Module: Communication Across the Day for Complex Learners Using AAC - Micro lesson: DAGG-3 Ability Levels

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04/16/2025 Added

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Micro lesson: DAGG-3 Ability Levels

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[00:00:00.000]I shared with you the Dynamic AAC Goals Grid, and this is the DAG 3.
[00:00:15.840]They have just recently updated this, I think in 2023.
[00:00:20.200]And when we were developing this training, I just kept thinking to myself,
[00:00:27.020]is there something free, because that matters?
[00:00:31.140]Is there something that really is robust and looks across the communicative competencies?
[00:00:38.620]Is there something that can not only help me with the student's ability level, but goals?
[00:00:48.700]So often the biggest barriers are like, how do I write goals that are really measurable
[00:00:56.180]to students?
[00:00:56.620]To demonstrate student growth.
[00:00:59.460]And when I was just pouring through materials, man, this product really just stood out.
[00:01:08.440]But the reason that it stood out the most was that they redid the whole thing in 2023
[00:01:16.540]because they realized that individuals who are trying to help students and individuals
[00:01:23.000]with AAC were all having this.
[00:01:26.600]It doesn't matter the type of device, it doesn't matter the mode, we were all having
[00:01:32.520]difficulty with understanding the ability level, building out across competencies and
[00:01:38.500]goals.
[00:01:39.440]And so what they did, what Toby Dynavox did was they went in and I just, if I could ever
[00:01:48.120]meet them in person, I would, full disclosure, I make zero money from them.
[00:01:53.540]I don't work for them.
[00:01:54.680]It's just a phenomenal product.
[00:01:56.180]It's a phenomenal product in that they went in in complete humility and they removed all
[00:02:03.180]words that had anything to do with their specific devices so that it can be used across any
[00:02:10.520]device that you guys are using.
[00:02:12.740]Okay.
[00:02:13.260]And, and even further than just devices, we can consider sign, we can consider pecs.
[00:02:21.160]Okay.
[00:02:21.780]So, um, it, that's, that's the full.
[00:02:25.900]Reason that I went with deck three.
[00:02:28.480]Um, so we will work through this.
[00:02:30.940]I'm sure some of you could teach this, um, better than what I'm going to, and please
[00:02:36.640]jump in if you have, um, any advice on this, but, um, so we typically look at about five
[00:02:44.620]different communicative competencies.
[00:02:46.700]We are specifically looking at four.
[00:02:49.840]And then, um, Toby Dynavox would say though, that, that the fifth one, the psychosocial
[00:02:56.380]is kind of embedded in through these other four competencies.
[00:03:00.940]So we have linguistic and that's the ability, uh, for expressing and understanding language,
[00:03:06.900]learning and using that vocabulary.
[00:03:09.000]And then we're going to take it beyond just the spoken and that communication.
[00:03:14.960]We're really going to also start to consider reading and writing and spelling and, and
[00:03:20.880]pulling it into the academics.
[00:03:22.720]There's the operational.
[00:03:25.600]And that's the ability to maintain and navigate and operate the AAC systems.
[00:03:30.580]I absolutely love how helpful so many of you are, us, I should say us, how many of us are
[00:03:41.280]in, in the operational side of things.
[00:03:45.620]But we always want our students to gain independence.
[00:03:49.160]And so we want them to start to really understand this side of things.
[00:03:55.360]The social aspect, are they using it outside of, I think we're actually better at building
[00:04:04.520]that fringe side of things to meet our academic needs.
[00:04:07.860]But are we able to help them to communicate effectively, to use it in social ways?
[00:04:14.760]That's why it's vital that we have the peers knowing that same mode of communication.
[00:04:19.900]And then strategic, utilizing these different strategies to overcome
[00:04:25.120]and to minimize just the functional limitations that AAC does have.
[00:04:30.880]So can we prevent, can we repair those communication breakdowns?
[00:04:35.120]And so we are going to look across these different competencies that DAG has done for us.
[00:04:43.480]When we do that, we first start out, though, with the student's communication ability level.
[00:04:50.360]So that's where we're going to start.
[00:04:52.540]And then we will start to work through steps.
[00:04:54.960]Two, three, four, five, and six for the remainder of the day.
[00:04:57.700]Okay?
[00:04:58.180]So when we look, if you guys want to look specifically, you can go to the DAG3.
[00:05:05.440]You can go to the Tobii Dynavox website.
[00:05:08.000]They ask you for your information, and they may send you an email or two on occasion, nothing much.
[00:05:15.340]But that's all they request for you to receive all of this free information.
[00:05:22.660]So they have the DAG.
[00:05:24.840]Three instructions.
[00:05:25.640]And that's where we figure out the ability level.
[00:05:28.740]And then they have the DAG.
[00:05:30.600]Three protocol.
[00:05:31.640]So you and I are going to work through step one, and then we'll go through get some lunch.
[00:05:36.500]So when we are working to identify the communication ability level, there are five different ability levels that they work through.
