Working as a Special Education Teacher
Profession
Organisation
Action scale of the organisation (European, national, local), if relevant
What does your profession involve?
This profession involves working individually with children with various developmental disabilities in areas related to language development, language disorder therapy, cognitive stimulation, psychomotor therapy and sensory stimulation respectively. Activities are carried out individually and customised for each child. A psycho-pedagogical teacher assesses the needs of children with disabilities, their developmental potential and the effectiveness of the intervention programme.
At the same time, I prepare assessments reports, personalised intervention plans, intervention strategies, activity planning, curricular adaptations, assessment scales and intervention techniques. Another task is to collaborate with parents of children with disabilities, members of the multidisciplinary team, other teachers and the community.
Are you familiar with AAC methods? Since when?
Yes, since my bachelor’s studies at university. Subsequently, I started using them more frequently in my professional practice. My experience of using these methods is about 5 years. I have attended several webinars about the use of AAC methods and started to use them daily in my practice.
In which situations do you use AAC methods?
I use AAC methods mostly to facilitate the message comprehension in a text for those students who need support. At the same time, another frequently used method is communication using icons. I use this method mainly for constructing demands for those children whose verbal language is not developed enough, but also in contexts such as adapting the demand of a text or exercise. I also use AAC methods to explain the requirements of an activity, the rules of a task so that it is easier for children to understand what they have to do.
Which are the benefits of using AAC methods?
First of all, AAC systems and methods are a new way to develop communication for both adults and children. By improving communication, understanding of messages and therefore the social participation is improved, creating a space for inclusion. The use of these methods is also very important for children with developmental disorders such as autism in sequencing tasks and explaining them step by step. Although oral communication remains the main form of communication, the use of AAC has been linked to speech development in numerous studies and to those fundamental communication skills for children with communication difficulties.
AAC usage is also linked to improve quality of life for those with communication difficulties: it improves people’s participation in a variety of activities in everyday life, children and adults are able to express their wishes and needs more clearly, receptive language is also developed, there are also major benefits in the areas of reading comprehension, social interaction, academic, professional and personal achievements. Finally, these methods have numerous benefits for both children with communication difficulties and adults, for example those who have suffered various forms of paralysis, and these methods are bridges for participation in social and family life.
In which situation have you seen these benefits?
One concrete situation where we have seen the benefits of these methods is in text comprehension for students with profound and severe hearing impairment. In our institution, most teachers use the total communication approach, so oral language is combined with sign language and picture communication. In text comprehension for primary school children, but also for pre-school children in understanding tasks and activities, AAC methods are very important and are an essential pillar in understanding the message and information. Students also find it easier to learn vocabulary, to understand clearly the message of a text and the tasks.
Communication books are another example used where I can see benefits, especially in understanding tasks, expressing needs and participating in various activities.
Do you think AAC methods are well known in the educational field in your country?
In Romania, these alternative and augmentative communication methods are known by most specialists and are frequently used in classes or therapeutic interventions. At the same time, total communication is also frequently used in our country as a way of complementing verbal communication with gestures, images, sign language, symbols, photographs, objects, facial expressions.
However, most of these methods are used mainly in special education and therapy programs, and are less known in the rest of the population. There is also a certain reluctance to use these methods on the part of parents of children with disabilities because of the fear that children will not develop verbal communication skills.
Do you think that AAC-related practices should be improved? Why?
In my opinion, in order to improve those practices, a data base containing pictograms that is free and accessible at any time has to be created. There are many resources and methods of AAC but very few are free. I also believe that case-specific ways of AAC should be created and the implementation of a resource base would facilitate access to various means and improve the way interventions are delivered to beneficiaries.
Do you have any resources to share (websites, portals, books…)?
- ARSAAC
- Pictoselector
Advices to implement AAC methods at school?
Documentation, collaboration with other specialists and parents, and teamwork are essential in choosing the most appropriate alternative and augmentative communication methods.