The TalkLink Trust

TalkLink Support

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:54:32 +0000

TalkLink provides a number of support options for our clients and support networks.

If you require support or assistance please use the form below and we will be in contact as soon as we can.

If you have been directed here by one of our technicians please click on the appropriate icon as directed.

Handouts: The Balanced Literacy Approach: Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:15:01 +0000

Please find below the handouts for the Balanced Literacy Approach: Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for all Children from the workshops held in Whakatane on May the 15th.

These handouts will be available for download until May 30th..

They are in PDF format so you will need a PDF reader to view these. To save the files, please open the document and select the save icon on the bottom toolbar.

Regards

Sally.

The Balanced Literacy Approach:

Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children

This workshop will describe the rationale and principles underlying the balanced literacy approach and how it can be applied to children with complex communication and learning needs. The balanced literacy approach ensures that schools provide children with daily opportunities to engage in four key areas of literacy learning: guided reading for vocabulary and language comprehension skills, word instruction for phonics and sight word skills, self-directed reading for learning to choose books and read for pleasure, and writing instruction for targeting written language skills. All of these are critical for children with disabilities to develop conventional reading and writing skills. Specific strategies and adaptations will be outlined. Multi-level activities, which can be implemented with all students in a classroom, will be highlighted, as will ideas for older students who are beginning readers.

This workshop will be highly relevant to teachers, speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, support staff, parents, and others who work with children with developmental disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome).

KiwiChat 2012

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 22:51:36 +0000

KiwiChat Camp 2012

In February 2010 the first ever KiwiChat Camp was held at Totara Springs Camp in Matamata and due to the overwhelming success, KiwiChat Camp was repeated again in May 2011. We plan to run another Totara Springs Camp in 2013.

In 2012 we are moving KiwiChat Camp to Christchurch in order that students from throughout the South Island will have an opportunity to attend. The Camps at Totora Springs were residential camps but this year, due to limited residential facility options, we are changing to a day camp format over three fun packed days.

The KIWICHAT DAY CAMP Theme for 2012 is THE CIRCUS

KiwiChat will be held from October 2 to 4 2012, at The Upland Unit, Hillmorton High School, Christchurch

The KiwiChat Day Camp is open to children who:

are of school age;
independently use a speech generating device such as a Dynavox V or Vmax, Dynavox DV4, Lightwriter, Springboard, iPad, Vantage etc;
have at least one family member/carer who will be attending the camp with them;
wish to improve their device use and their general communication competency.

Further information including application forms, costs and closing dates will be posted on this website in the near future.

Some History:

KiwiChat is a camp for school aged children, their families and support people. It targets students who use speech generating communication devices as their main method of communication. The primary aim of the camp is for the children using these devices to improve their device use and become more competent communicators in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Similar camps have been successfully held in many states in Australia. A number of the TalkLink team have participated in these camps and saw the positive outcomes for students and their families. These positive experiences inspired Leesa Ross (Assistive Technology Trainer for TalkLink and the mother of a child who uses a communication device) to set up a similar camp in New Zealand.

KiwiChat is designed to accommodate the student’s whole family in order to ensure that skills learnt at camp will generalise to everyday life. Intensive communication therapy will be provided each morning, and the afternoon will involve activities and opportunities for everyone to practice the skills they have learnt in the morning. A separate sibling recreation program will be conducted in the mornings, and this time will also provide an opportunity for parents/carers to discuss and work on issues around augmentative and alternative communication. The camp will also be offering mentoring from experienced adult communication device users, training on programming the device and much more!

AAC Courses 2012

admin — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 01:14:29 +0000

Following a very successful 2011 TalkLink is pleased to announce that we will be continuing to run a number of AAC related courses during 2012. We hope to run these courses throughout New Zealand and we welcome contact from people who would be interested in helping to organise a course in their region. These courses are subsidized by a Ministry of Health grant to the Assistive Technology Alliance of NZ (ATANZ).

The courses include:

Creating Communication Opportunties Throughout the School Day

Creating Communication Opportunties for Young Children

Supporting Students to Communicate Successfully

Supporting Adults to Communicate Successfully

Learn to use Boardmaker Software

Dynavox: Introduction to Series 5 Software

In addition Dr Sally Clendon will be running a number of literacy related courses. The Balanced Literacy Approach: Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children workshop will describe the rationale and principles underlying the balanced literacy approach and how it can be applied to children with complex communication and learning needs. Sally is a speech-language therapist and a consultant in the area of literacy for children with significant disabilities particularly those with complex communication needs. She is a Research Affiliate of the Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.

Further information including a course timetable and registration information will be added to the website throughout 2012

Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children Course

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:19:44 +0000

The Balanced Literacy Approach:

Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children

Sally is a speech-language therapist and a consultant in the area of literacy for children with significant disabilities particularly those with complex communication needs. She is a Research Affiliate of the Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

Sally has presented nationally and internationally. She has also consulted with various groups including working with companies to develop literacy programmes for children with severe disabilities and working with AAC device manufacturers to develop the language systems within their AAC devices. Sally is currently working with schools to implement a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction with their students.

Morning and afternoon tea provided BYO lunch.

Cost: $40.00 per person, parents and whanau are free.

