On Memorial Day
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Tagged With: Memorial Day
AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week 21, May 2015
Monday – How We Do It: AAC at the Larc School with Kaitlyn Connors and Rachel Egbert Tuesday – 5 Presentation Handouts on AAC Topics Wednesday – Video of the Week: Communicative Competence in AAC Thursday – Conversations in the Classroom with Tina Moreno
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Conversations in the Classroom with Tina Moreno
Better Hearing and Speech Month continues with guest blogger Tina Moreno. In this post, Tina shares some thoughts on building meaningful conversations in the classroom. She also made her visual support materials available for downloading (link at the end of her post). You can read Tina’s previous post for BHSM here. CONVERSATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM Fostering opportunities for meaningful conversation is critical throughout the school setting. Great discussions can happen in the classroom, but it can prove challenging for students to remain on topic, take conversational turns and give their peers wait time. In order to help students acquire these skills, we need to provide direct instruction, modeling by adults (and typically developing peers whenever possible!) and visual supports. Aim for the conversation target It can be difficult for students to keep track of the conversation target, especially in large group, fast-paced settings. It can be especially challenging for... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: classroom, Tina Moreno
Video of the Week: Communicative Competence in AAC
Today, we return to Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire to view another video from their AAC Initiative. In this presentation, Michael McSheehan reviews the domains of communicative competence in AAC and discusses issues and research supports for each area.
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Tagged With: communicative competence, Michael McSheehan, University of New Hampshire
5 Presentation Handouts on AAC Topics
AAC people are notorious for their love of professional development. If you haven’t been able to attend as many conferences as you would have liked, you might enjoy these handouts from AAC presentations in the US and Australia. Jane Farrall and Sally Clendon (AGOSCI, May 2015): Self-selected Reading Ashley Robinson (NCACA, 2015): Building Classroom Communities to Support AAC Users Caroline Musselwhite, Erin Sheldon, Deanna Wagner, Laurel Buell, & Gretchen Hanser (Closing the Gap, 2014): Communication Circles Lauren Enders (ATIA, 2014): AAC-Ideas for Infusing Core Language Across the Curriculum Jennifer Buxton (ATIA, 2014): AT Implementation in the School Setting – Struggles and Successes
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Tagged With: handouts
How We Do It: AAC at the Larc School with Kaitlyn Connors and Rachel Egbert
In honor of ASHA’s Better Hearing and Speech Month, we’ve invited clinicians who use AAC in their schools to share a bit about their work here on PrAACtical AAC. Today’s post is from Kaitlyn Connors and Rachel Egbert, two school-based SLPs in New Jersey. For the past 8 years, Kaitlyn has worked with children who use AAC. She earned her Master’s degree from Ithaca College and remains passionate about AAC, and helping each student communicate to the best of their abilities. Rachel earned her Master’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2013. She eagerly keeps abreast of the latest advances in AAC, which help her to deliver the most positive outcome possible for her students. Both Kaitlyn and Rachel currently serve students at Larc School. Beyond Requesting: PrAACtical Ideas for Building Language in the Classroom To take one student beyond requesting during snack time we implemented a core language board... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: classroom, core vocabulary, education, Kaitlyn Connors, Larc School, low tech, Rachel Egbert
AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week 20, May 2015
Monday – Sound/Music Cause and Effect Apps for Engaging AAC Learners Tuesday – Say What?!? AAC Assessment for Children Who Speak with Dr. Jill Senner and Matthew Baud Wednesday – Video of the Week: Communication Supports for Problem Behavior with Dr. Pat Mirenda Thursday – How I Do It: The All-in-One-Visual-Support Tool by Tabi Jones-Wohleber
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How I Do It: The All-in-One-Visual-Support Tool by Tabi Jones-Wohleber
I am constantly in awe of the creativity and generosity of AAC practitioners, particularly those like Tabi Jones-Wohleber who make fabulous materials and share them with colleagues that they’ve never even met. Tabi is an SLP on the AT Team for Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland. A graduate of Penn State University, her career has focused on AAC. Though she works with many schools and addresses a variety of AT needs, most of her time and creative energy is devoted to working with students with the most significant disabilities. In this post, she introduces us to the All-in-One-Visual-Support Tool. You wont want to miss Tabi’s treasure trove of prAACtical materials. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: It was a conversation I’d had many times before. A conversation that kept resurfacing in one form or another. It’s the conversation of how to manage all the stuff; all the visuals, all the reinforcers, all the communication tools. The benefit of visual supports to... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: classroom, resources, schools, Tabi Jones-Wohleber, visual supports
Say What?!? AAC Assessment for Children Who Speak with Dr. Jill Senner and Matthew Baud
While the Index of Augmented Speech Comprehensibility in Children (I-ASCC) has been around for almost 20 years, few clinicians know and use it. In this post, we welcome back Matthew Baud and Jill Senner to talk about how they are using this assessment tool. Enjoy! AAC evaluations can be challenging, especially if there is disagreement among team members as to whether AAC is necessary or not. We frequently see disagreements about AAC arise when a student is able to speak. Let’s examine the following case. Mrs. Brown has had Johnny in her class for the last 2 years and she “understands everything” he is saying during their routine calendar time. The new SLP, who only sees Johnny once weekly for 30 minutes, tried to elicit information about his weekend at home and reported that she “didn’t understand anything.” What is going on here? How can two communication partners have such vastly... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: assessment, Jill Senner, Matthew Baud, speech intelligibility
Sound/Music Cause and Effect Apps for Engaging AAC Learners
AAC clinicians are a creative bunch. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit some colleagues and was excited to see how they are repurposing free/low cost apps to build engagement and interaction in learners with significant communication challenges. Many of us work with learners who are highly motivated by mobile devices and apps that make music or sound, but still have a way to go to build their skills in using them. For some, we find that using apps that are relatively simple and easy (both motorically and cognitively), can spice up a session. Here are some sound/music cause and effect apps to explore. Of course, these apps are intended for a purpose completely different than how we are using them in therapy. Nonetheless, kids love them and that means that we SLPs can get a lot of mileage out of using apps like these in our therapy sessions. Burp... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: Apps, cause and effect, implementation ideas, music