October 9, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Whether by birth or by choice, families play such an important role in our lives. They’re the focus of this edition of today’s post, so if it’s a topic of interest, here are some posts to browse. Videos Articles AAC Intervention For Multicultural Families – Similarities and Differences Across CulturesFaces of AAC: Making It Work in A Busy Family Parent Coaching & Tele-AAC PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book PrAACtical Research: Effects of Parent Instruction on SGD Use Emergency Preparedness for the AAC Family AAC Therapy: Putting Parents in Charge
Filed under: Featured Posts
October 6, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
In our part of the world, October brings pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween costumes, and apple cider. But no matter where you live, October is more than pumpkins and Halloween. It’s internationally recognized as AAC Awareness Month, and it offers a wonderful opportunity for spreading the word as to how we can support people with complex communication needs. One way to spread the word, is to make an AAC Awareness Bulletin Board to display in an office, school, or clinic. In today’s post, we share a set of materials that can be printed on colored paper and used to create an engaging display Download the files, print on colored paper, and you are ready to assemble your display. Happy AAC Awareness Month, everyone!
Filed under: Featured Posts
October 5, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Happy AAC Awareness Month, AAC friends! Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – Make It Monday: Printables for Students & Staff Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: A Teacher’s Perspective on Supporting AAC in the Classroom Thursday – AAC Awareness Month: Free Course from ATIA Friday – PrAACticamente Conectados: La importancia de la alfabetizacion en la CAA :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Ready for a few more posts to browse? Here’s a selection that may interest you. Beyond Requesting – Thoughts on Teaching Interrogatives Expanding AAC Learners’ Single Word Utterances How I Do It: A Framework for Success-Getting Started in the Exciting World of Communication and AAC “I Made a Communication Board. Now What?”
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October 3, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Happy first Friday, AAC friends! On the first Friday of each month, we publish a post in Spanish by guest author Claudia Marimón to highlight AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. In this month’s post, Claudia makes a case for supporting the literacy needs of individuals who use AAC. Iniciamos el mes de Octubre compartiendo una muy importante para los usuarios de CAA y para quienes los acompañamos en su aprendizaje y nos enfocamos en ofrecer todas las oportunidades que favorezcan su desarrollo del lenguaje y la comunicación. La importancia de la alfabetización en la Comunicación Aumentativa y Alternativa (CAA) La alfabetización y la Comunicación Aumentativa y Alternativa (CAA) no son caminos paralelos, sino procesos íntimamente entrelazados. Enseñar a leer y escribir a las personas que usan CAA es fundamental, porque la alfabetización abre la puerta a una... [Read More...]
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October 2, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
In honor of AAC Awareness Month, ATIA is offering a free recorded course in the ATIA Learning Center during the month of October. To take advantage of this opportunity, visit the ATIA Learning Center atia.org/LearningCenter, choose any of their recorded courses, add it to your cart, and enter the code FREEAAC25 at checkout. Many thanks to ATIA for this wonderful opportunity!
Filed under: Featured Posts
September 29, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Here are two easy projects to enhance support for students who use AAC and the staff members who serve them. One is a tag that can be affixed to a student’s SGD to remind staff about key support strategies. The other is a set of bookmarks that can be used to build awareness of foundational AAC issues. Editable Tags Bookmarks
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September 25, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Our series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, Year of Core Vocabulary Words and School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, continues to be used by therapists, educators, and families. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle, was first published in 2020. Michaela built on this work by collaborating with Lindsay Dougherty to create a version specifically for older students. We’re reprising those posts for... [Read More...]
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September 22, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
At the start of the school year, it’s not uncommon to rely on generic manual communication boards with core vocabulary in situations where students with complex communication tools do not yet have access to robust AAC tools. In a perfect world, we’d immediately provide them with more comprehensive tools that align with their needs and priorities. When it takes more time to put that into place, it’s important to take steps to optimize the communication tools these students will use while they are waiting for a more appropriate AAC solution. Here are some thoughts on managing that situation. Generic core boards are usually considered a band-aid and not an acceptable substitute for communication tools that support functional communication or language development. Is it better than nothing? Yes, but let’s be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that, at best, it’s a very temporary fix. Some customization will need to be done... [Read More...]
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September 21, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have a few posts you might enjoy. Monday – Make It Monday: Videos for Teaching AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Read-aloud Demo of ‘What The Dinosaurs Did At School’ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have time, here are a few more posts to check out. PrAACtical Suggestions: 5 Ways to Elicit Language Without Asking a Direct Question Are you AACtually Listening? PrAACtical Suggestions: How to Get Started with A New AAC Client PrAACtical Questions: How Do I Find Good AAC Service Providers?
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September 15, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
When teaching AAC, it can be helpful to have multimedia materials to supplement our explicit instruction. In today’s post, we’re reprising a guest post by Special Educator Angie Sheets and SLP Nicole Wingate explaining how they create brief videos to illustrate the meaning of core words their students are learning. Take a look.
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