Anne McDonald Centre

26/05/2023

For those who can’t make it to Rosemary's memorial, the service will be streamed on https://youtube.com/live/UooWNCiCYMo?feature=share on the day.

Please join us in remembering the life of Rosemary Crossley

23/05/2023

A celebration of Rosemary's life and work will be held at 2.00 PM on 5 June, 2023 at St. Paul's Cathedral, Flinders Street, Melbourne.

All those who have been helped by her therapy, her writings, or her example are invited to attend. The service will be streamed for those unable to attend.

No flowers: instead, write to your MP calling for resources and advocacy for people without speech.

15/05/2023

We at the Centre are collecting memories of Rosemary’s life and work. If you would like to be a part of this, please upload a page or so of recollections of what Rosie meant to you, what she did, and how she did it – anything that can help people trying to establish communication with little or no functional speech. Photos and videos would also be gratefully received.

Here is the link to upload your contributions:

11/05/2023

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that the Anne McDonald Centre Committee of Management announce the death yesterday of the Director and co-founder, Rosemary Crossley.

Together, Rosie and Annie changed history. Rosie’s life work of teaching, researching, and advocating for people with little or no speech has improved the lives of thousands of the most vulnerable people in many countries and over 5 decades. Her sharp intellect and wicked good humour will be missed. The world has lost an important voice, speaking out for the rights of people with disabilities.

Rosie was admired for her indomitable spirit, determination and ability to empower others in advocating for themselves and for the people they loved. It was an honour and a pleasure to work with Rosie, in even a small way, and in the success of the Anne McDonald Centre.

Our thoughts and love go to Chris and Rosie’s family.

14/10/2020

A story from lockdown, during which Tom has been reading dinosaur and Just So Stories. Enjoy!

HOW THE STEGOSAURUS LOST ITS PLATES

One summer when the earth was new, a stumpy grumpy stegosaurus with pointed but pointless plates on its back went to look for a better place to live. The stumpy grumpy stegosaurus with pointed but pointless plates on its back didn't know what was on the other side of the up and down mountains so it climbed up the up and down mountains to look.

The stumpy grumpy stegosaurus with pointed but pointless plates on its back saw a big blue lake surrounded by bushes and brambles and thought that it would be good to have a paddle. The stumpy grumpy stegosaurus with pointed but pointless plates on its back ran down the up and down mountains to the big blue lake surrounded by bushes and brambles and walked into the water.

The stumpy grumpy stegosaurus with pointed but pointless plates on its back didn't know that the big blue lake surrounded by bushes and brambles was very deep and it got a nasty surprise when the water went over its head. This was a big problem because it could not breathe.
The stumpy grumpy stegosaurus with pointed but pointless plates on its back tried to swim but it couldn't.

The stumpy grumpy stegosaurus stretched its neck longer and longer until its head was above the water. Then it took off all the big pointed but pointless plates from its back to make stepping stones and walked out of the big blue lake surrounded by bushes and brambles.

And that, gentle reader, is where the big bald brontosaurus came from.

TOM B

06/10/2020

This is a handout that we have used with only minor alterations for some 30 years. Feel free to copy and print it on one page adding your own contact details if appropriate. We like to print it on bright yellow paper and laminate it, so it can't easily be overlooked or torn!
BEST PRACTICE FOR FACILITATING COMMUNICATION AID USE
1. Ensure the communicator has an independent strategy for answering YES/NO questions by speech, head nod/shake, signing, or hand or eye pointing to a yes/no board or device.
2. Make sure the communicator scans their board or keyboard before making any selection. Do not accept selections unless the communicator has looked first.
3. If the communicator is using a letter board, you MUST:
• say each letter and word aloud as the speller points, so the speller can correct any mistakes
• write down the words as they are spelt so you and the speller can both keep track if the utterance is longer than a couple of words
4. Provide the least support necessary for communication to be successful. (That may vary with different tasks – e.g. a person may be able to select accurately from Yes/No and multiple-choice options independently but need support to use a keyboard.) Work on improving the communicator’s pointing skills so you can reduce support for all activities.
5. Any support provided should either be neutral, or resistive, to slow the communicator down. NEVER move the communicator’s hand towards items, unless you are doing so to demonstrate correct device use, and state this clearly.
6. Teach the communicator to correct mistakes, both their own, and mis-readings by their partners. All boards must include MISTAKE, and YES and NO to allow this. Teach the use of the DELETE or BACKSPACE keys on keyboards.
7. Confirm utterances with YES/NO and respond appropriately.
8. Seek assistance from your instructor or the Anne McDonald Centre if either the process or the content of communication is causing concern.
9. To speed up interaction and encourage independence, put greetings, feelings and basic needs on the back of spelling boards or in the memory of electronic devices. Use the Grids as well as the keyboards in apps such as Touch Chat or Proloquo2Go.
Remember – the goal is to foster independence and reduce support.
Rosemary Crossley, A.M., M.Ed., Ph.D.,

