168 Search Results for preschool
September 9, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Do you support children with AAC needs? Check out this list of posts from the archives with an array of articles and resources. Enjoy! PrAACtically Reading: Books Featuring Children & Youth with Disabilities Parent-Implemented AAC Intervention for Young Children From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs, Part 1, Part 2 Using Vest Displays with Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum with guest author Dr. Carol Goossens’ Mining the Preschool Routine for PrAACtical AAC Opportunities Supporting Preschoolers with AAC Needs: A Case Study Visual Supports in Action in the Preschool Classroom TELL ME: AAC in the Preschool Classroom TELL ME About It TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Brown Bear, Brown Bear I Went Walking From Head to Toe Here Are My Hands What Do You Like? Go Away Big Green Monster No, David Come Out and Play, Little Mouse The Lunch Box Surprise If You’re Angry and You... [Read More...]
December 17, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
It’s another Throwback Thursday and today we’re looking back through the archives at posts on AAC for young children. Enjoy! PrAACtically Reading: Books Featuring Children & Youth with Disabilities Parent-Implemented AAC Intervention for Young Children From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs, Part 1, Part 2 Using Vest Displays with Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum with guest author Dr. Carol Goossens’ Mining the Preschool Routine for PrAACtical AAC Opportunities Supporting Preschoolers with AAC Needs: A Case Study Visual Supports in Action in the Preschool Classroom TELL ME: AAC in the Preschool Classroom TELL ME About It TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Brown Bear, Brown Bear I Went Walking From Head to Toe Here Are My Hands What Do You Like? Go Away Big Green Monster No, David Come Out and Play, Little Mouse The Lunch Box Surprise If You’re Angry and You Know It Max’s Breakfast... [Read More...]
October 10, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We are excited to share the second post in Christine Wright-Ott’s series on promoting hands-free independent mobility in young AAC learners. Christine is an Occupational Therapist and consultant at The Bridge School in Hillsborough California. She authored the chapter “Mobility” in the 4-7th editions of the book, Occupational Therapy for Children. She lectures at universities and conferences including ATIA, Closing the Gap, ISAAC, ISS, and AAC by the Bay. Enjoy! Support Walker Mobility at the Bridge School I would like to share with you an innovative hands-free Support Walker Mobility Program developed at The Bridge School, which is a private school for preschool and elementary children with complex communication and physical disabilities located on the district’s public elementary school campus. It is dedicated to ensuring that students achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC), mobility and assistive technology (AT) applications. ... [Read More...]
June 28, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’re so pleased to welcome back Dr. Carol Goossens’, an AAC pioneer who is an internationally-recognized consultant, SLP, and Special Educator from New York. Throughout her career, she has consulted extensively in a variety of classrooms serving the full spectrum of children with special needs. Dr. Goossens’ has presented both nationally and internationally about her collaborative work with teachers, therapists, and families. In today’s post, she shares a treasure trove of ideas on using wearable AAC. Learn more about her approach to using vest displays in this extensive post. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Using Vest Displays with Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum When working with students on the spectrum, we often struggle to gain and maintain their attention, especially during group activities such as Circle Time/Morning Meeting. The songs offered during Circle Time, however, create a great forum for working on a variety of communication skills, e.g., claiming a turn, announcing a song, choosing... [Read More...]
May 8, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Where can I go to get AAC-friendly resources for preschool children? Join us as we explore the Wiki sharing space by the Exceptional Student Education Program of Orange County Public Schools in the Orlando, Florida area. Over the years, their AT team and others have compiled an impressive group of materials that can be used by teachers, therapists, and parents. You can see guest posts on Essential Tricks for Supporting AAC in Schools by some of the team here and here. In this post, we feature one of their webpages that is used for resource sharing. Many of the files are in Boardmaker format, but there are also some in Word and PDF document formats. Most of the resources are available from the menu on main page (click here). Highlights from this site include: Unit-based Resources (including classroom and therapy materials, parent letter, & more) are accessible from the main page Me &... [Read More...]
April 12, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Do you work in or support preschool classrooms? Are you interested in infusing more AAC teaching throughout the day? If so, the TELL ME program may be of interest. This post has an overview of the program I developed with my friend and colleague, Lori Wise, in order to give teachers and therapists a better understanding of ways that they can integrate AAC learning throughout the classroom day. Many thanks to the fine folks at Saltillo for inviting me to do this webinar and for allowing us to share the recording. We are grateful for the support of SLP Joni Nygard and the wonderful team at Attainment for helping us bring this work to fruition. You can download the handout for the video here and see some samples of the TELL ME program here. What works for you in teaching AAC in the preschool classroom? Share your ideas so we can... [Read More...]
January 18, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
What’s something that both AAC novices and experienced interventionists have in common? We all appreciate the opportunity to see AAC in action, particularly when we get some insight into how communication and language develops over time. In today’s featured video, we return to TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports in Kansas for a case study. Be sure to check out the accompanying resources on their site after you view the video. Enjoy!
December 11, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Visual supports are good teaching for ANY child, but particularly if there are issues with language processing. Check out this great example from The Teaching Channel. Direct Link: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/visual-cues-in-the-classroom
July 29, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
It was another wonderful day here in Pittsburgh at the 15th Biennial ISAAC Conference. It was a special day for me because I had the opportunity to speak about a really fun topic, core vocabulary teaching for young children with AAC needs. It was certainly a group effort! A talented graduate student of ours, Tathiane Paiva, and I shared a framework for developing a curriculum to teach core language in preschool classrooms, and used the curriculum I developed with Lori Wise (special educator and literacy specialist with UM NSU CARD) as an example. The basic principles behind the approach we shared are listed below. – •Language and literacy learning happen all day long. •Children learning AAC need high-quality instruction to learn and use basic vocabulary. •Children learning AAC need frequent opportunities for learning and practice. They need dozens of carefully planned opportunities to use their new words each day. •The focus is on... [Read More...]
April 14, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Meet Jenna, a spirited little girl with developmental delays who is learning to communicate using multiple modalities. Follow her along this morning as she goes to her preschool and gets dozens of opportunities to practice the AAC skills she is learning. 101 opportunities to practice target skills before lunch? It’s a piece of cake with this well-oiled preschool team! Jenna’s communicative functions are noted in CAPS and her communication modalities are in italics. – Let’s watch and see how Jenna is getting all that practice in as she goes about her day. – 7:55 1. Enter the building, pause at a trained adult communication partner (receptionist) for Jenna to GREET with a vocalization and wave 2. ANSWER a social question (“How are you?”) with gesture (thumbs up) 3. Say GOODBYE with a wave 4. Once in the classroom, repeat GREETINGS with teacher, aide, and a friend. 5. ASK for HELP putting... [Read More...]