[00:05:44.300]The first one is emergent learners and an emergent communicator may have limited or no understanding.
[00:05:54.720]That symbols represent things, places or ideas.
[00:05:59.000]They are brand new. They just are not understanding that that has meaning to it yet.
[00:06:07.340]And they may not yet have a consistent method of communication.
[00:06:11.620]Now, when I looked at the registration form, I see that there are so many of you probably that have emergent learners because you are working birth to three, three to five.
[00:06:25.420]Now, please know this isn't based on age.
[00:06:28.880]This is based on ability level.
[00:06:31.720]OK, but.
[00:06:33.700]Probably there are some of you for sure that have emergent learners.
[00:06:40.260]So let's look at what that means there.
[00:06:43.520]It may be difficult for others to determine how much the individual understands may communicate most successfully using these facial expressions or body language or gestures.
[00:06:55.180]Right. And it may come out as behavior, maybe sometimes appropriate behavior, but sometimes contextually inappropriate behavior and dropping to the floor or something like that.
[00:07:07.620]Require help from communication partners to communicate successfully.
[00:07:12.200]That may indicate acceptance.
[00:07:15.680]They may smile or rejection.
[00:07:18.260]They might turn away or or run away from you.
[00:07:22.680]Right. Try to escape.
[00:07:24.460]The situation, but maybe not reliably answer those yes, no questions, reacts to familiar people or motivating activities.
[00:07:34.160]And that's that's very specific on DAG that it's familiar people or motivating activities versus unfamiliar people or non-preferred or unpreferred things.
[00:07:45.880]And then but overall inconsistent in all communication.
[00:07:50.020]So some of you may have emergent learners.
[00:07:54.440]Then there's emergent transitional and your learner may be kind of borderline between two.
[00:08:01.540]It may they may not just be in one single one hundred percent.
[00:08:05.560]And so keep an open mind that maybe they are a little bit emerging into this emergent transitional.
[00:08:12.060]So here we have the communicator beginning to demonstrate purposeful communication,
[00:08:17.680]specifically within motivating activities or trying to gain access to those items.
[00:08:24.420]That they are motivated for or interacting with those preferred people.
[00:08:28.680]OK, following simple directions within those familiar routines and activities,
[00:08:34.140]starting to understand that understanding concrete symbols for motivating or common items,
[00:08:40.340]beginning to use clear or simple symbols.
[00:08:43.300]Remember last one, they didn't seem to have any understanding.
[00:08:47.540]But here they're starting starting to understand and including objects, pictures, maybe a photo.
[00:08:54.400]But usually one at a time in familiar and motivating situations,
[00:09:01.400]developing emergent literacy skills, they're showing interest in books,
[00:09:06.400]they're willing to hang in there with you if you open up a book,
[00:09:09.400]or maybe they'll even bring you a book and showing some interest in social interactions.
[00:09:14.400]Maybe you will sit and kind of take in the situation.
[00:09:18.700]or if there's something really specifically that they like, they might show some more interest in that.
[00:09:26.180]And then responding positively to help from their communication partner.
[00:09:30.780]They don't draw away or withdraw.
[00:09:33.560]They're willing to hang in there a little bit and accept some help.
[00:09:37.040]For context-dependent students, the communicator can get their basic needs and wants met
[00:09:46.140]through very simple communication exchanges in specific contexts with familiar people.
[00:09:52.880]Eventually, we want them to be comfortable with any context with any people.
[00:09:59.960]But here we see very specific context, specific people.
[00:10:04.440]Using a low or high-tech device effectively, but only in specific situations.
[00:10:10.840]And usually it's the situations that it's being trained into.
[00:10:16.080]It's very specific.
[00:10:17.020]They're able to use some concrete symbols, right?
[00:10:21.480]Or starting to understand the use of more abstract symbols.
[00:10:25.740]Developing literacy skills through shared reading or supported writing activities or keyboard exploration.
[00:10:33.360]Initiating conversations and social interactions with familiar partners.
[00:10:38.620]They might be understanding routine questions with those familiar partners, okay?
[00:10:46.020]And we do have kiddos, right, that we can ask a specific question and they know how to answer that.
[00:10:51.280]But it's kind of a ritualistic type of routine that maybe we have developed with them.
[00:10:57.380]Using simple strategies or repeating to repair communication, right?
[00:11:03.600]We didn't get it and so they'll repeat it again and we didn't maybe understand and so they'll maybe say it a little bit louder, you know, and repeat themselves, but they don't know their vocabulary.
[00:11:15.960]The vocabulary isn't very big. So there's not another way to maybe come about correcting it or working it out and then beginning to combine two or more symbols to create messages. So it's no longer just one, but they can start to combine things.
[00:11:34.820]The transitional independent student then can demonstrate the ability to consistently communicate by generating novel messages. So it's
