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Unit of study_
CSCD3076: Lifelong Disability and AAC
2025 unit information
Students will acquire knowledge of theoretical and practical issues related to working with individuals with complex communication and swallowing support needs across the lifespan and in a variety of residential, educational, employment, and community settings. Students will learn about common developmental disabilities (including cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, and autism) and some acquired disorders (such as motor neurone disease), their impact on communication and mealtimes, and the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. This unit prepares students to work collaboratively and apply a person-focused functional approach to assessment and intervention for people with complex communication and swallowing support needs.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Communication Sciences |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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CSCD1032 and CSCD2062 |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. define the nature and incidence of common intellectual and physical disabilities with reference to the International Classification of Function, Disability and Health (ICF and ICF-CY) model and data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
- LO2. identify the intentionality of a person’s communication from observations and case interview data
- LO3. identify possible barriers to the participation of individuals and communities with lifelong disability, including those relating to policy, adopted practices and attitudes, knowledge, and skills
- LO4. define the scope of practice for speech pathologists in interprofessional collaborations, working with individuals and communities with a disability who have communication and swallowing needs
- LO5. select appropriate assessment tools for persons with a lifelong disability, including those with challenging behaviours
- LO6. evaluate the level of evidence for a range of communication and swallowing/feeding interventions for people with lifelong disabilities, including persons with challenging behaviours
- LO7. construct communication goals for persons with lifelong disability that are culturally responsive and include consideration of role of SLP within interprofessional practice
- LO8. describe the features of a particular communication or swallowing disorder in accessible language, including the likely communication implications
- LO9. explain in accessible language key intervention approaches for with lifelong disabilities and their communities and relate these to the ICF, participation model (Beukelman and Mirenda 2013), Communication Needs model (Light 1989) and Communicative Competence in AAC model (Light, Beukelman and Reichle, 2003)
- LO10. Describe and compare features of aided and unaided AAC systems and recommend appropriate systems for people with lifelong disability dependent on their abilities, and preferences, funding issues, and cultural appropriateness
- LO11. analyse the communication needs of a person with lifelong disability within the framework of ICF and the participation model
- LO12. Demonstrate the ability to utilise a range of technology in creating resources for a person with lifelong disability
- LO13. plan intervention and service delivery across various environments including communication partner training
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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