FACTS Conference and Project Happenings....
by Debbie Gilmer
A most successful workshop, Fostering Access, Communication, and Technology Supports (FACTS): Diverse Approaches to AAC, took place in South Portland on April 30, 1998. More than 100 speech/language pathologists, educators, parents, occupational therapists, students, providers, vendors and others took part in the informative day.
Bill Picard, a senior business major at the University of Maine kicked off the day with a keynote address that outlined his experiences as a young person with a significant disability. Bill uses a Liberator and led the audience in discussion about the complexity and challenges of using assistive technology and augmentative communication devices. He also shared his experiences as a youngster in the public school system and discussed the types of supports that were successful to his realizing his dream of going on to college.
Eight of the teams participating in the year long technical assistance provided through the project presented their experiences. Many used video to share their experiences. Others provided examples of new communication boards. All shared positive stories about the growth and development of the student and their team. These sessions were well attended and the evaluations reflected the value accorded the opportunity to listen and learn from colleagues by workshop participants. Certainly a real highlight was Zach's recitation of an essay he had written using facilitated communication (see page 17).
Additional workshops included Jodd Bowles who conducted two switch making workshops; the Center's own Betsy Enright and Maria Timberlake, representing the LEARNS initiative who presented on inclusive education, students with severe communication impairments and the Learning Results; Palmer Curtis presented two workshops on accessing computers and making accommodations and computer software with a truckload of computers, equipment, and software that she demonstrated; Maine CITE's Deb Parker Wolfenden presented on writing technology into the IEPs; and project staff member Alan Kurtz presented on Facilitated Communication in inclusive classrooms.
As the project winds down this month, project staff have continued their support of the participating teams and, additionally, have responded to numerous short term technical assistance requests from schools and families related to augmentative and facilitated communication and assistive technology this spring. All team members and technical assistance contacts have received satisfaction surveys addressing the impact of the project, level of satisfaction, and their preferred methods of receiving staff development. We will be compiling the results of the surveys in the next few weeks for inclusion in the project's final report. Recommendations for future staff development will be forwarded to the Department of Education for consideration by Maine's Comprehensive System of Personnel Development project and staff.