Supported Typing Program - Introduction Information

Advancing abilities for people with special needs since 1951

Abilis provides vital services and advocacy support to over 700 individuals of all ages with special needs and their families in Fairfield County

The Supported Typing Program presumes competence in every individual and offers a technique that helps enhance the brain/body connection by providing resistive touch, a slow rhythm, and genuine encouragement.

I want to express my appreciation to Abilis (Management and Board) for giving us a home to grow the STeP program and for being so supportive of me and of this process from day one! I also want to thank the Master Trainers who have supported our learning and development, especially Marilyn Chadwick and Pascal Cheng. Inspired by the typers I had met from Syracuse and the impact supported typing has had on my son Eytan, I became committed to building both a strong community of communicators who type to express themselves and an effective group of facilitators who can help them.

The pandemic forced us to discover what support could look like online and it has enabled us to successfully work with communicators and train facilitators from all over the country and even from other countries. We will continue to offer both in-person and online options for families and professionals.

Please stay in touch with us and let me know how we can best support you. If you aren't already receiving our monthly newsletter with updates, please use the link below to sign up for it so you will know about upcoming trainings, supports, and opportunities for you and your child/client/student to continue to grow and learn.

Susan Nisinzweig

STeP Coordinator

snisinzweig@abilis.us

What is STeP?

The Supported Typing Program was launched at Abilis in February 2019 by Susan Nisinzweig (Coordinator) with the guidance of several Master Trainers in Facilitated Communication. This inspiring and effective method to communicate, does co-exist well with other communication strategies. It offers a powerful way for individuals of all ages, abilities and communication challenges to more clearly express their inner thoughts, ideas and feelings.

We are able to work with and support

Individual Families
Agencies
Schools

It takes time, patience and support to learn to become a good facilitator. To support this process we provide programs and trainings led by Master Trainers for communicators and for the facilitators who want to learn how to support them. Those who criticize this method claim that the facilitator is leading the typer to the letters when in fact the opposite is happening. Facilitators who have been taught correctly know that their role is to give backward resistance to the typer's arm so that they have to push through the resistance and select the letter themself. These photos show different ways that might look.

To ask questions and to get more information, please contact Susan at snisinzweig@abilis.us

STeP - online options

Supporting Typers via Zoom

During the quarantine, we began working with typers and their facilitators online and it has worked out very well. We have seen many families make tremendous progress and we will continue to make online support an available option going forward.

We have been able to offer online:

Screening/Intakes
Coaching Sessions
Social Group Sessions
Foundations Training

If you would like get more information or set up an appointment, please contact Susan today at snisinzweig@abilis.us

Online sessions can be for 30 minutes or for 1 hour.

Individual, dyads, groups

Individual sessions provide the opportunity for clients to type with our Master Trainers and for the parent and/or staff to be supported in their learning process and receive feedback and guidance. Session may be 1-3 hours.

Dyad's offer opportunities for 2 typers to communicate with each other in a way that they have never been able to do before and to build a deeper friendship.

Sessions are 30 minutes.

Social Groups enable a group (4-6) typers to develop a peer group that they can communicate with about many topics of interest. We select participants that are a good match for each other.

Training opportunities

The Foundations Training is the best way to get started as a new facilitator and it is a great way to get refreshed as well.

The groups usually consist of a mixture of parents, staff and professionals. Read below for more description of the training options.

The cost for the full training is $150.

Please email me today if you are interested in participating in the next training opportunity.

Workshops have been offered for new and experienced parents and other facilitator who want to further develop their skills. We have had in person workshops and online workshops.

We are committed to support the continued learning and growth of the family, staff and professionals who are committed to supporting typers.

THE ONLINE COURSE INCLUDES:

4 pre-recorded video trainings:

60 - 90 mins each-watch on your own time.

4 LIVE Zoom Q & A Sessions: with Marilyn Chadwick - Master Trainer.

Exercises to do at home: with each video.

Handouts / Getting Started Materials.

THE IN-PERSON TRAINING:

8 hour full-day training

PERSONALIZED OPTIONS:

for school and agency groups
for a teams of over 5 facilitators
flexibility of dates/times.

