Tag Archive: meaningful language experiences

Literacy: Cookies & Core

September 5, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts

Cookies & Core

It is International Literacy Month.  We always like to celebrate with food. So when we found these cookies at Ikea we just had to get them, use them, and of course eat them.  Here is one of the activities we used with these delicious cookies. Can you guess the goals?   To create a meaningful language experience, we started with the cookies in a closed brown bag (communication temptation) and “like it” spelled out on the table.  Then we took the box of cookies out, spelled “like it”, waited expectantly and after prAACtice with spelling and saying in/out, more prAACtice and Aided Language Input, the student used the cookies to add “out” So the cookies were taken out.  We had a yummy snack. Then it was time for recess but before cleaning up, the student does this:  Apparently he wanted to go on the swing first.   Note:  Other visual supports/AAC... [Read More...]

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School Starts Soon: What Are Your Goals?

July 30, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts

School Starts Soon: What are your goals?

We know it is early, but school starts for some of us as early as 2 weeks from now.  As you are thinking of the goals that you will be working on with your students, children, clients, here are some samples, examples, & rationales for developing and writing AAC goals that matter. Once there are goals that make sense, then with  meaningful language experiences, the fun can begin. AAC Goals PrAACtical Goals That Matter (Document of Goals) PrAACtical Suggestions for Writing AAC Goals Quick Start AAC Goals PrAACtical Goals That Matter Sample AAC Goals How I do It: AAC in the IEP by Lauren Enders How to Set Goals for Assistive Technology in the IEP Goals to Support AAC Use Scoop it by Lauren Enders: Writing IEP Goals for AAC Users                      

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Apps to Prepare, Learn, & Talk About Summer Vacations

July 16, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts

Apps to Prepare, Learn & Talk About Summer Vacation

Vacations are great! But all  great vacations need preparation because new experiences and change can be stressful even if the stress is good. Vacations are also opportunities for lots and lots of meaningful language experiences. Here are some apps specific to vacations but also don’t forget your schedule apps (e.g., Choiceworks, Kids Calendar, etc) or your story creations apps (e.g., Pictello, Story Creator, iCreate… Social Skills Stories, etc.) to customize for specific personal vacations. Prepare, Learn, & Talk About Summer Vacations My Little Suitcase by Moms with Apps Packing for Vacation- Prepare your suitcase for Traveling Bogga Vacation Planes by Byron Barton      Miko Goes on Vacation: An interactive bedtime story book for kids about Miko’s first beach holiday, where he enjoys swimming and making new friends, by Brigitte Weninger illustrated by Stephanie Roehe.    Roxie’s a MAZEING Vacation Adventure Lucy’s First Flight: A Geography Story Panda Book    ... [Read More...]

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It’s PrAACtically Memorial Day!

May 16, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts

It's PrAACtically Memorial Day

It’s PrAACtically Memorial Day! Memorial Day is prAACtically here.  We remember, appreciate, and honor the people who have protected our freedoms. Getting ready so EVERYONE can participate is important. We wrote about memorial day last year and had found some good  gluten-casein free Memorial Day recipes. There are even more resources today. Check out Gluten Free Memorial Day Weekend Menu and Recipe Ideas or Gluten Free Casein Free Applesauce Muffins.  Cooking and baking provide meaningful language experiences as well as just plain fun. There are symbol based recipes on Pinterest  at Picture Recipes and Visual Recipes for Children with Autism, and at Specialty Chef. There are also prAACtical AAC ways to teach about Memorial Day’s meaning as well as the typical memorial day vacations, activities, and events. Learning about Memorial Day  Memorial Day Activity Board Memorial Day Vocabulary Cards Memorial Day Bingo Memorial Day Adapted Bingo Summer Pack  Memorial Day  After learning about Memorial... [Read More...]

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AAC Immersion- Happy Mother’s Day!

May 10, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts

We were just having some in-depth conversations about AAC and making a difference. AAC intervention needs to be part of more than speech-language therapy.  It needs to be a way of life, a communication and language interaction style, and fully immersed into all interactions. There are some Mom’s who make this happen. We have written about some of them in Getting From Here to There . But there are more (many more) and for awhile now some have been blogging about their AAC & visual language adventures. Here are just a 5 awesome posts from moms who share AAC rationales and meaningful AAC & language  experiences. Learn from the best. Beach Trip (And AAC on the Road) by Dana Nieder–  Uncommon Sense Halloween & AAC  by Deanne Shoyer –  Small But Kinda Mighty Her Eyes Shows She Knows by Catriona– Living With Rett Syndrome  An Open Letter to the Parent of a Child with Speech... [Read More...]

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More on Core Words…

April 27, 2013 by - 3 Comments

More on Core Words: 36

This month we have talked about core words and teaching strategies & considerations for facilitating USING core language. We have talked about aided language input,  creating frequent opportunities, making connections b/w symbols and their referents, and  motor planning/automaticity.  As April ‘goes out’,  we add graduated prompting/prompt hierarchies, and wait & signal/time delay prompts. The key to teaching AAC core word language is strategies…. Aided language input (ALI) is fairly simple to do but sometimes overlooked.  However, once it becomes habit, it is hard not to do even when you are ‘just’  talking about AAC displays. There are many clinical rationales or reasons why ALI is so important.  It provides a model of the language we expect from the child (or adult), and how would anyone speak a language if they never ‘heard’ it.   ALI also helps by  introducing new words and symbols in meaningful contexts. If we are speaking AAC throughout the day then... [Read More...]

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