Video of the Week: Sensory Intervention for Individuals with ASD: What Does the Research Say?

August 16, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts


Video of the Week: Sensory Intervention for Individuals with ASD: What Does the Research Say?

Many AAC learners struggle with sensory input and there are several interventions designed to help them cope with these issues. Today, we learn from Dr. Pat Mirenda of the University of British Columbia in a 2014 presentation hosted by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration in Autism (CIRCA). If you are committed to providing evidence-based practice to your AAC learners, this is an important video to watch. Direct link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yh5og9wAss&t=31s

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Video of the Week: Implementing AAC at Home

August 9, 2017 by - 1 Comment


Video of the Week: Implementing AAC at Home

Are you working with families who are looking to boost their AAC use at home? If so, you may want to share today’s featured video with them as it is rich in both prAACtical information and inspiration. Karen Owens of We Speak PODD is the presenter at this archived session which was part of CoughDrop’s AAC in the Cloud Conference. Enjoy!      

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Video of the Week: Supporting AAC Learners in the Classroom

August 2, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts


Video of the Week: Supporting AAC Learners in the Classroom

Getting ready to head back to school? There are lots of things we can do to help our AAC learners be successful in the classroom and develop their language skills. In today’s post, we feature another wonderful video in the Power AAC series sponsored by PaTTAN. Master AAC clinician Gail Van Tatenhove is the speaker and shares essential information about ways in which partners can support students who are learning to use AAC systems. Before beginning, you may want to download this handout with links to video clips of the target strategies being used.   We’re grateful to Gail and PaTTAN for making this video and sharing it so that we can all benefit.  

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Video of the Week: When Helping Isn’t Helping-Prompt Awareness in AAC Instruction

July 26, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts


Video of the Week: When Helping Isn’t Helping-Prompt Awareness in AAC Instruction

Learning to communicate with AAC can be a long road with plenty of twists and turns. In most cases, AAC learners require support and that may include various forms of prompting. In today’s video, we feature a presentation from the AAC in the Cloud Conference that CoughDrop hosted last month. In this video, SLP Rachael Langley, shares her thoughts on prompting, where we go wrong, and how we can use it to better support AAC learners. Many thanks to CoughDrop and to Rachael Langley for making this presentation available.     Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2mtuhVa0WA&index=3&list=PL8oiM_hsU8kYofdlpC4vcYX49yuBZvv9v  

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Video of the Week: AAC Teaching Tips on Scaffolding and Visual Supports

July 19, 2017 by - 1 Comment


Video of the Week: AAC Teaching Tips on Scaffolding and Visual Supports

Once AAC systems are in place, therapists, teachers, and parents often turn their focus on how to help learners use those to express themselves and to better understand their world. Today, we once again turn to Gail Van Tatenhove, an AAC master clinician, for teaching tips and ideas for resources and materials. This video is part of the Power AAC series from PaTTAN. Many thanks to Gail and PaTTAN for making this available. You can see other posts from the series here.  

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Video of the Week: Parent Collaboration in AAC Therapies

July 12, 2017 by - 1 Comment


Video of the Week: Parent Collaboration in AAC Therapies

Parents and professionals have so much to teach each other. In this video, we get to peek into a session where collaboration and sharing work to the benefit of the AAC learner. It takes time for skill-building and becoming consistent at using supportive strategies, like aided language input, expansions, and graduated prompting. Whether we are parents or professionals, the learning process takes time. We have to give ourselves permission to move from knowing about AAC facilitation strategies, through using them periodically, to using them consistently. It takes time and lots of practice. Clips from this session remind us that we don’t have to be perfect. We just have to be open to change, willing to try new ways of interacting, and ready to commit to growing our AAC support skills over time. When we do that, kids are the real winners. Thanks to the Louisiana AT Initiative for making this... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: Beyond the Basics – Core Considerations in AAC Intervention

July 5, 2017 by - 2 Comments


Video of the Week: Beyond the Basics - Core Considerations in AAC Intervention

Cloudy with a (big) chance of AAC? The weather was fine at AAC in the Cloud conference, an online event hosted by the wonderful team at CoughDrop. Over two days, there were three tracks of AAC presentations and a fun keynote by Kate Ahern. Many thanks to Brian Whitmer and his colleagues for inviting me to participate.   You can download the handout for the session here.

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Video of the Week: Supporting AAC Learners in Working with Words

June 28, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts


What do students with cognitive impairments who use AAC need in order to learn to read and write? Comprehensive literacy instruction, for one thing. In today’s featured videos, we travel to Iowa to peek into some classroom activities where students with cognitive disabilities who use AAC are working on their spelling and decoding skills. Direct Links to Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti8IOEICJQc&list=PLocplddh5SSRBGRsR0tOFXIJd5wh6i89k  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BUXpKlLISs&list=PLocplddh5SSRBGRsR0tOFXIJd5wh6i89k&index=7 Many thanks to the Iowa Department of Education, teachers, and students for these helpful videos.

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Video of the Week: Object Symbols and Core Vocabulary

June 21, 2017 by - 3 Comments


Video of the Week: Object Symbols and Core Vocabulary

Figuring out the best way to represent language to someone who will be communicating through AAC is challenging, but when the client is unable to see well enough to use pictures, the task is infinitely more complex. In this week’s featured video, Dr. Kathy Howery provides an overview of the 3D tactile symbols created by the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for high frequency core words. If you work with individuals who are blind or have very low vision, this important video is one you may want to share with the whole team. You can access the accompanying handout here. Many thanks to Kathy Howery and Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium for creating this video and making it available to us all.    

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Video of the Week: Breaking Down Barriers to Inclusive Education for AAC Learners

June 14, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts


Video of the Week: Breaking Down Barriers to Inclusive Education for AAC Learners

How can we help our AAC learners become cognitively engaged and participate fully in instructional activities? What can we do to support social connectedness and help them make contributions to classroom learning experiences? In this week’s featured video, which is embedded in a fuller AT Internet Module, Erin Sheldon helps us answer those kinds of questions and shares a framework to help us plan for full participation in learning experiences. We’re grateful to Erin, OCALI, and AT Internet Modules for creating and sharing these wonderful resources.  

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