Workshops

:: UPCOMING WORKSHOPS ::

2 Half-Day Workshop

Seminar: Communication of Children with Multiple Disabilities and Sensory Loss

This seminar aims to give participants an understanding that all children, even those with the most significant disabilities are communicating with us each day. Participants will learn about the impact of communication challenges on the learning and lives of severe disabilities. They will learn about the forms, functions, content and context of communication and the strategies for creating communication rich environments that are founded in meaningful conversation that build relationships and become the foundation for all learning. We will also discuss challenging behaviors as communication. Participants will learn strategies to be a more competent communication partner with learners who have multiple disabilities. Participants will be exposed to a myriad of strategies that will foster ways to help students reach their potential despite their challenges in language development. All topics will be addressed through a combination of lecture, discussion, video analysis and other learning activities.

Speaker: Elizabeth Torrey, M.S.,CCC-SLP, Perkins International

Elizabeth Torrey is a Speech and Language Pathologist at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA, for twenty-five years. She is also the Assistant Education Direct of the Early Learning Center and Lower School programs at Perkins. Her work focused on developing communication and feeding skills in students experiencing vision impairment or blindness with or without other disabilities.

Elizabeth has developed and taught workshops nationally and internationally for teachers, related service providers and parents, addressing: communication development, feeding and mealtime skill development, professional collaboration, calendar systems, tangible symbol use, echolalia, creation of learning environments and on how to incorporate parents into educational teams. Her previous experiences included being a state instructor for Vision Impaired In-Service in America (Project VIISA), being an author of the Perkins Panda Early Literacy Kit, and being the presenter of the “Tangible Symbols” webinar by Perkins School for the Blind.

Course Outline

Topics:

• Impact of Severe Disabilities on learning
• Communication of children with severe disabilities
  • Functions of Communication
  • Forms of Communication
  • Types of Communication
  • Levels of Communication
• Strategies to expand the communication of children with severe disabilities and their understanding of the world through:
  • Choice Making
  • Meaningful Routines
  • Experiential Stories
  • and more…
• Communicative functions of behaviors of learners with multiple disabilities and strategies for positive behavioral supports that promote the development of communication in learners with multiple disabilities.

Course Objectives

• Participants will learn about the impact of communication challenges on the learning and concept development of children with multiple disabilities.
• Participants will learn about the forms, functions, types and levels of communication.
• Participants will gain knowledge on key strategies for creating communication rich environments that are founded in meaningful conversation that build relationships with children with multiple disabilities.
• Participants will gain key strategies in integrating communication strategies in meaningful and functional activities for children with multiple disabilities.
• Participants will understand that challenging behaviors is a way of communication for many children with communication challenges.
• Participants will learn strategies to be a more competent communication partner and learn strategies that will foster ways to help students reach their potential despite their challenge with their emotions and behavior.

Who Can Benefit?

• Caregivers or family members of children with severe disabilities
• Educators and health professionals working or will be working with children with severe disabilities

Course Fees & Closing Dates

Registration Type	Closing Date	Fees (S$) / pax / seminar
	31 Oct 2022	400
Normal	Till Full	450