Dunedin

Tuesday May 29, 9am – 4pm

Mornington Presbyterian Community Centre, 16 Maryhill Terrace, Mornington, Dunedin 9011

Registrations close 24th May, 2012

Wellington

Tuesday June 5, 9am – 4pm

Central Baptist Church, 46 Boulcott St, Wellington. (Pay parking available nearby)

Registrations close May 31st

Christchurch

Wednesday June 6, 9am – 4pm

University of Canterbury, Lecture Theatre A3, North Arts Lecture Theatre, University Drive

(Please note this is a change from the original venue of the Dovedale Campus)

Registrations close May 31st

Auckland

Tuesday July 31, 9am – 4pm

Massey University Albany, Round Room, Atrium Building, Albany Expressway

Registrations close July 26th

Hawkes Bay

Tuesday August 28, 9am – 4pm

EIT Taradale, Room R101, Building R, Food and Wine Building, 501 Gloucester Street, Taradale.

Pay Parking available onsite, free parking across road.

Registrations close August 23rd

Palmerston North

Wednesday August 29, 9am-4pm

Manawatu Deaf Society Hall, 55B Totara Road, Awapuni, Palmerston North

Registrations close August 23rd

Gisborne

Tuesday September 11, 9am – 4pm

Blind Foundation Rooms, 37 Grey Street, Gisborne

Registrations close September 6th

Taranaki

Tuesday November 6, 9am – 4pm

Devon Intermediate School, Devon Street West, New Plymouth

Registrations close November 1st

Details for upcoming courses in the following cities to be added throughout the year

Whangarei – August 1st (registrations open soon

Hamilton

To register please select the appropriate form below e.g. school/organisation choose professional.

Family

Professional

Waiting List CAMP registration form

Paula — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:30:55 +0000

Support for Credentialled Assessors

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:53:48 +0000

Communication Assistive Technology: Support for Credentialled Assessors

As part of the Disability Support Services EMS Accreditation Framework Communication Assistive Technology Credential, the Ministry of Health Equipment and Modification Accreditation Framework requires assessors to receive supervision for this role. Supervision provides a mentoring role that aims to help the assessor to learn from advice and discussion of casework to progress their expertise while ensuring good service to the client.

Supervision consists of the EMS Assessor meeting regularly with a supervisor to provide advice and discuss casework (recent assessments undertaken) in a structured way.

A supervisor will be an existing EMS Assessor with no less than two years’ experience. The supervisor does not need to be more senior or of the same professional discipline, but will have at least equivalent expertise and training.

It is recognised that it is not always easy to have access to a “supervisor”. Therefore ATANZ (Assistive Technology Alliance of NZ) and the TalkLink Trust (the Ministry of Health contracted Communication Assistive Technology provider) can assist with providing supervision opportunities.

We have interpreted supervision in a wider context and have developed some different approaches which we hope will meet a variety of needs. They are:

Access to an on-line forum. This forum provides an opportunity for discussion with other assessors, in a supportive environment. Here is the link: http://disabilityservices.hiirc.org.nz/section/14335/communicative-assistive-technology/?tab=5323§ion=14335
Sending an email query to support@talklink.org.nz and one of the TalkLink team, best placed to answer the query, will respond.
Attend an AAC SIG in your local area. TalkLink team members travel extensively throughout NZ and would be happy to attend AAC SIGs if at all possible. If you are interested in hosting an AAC SIG in your area please contact ann.smaill@talklink.org.nz. We will advertise the SIGs via the ATANZ and TalkLink websites.

Creating Communication Opportunities for children with Complex Communication Needs.

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:19:18 +0000

Creating Communication Opportunities throughout the school day

A practical course for education and health professionals, families, whanau and other interested people. This workshop looks at ways to maximise the use of low tech communication tools to support student’s expressive and receptive communication skills.

This workshop covers:

Core vocabulary: what it is and how to help children learn to use it

Developing a communication toolkit
The essential skills you need to be a good communication partner.
Communication books and boards: what to put in them and how to make sure they are useful and used

Scripted and aided language routines
Games for communication

Lots of practical tools, resources, tips and tricks will be shared.

Cost: $25.00 per person, parents and whanau are free.

New Plymouth – registrations now closed

Tuesday 22 May, 9:30am – 1:30

New Plymouth Spiritualist Church, 156 Tukapa St, New Plymouth

Stratford – course is now full

Monday 21 May, 3:30pm – 6:30pm

Stratford Primary School, Regan St, Stratford. Held in the staffroom.

Details for upcoming courses in the following cities to be added throughout the year:

Auckland

Hamilton

Nelson

Christchurch

If you are interested in having a course held in your area, please email courses@talklink.org.nz with the details.

To register please select the appropriate form below e.g. school/organisation choose professional.

Family

Professional

Registration Form Family Creating Comms

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:25:26 +0000

The TalkLink Trust

TalkLink Support

Handouts: The Balanced Literacy Approach: Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children

Handout 1 Emergent Literacy

Handout 2 WTP Model And Assessment

Handout 3 Four Blocks

The Balanced Literacy Approach:

Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children

KiwiChat 2012

KiwiChat Camp 2012

Some History:

AAC Courses 2012

The courses include:

Sponsors

Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children Course

The Balanced Literacy Approach:

Positive Communication and Literacy Outcomes for All Children

Family

Professional

Waiting List CAMP registration form

Support for Credentialled Assessors

Communication Assistive Technology: Support for Credentialled Assessors

Creating Communication Opportunities for children with Complex Communication Needs.

Creating Communication Opportunities throughout the school day

Family

Professional

Registration Form Family Creating Comms