DESIGN TO LEARN

Online Learning Opportunity

Oregon Health & Science University presents:

Pre-symbolic Communication (non-credit)

Developed by: Charity Rowland, Ph.D. and Philip Schweigert, M.Ed.

 

Course Description

This course addresses the use of pre-symbolic means of communication by individuals who are not able to use symbols to communicate. The course is based on our work with many individuals of all ages who experience a wide range of disabilities. Our research (funded by the U.S. Department of Education) and clinical experience with communication intervention began in 1984. The material presented in this course represents a blend of practical information related to communication intervention and research data.

Purpose

This course focuses on children with severe disabilities who are not yet ready to use symbolic (language) systems to communicate. The course describes instructional strategies for teaching children to use pre-symbolic behaviors such as body movements, facial expressions, gestures, nonspeech vocalizations and simple switches to communicate. The emphasis is on the earliest stages of communication. The instructional strategies presented are also applicable to adults.

Course Objectives

This course is designed to provide complete information about pre-symbolic communication, including research about the development of pre-symbolic communication and strategies for teaching an individual to communicate pre-symbolically. Students who complete this course should be able to:

• Assess an individual's communication skills to determine where communication instruction should begin.
• Design initial instructional programs
• Collect data to document performance
• Understand the variables that may be altered in an instructional program to accommodate the individual's successes or difficulties

Course Outline

The course includes the following seven units:
Unit 1: Historical Changes in our Approach to Communication Development
Unit 2: How Communication Skills Develop
Unit 3: Assessment Strategies
Unit 4: Instructional Strategies
Unit 5: Using Mechanical Devices for Communication
Unit 6: Planning and Monitoring Instruction
Unit 7: Receptive Communication

If you would like to preview this course to determine if it would be useful to you, please go to:

Presymbolic Communication Class Demonstration

To view the demonstration class, click on the link and then enter:

User name: presymbolic_demo

Password: symbol

Required Texts

First Things First (Rowland & Schweigert, 2004): to be mailed to students, cost included in registration fee)
Cost

$165.00 (includes cost of course materials and postage)

System Requirements for Windows® 266 MHz or greater Pentium processor or equivalent 128 MB RAM 16-bit sound card with speakers Video card able to display at least 65,000 colors Internet connection at 56 kbs or better Windows 98, 2000, XP, NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 or later CD-Rom drive	System Requirements for Macintosh® 266 MHz or better) 128 MB RAM 64 MB virtual memory Internet connection at 56 kbs or better Mac OS 9.1 or later CD-Rom drive
Internet access Internet access: minimum bandwidth equal to 56K modem. Supported Browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer® 5.1 or later Netscape Navigator® 4.77 or later	Browser Plug-ins Quicktime® Adobe Acrobat Reader® Flash®

Questions?

Please e-mail us at tangible@ohsu.edu or telephone Carolyn Mills at 503-494-2291 or Toll free 1-888-909-4030. You may also fax us (attention Carolyn Mills) at 503-494-2859 or send mail to:

Carolyn Mills
OHSU Design To Learn Projects
707 SW Gaines Road.
Portland, OR 97239

Registration and Payment

You may print and mail or fax a registration form with check or credit card information, OR you may go to our secure online registration for instant credit card payment.