Chairman's report
Interface South Africa held its Annual General Meeting on Friday 13th November 2009 via email from 12:00 - 20:00. View the Chairman's report for 2008 – 2009.
ISAAC AAC Awareness Month
The 1st October 2007, was the beginning of the International Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) Awareness Month. In South Africa the first event took place at the NPS Primary School in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Using a video and short powerpoint presentation three third year Communication Pathology students from the University of KZN introduced Grade 6 and Grade 8 learners to AAC. The video features an eleven year old boy using AAC in his mainstream class and the reflections of a young adult who uses AAC, Dan Ngcobo, on his school experiences. The students then engaged the learners in activities to increase their awareness of AAC. These included learning the international fingerspelling alphabet as well as some manual (hand) signs and gestures. Learners were then divided into small groups to design a picture symbol communication board for a specific context e.g going to the movies. Learners were also given the opportunity to ask questions and at the end of the session expressed their gratitude to the students and said they had learnt from the experience.
Learners signing
Learners learning gestures and finger spelling
Speech therapy students demonstrating finger spelling to the learners
Speech therapy student teaching a learner to finger spell his name
For more information about the ISAAC Awareness week, see the ISAAC website
Introductory AAC workshop at Ethembeni LSEN School in Inchanga
This workshop, sponsored as part of the promotion of excellence project that was sponsored by funding from the Carl and Emily Fuchs Foundation was held over three mornings at the school in the beginning of October.
Participants included all the educators, the therapists, psychologist and hostel staff of the school. One of the presenters who made a deep impression was Dan Ngcobo, who had attended the school as a young boy. Dan, using the Grid on the laptop loaned to him by the CAAC, spoke of his early life; the difficulties he encountered since leaving school; his dreams and recent achievements. Dan stressed the importance of academic and literacy skills for children who required AAC.
Paul Burdett, using both the Pathfinder and an alphabet board with the assistance of his mother, Sharon, was another presenter who was asked lots of questions by the educators. He related anecdotes of his childhood that illustrated the importance of expectations and attitudes toward individuals who use AAC. He also highlighted his early literacy experiences.
The importance of literacy and the evolvement of children’s AAC systems was also evident in the excellent presentation by Elaine Byrne and Felicity Jonck that focused on the experiences and implementation of AAC with their respective sons. Elaine and Felicity also presented theoretical perspectives on literacy in AAC.
Kirsty Nourse tackled unaided AAC in the classroom and Margi Lilienfeld introduced aided AAC, implementation strategies in the classroom, the academic evaluation of children who require AAC and access methods. During the workshop Dan prepared an additional presentation on computer access for children with motoric difficulties and the workshop was interspersed with practical application sessions.
Photos from the Fuchs Foundation Training Project
Mrs Cynthia Ngidi using the eye-gaze frame with Fundusani at Ethembeni school
One of the Tech Speak 32 option devices with prepared overlays ready for distribution.
Preparing some of the tactile symbols that are used by children with visual impairment who require AAC
Mncedisi of Stepping Stones of the CP Association in Pietermaritzburg enjoys a symbol story with Felicity Jonck while his teacher, Mrs Lorraine Naidoo, looks on.