Basseterre, St. Kitts, Tuesday, January 27, 2025: The St. Kitts Spectrum Services Centre launched a four-day workshop and training session on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) on Monday, January 27.
The sessions are tailored to equip Resource Teachers at the Early Childhood Development Unit, the staff at the St. Kitts Spectrum Services Centre, and Special Education Teachers, with strategies for supporting children with communication challenges.
Dr. Josephine Claxton, Director of the St. Kitts Service Spectrum Centre, outlined the workshop’s purpose,
“The workshop is about communication. We find that a lot of our children with neuro-diversity needs, specifically autism, have difficulties communicating. The idea is to look at communication devices and augmentative-assisted communication devices. At the end of the sessions, the outcomes are that we will have persons who are trained in how to use the devices and we’re hoping that the training they receive will be used to train other persons.”
Alexandra Jones, facilitator and speech pathologist from Augustana College in Illinois, USA, expressed her enthusiasm for assisting the trainees.
“I’m happy to be here in St. Kitts to help the Autism Centre. It is a great experience and I’m excited to help teach, facilitate, and support the workers here as well as the families.”
The workshop, which ends on Thursday, January 30, reflects the Spectrum Centre’s commitment to improving educational opportunities for all children and supporting teachers in adopting innovative methods to meet their students’ needs.