05/10/2020

Greetings all, I do hope than you and your families are all well.

A major problem with all AAC strategies (apart from deaf sign) is that compared to speech they are very slow. They all require a lot more effort on the part of the communicators, and a lot more patience and concentration from their listeners, than spoken conversation.
In a video-presentation to ISAAC in 1994, Stephen Hawking lamented that he could only generate 15 words a minute. Ordinary speakers can say up to 150 words a minute. Even now, an AAC user is doing well to generate 30 words a minute.
The comparative slowness of AAC leads some users and/or listeners to give up on it altogether, and others to use inappropriate strategies to speed up communication. An obvious example is leaping in to finish someone's sentence before you really know what they wanted to say.
Any partner-assisted communication strategies, including PECS, PODD books, E-Tran boards and FCT, are especially vulnerable to partner impatience leading to partners taking more control, or losing the message.
Recently I was stunned to see a video of a long-standing client, who usually holds onto a rod while he's typing so his partners can slow him down, 'typing' quickly with a new partner pressing letters by holding his right index finger while he looked around the room.
Fortunately nothing of great importance was being typed in the video, but the client had also had 2 tele-health consultations with his long-term psychologist involving the same partner. The psychologist was concerned about reliability because of the increase in speed and length of his communication, as well as changes of style and vocabulary.
The new partner made no attempt to check any of the output using the client's independent yes/no at any time. Ironically, some of the client's team were planning to use the video to train new staff!
When I asked the client why he'd allowed this to go on, he typed "I like her so I just let her do what she likes." Aargh!

A long post, but this is an important issue. We need to find ways for everyday communication - breakfast choices, or basic greetings - to be as quick and easy as possible, and use appropriate rate acceleration strategies with typing or spelling. And any partner-assisted output should be checked with Yes/No responses.

05/10/2020

Greetings all, I do hope than you and your families are all well.

The major problems with all AAC strategies (apart from deaf sign) are that compared to speech they are very slow. They all require a lot more effort on the part of the communicators, and a lot more patience and concentration from their listeners, than spoken conversation.
In a video-presentation to ISAAC in 1994, Stephen Hawking lamented that he could only generate 15 words a minute. Ordinary speakers can say up to 150 words a minute. Even now, an AAC user is doing well to generate 30 words a minute.
The comparative slowness of AAC leads some users and/or listeners to give up on it altogether, and others to use inappropriate strategies to speed up communication. An obvious example is leaping in to finish someone's sentence before you really know what they wanted to say.
Any partner-assisted communication strategies, including PECS, PODD books, E-Tran boards and FCT, are especially vulnerable to partner impatience leading to partners taking more control, or losing the message.
Recently I was stunned to see a video of a long-standing client, who usually holds onto a rod while he's typing so his partners can slow him down, 'typing' quickly with a new partner pressing letters by holding his right index finger while he looked around the room.

Fortunately nothing of great importance was being typed in the video, but the client had also had 2 tele-health consultations with his long-term psychologist involving the same partner. The psychologist was concerned about reliability because of the increase in speed and length of his communication, as well as changes of style and vocabulary. The new partner made no attempt to check any of the output using the client's independent yes/no at any time. Ironically, some of the client's team were planning to use the video to train new staff!
When I asked the client why he'd allowed this to go on, he typed "I like her so I just let her do what she likes." Aargh!
A long post, but this is an important issue. We need to find ways for everyday communication - breakfast choices, or basic greetings - to be as quick and easy as possible, and use appropriate rate acceleration strategies with typing or spelling. And any partner-assisted output should be checked with Yes/No responses.

