Tag Archive: AAC Awareness Month

How We Do It: Celebrating AAC Awareness Month at School

October 12, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

How We Do It: Celebrating AAC Awareness Month at School

What better way to start the day than to see how AAC Awareness Month is being celebrated in a school system?! Today, pediatric SLP Elisa Parker tells us how they do it in the school district where she works. For the past 20 years, Elisa has served young children in the Park Hill School District in Kansas City, Missouri.  Her passion for AAC and children with autism led to her becoming an Autism Coach and Assistive Technology Facilitator. She has been an Autism Coach for the Gerner Family Early Education Center for 7 years and the Assistive Technology Facilitator for 3 years.  Elisa consults with and provides AAC training for teachers and support staff of young students who use AAC and has also coached teams at the K-12 level. ============================ Celebrating October – AAC Awareness Month There are so many hardworking staff members I work with who implement AAC in their classrooms... [Read More...]

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AAC Awareness Month, Week 2: AAC Printables & Downloads

October 9, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Awareness Month, Week 2: AAC Printables & Downloads

It’s exciting to see how families and professionals around the world are hosting events (see our suggestions here) and doing all sorts of informal activities to build awareness of AAC. In today’s post, we share a variety of materials that can be printed and/or shared. Print and display an AAC Poster. From CoughDrop: Keys to Modeling From Rachael Langley: Subway Art From Lauren Enders: AAC Do/Do Not From Kate Ahern: The Periodic Table of AAC From Noodle Nook: 5 Tips for Communicating with Nonverbal Students From Scope: Speak Up and Be Safe From PrAACtical AAC: More Teaching, Less Testing Share handouts Print, hang, or give someone an AAC awareness image 10 Commandments of AAC Devices Hanen Center: Tips for Parents of Children Who Communicate Without Words Susan Berkowitz: Partner Strategies for Augmentative Communication Scope: AAC Strategies in Healthcare Settings Have fun with AAC memes created by a variety of people

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AAC Awareness Month, Week 1: Hands-on Activities

October 2, 2017 by - 2 Comments

AAC Awareness Month, Week 1: Hands-on Activities

Welcome to ISAAC‘s 10th Annual International AAC Awareness Month! For the past decade, October has given us some extra opportunities to spread the word about all things AAC, and it’s pretty exciting to think back on all we’ve done and also to plan for the current year. Each week during AAC Awareness Month we’ll share suggestions for things to do to help others learn about a field that emerged to support children and adults with complex communication needs. This week, we’ll focus on hands-on activities. A popular approach to AAC Awareness Month is to invite a group of colleagues or families to come together and communicate only through AAC for the event. Some years, we’ve held ‘Silent Snack’ events before class where we put out a variety of board games and invited some of our AAC clients to come in and play along. They enjoyed serving as our AAC Ambassadors,... [Read More...]

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AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #40: October, 2017

October 1, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #40: October, 2017

Today marks the start of AAC Awareness Month. Let’s kick it off with some posts from last week and then dig into the archives. Monday – PrAACtically October: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Wednesday – Video of the Week: Breaking Down Barriers to AAC Implementation Thursday – How We Do It: Developing & Implementing a District-wide Focus on Communication and Core Vocabulary (Part 1) Need some information or videos on ways to better support people with challenging behavior? Here are some posts that may be of interest. PrAACtical Resources: Behavioral Supports for Young Children AAC and Challenging Behavior Using Structure to Minimize Behavioral Challenges Preventing Problem Behavior at School with Dr. Barry Prizant Communication Supports for Problem Behavior with Dr. Pat Mirenda Starting tomorrow, we’ll share ideas and materials for celebrating AAC Awareness Month, but we just couldn’t wait to share Lauren Enders‘ collection of AAC and literacy apps... [Read More...]

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Building an Understanding of AAC in Your Workplace

October 6, 2014 by - 2 Comments

Building an Understanding of AAC in Your Workplace

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...]

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The Faces of AAC: Justyna and Wiktoria

October 2, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

The Faces of AAC: Justyna and Wiktoria

What better way to promote AAC awareness than to share the faces of people who use AAC and the SLPs who serve them? Today, we go to Poland to visit with Justyna Puchalka, who has a private practice in Bielsko, and her young client, Wiktoria. Justyna has been working as a speech therapist for almost 10 years, mostly with young children who have a range of conditions including Down Syndrome, Prader Willi, cerebral palsy, autism and multiple disabilities. Justyna shared that she is very passionate about her work. “Because ‘my children’ make my work a challenge and, thus, my work gives me much satisfaction, not to mention that I simply like to help these children and their parents.” Justyna made a video to share some thoughts about Wiktoria’s AAC journey. Many thanks to Justyna, Wiktoria, and her family for helping us celebrate AAC Awareness Month! Direct link tovideo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eLE2nlA6R8  

