Supporting Adults who use AAC in Learning about Abuse

Through the Speak Up workshops, opportunities were created for adults who use AAC to discuss issues relating to abuse in group settings as well as individual consultations. Some participants requested support in accessing local community counseling services, that usually entailed accompanying the AAC user to two or three sessions and assisting with communication. The Speak Up group sessions took place over a duration of 10 weeks – two hours a week. Topics for the group sessions included recognizing abuse and exploring the range and experiences of abuses – physical, sexual, emotional, neglect and financial. During some of the session, case scenarios were used to explore abusive situations within a variety of settings, such as receiving care / services from an abusive caregiver; harassment on the street, dealing with abuse within community agencies such as clinics, colleges, work places, and in using the paratransit services.

Within each session, an orientation to new vocabulary (in the form of pictures or text)on the session topic was included. Participants requiring more support in learning vocabulary were provided with individual support before or after the sessions. Also embedded in each session was a time for self care – as abuse topic tend to trigger memories of past abuse. Group members generated a list of what they could do to cope with overwhelming feelings (i.e. talk with someone, listen to music etc.) This proactive strategy was useful as many participants found themselves struggling with difficult feelings during the session and afterwards. The list of self care strategies is posted on the Speak Up website.

Intrinsic to each session was the opportunity to discuss a contrived situation or scenario. AAC users were provided with time and communication support to participate fully in these discussions. After the scenario was presented, the group was lead in discussion to address the following questions: whether they felt there was a problem within the scene; what they could do in that situation and what would the possible consequences be arising from each option. After reviewing the options presented, the participants were asked to identify the best option for themselves and to spend time practicing how they would communicate that outcome.

At the beginning of each exercise, the group facilitators stressed that there was no “right” solution and supported each participant’s decision and subsequent act of autonomy. This practice of personal decision-making was extremely important as many of the participants were inclined to be compliant with perceived authority. Some participants needed support in recognizing an abuse or rights violation, others used the context to learn about options to respond in different situations and all of the participants wanted the opportunity to share their feelings and oftentimes their empathy with the scenarios provided.

Feedback received from the participants within the Speak Up project was that they learned a great deal from discussing imagined and real-life scenarios. The opportunities provided the AAC users to hear about the experiences of other AAC users, to learn about different options that they may not have considered, to empathize with each other’s experiences and most importantly to recognize that some of the things that they have always taken for granted – are infringements of their rights, and privacy and that some are criminal violations.

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