Speech Generating Devices (SGDs) offer individuals a means to express themselves, engage with others, and participate fully in social, academic, and professional settings. However, the effective use of SGDs requires more than just access to technology—it requires the development of key skills and strategies that support independent communication. While modeling is a widely used strategy for teaching use of SGDs, relying solely on modeling may not be sufficient. In this presentation, specific strategies related to teaching initiation skills, refining category/symbol discrimination and language expansion will be provided.  Participants will also explore the topic of Non-Contextual Utterances, including ways to assess and respond to individuals who may be repeatedly selecting the same symbol. This session will equip participants with knowledge and tools to support all individuals in becoming independent communicators using SGDs.

Participants will:

  • Identify two potential concerns associated with modeling without expectation
  • State three important skills to teach and/or refine for independent use of SGDs
  • Describe specific strategies for teaching skills for independent SGD communication
  • Define Non-Contextual Utterances and identify potential strategies to address the occurrence of these utterances

Workshop Details

Agenda: 6 Hour Live Webinar -
Registration Time: 15 minutes prior to webinar start
Workshop Costs: Participant: $139.00
Presenters and Disclosures: For training-specific presenter information, please select a training date and view the registration page from our Training Schedule. You can view our presenters’ financial and non-financial disclosure statements here.

Tuition Includes: Detailed Handout with space for note taking, Certificate of Attendance, ASHA BACB and IBAO CEUs are available.

Accommodations: Pyramid Educational Consultants is committed to working with our customers to accommodate special needs. Please contact our office to request accommodations for trainings or other services via email: pyramidus@pecs.com.