Designing and Implementing Situational Communication Boards: A “How To” Session

June 21, 2011
By Kendra A. Turner, M.S. Ed.

Every day, autism educators face wide-ranging communication obstacles in special education classrooms around the country. Varying levels of receptive language understanding and expressive language abilities, as well as multiple communication systems and varying levels of technology – not to mention the complications that inevitably accompany communication technology – make this a daunting task. One practical and effective solution, which will be explored in depth at the Autism Society’s 42nd Conference and Exhibition, is the use of situational communication boards.

Mark your calendars for Kendra Turner’s and Krista Smith’s presentation on Friday, July 8, from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m., at this year’s conference in Orlando (register here!). We will be presenting “Situational Communication Boards for Nonverbal Students with Autism,” during which we will discuss practical and effective classroom communication strategies, provide examples of boards created from a variety of inexpensive materials, and present methods for differentiating boards to address the communication needs of students with autism spectrum disorders.

Situational communication boards offer educators and parents the ability to create and implement an expressive communication system for students with autism. For professionals and students, situational communication boards provide simplified access to critically important communication tools that are easy to create, organize, access and maintain. At our July 8 session, we’ll demonstrate how these boards can be made with household items and built into more effective classroom tools. We’ll look beyond standard vocabulary and explore socially and age-appropriate messages, including jargon and slang, that help students develop meaningful relationships with their peers.

If you want to see several effective communication boards up close, learn how to quickly create boards from household items, and discover strategies for addressing the diverse communication abilities of students with autism spectrum disorders, then join our session at the 42nd Autism Society National Conference on July 8.

Kendra A. Turner, M.S. Ed., is a special education consultant and founder of Real Autism Solutions. She specializes in program design and professional development, and shares practical and effective autism education strategies via her blog at RealAutismSolutions.com. In addition to her professional experience, Kendra has an adult sibling with autism.

Krista Smith M.S., CCC-SLP is a certified speech-language pathologist who has worked with children and young adults with autism for the last 10 years. Krista works in public and private schools as well as in private practice. She is a contributor at RealAutismSolutions.com.

Topics:About Autism, Education

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