Literacy and Communication Leads to Student Voice, Karen Hunt, Leading Teacher, Head of Primary School; Stefanie Young, Literacy Learning Specialist; and, Gill Greenwood, Senior Speech Pathologist, Glenallen School

In this presentation we will illustrate how literacy and communication are intertwined. Our presentation will include video examples of staff and students teaching and promoting literacy through AAC. We will highlight the importance of teaching writing (using the Four Blocks of Literacy model) to all students, including those with complex physical disabilities, and how this in turn supports students to be autonomous communicators. Examples of our students include an 8 year old girl using partner assisted scanning with a pull off alphabet chart, a 16 year old girl using alphabet pages on her eye gaze device and a 17 year old boy using a single switch to access an alphabet page set.

Participants will have the opportunity to experience the challenges faced of a complex communication need within a school context. They will interact with a range of resources that could be used to support student agency.