Foundations Training

An online course for learning the principles of Supported Typing

Presenter:

Marilyn Chadwick has her Masters in Speech/Language Pathology from Easter Michigan University. She has worked extensively with families, school districts and service agencies supporting the communication needs of children and adults with severe disabilities. She has provided training on supported typing acreoss the United States, as well as Canada, Israel, Sri Lanka, Brazil and Europe.

Marilyn works within a framework of total communication and seeks to build multiple strategies toward a system of effective communication. Her focus in combining supported typing with other methods is to support those who cannot speak to develop speech and to independently access AAC devices for communication. She currently resides in Syracuse, New York.

Fees for STeP Services

Screenings:

In person screenings 1.5 hrs - $225

Online screenings 1 hr - $150

Consultation/Coaching Sessions - $150 per hour

1-3 hours in person

30 minutes to 1 hr online

Social Group Sessions - $35

40 minute sessions

Foundations Training - $150

Full day training in-person 9 - 4 PM

4 part training online - video's and 4 Q & A sessions.

Workshops and Coaches' Trainings

Tuition rates may vary depending on the speaker's fee, staffing needs, size of group.

Agency/School groups - request a customized contract to meet your specific needs.

Abilis Staff and Clients: There are some Abilis Staff who have already taken our training and are learning how to become facilitators. Some of them work in the LEAP program and some are in Group Homes. They are getting support as they learn from a fellow Staff Member who has excelled at this. When the Staff is in the learning stage and is practicing supported typing with their clients there is no charge. It is recommended however that family members who would like to learn to facilitate sign up for our Foundations Training and schedule periodic Coaching Sessions with our Master Trainers. This will provide important support for their typer and the team of family and/or staff facilitators.

Payments: Clients are expected to pay for their sessions at the time of service and then if they have access to reimbursement options such as Self Direction or their Insurance Company, they may submit for reimbursement. We will provide clients with an invoice that has appropriate codes and descriptions of services provided.

Resources and Support

Recommended Reading - there are many great books but the two currently at the top of my list are:

Communication Alternatives in Autism, edited by Edlyn Pena to learn about 10 individuals who type to communicate and their transformational stories.

Leaders Around Me - Autobiographies of Autistics who Type, Point & Spell to Communicate (this includes 45 people's stories).

Watch one or more of these videos so that you can see what Supported Typing or Facilitated Communication looks like and you can begin to understand the impact this can have on someone's life.

My Voice (50 mins) Through Matt's story, learn more about the history, controversy, and successes of FC https://vimeo.com/193191599
Unlocked (7 mins) Short film about a group of typers in Forida https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4WnOHmV3RE
iTYPE - (7 mins) video about the same FL group as above answering some questions about typing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZbfDgmD6nE
The April 2019 presentation at The World Autism Awareness Day at UN Headquarters featured many typers and typing techniques from around the world. View a video of the full program at https://youtu.be/s11CPg_wUFA .

Resources to help you get through COVID-19

CLICK HERE to access an 8 page social story to help explain COVID-19 to your child or adult with special needs. This was created by and for adults with disabilities.

Wellspring Guild did a 1 hour webinar on every aspect of helping the disabled to handle this situation - from understanding the virus, to identifying what hurts, to knowing their rights, tool kits, social stories, etc. View Webinar here

Finding Interesting Material to type about:

Every museum, zoo, aquarium, orchestra, etc is offering online opportunities right now. You can make each day a little more interesting by exploring the internet and virtually traveling to local and far away places.

Wonderopolis.org is a website that offers many interesting stories about a whole range of topics. There are generally pictures and videos included with each article and these can be a great resource for interesting topics that you can use to learn from and type about with your typer.

Meditation breathing - The ability to breathe rhythmically and deeply is so important to help keep the body relaxed and to feel in balance. Use this for yourself and share it with your son/daughter/client.

Click on the yellow circle to watch a simple but very useful video that will help you and your typer to practice breathing and meditating. Enjoy!

Breathe in 4..3..2..1..0

Hold 4..3..2..1..0

Breathe out 4..3..2..1..0

Hold 4..3..2..1..0

Please share this newsletter with others who may be interested

in the Supported Typing Program.

Our commitment is to build a strong, solid community of typers

and a growing, competent community of facilitators.