November 13, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
The AAC Participation Model, originally developed by Drs. David Beukelman and Pat Mirenda, has been a guiding force in AAC practices for many years. In today’s featured video, we turn to Kelly Fonner, a former teacher and highly experienced AT and education consultant, to share some thoughts about how we can use this to strengthen our plans for AAC implementation. This recorded session was part of the 2019 AAC in the Cloud Conference, which is hosted each spring by CoughDrop. We are grateful to Kelly and to CoughDrop for their generosity in making this session available. You can access Kelly’s handout for this session here. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO2fXruxk1w
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: implementation ideas, Kelly Fonner, participation model, schools
May 11, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Looking to strengthen your AAC assessment practices? Over the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting some videos that provide frameworks and prAACtical suggestions that may be helpful. In today’s video, Dr. Rae Sonnenmeier, of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, discusses processes and strategies that make our AAC assessments more effective and meaningful. Direct Link to Video: https://vimeo.com/88019903 The Communication Success Screening Tool referred to in this video can be accessed here. Thanks to Tobii Dynavox for making that available.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: assessment, participation model, screening
December 13, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Like many of you, we continue to hear about programs that withhold AAC supports from children who are nonverbal or minimally verbal. Sometimes they point to the perceived lack of readiness that the child has for AAC, in general. Other times, they erect barriers, such as an artificial benchmark that insists that children start with no-tech AAC (e.g., communication boards, books, PECS) or low tech SGDs before ‘earning the right’ to sophisticated AAC options. As yet another year comes to a close, it is hard to believe that there are still programs, administrators, or, worse yet, our SLP colleagues who think they are truly justified in limiting access to AAC. How can we move beyond tearing our hair out, drinking excessively, or ranting to our friends? Here are some ideas. “Show me the evidence.” Ask for empirical support for the position that withholding access to AAC tools and strategies is more... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: barrier, participation model, prerequisites, rationale