Tag Archive: beginning communicator

Throwback Thursday: Support for Beginning AAC Communicators

July 27, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

Throwback Thursday: Support for Beginning AAC Communicators

Do you work with people who are just starting to get the hang of communicating with symbols and using SGDs? Today. we’re revisiting some posts that may have some helpful information on ways to support beginning users of AAC. Recommended Practices for Beginning Communicators  Using Symbols with Beginning Communicators  5 Facebook Groups for Families of Beginning Communicators  Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentences  A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators 

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Data Collection for the Beginning AAC User: Essential Things to Measure to Expedite Progress

February 16, 2017 by - 11 Comments

Data Collection for the Beginning AAC User: Essential Things to Measure to Expedite Progress

It’s exciting to see more and more teams on the road to implementing AAC in therapy and in the classroom. Often, though, our initial expectations for student progress don’t pan out. Consider these examples. Aleksander’s SGD has robust vocabulary that is customized specifically for him. He uses it consistently at snack and lunch time, but rarely uses it in other activities. Ariel uses her AAC app to ask for things, make comments, and answer questions but rarely goes beyond the single word level to express herself. Jayson had a PECS book for over a year and learned to request his favorite foods but not much else. His team switched Jayson over to a more robust AAC system, and while he learned to communicate for other reasons, he still doesn’t use his communication book very frequently unless he’s prompted to do so. Do these situations seem vaguely familiar? Helping AAC learners become... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: AAC in the Classroom for Students with Significant Disabilities – Implementation & Data Collection

July 13, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: AAC in the Classroom for Students with Significant Disabilities - Implementation & Data Collection

Today, we head back to AbleNet University for the second part of AT specialist and consultant Kelly Fonner’s presentation on advancing the communication skills of students with the most significant disabilities. In this video, Kelly goes deeper into implementation issues and discusses strategies for meaningful data collection. Missed the first part? You can check that out here. Kudos to Kelly and AbleNet University for hosting this series and making these videos freely available.   Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BywUo_2es2E&ab_channel=ableUOn-demandProfessionalDevelopment

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Video of the Week: AAC in the Classroom for Students with Significant Disabilities

July 6, 2016 by - 2 Comments

Video of the Week: AAC in the Classroom for Students with Significant Disabilities

Most classrooms that include children with the most significant disabilities are comfortable with low tech AT and use it frequently throughout the day. In today’s video, AT consultant Kelly Fonner, discusses strategies for maximizing the use of those technologies and progressing to more advanced communicative options. A frequent presenter at international, national, and state conferences, Kelly shares ideas for taking what already works in these classrooms and moving to the next level. As always, she provides clear explanations, rationales, and the all-important ‘how-to’ for implementing additional strategies and technologies. Many thanks to Kelly and AbleNet University for making this video available.   Direct Link to Video: https://www.ablenetinc.com/customer/account/login?referer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWJsZW5ldGluYy5jb20vcmVzb3VyY2VzL3JlY29yZGVkX3dlYmluYXJzP3M9a2VsbHkrZm9ubmVyJnNvcnQ9JnBvc3RfdHlwZT1yZWNvcmRlZF93ZWJpbmFycw

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Video of the Week: Observational Assessment of Beginning Communicators

June 22, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Observational Assessment of Beginning Communicators

In last week’s video, we heard from SLP Maureen Nevers about the principles and practices used in assessing individuals who are at the beginning stages of communicative development. Today, we continue that theme and focus more specifically on using observation to collect assessment data on the form and function of communication. In this video, Maureen works through some video examples to demonstrate how brief observations of interaction can yield useful information about how and why the individual is communicating. You can visit their Communication Training Series webpage to see more from this wonderful team and get the specific resource documents for this presentation. Many thanks to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation for creating and sharing these videos. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qvvKNZEGMs&list=PLihsTkrStCHZVZBHDC0Qr7z10cYWC0ltx&index=36  

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Video of the Week: Assessment of the Beginning Communicator

June 15, 2016 by - 1 Comment

Video of the Week: Assessment of the Beginning Communicator

Looking to strengthen your assessment practices with beginning users of AAC? The Angelman Syndrome Foundation’s Communication Training Series has a two-part presentation on this topic that will be of interest to professionals and families alike. In this video, SLP Maureen Nevers discusses a range of prAACtical strategies and tools for gathering meaningful assessment data that helps guide intervention. One important note: Don’t skip this just because you are not currently working with individuals who have Angelman Syndrome. Like their other videos, the information in this presentation is relevant to those working with children, teens, and adults with a wide range of developmental disabilities. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgrsr8a2EKA&index=35&list=PLihsTkrStCHZVZBHDC0Qr7z10cYWC0ltx Kudos to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation for this outstanding series of training videos, and for making them freely available. Interested in this topic? Stay tuned for the second video on this topic in a future post.

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AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: AAC Assessment for Emergent Communicators

June 1, 2016 by - 3 Comments

AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: AAC Assessment for Emergent Communicators

Today, we welcome back Vicki Clarke with more helpful information on conducting AAC assessments. If you work with individual who are at the early stages of communicative development, this post is for you! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Some of my most favorite students are those who, at first, may not seem to notice me at all.   Sometimes these students seem to exist in their own worlds.  They don’t seem to respond in ways we would expect: looking, attending, listening, or gesturing.  They may have a diagnosis of Autism, significant developmental delay, epilepsy, or any number of syndromes. I love these kids, and unfortunately, these are often the students who don’t get referred to me.  Sometimes it takes years of working in a district before I get to see students with significant developmental delays.  These children are typically served in classrooms for students considered to be severe/profound or multi-handicapped.  Honestly, I usually get the... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: Getting Started with AAC for Parents and Practitioners

April 20, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Getting Started with AAC for Parents and Practitioners

Looking for a video to help families get started (or restarted) on their AAC Journey. In today’s featured video, The Center on Technology and Disabilities brings us a wonderful webinar presented by Dana Nieder, author of the popular blog, Uncommon Sense. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmvJSM3QFJk 

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Video of the Week: Classroom Support for the Beginning Communicator

November 25, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Classroom Support for the Beginning Communicator

Gabriella doesn’t seem to notice what her teachers and peers are doing in the classroom. When offered a choice of toys, she seems to reach for one rather randomly, has little interest in the one she chose, and knocks it to the floor after 30 seconds. Elliot is assertive in greeting visitors to his classroom, and eagerly leads them around the room, vocalizing excitedly as he shows them around. When he needs help with a toy or material, he hands it to an adult with clear intent and expectation. He’s not using actual words just yet, and his interest in PECS has been limited. Alyssa uses a communication board to make requests and answer questions, but only with a lot of prompting. She uses single symbol utterances in planned communication opportunities during a few activities during the school day. Team members have observed spontaneous use of her AAC tools a... [Read More...]

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Throwback Thursday: 10 Posts on AAC for the Beginning Communicator

September 3, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Throwback Thursday: 10 Posts on AAC for the Beginning Communicator

Looking for information to help you round out your services to beginning communicators? Here are some previous posts to explore. Intervention Core Words, Direct Vocabulary Instruction, and Beginning Communicators Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentence Length Let Me Tell You Something: Narratives for the Beginning Communicator Breaking Through with Emerging Intentional and Beginning Communicators of All Ages A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators Ideas About Vocabulary Instruction for Beginning Communicators Videos Recommended Practices for Beginning Communicators Teaching Prelinguistic Communication to Beginning Communicators Using Symbols with Beginning Communicators Other 5 Facebook Groups for Families of Beginning Communicators  

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