Category Archives: communication

Approaching Best Practice for adults with PIMD in day services

I had the pleasure of spending a day at WALCA in Bexley, NSW, last week.

There were many things about the service that make me suggest they are approaching best practice.
Most notable was their InterCom service in IGLO:). This part of the day service included two staff dedicated to supporting the communication of the service users. The staff had built particular expertise in Intensive Interaction and other communication strategies. They had an area of the day service where they could bring clients for one to one work. In addition, they had other staff spend a day in the part of the service so that they could model and share what they’d learnt. 
They showed and discussed a video that they had made of the work. They impressed me with their ability to describe the outcomes for service users and how these had been bought about: people who were now taking turns in sound play, people who had started the service screaming most of the day and now smiling in interactions… Very impressive, and showing the value of day services when time is dedicated to staff learning and nurturing their ability to bring about and describe outcomes.

New Resource: Listening to those rarely heard


cross-posting from an email from Jo – can’t wait to watch this
Hi everyone,

Here is the link to the video Rhonda Joseph and I have been working on over the last year or so titled ‘Listening to those rarely heard’. This video has been designed to guide those who support adults with profound and severe intellectual disabilities to have their preferences heard through supported decision making. It has been developed by Scope with funding from DHS.

It accompanies a training package which will be online soon. However, it can be used as a standalone training tool. I need to reiterate that it has been developed for people who don’t communicate formally and although it has relevance to all decision makers it has been developed with these people in mind.

I will be presenting this at the upcoming ‘Communicate, Participate, Enjoy: Solutions to Inclusion conference’ in Melbourne next week.

Feel free to pass the link on to those who you think might be interested.

http://www.scopevic.org.au/index.php/site/resources/listeningtothoserarelyheard

Jo

New report: UK


From the PMLD Network listserve:
Dear All,

The report on “Communication and people with the most complex needs: What works and why this is essential,” which Sue Caton and I started last year, is now finished. The final report is available at

http://www.mencap.org.uk/document.asp?id=20568 for the main report and

http://www.mencap.org.uk/document.asp?id=20570 for the Easy Read version.

Sue and I would like to thank, most sincerely, all the members of this forum who contributed to the report. Your input was really appreciated, and we hope you like the final version.

Best wishes
Juliet Goldbart & Sue Caton, MMU j.goldbart@mmu.ac.uk

I’ve had a flick through the report and I think it is excellent. It will be of interest to speech pathologists, teachers, service providers, and families. I think it also provides a a good template for other interventions (e.g., physio, OT, music therapy). I must say I’m also well chuffed to see HOP in there (a commitment to give a person 10 minutes of 1:1 time).

Intensive Interaction in Australia


Just realised I hadn’t said much about Intensive Interaction in Australia. Mark Barber is doing an amazing job spearheading the development of it in schools in Australia. He and Karryn Bowen has released a new DVD illustrating the technique and some of the use in schools. Give Mark a buzz if you want to find out more about the regular training that he offers. This is a technique with accumulating evidence for how it helps children and adults with PIMD develop fundamental communication skills. http://drmarkbarber.co.uk