptive language tests of concept knowledge

26. Boehm Test of Basic Concepts
Designed for preschoolers
Normed for ages 3.0 to 5.0
15 minutes to administer
Taped recordings of “teacher talk” - the language used by teachers in the classrooms
1/3 of directional sentences used at least one concept
70% of vocab items were used by all teachers

27. Core Vocabulary Used in Boehm
Total number
% of
words
Examples
Total words
assessed 26
100
26 core words
(Banajee) 1
3.8 up
333 core words
(Marvin) 14 54
Long(est), down, all, many, middle, high(est), together
Non-nouns

28. (drinking, jumping, fly, painting, going)
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- III
Parts of Speech
Total number
26 core words
(Banajee)
333 core words
(Marvin)
Noun 31 1
(hand)
Verb 14
(going) 5
(drinking, jumping, fly, painting, going)
Adj. 3
Preposition
Ceiling: 8 or more errors in a set (12 items)

29. Comprehensive Language Assessments
Many have an expressive vocabulary subtest component
Vocabulary skills are usually 1/3 or greater of overall language score
Vocabulary subtests follow similar patterns to standard vocabulary assessment tools
Assessment tools that addressed Concepts tended to utilize more core vocabulary than others

30. Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Preschool
Core
Lang.
Recep.
Lang (3-4)
(5-6)
Ex.
(3-6)
Content
(3-4)
Struc
Sentence Structure
Word Structure
Expressive Vocab
Concepts and FD
Recalling Sentences
Basic Concepts
Word Classes - Receptive
Word Classes - Total

31. Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals
Comprehensive language assessment tool
7 subtests
Assesses both receptive and expressive language skills

32. Sentence Structure subtest
Includes receptive vocabulary for: in, under, towards, will, first, two, third, before, shouldn’t, front, although
Point to “the first two children are in line, but the third child is still playing”

33. Core Vocabulary used for SS
Total number
% of
words
Examples
Total words
assessed 60
100
26 core words
(Banajee) 5
8.3
Is, it,you, in, the
333 core words
(Marvin) 28 47
Before, being, black, box, find, can, go, girl, hold, need, sit, she, tree, ready, you, your
Non-nouns 50 83

34. Point to “She is climbing and he is swinging”

35. Basic Concepts subtest
Assesses a child’s receptive understanding of concepts
Similar to Boehm test
Includes direction, quantity, sequence, attribute, size, same/different

36. Long(est), down, all, many, middle, high(est), together
Core Vocabulary for BC
Total number
% of
words
Examples
Total words
assessed 18
100
26 core words
(Banajee) 1
5.5 up
333 core words
(Marvin) 8 44
Long(est), down, all, many, middle, high(est), together
Non-nouns

37. Concepts and Following Directions subtest
Includes both concepts and multi-step directions
Multiple modifiers
“Point to the dog before you point to the turtles”

38. Core Vocabulary in C&FD
Total number
% of
words
Examples
Total words
assessed 27
100
26 core words
(Banajee) 3
11.1
I, you, the
333 core words
(Marvin) 13 48
Next to, or, then, both, all, after, first, last
Non-nouns

39. Word Structure subtest
Expressive Language subtest
Child’s use of morphology
“Here is a shoe. It is small. Here is a shoe. _________ .”

40. On, she, they, in, her, box, big, chair
Core Vocabulary for WS
Total number
% of
words
Examples
Total words
assessed 30
100
26 core words
(Banajee) 4
13.3
In, on, it, is
333 core words
(Marvin) 12 40
On, she, they, in, her, box, big, chair
Non-nouns 24 80

41. Word Classes subtest Receptive and expressive subtest
Ask student which two items go together
Have student explain why (“you take them to the beach”)

42. Recalling Sentences Subtest
Student repeats back a sentence verbatim
Scored for OK (3), 1 error (2), 2-3 errors (1) and 0 score for 4+ errors
Many of our AAC students have difficulty with remembering fringe vocabulary and core vocabulary for syntax
He is nice.
They play with blocks.
The boy fell and hurt himself.
Didn’t the boys eat the apples?
The rabbit was not put in the cage by the girl.

43. Play, they, with, boy, girl, big, dog, because
Core Vocabulary in RS
Total number
% of
words
Examples
Total words
assessed
110
100
26 core words
(Banajee) 25
22.7
a, the
333 core words
(Marvin) 73 66
Play, they, with, boy, girl, big, dog, because
Non-nouns 80 72

44. Some Good Ones… Test of Language Development (TOLD) - Primary
Includes an Oral Vocabulary subtest where the student is asked to tell what words mean
For example, “What is a dog?” - the student can respond by using core vocabulary with selective fringe vocabulary (“It is an animal”, “It is furry”) “What is an apple?” (“You eat it.”)

45. Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test
Asks student to look at a picture and “tell” about it
Includes expressive concepts, preposition/spatial relations, number and quantity, tense of verbs, etc.
Includes questions (“Do you want some?”, “Is this yours?”)
For children ages 4 to 9

46. Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test - II
“Tell me about this picture”
Acceptable: He draws, is drawing, writes, is writing

47. Yes, not, my, the, want,is, it, that, go, what, help
Core Vocabulary Used
Total number
% of
words
Examples
Total words
assessed 74
100
26 core words
(Banajee) 16 22
Yes, not, my, the, want,is, it, that, go, what, help
333 core words
(Marvin) 44 59
Was, were, that, some, my, would, why, your, doesn’t, because, eat, going, her, help
Non-nouns 68 92

48. Last words
Vocabulary is important, but only as it has relevance to a students use of it in language. Using assessment tools that reflect core vocabulary, may provide you with a more accurate depiction of a student’s language skills and the goals and benchmarks needed to reach them

49. Remember when writing AAC into your child’s IEP
One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This, of course, Alice could not stand, and she went round the court and got behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away. She did it so quickly that the poor little juror (it was Bill the Lizard) could not make out at all what had become of it, so, after hunting all about for it, he was obliged to write with one finger for the rest of the day, and this was of very little use, as it left no mark on the slate.

50. Literacy and Language Listening, speaking, reading and writing
are interrelated and develop concurrently
Growth in any of the four areas fosters growth in the others
Unavailability of any one area limits growth in all four areas
The most powerful intervention involves all four components simultaneously
Baker, 1997
This applies to Language, AAC and Curriculum

51. Aligning to State Standards
Rather than a “cookbook” approach: Suggestions on what AAC goals to align to state standards Suggestions on how to align to state standards

52. One more thing...
We are addressing aligning AAC goals to State Standards For students who are enrolled in a Special Day Class (California) they already have functional goals that are aligned to State Standards Can we keep all of this straight?

53. What AAC goals to align Operational Issues involved may include:
Cognitive- i.e. sequencing
Motor- i.e. motor movement-accuracy
Sensory- i.e. vision
*access to curriculum

54. What AAC goals to align Appropriate use of greetings
Pragmatic/Social Language (use)
Appropriate use of greetings
Conversational skills
Initiating
Turn taking
Making requests/Answering requests
Pragmatics/Strategic (use)
Using core vocabulary when specific vocabulary is not available
Repair strategies/Clarify, rephrase, expand…
*Narrative skills-Directly related to literacy

55. What AAC goals to align Linguistic-semantics Meaning of single words
Meaningful relations of words
(agent-action, possession, negation…)
Word knowledge/Concepts / Categorization / Comparison…
* All areas of academics are affected by a weakness in semantics

56. What AAC goals to align Linguistics/Morphology Linguistics/Syntax
Smallest elements of meaning (plural, tense markers, comparatives…)
Linguistics/Syntax
Parts of speech, word order, and sentence construction
*Grammar errors in written language
*Difficulty comprehending complex sentences in written language

57. How to Align to State Standards
Use a systematic approach
Address:
Language needs
Academic needs
State standards that underlying Language needs and Academic needs both affect
Aligned goal

58. Language Skill addressed-Grade level
Language area addressed:
Academic area addressed:
Content Standard:
Aligned AAC goal
Present level of Performance:

59. Pragmatic/Social Grade 2
Language area addressed:
Pragmatics/ Topic maintenance
Present level of Performance: Pragmatics: During conversation Suzie will imitate comments and asks questions when given a direct verbal and visual cue 8 out of 10 opportunities

60. Pragmatic/Social Grade 2
Language area addressed:
Pragmatics/ Topic maintenance
Academic area addressed:
Comprehension strategies to understand grade-level-appropriate material
Present level of Performance: Pragmatics: During conversation Suzie will imitate comments and asks questions when given a direct verbal and visual cue 8 out of 10 opportunities
Present level of Performance:
Comprehension of short story
Following the reading of a short story Suzie can answer (who, what, where, when) questions with 30% accuracy

61. Pragmatic/Social Grade 2
Language area addressed:
Pragmatics/ Topic maintenance
Academic area addressed:
Comprehension strategies to understand grade-level-appropriate material
Content Standard:
English/Language Arts
Aligned AAC goal
Present level of Performance: Pragmatics: During conversation Suzie will imitate comments and asks questions when given a direct verbal and visual cue 8 out of 10 opportunities
Present level of Performance:
Comprehension of short story
Following the reading of a short story Suzie can answer (who, what, where, when) questions with 30% accuracy
Reading Comprehension 2.0.4
Ask clarifying questions about essential textual elements of exposition (e.g., why, what if, how).
Reading comprehension 2.0
Ask and answer questions about a text
Following the reading of a short story Suzie will demonstrate topic maintenance by asking questions and/or making comments 4 out of 5 opportunities for at least 4 turns using her AAC device