[00:11:45.900]not just those same really specific things, but it's becoming novel and using a combination of single words, maybe pre-programmed
[00:11:55.840]phrases, or they might have started to begin some basic keyboarding typing skills. So they are able to communicate about a broad range of
[00:12:07.680]topics with familiar and unfamiliar communication partners. It may even be an unfamiliar
[00:12:15.840]setting, right? So it's starting to become more complex. Consistently combining two or more symbols to create complex messages using various
[00:12:25.800]strategies to repair. So their vocabulary probably is becoming bigger. They are understanding better how to use their language to make sure that they are being
[00:12:39.040]understood. They are demonstrating the following literacy skills. So they're starting to get in
[00:12:45.780]involved in the literacy, increased letter sound awareness. They may have additional sight words.
[00:12:52.120]I noticed that somebody earlier said, hey, I noticed that these core words are like all the
[00:12:59.220]beginning reading words that they are learning. And that's absolutely correct. It is a lot of our
[00:13:05.740]sight words that are really hard to teach, right? But they are understanding them more, solid understanding of the connection
[00:13:15.720]between spoken words and print. Okay, so just because we offer you offered you guys a picture
[00:13:22.480]did not mean you understood it. And so then when we start to really help to make that connection,
[00:13:29.580]that matters. And then conventional spelling of simple words. So they are able to use the
[00:13:37.540]typing out the words more, and then adding word endings as appropriate. So if we add ed, that
[00:13:45.660]past tense, or if we add that s on or es, then that's more of those plurals, meaning more than
[00:13:54.220]one, or that ing for presence, right? So those word endings definitely do impact the overall
[00:14:02.820]meaning. And then beginning to utilize word prediction with symbol support. So you may have
[00:14:09.620]a transitional independent student. And then the final,
[00:14:15.600]one that is on the DAG three is the independent student. So these communicators can communicate
[00:14:22.700]anything on any topic with anyone based on expectations for their age, but maybe a little
[00:14:30.400]bit slower than their peers. I have watched so many YouTube videos with the most beautifully
[00:14:38.540]fluent individuals that utilize some form of AAC.
[00:14:45.540]And my number one thing that I hear from them is, please be patient.
[00:14:51.980]Please be patient. Don't try to finish my sentences. Don't try to hurry me up. I'm going
[00:15:00.520]at the pace that I can absolutely go. Having to utilize another mode does often slow them
[00:15:08.460]down a little bit. So if we can learn anything from these amazing advocates, it's that we
[00:15:15.480]allow ourselves to slow down and truly be a good communication partner to them. So they
[00:15:22.580]are using the combination of novel and pre-stored messages. They are usually amazing at going
[00:15:30.640]in and creating messages that are pre-stored. I've been through full one hour sessions that
[00:15:38.020]they have created this whole, this whole teaching or series, this whole training and
[00:15:45.420]everything has been pre-stored messages using core vocabulary to compose very complex messages.
[00:15:53.860]They are successfully communicating with unfamiliar people in unfamiliar events. They have
[00:16:00.000]social interactions. They're involved in the community in various environments and very, very
[00:16:08.020]similar to their peers. They understand communication and directions the same as their
[00:16:15.360]peers. I am with the ASD network. What we know is that our individuals on the spectrum,
[00:16:24.820]50% of them are typical IQ. They should be able to do a lot of things as their same age peers.
[00:16:36.500]It's their communication often that makes it so they have more difficulty.
[00:16:45.300]They are able to program desired content. Are there personal stories? You guys said earlier,
[00:16:53.380]you sometimes just want to share some information about yourself with others. That is required for
[00:17:00.460]social skills development, the development of friendship. We want to make sure that it's
[00:17:08.340]age appropriate though. Then literacy skills, they are consistent with same age peers.
[00:17:15.240]They can take in phenomenal amounts of information because they are readers and they are able to
[00:17:22.920]carry on beautiful conversations with their different literacy skills.
[00:17:29.960]Okay, so those are the five different ability levels.
[00:17:37.640]So on the form, we are going to go ahead and put in there.
[00:17:45.180]Where do you think your your focus student is?
[00:17:49.500]Are they in an emergent learner?
[00:17:55.540]Are they emergent, transitional, context dependent, transitional, independent or independent?
[00:18:03.340]So very good. We definitely have some emergent learners.
[00:18:07.640]So I want you guys to begin thinking about where are they?
[00:18:12.640]Yeah, I figured we had.
[00:18:15.120]Quite a lot of emergent. There's emergent, transitional, good.
[00:18:19.240]Transitional, independent. Very good.
[00:18:22.440]Transitional, independent. Very good.
[00:18:26.600]Transitional, independent. Very good.

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Module: Communication Across the Day for Complex Learners Using AAC - Micro lesson: DAGG-3 Ability Levels

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