October 14, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Have you been hearing a lot about telepractice lately and are wondering how that works when the client has AAC needs? In this post, we turn to Nerissa Hall and Hillary Jellison of Communicare who tell us how they use it in their clinical practice. Nerissa and Hillary are both SLPs and assistive technology practitioners specializing in AAC, AT, and telepractice/tele-AAC. They have worked together for a number of years and are the proud owners of Commūnicāre, LLC, organization based in Western Mass and CT, that offers intervention, consultation, and evaluation services focusing on supporting an individuals, or a team’s, success and independence through implementation of AAC, AT and innovative and evidence-based practices. We are committed to our clinical work, as well as translational research and are members of the C.A.R.E. Consortium. Tele-AAC: A Powerful Way of Supporting Individuals Using AAC Telepractice, which is used to provide professional services by linking clinicians... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Hillary Johnson, Nerissa Hall, telepractice
October 11, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Sunday: Video of the Week – The Communication Portfolio Monday: Strategy of the Month – Building an Understanding of AAC in Your Workplace Tuesday: PrAACtical Resources: Developing AAC Policies for Schools Wednesday: Watch It Wednesday: Communicating with AAC Thursday: How I Do It by Rachael Langley: PODD in the Classroom – Quick Tips for Teams Friday: Fast FAACt Friday: On Symbols and Reading
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
October 10, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
When we provide literacy experiences to pre-readers, a question emerges: Should we add symbols to the text? For those of us who have been prAACticing for awhile (you know who you are, friends), there has been a shift in our thinking. Early on, we tried to add symbols to the words. Our thinking was that doing so would enhance the client’s ability to learn to read. A few years ago, we re-examined that belief. Here’s why. Many times, our clients didn’t really know the symbols anyway. Symbols for frequently used words (like of, some, and know) are not at all transparent. So the notion that the symbols would help them understand what they were reading often didn’t pan out. We want the learners to (eventually) develop their reading skills and be able to read conventional text. The symbols distract attention away from the print/text. If we want the learner to... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: reading, symbols
October 9, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Today we welcome SLP Rachael Langley, who has been working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist for over 12 years. Currently working as an AAC Specialist in Mid-Michigan, Rachael tells us that she strives to spread the message about the importance of AAC and unlocking the communication potential of all students. In this post, Rachael shares some of her best tips for building communication with learners who are getting started with PODD books. The PODD system offers a complete language approach through carefully organized symbol sets. Because the PODD system promotes a language immersion model, there is no pressure on our language-learners reproducing specific words or patterns at a specific rate. Here are some quick tips I share with classroom teams who are starting out with PODD: Input before output! Model, model, model! – Without digging too deep into the importance of Aided Language Stimulation, we want to make sure... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, PODD, Rachael Langley
October 8, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
There is no better time that AAC Awareness Month to see and hear directly from people who use AAC. A lot of focus is on children and education, but this is a great reminder that no one is too old or too anything to learn to improve their communication skills. Thanks to Deanna Wagner, (who has done some terrific posts for us here, here, and here), and her clients at the Valley of the Sun School and Habilitation Center for making this video and sharing it with the rest of us.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: adults, Deanna Wagner, first person account
October 7, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
As much as we appreciate spontaneity, it is sometimes true that well-conceptualized policies and procedures help things run more smoothly. Today, we head to the UK where the ACE Centre has developed a comprehensive guidebook to help schools develop good AAC policies. Obviously, the specifics will vary based on the locale, but there is much to be gained from this thoughtful approach. Take a look. https://acecentre.org.uk/resources/developing-aac-policies-schools/
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ACE Centre, education, policy, schools
October 6, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
October is International AAC Awareness Month and giving us the perfect opportunity to go beyond our normal therapy-assessment-paperwork routine to spread awareness of AAC. Here are some thoughts for how to do that in the workplace. Inform: You’re probably already spreading the word about AAC as often as you can, but here are a few more ideas to help others gain an understanding of what can be done to support people with little or no functional speech. Create a brief AAC-related public service message that is delivered on morning announcements or staff meetings (E.g., “Everyone communicates, but some students with disabilities have difficulty talking. Did you know that just because some students can’t talk, they can still understand what you say? Special technology is sometimes used so they can better express themselves. Not only does that help them in the moment, but it may also improve their ability to talk”).... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Awareness Month
October 5, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Helping teams to get to know the communication abilities of our AAC clients is something many of us struggle with. In this video from The Perkins School, we learn about their process for developing communication portfolios. http://www.perkins.org/resources/webcasts/communications-portfolio.html
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, beginning communicator, Perkins, portfolio, teaming, teams
October 4, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Sunday: Video of the Week – Using Eye Gaze Monday: Strategy of the Month – Engagement Take-Aways Tuesday: Teach Me Tuesday – DynaVox Eyemax Wednesday: 2014 AAC Awareness Month Celebration Thursday: The Faces of AAC – Justyna and Wiktoria Friday: Fun Friday – Successful Interactions
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
October 3, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Friday is a great day to pause for a bit of fun. I had the opportunity to meet Janelle Sampson, of Two Way Street, this spring and learn a little bit about the work that she does. In this post, we share a video of one of her little friends using various modalities to communicate with his mother and brother. Enjoy this wonderfully prAACtical interaction! Big Words for Little Boys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWimeCvbIY
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Fun Friday, interaction, Multimodal, vocabulary