João Canossa Dias, PhD student in Cognitive Science, Language, and Neuroscience at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing of the Portuguese Catholic University, is co-author of the e-book Mini-ToP – Social Interaction for Children at Risk of Isolation.
Mini-ToP is a program aimed at children in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education, with the goal of promoting communication and preventing the social isolation of children with Complex Communication Needs. Although intended for children, the guide was designed to be implemented by adult facilitators, resulting from the adaptation of the ToP – Tempo Partilhado (Shared Time) Program (Canossa Dias, Monteiro, Soares & Mineiro, 2021) and practical experience carried out in several schools in the Central region.
Co-created by professionals and children, the work integrates technical content from the authors, illustrations made by the students who participated in the pilot experiences, and poems inspired by their testimonies.
The results of the first study on Mini-ToP will be presented shortly at the III ConCEI – Congress on Inclusive Education (Cape Verde) and at the III Conference on Science and Innovation in Speech Therapy, in Porto.
To ensure that no child with Complex Communication Needs feels isolated or has few opportunities to interact and communicate, we invite you to consult this guide and try out the program.
