November 26, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for resources that promote successful school experiences? Need tools that support inclusive educational practices? Developed by Communication Rights Australia, the Teachers’ Toolkit for Students with Little or No Speech is a website that school personnel can use to identify effective strategies and supports for students with complex communication needs. Their Teachers’ Checklist contains a series of questions that are linked to topics on a range of supports and strategies that can make a big difference in the lives of AAC learners. There are also helpful forms for teams to develop a Student Profile and Individual Learning Plan. You can begin to explore their AAC resources here.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, Inclusive Education, school
November 25, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Hope you had a wonderful week, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may want to browse. Monday – 5 Kinds of Pre-stored Messages That Put the AAC Learner in Control Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Alphabet Books and AAC Implementation Thursday – Gratitude and Thanksgiving ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for a few other AAC articles to read? We’ve got plenty for you to choose from. It’s PrAACtically Chanukkah! PrAACtical Guessing: 5 Apps for Interactive Inferencing Supporting Children in the Pediatric ICU 5+ Things to Do to Help AAC Learners Communicate About Illness or Injury “What’s Wrong?” AAC Messages for Negative Emotions and Feelings
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: illness, inference, prestored messages, sick, Thanksgiving
November 22, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
grat·i·tude /ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/ noun the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness In the spirit of our American tradition of Thanksgiving, we pause to reflect on our blessings and offer thanks. We’re grateful for: The people who use AAC and their families for all they do to help us get better at this business of supporting communication Service providers in homes, schools, clinics, hospitals, and community agencies The university programs that have a dedicated AAC class, especially if they have a permanent faculty member with expertise in this area Bonus thanks to those that also offer supervised clinical or student teaching experiences with AAC mentorship opportunities or an AAC lab with SGDs, AAC apps, switches, and mounts. The professional and service organizations that support AAC through professional development opportunities, grants, mentorship programs The power of e-communication platforms for the AAC support on listservs, blogs, groups, threaded... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: gratitude, Thanksgiving
November 19, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Here’s a conundrum. Personal autonomy is an important component of happiness and well-being, yet it may be hard to come by for people who use AAC. How can we give some power back to our AAC learners so that they have more control of their own circumstances? One way is to provide them with the language that enables them to push back on us and/or assert their own influence on situations. Some individuals have the language in their AAC system already but need instruction and support in learning to say the kinds of things that allow them to advocate for themselves. We can also provide AAC learners with prestored messages that help them stick up for themselves, and teach them when and how to use those. Here are some examples to consider. Take a look and see if there are any that may help your AAC learners achieve more personal... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: control, prestored messages, self-advocacy, self-determination
November 18, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. It’s been a busy week of AAC here at the ASHA Convention. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – AAC at the Table: 5 Tips for Building Social Communication at Mealtimes Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – AAC Video of the Week: The Folly of Fortune Telling Thursday – Letters from Camp, Part 2 (Working with Words) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you’re interested in a bit more AAC reading, check out some of these past posts. Breaking Down Barriers to AAC Implementation AAC and Emergent Literacy: 5 Posts with Implementation Ideas AAC Intervention That Teaches More and Tests Less: Thoughts on Implementation AAC in the Classroom for Students with Significant Disabilities – Implementation & Data Collection Three Ways to Use AAC Goals to Strengthen Implementation
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: implementation ideas, summary post
November 15, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
The weather is nippy here in Boston where 12,000+ professionals are gathered for the annual ASHA Convention, and the blustery wind makes us think back longingly to the warmer days of summer. Today. Ohio-based SLP Tina Moreno helps us do just that as she returns to share more information on the reading and writing activities that AAC learners in Camp ALEC experienced. In today’s post, she shares some of the details about Working with Words. If you missed it the first time, you can visit Tina’s earlier post here. Many thank to AAC mom and SLP Tina Moreno for giving us a peek into the wonderful instruction provided to these AAC learners! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Working with Words at Camp ALEC At Camp ALEC in August, our literacy counselors planned fun, motivating activities that helped our campers learn to read and write new words. In another setting, we might refer to these... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Camp ALEC, literacy, phonic, Tina Moreno, working with words
November 13, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week, we invite you to share your own AAC-related content, product news, or anything else that you’d like others in the AAC community to know about. It may be a recent post you’ve written, a slide deck from your AAC presentation, a handout, video, or meme that you’ve posted online, an AAC product you’ve created, an announcement for an AAC camp or conference, or any other prAACtical content you developed and want to share with the AAC community. To post your own link, scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post and complete the form. Enter the URL and the name/title in the boxes provided below. If you are on a mobile device, click over to the full website version to do this. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed, so it may take a little while... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: preschool
November 12, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Think back on some of the meals that you’ve shared with others recently. What did people talk about? In most cases, there’s a lot more that ‘Pass the peas,’ ‘What’s for dessert?’, and ‘Can I go now?’ Mealtimes are social experiences in many cultures and it can take some work to ensure that our AAC learners can take part. Here are some ideas for supporting the development of social communication during shared meals. Build a routine that includes social communication: AAC learning takes time and lots of prAACtice. We can support the march to AAC proficiency by incorporating specific kinds of social exchanges into our mealtimes so that AAC learners know what the expect and have practice opportunities for this skill set at mealtime. Some examples: Sharing Time (i.e.., everyone shares something that happened to them that was funny/interesting/memorable), Question of the Day (e.g., “What’s your favorite __?” “Where’s the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: implementation ideas, mealtime, social interaction
November 11, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here is a handful of AAC posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: CandLE Literacy for All Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Faces of AAC – Zainab Omar Thursday – MASTER PAL AAC Training Series: Lessons Learned ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you’re still in the mood for browsing, check out the selections below. PrAACtical Thoughts on Mastery 5 Things to Do When AAC Learners are Inconsistent PrAACtical Teaching in the Autism Classroom: Instructional Activities for Core Vocabulary Core Values: Suggestions for Language Building with AAC Learners More Words, Please! Expanding Our Manual Communication Boards
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language therapy, MASTER PAL, summary post
November 8, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Thanks to all who reached out to express appreciation for Tabi Jones-Wohleber’s training resources in the MASTER PAL series. Many of you have already used the slides, video links, handouts, and discussion points that were shared over the past few months, and others have plans to do so. In this final post, Tabi shares some of the ‘lessons learned’ in creating and utilizing these materials. If you’re new to the series, you can check out each of the 11 modules here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::; Over the last 11 weeks, facilitation strategies for communication partners have been shared through the Model as a MASTER PAL series. Model as a MASTER PAL is a framework for supporting communication partners of those who use AAC that evolved in response to the need go beyond the imperative and always present conversations of “use core words” and “model AAC”. It started as a list of ideas to... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC training, downloads, MASTER PAL, partner training