08/05/2020

Very sad news. Bruce Baker, the inventor of Minspeak, who started working to develop powerful communication aids in the 1970's, has died. We were corresponding on Facebook in the past week. Bruce came to Australia frequently, and we had the pleasure of dining with him and escorting him to galleries in Melbourne. A lovely man, who made a major contribution to AAC, who will be much missed.

12/04/2020

The Anne McDonald Centre appreciates how important communication support is for its clients, but we have reluctantly been forced to restrict our services considerably. The Centre will no longer be making client appointments on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Fridays.

12/04/2020

The Anne McDonald Centre appreciates how important communication support is to its clients, but we have reluctantly been forced to restrict our services severely. The Centre will no longer be making client appointments on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. We will for the time being continue to see people urgent help with communication aids on Thursdays, at the 538 Dandenong Road office, and some clients may be seen at Rosemary Crossley's home in Brunswick, usually on Wednesdays.

The Anne McDonald Centre Office will be staffed on Tuesdays to return calls and to confirm any emergency appointments for the following Thursday - so if you have an urgent need, call us Tuesday or Thursday on 03 9509 6324 or email us at admin@annemcdonaldcentre.org.au at any time.

If you have bored students (or adults) at home then take a look at Enchanted Learning (www.enchantedlearning.com), a website that provides a huge number of on-line and printable activities for all ages. You can paint yourself a Mona Lisa or learn all about dinosaurs - a great resource.

We are thinking of you in these difficult times, and wish you the very best.
Keep communicating, and we'll be back soon(ish), with new ideas and aids.

01/04/2020

Despite everything, it's Autism Awareness Week in the US and many of the expensive AAC apps are half price, there and in Australia (at least) from April 1 till April 6.
Just saved $250 on Touch Chat HD with Word Power for a client.

14/03/2020

The AAT case referred to below shows the downside of relying on the advice of therapists.

Ms Greiner gave evidence that Ms C had told her that she had conducted a “Triple C”, that is, “Checklist of Communication Competencies” assessment on Mr C. Mr Greiner accepted that there was no reason why that assessment could not be used to track Mr C’s progress periodically.

The Triple C – the Checklist of Communication Competencies - relies on physical skills, and so should never be used to make decisions about an individual's potential to use AAC. It is also totally inappropriate for measuring anyone's progress in using communication aids.

The most telling critique of the Triple C was written by Anne McDonald herself in 2001. As she said,
“The Triple C is published by the Spastic Society of Victoria. It is recommended for use by untrained staff at day and residential centres for people with developmental disabilities. Its purpose is unclear, as it is not associated with any intervention programs- all that staff end up with is a list of some things their clients do. As the Triple C stops at about a three-year-old level, it does not include literacy. It does not lead on to any other assessment, so no matter how you score you cannot move beyond being an "intentional referential communicator". In fact, people with severe disabilities are unlikely to make it that far….”
……………
"The importance of the Triple C is its potential to stop people like me ever finding a means of communication. There is no suggestion that any subject should be referred for AAC, not even 'Joe', one of their examples, who "works part-time in a garden nursery and lives semi-independently with a work-mate", "enjoys a good chat" and is rated Stage 6 (ibid, 14). Presumably this is because "research has shown that adults, particularly those who present as pre-intentional or unintentional communicators, are unlikely to progress through a developmental hierarchy. The goal of intervention is instead to increase the frequency of use of existing skills and the establishment of emerging skills." (ibid., 37
"Every person with severe communication impairments believes in miracles. I am one of the few who has experienced one. I was given a voice through AAC, and came out of a mental retardation institution to graduate from university. I didn't do this by progressing through a developmental hierarchy; I did it by learning to read and spell at the age of sixteen. Nothing else about me changed.) [Anne herself, after her graduation, scored as 'pre-intentional re-active' on the Triple C.]"

