Date: 11 February 2016, week 4

Time: 1:30-3:30
Duration of Observation: 2 hours
Total: 13 hours
There was a change of pace this week since I didnt attend a social recreation event with
any of the groups but rather went into the office during the day to see what Amy does behind the
scenes. First she gave me a tour of the site that gave me insight into the multi-faceted work that
goes on at Alpha. The day programs that go on at Alpha include a theatre group, a band,
American Sign Language classes, crafts and many off sight adventures. Amy explained to me
that there are different social circles where the people with disabilities find community. The
social circles do different activities together and are often fabricated to include people that get
along with each other. Alpha also employs many individuals with disabilities that work in the
kitchen, are on clean up crew and help Alpha run smoothly. During my tour, it came up that
Alpha was going to start-up their advocacy leadership group again. This group meet with
legislators to present issues they face and what can be done to improve their quality of life in
Santa Barbara.
After the tour, Amy answered my questions about the best ways to communicate with
individuals who have disabilities and may be non-verbal. She gave me great tips but in the end
we decided there no exact formula that will work for everyone. While we were in her office,
many people walked by and interrupted. These interruptions are welcome, unexpected
interactions between Amy and the lovely individuals that Alpha serves. Its in the nature of her
job and brings daily joy. Lastly, we discussed the ins and outs of her event planning and

scheduling. I have gladly taken on the task of planning one of our Friday events in the coming
months.
I had a great conversation with Amy about communicating with individuals who are
nonverbal. After the conversation, I decided I wanted to further research the topic. From previous
experience of working with people who have Down syndrome, I know a few helpful tools. For
example, giving someone choices is a great option. You can either use your hands, the left hand
representing one option and the right hand representing a second option. The person can then
respond by pointing to which hand. Another way to give choices is if there are tangible choices
available such as drink choices, you can show the pepsi bottle, the sprite bottle, the water bottle
or the apple juice. The person then points to their desired choice. There are certainly down falls
of this method such as being unable to represent a full range of options or not being sure if the
person is actually understood and chose what they wanted. Amy explained one way to test
against the latter is to give two options with your hands and have them chose. For example, the
movie was boring (left hand) or scary (right hand). If the person selected boring by pointing to
the left hand, Amy would then probe further to see if the person actually made a conscious
decision by switching the selected option to the other hand, boring now on the right hand, and
adding a new option, funny on the left hand.
Another form of alternative communication uses ipads or more low-tech boards. One
company, whose devices were used in the Communication Readiness Program I volunteered in,
was the GoTalk. In these boards an overlay of pictures (or words or symbols) is created. The
pictures help the user remember where to find messages. The overlay is slid into the GoTalk, and
then the user can talk simply by pressing on a picture to play a message. This allows users

maybe for the first time to communicate quickly and easily just by pressing a button.1 These
boards are great for providing more options to individuals who are non-verbal. Often, it can also
be used as a means for teaching younger children who to speak and put together sentences, since
the board verbalizes the persons selection for them. A downfall of this mechanism is that people
who also lack strong fine motor skills may not be able to select small buttons and thus accidently
chose something that didnt intend to. Sometimes the device may also be difficult for an
individual to navigate, especially if it is a program on an ipad. For example, if someone wants to
find the page that has their favorite food on it, they may not be able to remember how to get to
that page.
In further exploration, The Special Needs Resource site suggested other means of
communication that are readily available to most people. It is important to remember that
communication is a basic human need, allowing people to connect with others, make decisions
that affect their lives, express feelings and feel part of the community they live in. People with
little or no speech still have the same communication needs as the rest of us.2 For example, our
iphones and pictures on our phones can serve as a great communication tool. It was also
suggested to make certain actions mean something, such as taking the act of clapping and
making it mean yes.
Even sign language is a great alternative means of communication that can be taught.
There are many alternative means of communication available to us. Every method has

1 Go Talk Communication Device Series. Spectronics Inclusive Leaning Technologies.

Spectronics, 2016. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.
2 Sterland, Amy 23 Ways to Communicate With A Non-Verbal Child. Friendship Circle
Special Needs Blog. Special Needs Resources, 16 Apr. 2013. Web.

shortcomings and advantages and no method is a one size fits all. Thus, it will become a series
of trials and errors throughout the years working with different individuals.