Teaching Communication Skills to Students with Severe Disabilities, Second Edition
By June E. Downing, Ph.D., with invited contributors



How can educators and therapists best teach students with severe and multiple disabilities to communicate effectively? Developed by a highly respected expert, this practical guide has the comprehensive, research-based information professionals need to support students from preschool to high school as they learn and use communication skills. With a strong emphasis on students’ need and right to communicate, this book shows readers how to analyze environments for their communicative value, assess students’ communication skills, teach specific skills such as gaining attention and requesting, make informed choices about AAC, and guide peers and adults in supporting students with disabilities. In this expanded second edition, readers will also find timely new material on

• the connection between literacy skills and general communication skills
  
  
• students with disabilities learning side by side with students without disabilities
  
  
• the critical role of communication in strengthening social relationships
  
  
• national policies about the communicative rights of individuals with severe disabilities
  
  
• a new tool that helps connect intervention with assessment
  

This book is accessible for both preservice and in-service professionals — it gives readers strategies they can use throughout a typical school day, real-life case studies of students of different ages, thoughtful answers to commonly asked questions, and tables that illustrate key points and summarize the strategies in simple steps. With the new edition of this popular resource, educators and therapists will help students with disabilities realize the benefits of effective communication: less frustration, more control over their lives, and stronger bonds with friends and family.

1. The Importance of Teaching Communication Skills
   
   
2. Assessing Communication Skills
   
   
3. Analyzing the Communicative Environment
   
   
4. Augmentative and Alternative Communication Techniques
   Pat Mirenda
   
   
5. Teaching Communication Skills: First Steps
   
   
6. Teaching a Wide Range of Communication Skills
   
   
7. The Role of Communicative Partners
   Eileen M. Merges, V.Mark Durand, and Lise M. Youngblade
   
   
8. Integrating Team Expertise to Support Communication
   
   
9. Commonly Asked Questions: Challenges to Effective Communication Intervention