"Any assessment which suggests that learning is not possible for a given group is founded on prejudice and supports prejudice. Before any checklist or assessment which labels non-speakers is published there should be a process of peer review; review not by professionals but by the peers of those who will be assessed. If a therapist suggests that the Triple C be used with anyone you know, it’s time to find yourself a new therapist."

Bloomberg, K., & West, D., 1999, The Triple C Checklist of Communication Competencies - Assessment Manual and Checklist, Melbourne, SCIOP
(There are later editions, but Anne's references refer to this one.)
Anne McDonald Abstract for presentation delivered at AGOSCI Biennial National Conference, Adelaide, 2001

13/03/2020

My, but the kids who come to the Centre do love their dinosaurs. Give them an iPad and let them loose....
Here's one story with a bit of Aesop's fables mixed in.

09/03/2020

(I’m just reading an Australian Appeals Tribunal (AAT) judgement on an NDIA funding argument.
http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/AATA/2019/4240.html)
It’s pretty stiff reading, if only because it’s over 36,000 words long – a third of a novel – but it brings out a number of interesting points that could be useful to people negotiating their own plans with NDIA.
One important point, for example, is that the AAT does lean heavily on the opinions of registered professional therapists such as OTs, SPs and psychs as against the opinions of administrators.
“…..the Tribunal does not accept [the administrator’s] evidence as it relates to how many hours of speech therapy or occupational therapy are required by [the client], primarily, because she is neither a speech pathologist or occupational therapist, and also because she has never had the opportunity of making direct observations of [the client]”
This would seem to suggest that if a client’s Speech Path advises a particular level of provision, then if the NDIA wants to contest it they’ll have to get their own Speech Path round to see the client before they can argue the toss.
How that would work out in practice I don’t know – would you be able to object to their choice of therapist? – but it’s possible you may find it useful anyway.

Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII), a joint facility of UTS and UNSW Faculties of Law.

08/03/2020

Our friend John Warburton has died unexpectedly.

John was one of the Centre's earliest clients. His mother, Sue, brought him to us in 1986 when he was attending Yarrabar SDS (for children with IQs below 50).

John had dyspraxia and intention tremor. Once he had been introduced to an adapted communication device he rapidly developed fluent communication and moved to a regular secondary school.

In 1989 John passed the tests administered by the Investigation into the Reliability and Validity of the Assisted Communication Technique. He eventually graduated from Deakin University, majoring in Creative Writing. He won awards for his writing, which often showed his acute sense of humour.

ME

This is a portrait of strange me.
I cannot draw, so you can see
I'll have to paint it all in words.
My eyes are blue, my hair is fair,
My type of speaking is quite rare,
A skinny w**d I seem to be.

Inside I am a man of dreams -
Of fearless deeds and cunning schemes,
A handsome superman
In fact, when in a pensive mood,
I'm better far than Robin Hood
Or even Sherlock Holmes.

I'm Liberace on the keys
And white Shark Norman on the tees,
Jack Brabham in the car.
So when you meet me at the school
I may be Armstrong in the pool -
So look out for the

SPLASH!

(Norman, Brabham, and Armstrong are Australian sporting heroes.)

And later

Daydreaming

Sixteen years of super dreams
Have faded to reality -
No longer images of fame
Drift through my personality.
Once I loved to sit alone,
Dreaming I was flying high
Taking capsules to the moon,
Fighting Rambo! Now I sigh.

Each day I was like a super scout,
Making the world a better place,
Playing tennis just like Cash
In every game I held the ace.
Cached in my mind, a mighty fund
Of stories with myself as hero -
Now at last the sad truth dawns;
Down my hopes have gone to zero.
Here I am, a weakling lad.
What replaces all my dreams?
Earthbound, speechless, without friends,
A teenage misfit in blue jeans.

John had a genuine talent.

John featured in Communication Unbound, Doug Biklen's first article and book about facilitated communication, and in my book Facilitated Communication Training, under the alias Ian.

John and Sue remained in regular contact with the Centre regarding partner training and equipment upgrades.

As the news of John's death has spread, tributes have come from around Australia and the world, acclaiming him as a pioneer and an inspiration.

He will be much missed.

Chris Borthwick, February 2020

16/06/2019

Help us help.

16/06/2019

Tea Party! The Centre's annual fundraiser. Check it out!