At Albany Secondary Education Support Centre (ASESC), we recognise that oral language development is fundamental to literacy growth. In 2024, we took significant steps to integrate Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) into our literacy curriculum, ensuring students with high support needs have meaningful opportunities to develop their communication skills.
A key milestone was the establishment of the Literacy Implementation Team, which analysed school-wide data to identify areas for improvement. This led to a stronger focus on explicit AAC instruction and oral language development. As part of this initiative, we introduced the Comprehension Qu’s program from the PLD Oral Language suite in our High Support Needs classroom. This program, using storybooks and Blanks Level questioning, has already shown promising results, prompting plans for further oral language programs in 2025.
Technology also played a crucial role in enhancing communication. The introduction of the BenQ interactive modelling device, running Proloquo2Go, has provided students with an immersive, explicit modelling experience. With both teacher-led demonstrations and personal AAC devices, students are developing their communicative competence in a more engaging and structured way.
These efforts have led to measurable improvements, as reflected in student progress on The Roadmap of Communicative Competence (ROCC) Assessment. As we move forward, we remain committed to expanding our AAC initiatives, refining our literacy strategies, and ensuring that every student has the tools to communicate, learn, and thrive.