TASN-ATBS Webinar Series: Executive Function Skills and Augmentative Alternative Communication Connections

Webinar Description:

Executive Function skills are necessary to become independent in life and Language is necessary for a person to be able to develop Executive Function skills. What does this look like for a person who uses Augmentative Alternative Communication? We will do a crosswalk by looking at Executive Function checklists and various Communication and Language development checklists to see how these areas fit together. Strategies to support emotional control, sustained attention, and response inhibition will be shared and participants will practice picking vocabulary to support their student.

After attending this webinar, participants will:

• Identify the connection between language development and executive function skills
• Understand the importance of purposeful executive function skill teaching
• Prepare vocabulary to target different executive function skills
• Compare different AAC vocabulary approaches

Presenter Information:

Paige Buckingham received her bachelor’s degree in education and an M.S. in Speech Language Pathology from Baylor University. She has a certification in supervision from the University of Kansas. During her 32-year career in public education, Paige was able to work with students aged 0-21 as a Speech Language Pathologist, and AT Facilitator. Paige now owns Buckingham Educational Services & Training, LLC, with the goal of supporting school staff in learning more about the tools students need to have skills for life. Paige is the AT lead facilitator for Kansas Infinitec and has presented in the Midwest and via webinars to various state Assistive Technology organizations. 

Paige has been a member of the Kansas Infinitec Cadre (KIC) since 2012, which has allowed me to provide professional development across Kansas. As part of KIC, she was trained to use the High-Quality Professional Development Checklist to ensure that the training she gives meets the highest standards. Her areas of professional development have included best practices in AAC evaluation and selection, use of specific AAC devices/ systems, AT consideration, Executive Function Skills, and Dynamic Learning Maps. Paige has consulted with school districts on how to set up effective Assistive Technology systems so that they have a structure in place to provide quality Assistive Technology services to students.

As a Facilitator in the Lawrence (KS) Public Schools, Paige created an Assistive Technology structure that did not use the expert model of an outside AT team but focused on empowering IEP teams to have the ability to make AT decisions for the student based on data-driven AT consideration and evaluation. She created a rubric that the district uses to make decisions about caseload size for the Speech-Language Pathologists that looked at the impact of workload instead of just using the number of students on a caseload. Paige can see the big picture view of a school district or Co-op while also being able to stay student-focused and data-driven.