Look2Talk An Update

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Look2Talk - An Update

• Katharine Buckley Clare Latham

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Overview

• Background to the project
• Introduction to Look2Talk
• Walk through the stages
• Practicalities
• On reflection
• Talk Together

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Background to the Project
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Where did we start?

• A Guide to Developing and Using a Communication
  Book
• Stable core vocabulary that is available whatever
  is being talked about
• Recognition that extra support needed for
  eye-pointing communicators not a simple
  adaptation!

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First Attempt (2004)!
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Look2Talk

• Worked on the eye pointing book on and off for 2
  years
• Then the Look2Talk project enabled us to try it
  out with six families over an 18 month period
• The project came to an end in April 2008
• Funders Elsevier Science Ltd, Eranda Foundation,
  Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Gatsby Charitable
  Foundation, Good Neighbours Trust, John Horniman
  Childrens Trust, Kirby Laing Foundation, St
  Jamess Place Foundation

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Project Outcomes

• Guide Book
• DVD with clips of children and tutorial clips
• Templates for Boardmaker
• Core and sample pages
• Sturdy binder

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Introduction to Look2Talk
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Look2Talk Communication Book

• A five-stage approach to making and using a
  communication book
• Core vocabulary is available from every page
• Core vocabulary develops and increases along
  developmental lines
• An emphasis on the functional use of language
• Enables achievement at identified speaking and
  listening P-levels
• At each stage there are suggestions on
  readiness, and aims for both the learner and
  the communication partner
• A lot of attention is given to communication
  partner skills
• There is an emphasis on developing use of symbols
  through play

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Key Themes

• Ideas rather than perfect sentences

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Key Themes

• Taking the pressure off
• Acknowledge difficulty of reading eye pointing
  harder for the partner than the child
• Value current communication strategies this is
  adding to their existing system
• Importance of the communication partner
• A team approach

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Walk through the stages
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Stage 1

• Taking the pressure off led us to move away
  from using an E-tran frame at this stage
• Introduction
• Empower the learners eyes within communication
  (pause, watch and respond)
• Introduce photographs (for pleasure rather than
  choice-making)

Picture/video of child
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Stage 1

• Next steps
• Introduce the individual symbols more and
  stop

Picture/video of child
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Stage 2

• Introduce communication book with core vocabulary
  more and stop
• Suggest using either two or four topic symbols

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Stage 2
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What We Learned

• Encourage all family members to use the symbols
  too
• Help the child be in control of activities
• Help the child to physically hold the toys
• Be ready to change activities quickly
• Change positions and allow for wiggle time
• Get the communication book out at bedtime
  alongside other story books

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What We Learned Contd

• Need to think about how the book is positioned
• May begin by keeping the book between you and
  your learner then move to side
• Play doesnt always take place at a table!

Picture/video of child
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Stage 3
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Stage 3

• Two new core words help and no
• Introduce page turning within discrete activities
• Encoding

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What We Learned

• Encoding can feel quite baffling at first
• Note how Milly really emphasises her eye pointing
  to support her communication partner
• DVD has tutorials on what is encoding, how to
  model encoding, and introducing the child to
  encoding

Picture/video of child
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What We Learned Contd

• Make just one page around a favourite game or
  story book and begin by using this yourself so
  your learner can see how encoding works
• We started with two colours
• Its the childs communication system - if they
  arent grasping encoding quickly, hold back on
  encoding for now so that their communication
  remains comfortable

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Stage 3 Continued
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Stage 3 Continued

• More symbols on the page and more core words
• Introduce a top page
• Tamsin is able to use her communication book to
  share information

Picture/video of child
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What We Learned

• Re-tell strategy a useful way of practising the
  vocabulary
• An expectant pause can be used to encourage the
  child to join in
• Scribbling (see Karen Ericksons work re.
  emergent writing)

Picture/video of child
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Stage 4
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Stage 4
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Stage Four

• Core vocabulary now fills a whole page, but some
  core can be seen from every topic page
• Core vocabulary includes question and some
  early describing words

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What We Learned

• Changing role of communication partner
• Notice how Tamsins mum is beginning to challenge
  her a little e.g. what shall we do about it,
  would you like to ask me something, how can you
  ask me that
• Also notice that they are just using the core
  vocabulary to support the activity
• Eventually Tamsin does say question more to
  ask for some more

Picture/video of child
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What We Learned

• Play may change so that it can tell more of a
  story e.g. safari park, dolls house, cooking
  sets, etc.
• With the move to more vocabulary on a page, the
  learner needs to be given more looking time
• Also, as the play becomes more challenging, more
  thinking time may be required

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Stage 5
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Stage 5
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Stage 5

• Now full range of question words
• Also words for working alongside peers e.g. idea,
  fair, etc.
• Bliss type strategies now on every topic page
  combine, part of and opposite to
• We introduced these through games
• 8 blocks of 8 symbols on a page

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Stage 5

• Sophie uses her communication book to support her
  homework
• Task write a story about someone that had
  inspired them
• Mum selected vocab around the story
• Sophie used it in her own way to tell a story,
  adding in hands and legs
• Mum then reads aloud Sophies story

Picture/video of child
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What We Learned

• A dedicated page of verbs felt important at this
  stage
• Communication partners role different again
  big job holding the conversation together e.g.
  Sophies mum sometimes wrote it down to avoid
  losing thread
• But still a role for pause, watch and respond
• Having a lot of vocabulary on one page does
  reduce the number of page turns but it makes it
  harder to read the eye-pointing, and which
  colour does get asked a bit!

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Bridge to Stage 5
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Bridge to Stage 5

• Tamsin became ready for some of the Stage 5
  vocabulary but Tamsin and her family werent
  ready to move on to the Stage 5 page layouts
• Pros and cons

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Practicalities
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Changes to the Folder

• As it got fuller things started to go wrong!
• Easel files are commercially available, but are
  designed to hold a small number of sheets of
  paper
• Fine for getting started but we found that
  regular replacements were required

Picture/video of child
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New Folder

• Designed to hold more pages, to be more durable,
  and to be more sturdy

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On reflection
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On Reflection

• Taking the pressure off in the early stages is
  absolutely vital
• The communication partners role needs to develop
  and change across the stages
• Families liked seeing all five stages
• All families said felt would have struggled
  without demonstrations (DVD)
• Siblings someone to play with, someone to talk
  about, someone easy and fun to talk with, the
  younger the better
• Timing is important e.g. health issues, other
  life issues
• Must not see it as a failure if symbol
  communication doesnt take off at any given
  time

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Talk Together
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Talk Together

• A complementary vocabulary package
• Full of tips and suggestions drawn in part from
  Look2Talk

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Contact Details

• Katharine Buckley
• buckley_at_ace-centre.org.uk
• 01865 759 820
• www.ace-centre.org.uk