July 25, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
As we prepare for a new academic year, we’re delighted to reconnect with guest authors Michaela Sullivan and Lindsay Dougherty. Today, they kick off preparation for the upcoming school year with another wonderful set of Older Student Lessons in the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words series. Scroll down for some terrific resources, including two slide decks full of activities and the data collection forms specific to the Sugust core words. Their post also includes some helpful information on a key AAC support strategy, aided language input. SCHOOL YEAR OF CORE- Older Student Lessons Access & Copy below: Weeks 1-2 Google Slides Weeks 3-4 Google Slides INTRODUCTION- AUGUST 2024 Welcome back to the School Year of Core – Older Student Lessons: August! School is back in session for many and the summer is nearing the final stretch. Welcome back to the School Year of Core- Older Student Lessons (SYOC-OSL resource,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
July 22, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Today we return to the Stepping Into AAC series to highlight another segment in this journey. If you missed the earlier posts, you can view those using the links below. Introduction: A PrAACtical Guide to Stepping into AAC Week 1: Starting a Journey with Stepping into AAC Weeks 2-5: Building a Foundation with Stepping into AAC Weeks 6-8: Customizing AAC Tools with Stepping into AAC Weeks 9-12: Getting More Comfortable with AAC Practices Weeks 13-14: AAC & Reading Target Words: here, in, make, need, on, put, up, when, you Communicative Intents: Explaining, making choices, statements, ‘tell about’ Hands-on Activities: Keep working to build a daily routine that includes 10 minutes of AACtion steps. In this segment, you will focus on Asking Finding Looking Observing Planning Playing Pointing Practicing Saying Sharing Videos: Get ready to take AAC outside and into the community. Print Resources: View and share the information on changing... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, Stepping Into AAC
July 16, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week, we invite you to share your own AAC-related content, product news, or anything else that you’d like others in the AAC community to know about. It may be a recent post you’ve written, a slide deck from your AAC presentation, a handout, video, or meme that you’ve posted online, an AAC product you’ve created, an announcement for an AAC course or conference, or any other prAACtical content you developed and want to share with the AAC community. To post your own link, scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post and complete the form. Enter the URL and the name/title in the boxes provided below. If you are on a mobile device, click over to the full website version to do this. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed, so it may take a... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
July 15, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Today’s segment of the Stepping into AAC journey takes us into the world of literacy and focuses on how to support beginning AAC users during book reading and other activities. Missed the earlier posts in this series? You can access those below. Introduction: A PrAACtical Guide to Stepping into AAC Week 1: Starting a Journey with Stepping into AAC Weeks 2-5: Building a Foundation with Stepping into AAC Weeks 6-8: Customizing AAC Tools with Stepping into AAC Weeks 9-12: Getting More Comfortable with AAC Practices Target Words: all, it, same, this, turn Communicative Intents: Commenting, describing Hands-on Activities: To keep the momentum going during this segment of the journey, dedicate 10 minutes a day to building habits of supporting your learner’s AAC use. Comment Find Play Read Say Share Think Try Videos: Dive into the world of reading and learn ways to engage your learner while reading books together and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, Stepping Into AAC
July 14, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts that you might enjoy. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Alternative Ways to Access AAC Technologies Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC for the Little Ones Looking for some resources to use in your AAC work? Check out some of those listed below. AAC 101 Flipbook Communication Partner Data Collection Form AAC Skills: Caught or Taught? AAC Modeling Handout Gaming & AAC Repairing Communication Breakdowns
Filed under: Featured Posts
July 11, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
We get lots of questions about using AAC with young children, from babies to toddlers to preschoolers. There are many ways to approach this, so today, we are looking back at some of our earlier posts on AAC for little learners. Using Vest Displays with Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum with guest author Dr. Carol Goossens’ Mining the Preschool Routine for PrAACtical AAC Opportunities Supporting Preschoolers with AAC Needs: A Case Study Visual Supports in Action in the Preschool Classroom Video of the Week: Parent-Implemented AAC Intervention for Young Children PrAACtically Reading: Books Featuring Children & Youth with Disabilities From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs, Part 1, Part 2 TELL ME: AAC in the Preschool Classroom TELL ME About It (Year 1) TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Brown Bear, Brown Bear I Went Walking From Head to Toe Here Are My Hands What Do You Like?... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
July 7, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you might appreciate. Monday – PrAACtically July – AAC Resources for A Year of Core Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Supporting AAC Users at Camp Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados: CAA Con Links – Julio 2024 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have an appetite for some AAC? Check out this sampling of past posts. When Repetition Becomes Problematic SGDs for People with ASD “What Should I Program on the SGD?” Feature Match Chart 5 Features to Look for in SGDs and AAC Apps Making a Back-up for High-tech AAC
Filed under: Featured Posts
July 5, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy July, CAA friends! Each month, we feature a Spanish version of our AAC Link Up called CAA con Links. If you have AAC-related announcements, materials, or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. You’ll find the place to add that information at the very bottom of this post. Claudia Marimón organizes these monthly posts, which feature AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. In today’s post, Claudia introduces us to “Mi libro es así” (“My book is like this”), a project of a shared reading group led by Florencia Cambariere and María Fernanda Maquieira. Learn about this group’s activities, and don’t... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
July 1, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Planning for comprehensive core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words has resources that can be helpful to therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising a past post for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. The initial Year of Core Vocabulary 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. Many other contributors over the years added to these efforts. You can access the resources for July words by clicking on the image below. Set 1 & Set 2 Words
Filed under: Featured Posts
June 24, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome back to our series on using the Stepping into AAC materials. If you are new to this approach to getting started with AAC, you may want to look at some of the earlier posts. Introduction: A PrAACtical Guide to Stepping into AAC Week 1: Starting a Journey with Stepping into AAC Weeks 2-5: Building a Foundation with Stepping into AAC Weeks 6-8: Customizing AAC Tools with Stepping into AAC In Weeks 9-12, we ramp up our efforts to build habits of daily AAC use with a focus on daily routines and play/leisure. Target words for Weeks 9-12: can, get, help, I, more, open, that, finished, what, who Communicative Intent: asking and answering questions, asking for help, protesting, rejecting, showing off Hands-on activities: Make plans to spend 10 minutes a day doing these simple activities that will help you build the AAC habits that support your learner’s use of AAC.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts