AAC Link Up – April 17

April 17, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


AAC Link Up - April 17

What’s new and interesting in your world of AAC? Each Tuesday, we invite you to share your own AAC-related goodness so that others may benefit from your efforts.  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. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed, so it may take a little while for your link to show up. Note: If you receive this post in your email inbox, you are probably getting it before anyone has had a chance to add their links. Check back... [Read More...]

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When Students are Reluctant to Use AAC: 5 Things to Try

April 16, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


When Students are Reluctant to Use AAC: 5 Things to Try

Work with students who are reluctant to use their AAC in front of others? Sometimes students become self-conscious and hesitate to use SGDs or other forms of AAC out of the fear that it will make them stick out. Of course, we do our best to encourage them but what else can we do? Here are a few things to try. Normalize AAC use: When lots of people use AAC, it reduces the student’s feeling that they stick out. Be relentless in your own modeling, and help others to build the habit of using AAC when they speak. Connect them with an AAC mentor: Role models can have a powerful influence on our perception of our world and ourselves. Connect students to others who use AAC successfully. If there aren’t older students or adults in your community, consider making online connections using social media. There are quite a few people... [Read More...]

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“We don’t ‘do’ AAC.”

April 12, 2018 by - 2 Comments


“We don’t ‘do’ AAC.”

Armando’s parents were so disappointed when they inquired about AAC supports for their son during a recent visit to his classroom. “We don’t ‘do’ AAC,” they were told. “We’d love to, but we just don’t have the resources.” When Mia’s family moved to a new school district, they were expecting her to be able to continue using the Minspeak-based device that Mia had been learning to use in her previous school. Instead, they were told that this school uses ‘other’ kinds of AAC and that Mia would be provided with one of the AAC apps used by some of her new classmates. After all the time and effort of an AAC evaluation, and then struggling to learn the basics when Mia first got her device, it seemed unreasonable to start over with a new AAC system. But, Mia’s parents were told, ‘once she gets used to it, she’ll be able to... [Read More...]

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AAC Link Up – April 10

April 10, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


AAC Link Up - April 10

What’s new and interesting in your world of AAC? Each Tuesday, we invite you to share your own AAC-related goodness so that others may benefit from your efforts.  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. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed, so it may take a little while for your link to show up. Note: If you receive this post in your email inbox, you are probably getting it before anyone has had a chance to add their links. Check back... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Resources: Structured Play Groups

April 9, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


PrAACtical Resources: Structured Play Groups

In today’s post, we visit an online module for helping children with autism learn to better interact with their peers using a structured play group methodology. Structured play groups are among the evidence-based practices that professionals can use to support young children with significant communication challenges. This online module was developed as a part of the Autism Focused Intervention Resources and Modules (AFIRM), a project of the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Enjoy! If you enjoy this module and its accompanying resources, please consider supporting AFIRM.

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AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #15: April 2018

April 8, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #15: April 2018

Spring is springing in our part of the world, bringing inspiration for new beginnings and the possibilities of rebirth. Here are some of the posts we shared in our prAACtical week. Monday – April Is Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation Month Tuesday – AAC Link Up  (Check out the things people shared here if you get a chance.) Wednesday – Video of the Week: AT in the IEP Thursday – 5 Ways to Promote Generalization of AAC Use ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Inspired to read and learn more about the complexities of autism? Here are some posts that may be of interest. Sensory Interventions for Students with ASD: What Does the Research Say? Communication Supports for Problem Behavior with Dr. Pat Mirenda SGDs for People with ASD Narrative Skills in Students with ASD Friendship Skills for People with ASD who Use AAC And don’t forget to check out Lauren Ender’s materials for discounts on AAC and literacy apps... [Read More...]

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5 Ways to Promote Generalization of AAC Use

April 5, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


5 Ways to Promote Generalization of AAC Use

Do you work with AAC learners who demonstrate their communication skills in therapy or instructional lessons, but not elsewhere? In this post, we review some things we can do to make it easier for AAC learners to generalize their newly-developed skills and use them in a variety of places with a range of communication partners. Part of the solution to this problem lies in collaborating with the communication partners in other settings. In doing that, we want to be sure that the partners use good communication facilitation strategies, such as these. Partner skills are something we’ve covered here on several occasions. Today, we’ll focus on changes we can make within our direct intervention or instructional lessons with AAC learners. Initially, we may control some of the instructional variables, such as materials and cues, rather tightly. Keeping things consistent is great for the initial teaching of new skills because it allows... [Read More...]

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April Is Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation Month

April 2, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


April Is Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation Month

Happy World Autism Day! April has evolved from the original concept of raising awareness to include much more, but it still gives us an opportunity to learn, improve, and celebrate. Why learn more about working with people who have autism? There are lots of reasons, but here’s one for my fellow SLPs. If you are a school-based clinician, there is an excellent chance that you have these students on your caseload. According to the 2014 SLP Schools Survey Caseload Report, 90% of the school SLPs serve kids with ASD. Whether you are a teacher, therapist, family member, paraprofessional or just a curious person, understanding more about autism, especially from people WITH autism, will be an enriching experience. Whether you #LightItUpBlue or choose to #WalkInRed with #RedInstead, let’s renew our efforts to provide better communication supports to people with autism. Today, we share some ideas both for increasing our own understanding of... [Read More...]

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AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #14: April 2018

April 1, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #14: April 2018

Around the world, people are celebrating Easter and Passover.  May the holiday bring a sense of renewal to your spirit and peace to your heart. For some of us, the reflection and celebration come with a big dose of AAC! Monday – PrAACtically April: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Pivotal Response Treatment Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: AAC for School Staff :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Today is also the start of Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. We’ll post more about that tomorrow, but here are some autism-related posts to get you in the mood to celebrate those around us who have autism. Building Engagement in Young Students with Autism AACtual Therapy: Making Core Words Fun for Students with Autism Autism and AAC: 5 Pinterest Boards to Follow Evidence-based AAC Strategies for Students with Autism with Betsy Corporale An ABA Perspective on AAC for Students with... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Resources: AAC for School Staff

March 29, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts


PrAACtical Resources: AAC for School Staff

Looking for a learning resource that goes beyond a quick overview and covers some of the details about providing AAC to school-aged children? Today, we visit an online learning site by the UK Department for Education called Communication-Augmentative and Assistive Strategies. It has wonderful information on a variety of AAC topics and downloadable resources for topics such as low tech AAC, vocabulary selection, and becoming a good communication partner. Take your time to explore this learning module and all of the resources it has to offer.

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