AAC Language Lab

Target Vocabulary:

1. help
2. please
3. what
4. all done
5. don't
6. no

Target Language Skill: Producing two-word phrases to direct an activity such as personal care.

Suggested Objectives:

1. The person will be able to request help with personal care.
2. The person will be able to ask the question "what?"
3. The person will be able to object to having help by saying "don't help" or "no help."
4. The person will be able to say "all done" to indicate when the task is finished.
5. The person will be able to be polite by saying "help please" or "please help" during personal care activities.
6. The communication partner will model two-word phrases such as "help, please," "don't help," and "no help."
7. The communication partner will begin to encourage the person to say some three-word phrases such as "you help, please."

Teaching Activities:

A. Speaking

1 Talk about requesting help during personal care activities. Ask questions like, "What would you say if you can't turn the water on by yourself?" Model the word "help" if the person needs help.
2. Talk about requesting clarification with the word "what." Ask a question like, "If you don't understand me, what can you say?" Or ask, "If you don't know what you are supposed to do, what can you say?" (what) Model the phrase "what do."
3. Talk about the body parts that we wash. Ask the person to say "help" if the body part is something he needs help with. Ask the person to say "no," "don't," or "no help" if the body part is something he does not need help with.
4. Teach "all done" and ask the person to say "all done" when the task is finished.
5. Of course you will not be using an electronic communication device with a person who is taking a bath. AAC devices and water don't mix well. You can make a manual board of body parts. Be sure to include on the board the core words from our target vocabulary. PASS software has a component for making manual boards.

B. Reading

1. Read the book "Wash What?" Model the target words for this lesson when you read them.
2. Read the book again and stop when you come to a target word. Ask the person to say the word. Model the word again, if needed.
3. Read other books about personal care. Stop reading and ask the person questions that may be answered by a target word.

C. Writing

1. Make a cable or BlueTooth connection from the device to a computer. If you need help with this, read the support articles about computer access at support.prentrom.com. Recent PRC devices are "plug and play" and do not require any other software to do computer access.
2. Open a Word document. Let the person write target vocabulary words into the Word document.
3. Print the document. Save a copy and read the words again later.

D. Generalization

1. Talk about other personal care tasks that are not mentioned in the book. Ask the person to say if he needs help or no help with these tasks.
2. Make a poster for the bathroom of personal care tasks that the person needs to do. Use pictures cut out of magazines or clip art pictures. Write "help" or "no help" beside the tasks. Include other core words from the target vocabulary list.
3. Talk about the reasons for and importance of personal care.
4. In other situations and environments ask the person ask the person if he or she needs help. Encourage the person to request help with words, not actions.

© 2009 Prentke Romich Company