Overview
This session focuses on alternative access to SGDs and other technology with emphasis on solutions other than eye gaze. Eye gaze has become so popular that when a patient is unable to access an SGD using traditional direct selection, eye gaze has become the go-to alternative. However, many options exist between manual direct selection and eye gaze that may provide better access. Case studies focusing on options such as joystick, trackball, head mouse, and switch-adapted mouse along with existing technologies such as Bluetooth and device cameras will be presented to illustrate alternative access solutions that may not have been considered.
Learning Objectives
- Identify three different methods of alternative access to SGDs other than eye gaze and switch scanning.
- Describe three settings or parameters that can be manipulated on an SGD to improve physical access.
- List two concerns that may hinder a user's ability to successfully use a given access method.
Primary & Secondary Strand
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
Target Audience
- Accessibility Professional
- AT Specialists
- Communication Specialist
- Consumers/Individuals with Disabilities
- Consultants/Trainers
- Educators
- Faculty/Instructors - Higher Education
- Family Members
- Occupational Therapists
- Physical Therapists
- Rehab Therapists
- Speech-Language Pathologists
- Special Education Educators
- Transition Coordinator
- Vocational Rehabilitation
Experience Level
Introductory
Primary Life Cycle Addressed
Elementary - Secondary (K-12); Higher Education; Adult/Senior
Session Delivery Format
In-person presentation with live-stream
Course Schedule
This course was given at the ATIA 2022 Conference on Friday, Jan 28: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM (EST)
Continuing Education Credits
For Satisfactory Completion and Continuing Education information, please visit: ATIA Learning Center CEUs
This course is offered for the following CE Provider Credits:
ACVREP; AOTA; CRC; IACET
For: 0.10 CEU Units or 1.0 CEU Hours.
ASHA CE Information: Recorded Session
Start date of ASHA CEUs offering: December 15, 2022
End date of current CRC CEUs offering: March 19, 2025
Please refer to the CRC Augmentative and Alternative Communication Series (2024-2025) page for further information on how to submit your CRC CEUs for this course to CRCC.
Speaker/s:
Lisa Bardach
Communicating Solutions, LLC; ALS of Michigan, Owner and CEO; Speech-Language Pathologist
Biography
Lisa G. Bardach, MS, CCC-SLP is a licensed, certified Speech-Language Pathologist with over 30 years of experience providing neurogenic rehabilitation to adult and pediatric clients. She works for ALS of Michigan, where she has developed and implemented a regional clinic to provide augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and Assistive Technology (AT) services to patients with ALS. She is dedicated to ensuring that pALS have a way to communicate throughout the course of the disease, helping them to implement low tech and high tech methods of communication. She provides evaluation and training for pALS in need of communication, speech generating devices, and computer access as well as telephone technology. She is also the owner of Communicating Solutions, a private practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan specializing in provision of AAC services to individuals of all ages with diagnoses other than ALS. She serves as a resource in the state of Michigan for AAC. Lisa is an adjunct faculty member of the University at Buffalo. She is nationally recognized for her expertise in AAC, especially for individuals requiring alternative access to Speech Generating Devices (SGDs). She has authored multiple professional presentations on AAC on local, national and international levels, in addition to several publications. She has served as a member of ASHA's Health Care Economics Committee Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Medicare Reimbursement and is a member of the Medicare Implementation Team, a group of professionals formed under the auspices of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement to acquire and facilitate Medicare funding of SGDs.
Relevant Financial Relationship: Yes
Salary from ALS of Michigan. Owner of Communicating Solutions, LLC. Receive funding from Project Open, a grant funded thru NIDILRR to explore improving in-person expressive communication for people who use AAC. Lisa is an adjunct faculty member of the University at Buffalo.
Relevant Non-Financial Relationship: Yes
Member of the Medicare Implementation Team, a group of professionals formed under the auspices of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement to acquire and facilitate Medicare funding of SGDs.