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10:00 - 11:05
Opening of the Conference - prof. Maurice Grinberg (ASSIST), Sanja Saranovic (UNICEF Bulgaria), Lazar Lazarov (MLSP), Marin Baychev (MLSP), Dr. Teodora Ivanova (SACP); Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf, AAATE; Greta Gancheva, Minitstry of Education and Science; prof. Stephen von Tetzchner
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10:45 - 11:05
Tracy Shepherd & Yonit Hagoel-Karnieli // ISAAC - International Society for AAC
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11:05 - 11:20
Emma Smith, PhD // Global Perspectives on Measuring Assistive Technology Outcomes: Why it matters, and where we are going
To effectively delivery assistive technology to the people who need it, we need to understand the effectiveness of the technologies, the services which surround them, and the policies which govern their access and use. This requires us to measure the outcomes associated with each of these, both on a local or regional scale, and comparatively on a global scale. The Global Alliance of Assistive Technology Organizations (GAATO), an umbrella organization which brings together national and international level stakeholder organizations in assistive technology, set out to understand the biggest challenges faced by the sector in measuring and using assistive technology outcomes. This presentation will provide an argument for why it is important to talk about assistive technology outcomes, and an overview of the results of the GAATO AT Outcomes project.
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11:20 - 11:40
Prof. Maurice Grinberg // AAC for the lifespan: opportunities and challenges in Bulgaria
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11:40 - 12:10
Break
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12:10 - 12:50
Prof. Stephen von Tetzchner // Augmentative and alternative communication: Lifespan issues
Communication and language are core elements of human activities from an early age and throughout the life span. In the early phases of language development, children engage in communicate interactions and internalize the vocabulary, grammar and pragmatics of the culture’s language(s). With age, externalization becomes a main element of language use and in adolescence, creative and flexible use becomes a more prominent feature of language acquisition. In adulthood, the changes in conversations and activities continue to influence vocabulary acquisition and reflect the individuals’ identities and roles, and their participation in everyday events and community life. People learn language from the language community and themselves become members of this community. The language development process is paralleled with changes in the functions of the language environment, from child-directed language to negotiations of meaning on an equal footing.
Individuals who develop augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) go through the same phases but are more dependent on intervention and support to obtain communicative access. Parents and professionals are particularly attentive to early intervention but intervention measures need to change as the individuals go through the developmental phases of the life-span. AAC is their key to the changes in participation, identities and roles through the life-span. It is a transactional process: AAC is the result of communicative access and developmental language processes and a means to participation in activities and community life.
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12:50 - 13:10
Lorenzo Desideri, PhD // Assistive technology centres for people with severe and multiple disabilities in Emilia-Romagna: The AIAS-concept from Bologna
The aim of the contribution is to provide an overview of the structure, organization as well the activities and principles of a specialized centre for assistive technology in Italy, focusing on the role of the AT centres in promoting participation of people with disabilities over the lifespan.
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13:10 - 13:30
Anna Krasteva // A day in my life
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13:30 - 14:30
Break
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SYMPOSIUM "THE ROLE OF AAC IN THE PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE WITH COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENTS"
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14:30 - 14:50
Prof. Maurice Grinberg // Introduction to the symposium
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14:50 - 15:10
Robyn White, PhD // Access to justice for persons with communication disabilities: International court accommodation guidelines
Statistics have consistently demonstrated that persons with communication disabilities have an increased risk of becoming a victim of crime, yet these individuals continue to be marginalised in the criminal justice system. They are often denied fair and equal treatment before the court, despite international treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD), advocating for their legal rights. Article 13 of the CRPD, and courtroom accommodations have received little attention from interventionists, legal practitioners, and researchers. This presentation will demonstrate how persons with communication disabilities can access the courts not only as a victim of crime but also as a defendant with disabilities. Throughout this presentation, the focus will be on access to justice for persons with communication disabilities and how internationally appraised guidelines (White, 2021) can be utilised to assist these individuals. And furthermore, highlighting how these international appraised guidelines could assist persons with communication disabilities to be able to equally and fairly access the court system.
