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Introduction
Two teachers reviewing their communication plans

Once an individual's needs have been assessed, identified and addressed, they can be summarised in a Communication Passport.

A process that monitors and reviews the provision that needs to be put in place should be introduced. This will ensure that the package of assistive strategies continue to provide optimum development of communication skills. Current strategies for delivering a support package can be outlined in an ICP.

Including a key communication target, taken from their ICP into the pupil's IEP, will ensure the monitoring and review of that key communication skill.

Recording does not have to involve copious note keeping, but it should include regular observation of the key skills being developed, together with any comments which may prove helpful when analysing the success or failure of an intervention.

ICP

An ICP provides a summary of a pupil's current communication skills and the resources and support needed to maintain these skills. The ICP can identify the way in which the augmented or assisted communication of the pupil can contribute to the achievement of the targets in the IEP. The pupil's skills may develop or change and the environments within which they operate will also change, so a cycle of review and reassessment is essential.

Any skills that are developed, refined or lost will be identified and the information may be fed in to the updated CP.

To find out how this has been achieved, read Billy's CP.

Also, take a look at the CP section of this module.

IEP

An IEP informs those working with the pupil of specific objectives and targets and how they will be evidenced and achieved. Targets for achieving skills which contribute to successful communication may be included in the IEP. The ICP will also aid those working with the pupil, enabling them to understand how other targets within the IEP can be evidenced, by using each pupil's augmented or assisted communication skills.

Look at the ways in which this is achieved in the following IEP pdfs with the same class at the same time of the year:

Class five review:
What I need to learn now: IEPa

Class five review:
What I need to learn now: IEPb
Class five review:
What I need to learn now: IEPc

Note how:
  • A communication target is included in each IEP.
  • The right type of support to achieve the target is identified.
  • The opportunities to use communication skills are included in other targets.
  • Progress in achieving the target is recorded.

What to consider when writing an IEP that includes AAC
Think about the following questions. How many of these considerations do you think have been met by these IEPs?

  • Does the AAC address the pupil's priority needs?
  • Is the AAC offered worth the effort of the pupil and their support team?
  • Are the targeted learning objectives appropriate to the augmented/assisted means of communication?
  • What outcomes have been achieved with augmented/assisted means of communication that could not have been achieved without it?
  • Has sufficient AAC support time been allocated to staff by the school management?
  • Is this AAC support time well managed?
  • Is the AAC support time being used appropriately?