62. Pragmatics/Strategic Grade 4
Language area addressed:
Pragmatics/
Clarification
Academic area addressed:
Organizing and delivering oral information
Content Standard:
English/Language Arts
Aligned AAC goal
Present level of Performance: Pragmatics:
Suzie will give information using one to two word phrases and when communication partner indicates that he/she does not understand by repeating but she does not rephrase or expand her sentence.
Present level of Performance:
Suzie uses one to two word phrases to deliver information.
Listening and Speaking Use details, examples, anecdotes, or experiences to explain or clarify information
Alternative Level
Speaking and Listening:1.0
Goal:Use appropriate conversational skills
When given an indirect verbal cue Suzie will give an expanded sentence, for example “eat” to “ I want to eat” or “I don’t want to eat” or “I want to eat that” or “Do you want to eat” 4 out of 5 opportunities using her AAC device.

63. Linguistic Grade 4 Language area addressed:
Syntax: Past tense Pronoun Phrases
Academic area addressed:
Describe: social, political, cultural,& economic life of the people of California
Content Standard:
History-Social Studies
4.2.5
Aligned AAC goal
Present level of Performance:
Susie uses only present tense pronouns when relating information or sharing experiences with her communication partner. Uses past tense phrases with icons when given physical prompts 8 of 10 opportunities.
Following a paragraph about California history
Suzie retells two pieces of information in sentences using present progressive tense.
California: A Changing State Describe the daily lives of the people, native and non-native, who occupied the presidios, missions, ranchos, and publos
Sociology Standard 1
Student will observe, analyze, and interpert human behaviors and relationships to acquire a better of self and others while developing communication skills
Following a story, given a visual cue Suzie will relate information of past events or experiences using appropriate past tense phrases i.e. She felt…He liked… It had…
with 80% accuracy

64. Linguistic Grade 7 Language area addressed: Semantics
Academic area addressed:
Students use strategies, skills, and concepts in finding solutions
Content Standard:
Mathematics
Mathematical Reasoning
Aligned AAC goal
Present level of Performance:
Suzie will use a descriptor vocabulary word in a sentence when she has a visual and verbal prompt with 60% accuracy.
When given two shapes to compare/contrast Suzie is able to describe attributes with 40% accuracy
2.2.6 Mathematical:
Express the solution clearly and logically by using the appropriate mathematical notation and terms and clear language; support solutions with evidence in both verbal and symbolic work. Discrete Mathematics2.0
Will sort and classify by attributes
Given a visual cue Suzie will answer in a complete sentence, using her AAC device, math related description questions (i.e. It is smaller, larger, more, less, the same as…) 4 out of 5 opportunities

65. Other AAC goals that can be easily aligned
Because they are specific rather than general there are many AAC goals that are easily aligned in the areas of:
English/Language Arts
Phonology
Mathematics
Access to math vocabulary
Access to Function (i.e. calculator)
(see handout)

66. Language Skill addressed-Grade level
Language area addressed:
Expressive Language
Academic area addressed:
Recognize and name all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet
Content Standard:
Reading: Word Analysis K1.1.6
Aligned AAC goal
Present level of Performance:
Susie can answer “wh” questions non-verbally regarding letters of the alphabet using a communication board
Susie can identify the letters: b,c,t,s,m given a verbal cue and letters on an alphabet board by pointing
Given a verbal cue Suzie will identify, using her AAC device all lower case letters of the alphabet 4 out of 5 opportunities

67. Now that we have the goals, what’s next?
Successful integration and participation of students into the general education class
Understanding of concepts addressed
Get adult buy-in
Reframing assessments
Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration
Use what you have
Check-ins
Provide authentic opportunities to use and learn skills

68. Implementation Issues
Team approach: Make sure everyone on the team is on the same page
“I can understand everything they want/need”
This may be true for some members of the team so THOSE team members are in the position to:
Help broaden communication partners
Raise expectations for the student and staff
Provide language models beyond nouns and close-ended questions

69. AAC and Literacy
“Approximately 70% of individuals with severe communication impairments are significantly behind their peers in literacy learning.”
Koppenhaver & Yoder, 1992

70. Integrate AAC and Literacy
Listening, speaking, reading and writing are interrelated and develop concurrently
Growth in any of the four areas fosters growth in the others
Unavailability of any one area limits growth in all four areas
The most powerful intervention involves all four components simultaneously
Koppenhaver et al., 1991; Maehr, 1991; Teale & Sulzby, 1989 Baker, 1997

71. Basic Components of Literacy
Oral Language: Listening and speaking
Phonological awareness: Relationship between written letters and spoken sounds
Phonemic awareness: Work with individual sounds in spoken words (blocks)
Fluency: Read text accurately and effectively
Writing: Create written works