SET News
October is AAC Awareness Month
ISAAC-Canada, the Canadian chapter of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, is joining with other ISAAC chapters world wide to promote October as AAC awareness month. In Canada, October 4th has been designated "International AAC Awareness Day" and events are being planned all over the country to raise awareness of the importance of AAC. The importance of supporting those who use AAC to communicate is highlighted in the following guidelines...
Communication Bill Of Rights
All people with a disability of any extent or severity have a basic right to affect, through communication, the conditions of their existence. All people have the following specific communication rights in their daily interactions. These rights are summarized from the Communication Bill Of Rights put forth in 1992 by the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities.
Each person has the right to:
- Request desired objects, actions, events, and people
- Refuse undesired objects, actions, or events
- Express personal preferences and feelings
- Be offered choices and alternatives
- Reject offered choices
- Request and receive another person’s attention and interaction
- Ask for and receive another person’s attention and interaction
- Receive intervention to improve communication skills
- Receive a response to any communication, whether or not the responder can fulfill the request
- Have access to AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) and other AT (assistive technology) services and devices at all times
- Have AAC and other AT devices that function properly at all times
- Be in environments that promote one’s communication as a full partner with other people, including peers
- Be spoken to with respect and courtesy
- Be spoken to directly and not be spoken for or talked about in the third person while present
- Have clear, meaningful, and culturally and linguistically appropriate communications
From the National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities. (1992) Guidelines for meeting the communication needs of persons with severe disabilities. ASHA, 34 (Suppl.7) 2-3; adapted by permission.
We ask you to please consider doing something in your school or community to help publicize this day. October 4th is the Thursday before Thanksgiving. It may be possible to weave in the theme of being thankful that we have many ways to communicate.
Here are some materials prepared by ISAAC Canada you may wish to use to share information on AAC or use with those who communicate with AAC...
- AAC Awareness Presentation (2MB powerpoint)
- Thankful for AAC Presentation (79kb powerpoint)
- Thanksgiving Communication Board (231kb pdf)
- Guests are Coming Social Story (244kb pdf)
- Waiting My Turn Social Story (225kb pdf)
If you do plan an AAC awareness day event ISAAC Canada (and SET-BC!) would love to hear about it. Contact ISAAC Canada's Pacific Region representative Susan Blockberger at sblockberger@richmond.sd38.bc.ca or Daphne Mercier at dmercier@setbc.org to let us know about your event.