JCPSLP Vol 14 No 2 2012

Complex communication needs

Top 10 resources from Scope’s Communication Resource Centre

Some members of the Communication Resource Centre team

T he Communication Resource Centre is a service of Scope. The Communication Resource Centre provides information, advice, resources, and services relating to the many different aspects of communication disabilities. We aim to increase community awareness and the involvement of people with communication difficulties in their local and broader community. People with complex communication difficulties either cannot speak or they have speech that is difficult to understand. They use other ways of communicating (http://www.scopevic.org.au/index.php/ site/resources/communicationaidsresources) 1 The Triple C (Checklist of Communication Competencies) and the InterAACtion resources (manual, DVD, and kit) The Triple C (revised edition, 2009) by Karen Bloomberg, Denise West, Hilary Johnson, and Teresa Iacono is designed for use with adolescents or adults with little or no speech. It is a valid and reliable tool that makes it possible

to assess early communication, observable, and functional skills. This can be purchased from the Scope on-line shop at www.scopevic.org.au InterAACtion: Strategies for Intentional and Unintentional Communicators (2004) by Karen Bloomberg, Hilary Johnson, and Denise West, are resources designed for people who work with adults who have complex communication needs. The InterAACtion manual provides a framework for introducing a variety of communication strategies to assist functional communication and extend or develop communication skills, where appropriate. It contains over 30 individualised communication strategies as handouts, which can be photocopied. The handouts include information about the strategy, who might use it, how to develop it, how to implement it, and how to adapt it for people with different communication skills. The worksheets are designed to assist communication partners to learn to observe communication skills and needs, and make decisions about appropriate communication strategies. The kit provides examples of the communication

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JCPSLP Volume 14, Number 2 2012

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au