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2014 AAC Awareness Month Giveaway

October 1, 2014 by - 6 Comments

2014 AAC Awareness Month Giveaway

Could it really be October already?! Let’s start off AAC Awareness Month with a giveaway. We are so grateful to the following organizations for donating raffle prizes for this drawing. Please take a moment to thank them. Aacorn Ablenet Alexicom Appy Therapy Choice Works/Bee Visual Hump Software Lesson Pix News 2 You Safe N Sound Mobile Saltillo Smarty Ears Speak For Yourself Speak MODalities SpeechPathology.com Speech Tree Apps TapSpeak Therapy Box Tobii-Dynavox How Does It Work? We use Rafflecopter to administer the giveaways. All entries made through there will be counted toward our drawings. Once we’ve drawn our winners, we’ll send an email to each one. You’ll need to be a good sport to play along because we’re not going to get into requests for specific prizes or substitutions. (As I learned from wise-beyond-her-years Pauleen, “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” Love that!) The winners will... [Read More...]

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31 Posts You May Have Missed in October

November 4, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts

31 Posts You May Have Missed in October

Strategy of the Month Building Participation Building Participation with Older Learners Classroom Participation Community Participation PrAACtical Thinking Second Annual AAC Awareness Month Celebration! 5 Fun AAC Things to do to Get Ready for Halloween 30 Posts You May Have Missed in September Celebrate AAC Awareness Month with PrAACtical Giveaways Another PrAACtical Celebration How Can we Make ‘Clients’ ‘like’ Using their AAC ? 6 Things to Learn from Talking AAC Communicative Competence in AAC Throwback Thursday Core Word Round Up Celebrating AAC Awareness Month 2013 Halloween Recipes for Cooking AAC Style Fast FAACt- What 24 Cents Will Buy Perception & Presuming Competence 5 Ways to Promote Consistent AAC Use What Went Well How I Do It Implementing AIded Language Input with Alicia Garcia 5 AAC Things I Wish I Had Known with Deanne Shoyer Teach Me Tuesdays Alexicom AAC Proloquo2Go Video of the Week Everyone Communicates- Advocacy & Inclusion Developing Communicative Competence... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical AAC Celebration #2

October 11, 2013 by - 20 Comments

Another PrAACtical Giveaway

It’s time for the 2nd  2013 AAC Awareness Month celebration!   It is so exciting to see all of the AAC activities and plans from around the country and world to help spread AAC Awareness. There has been sharing of AAC information, AAC decorations, Silent teas, and much more. We hope that with increased awareness,  there is increased ACCESS for ALL who need it. Keep spreading AAC information and keep teaching & learning. HAPPY INTERNATIONAL AAC AWARENESS MONTH! Celebrate with us by entering our AAC giveaway. Good Luck Everyone! The PrAACtical AAC Celebration is made possible by the very generous and awesome people at the organizations listed below: : Ablenet, Inc Abilipad Alexicom BeeVisual/ChoiceWorks Dynavox/Mayer Johnson Handhold Adaptive Hump Software MarbleSoft Mozzaz News-2-You Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company Safe N Sound Mobile Silver Lining Multimedia Smarty Ears Speak For Yourself  SpeechPathology.com SpeechTree TapSpeak TherapyBox/TBoxApps TouchChat Verbally How Does It Work?... [Read More...]

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AAC Awareness Month Wrap-Up

November 1, 2012 by - 3 Comments

AAC Awareness Month Wrap-Up

It’s hard to believe that AAC Awareness Month 2012 is over. We are happy to announce the winners of the final drawing. Diane Saunders (#160), Rachel Berry (#12), Claire Rubin (#73), Cassandra Stafford (#726), Carrie Walls (#609), Alison Rumball (#369), Monica Venezia (#309), Tanya Keller Scott (#414), Tea Moore (#393), Christina Frenzel (#179), Hudi Bernstein (#668), Yvette Bardole (#350), Lauren Enders (#241), Juliana Escobar (#500), Caroline Trzaska (#294), Kimberly Hurley (#488), Jane Eikelboom (#189), Amy Vinson Taylor (#771), Lisa Neely (#567), Stacey (#695), Debra Seixas (#451), and Melissa Seldin (#268). We will be in touch later today with the specifics. We are deeply appreciative of the AAC community who furnished the prizes we awarded to 70+ winners. A huge thank you to Ablenet, Inc, Abilipad, Alexicom, Avaz, BeeVisual, Dynavox/Mayer Johnson, Gail Van Tatenhove, PA, Hump Software, iClick iTalk, MarbleSoft, Mozzaz, News-2-You, Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, RJ Cooper, Safe N... [Read More...]

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