Our Inclusive AAC Learning Group officially began September 14, 2020. After what somehow felt both like months of planning and yet still not enough time to be ready, we opened our group to a small but eager group of first through third grade students on Monday afternoon. We are looking forward to welcoming more students, but are taking advantage of the small group to find our sea legs and develop our rhythm.
When we first started dreaming about this group our main vision was to provide students who use AAC devices a community, increase their AAC skills, as well as giving them opportunities for more direct learning in math and reading alongside their peers. From that large vision the group felt like a blank slate, with the opportunity to do pretty much anything that we think would benefit the academic and ccommunication of the students in the group.
So where to start?
There are times when dire circumstances lead to the best ingenuity and creativity. After all, isn’t necessity the mother of invention? This fall, Joey’s Foundation is introducing a new inclusive learning opportunity to support Joey and children like him in maintaining their use of AAC despite virtual instruction. 
Every once and awhile you stumble upon a book that seems to magically connect with a particular student in a way that you could not predict. A friend had given me a massive box of hand-me-down books, and inside I found the wordless book, 
Now that Joey and I have been back in person for over a month I wanted to take a look at his data and see how he is doing. While I feel like we still haven’t gotten back into the swing of the eye gaze, I am very aware that what I “feel” might not always be accurate. Sometimes I need to step back and look at what the data tells me.
As a result of the COVID school closures, Joey’s school district sent home summer learning packets for every student. Every kindergartener in the whole district received the same packet of kindergarten practice work to keep their skills fresh over the summer. While I watched my own daughter do this packet one morning I realized that it would not be hard for Joey to work on this same packet – as long as someone was there to physically adapt it for him. 