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15:10 - 15:30
Prof. Ingeborg Thümmel // Supporting the disclosure process of people with intellectual disabilities/intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) and little or no functional speech (LNFS)
Prof. Ingeborg Thümmel // Supporting the disclosure process of people with intellectual disabilities/intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) and little or no functional speech (LNFS) as a first step to access to justice on an equal basis with others. // Disclosure of sexual violence is the first step for individuals with IDD and LNFS to access justice on an equal basis with others. In this context, the crucial question arises of how to support the disclosure process. The paper presents a study in which 10 residents of a residential setting (5 ♀ 5 ♂, age: 23 - 53 years, 𝑥̅ = 33,7 ) talk about their perceptions of violence, violence experienced and desired protective measures. The goal of the study was to enable people from the target group to disclose through effective communication support. Furthermore, it was tested how conversations in which multimodal communication is used can be effectively videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed.
The results obtained in the interviews are transferable to statement- taking and other legal proceedings.
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15:30 - 15:50
Dani Koleva // Development of a child-centred and multi-disciplinary approach to violence against children
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15:50 - 16:10
Break
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16:10 - 16:40
Netta Ben Zeev // The Right to be Heard
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16:40 - 17:00
Caitlin Buchel // Communication Access to Justice
Individuals with speech, language and/or complex communication needs have a right to equality under Canadian law. There are, however, many barriers in place that can make accessing justice almost impossible for people with communication disabilities.
Communication Intermediaries (CIs) are registered speech language pathologists (SLPs), trained to facilitate two-way communication between individuals with communication disabilities and justice professionals. Like language translators, CIs act as neutral officers of the court. They provide the accommodations needed for individuals with communication disabilities to have equitable access to legal, police, corrections, and justice services in Canada.
CIs are trained to work within the Canadian justice system to ensure that the necessary communication supports are in place, without negatively impacting the impartiality of the justice process. These communication supports include a broad variety of augmentative and alternative communication supports, tailored to the individual's specific complex communication needs.
Unfortunately, knowledge about CIs and their role in accommodating communication disabilities in the justice system is still limited. This webinar will provide you with information about the role of the CI, how CIs work, and information about how to access a CI if you or another individual with a communication disability needs one.
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17:00 - 17:20
Prof. Juan Bornman // Not silent if adults listen - Primary prevention of child abuse
Child abuse affects more than half of the world’s children (Hillis et al., 2016). Children with disability are more than three to five times as likely as children without disabilities to be
physically and sexually abused (Nyberg et al. 2021). Typically, the abuse of children with disability starts at a young age and often continues throughout their lives, meaning that
they become repeat victims. Literature has shown that violence levels continue to increase and escalate on a prolonged, ongoing basis (Fluke et al., 2008; Jones et al., 2012; Krnjacki et al., 2018) . All forms of child abuse can have long-term effects on health and well-being, both
in childhood as well as into adult life. Therefore, all efforts should be made to prevent child abuse.
Prevention of child abuse can be divided into three distinct yet interconnected levels,
namely primary prevention (i.e., prevention before the abuse occurs), secondary prevention (i.e., prevention when the abuse is suspected or occurring), and tertiary prevention (i.e., prevention of further trauma once abuse has occurred).
In this presentation, the emphasis will fall on primary prevention as it is considered to be the most effective approach. Hence the key components, teaching methods and information that should be included in school-based abuse prevention programs aimed at
children with disability, will be discussed. These types of programs are generally considered to be an effective approach to increase children’s knowledge regarding their rights, what constitutes abuse and it also provides them with safety skills such as avoiding and stopping abuse, and who they can tell if they have been a victim of abuse.
Secondary prevention approaches focus on children who have been abused and aim to stop further abuse from occurring. In this presentation an example of an abuse disclosure communication board for children with disability will be mentioned. The training of persons
in the criminal justice system such as police officers, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges using augmentative and alternative communication systems will briefly be touched.
Finally, the presentation will conclude by highlighting the important role of tertiary
prevention which includes interventions aimed at decreasing the effects of abuse such as rehabilitation and medical treatment for these children (Covington, 2013; O’Donnell et al., 2008) .
References
Covington, T. (2013). The public health approach for understanding and preventing child maltreatment: A brief review of the literature and a call to action. Child Welfare, 92(2), 21–39.
Fluke, J. D., Shusterman, G. R., Hollinshead, D. M., & Yuan, Y-Y. T. (2008). Longitudinal analysis of repeated child abuse reporting and victimization: Multistate analysis of associated factors. Child Maltreatment, 13(1), 76–88.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559507311517
Hillis, S., Mercy, J., Amobi, A., & Kress, H. (2016). Global prevalence of past-year violence
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17:20 - 18:00
Panel Discussion on the role of AAC in prevention of violence
Български
