April 28, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! It was good to see some of you at the fabulous AAC by the Bay Conference last week (if you missed it, look for this event again in 2021). Whether you were on-site at Cisco or at one of the many remote locations around the world, it was wonderful to learn together with you and the many insightful presenters. If you need to catch up on some AAC reading, here are a few suggestions for you. Monday – Word Count: Looking at AAC Language Samples Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Getting Started with AAC Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC Assessment Corner ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, see if one of these past posts piques your interest. PrAACtically Reading: Over in the Garden with Karen Natoci Talking Mats: A PrAACtical Tool Using Metaphors to Support Vocabulary Teaching AACtual Therapy: “At first I... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC groups, reading, summary post, Talking Mats, vocabulary instruction
May 18, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
In previous posts, we’ve written about our love of rating scales as an easy way to help people with significant language challenges express their preferences. We also posted a video of that in action with a little preschooler using Talking Mats to tell whether he liked or disliked various school activities. What could be better than getting the authentic input from our prAACtical friends? Two things, actually. An e-tool for this purpose A FREE app In this post, we share two demonstrations, one with an adult client and one with a child. You can see the demo of the app here. First, take a look at James. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzAgGmLYpE0 Next, let’s take a peek at Matthew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIIv17eTgFI And, last, but not least, a link to the free Talking Mats app.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: free, rating scale, Talking Mats
April 23, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Last week, we were delighted to have a post by Dr. Joan Murphy about a research-based approach called Talking Mats. In this post, we share a video of the implementation of this concept with Charlie, a preschooler who has considerable oral language but nonetheless benefits from making language visible. Take a look. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgPBHxxLerA
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Joan Murphy, Talking Mats
April 16, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve shared about Talking Mats in a video and on our Facebook page, but we needed to call on the experts to go into more detail about this approach. Thankfully, the co-directors of this project, Dr. Joan Murphy and Lois Cameron, were willing to collaborate. in this post, Dr. Murphy shares her knowledge with us. Hope you enjoy learning about the implementation of Talking Mats as much as we did. What is Talking Mats? Talking Mats is an innovative, award-winning communication tool which is based on extensive research and designed by Speech and Language Therapists in Scotland. Our vision is to improve the lives of people with communication difficulties by increasing their capacity to express their views about things that matter to them. Talking Mats is an interactive resource that uses three sets of picture symbols – top scale, topics and options and a space on which to display them.... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Dr. Joan Murphy, Scotland, Talking Mats
November 17, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Empowering people with AAC needs to be actively involved in goal setting is something that most professionals would see as a priority. Where we get sometimes get stuck is on HOW to make that happen. In this week’s featured video, Dr. Joan Murphy demonstrates the use of Talking Mats in goal-setting conversations. You can learn more about that here. Direct link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-fFCtQ5sB
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: empower, goal setting, goals, Joan Murphy, Talking Mats