August 14, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week, we invite you to share your own AAC-related content so that others may learn from you and benefit from your efforts. Schedules are often a little more relaxed in the summer, so share away! 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 camp 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... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
August 13, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for some additional resources that can help you implement A Year of Core Vocabulary Words? Help yourself to this flipbook with sentence suggestions for a variety of activities. It goes along with our monthly series of core words and features the August words, but works well with any system that is rich in core vocabulary. You can download the file for it here. Happy talking!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words
August 12, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Hello, AAC friends, and happy Sunday! Here are a handful of posts that may have been overlooked in your busy week. Monday – “I’m using Aided Language Input. Now what?” Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Thumbs Up for AAC Support in The Community Thursday – 3 AAC Tips You Might Not Have Tried Yet :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And, wait! There’s more! PrAACtical Resources: Lockdown, Code Red, and Other School Safety Drills PrAACtical Resources: AAC for School Staff Preschool AAC and Visual Supports from Orange County Public Schools Who Can Pay for AAC Devices for Public School Students? Preventing Problem Behavior in Schools by Dr. Barry Prizant Have a great week, AAC friends!
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post
August 9, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for a few more tips to smooth out your AAC implementation? Here are a few to try out. Do you have parents or other stakeholders observing your therapy or lesson? Get them focused and engaged by having them collect data. For example, you can print out a copy of the child’s main AAC screens and have them make a hash mark on the words that their child uses during the observation. This won’t substitute for your own data but is a great way to keep them involved and help them focus on the target behaviors. Take a photo or screenshot of the main page of a client’s communication book or AAC device/app and make it the home screen on your phone. You can use it to model AAC when the other options are not available. It’s far from perfect but can be helpful in a pinch. Keep an AAC Wish... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC implementation
August 7, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week, we invite you to share your own AAC-related content so that others may learn from you and benefit from your efforts. Schedules are often a little more relaxed in the summer, so share away! 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 camp 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. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed, so it may take a little while for your link to show up. Note: If you... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
August 6, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Children who grow up hearing Mandarin generally learn to speak Mandarin. Deaf children who grow up with parents and teachers who use sign language, generally learn to communicate in that sign language. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why children with AAC needs are likely to do best when they are able to see and hear competent communicators use AAC throughout the week. There is a growing body of evidence for the use of aided language input to support AAC learners at the beginning stages of language development and a great many more teachers, therapists, and families are employing these practices. That’s a very good thing. But is aided language input alone sufficient? Research studies have not yet addressed this question, but it is doubtful. Many AAC learners are not able to use observation and incidental opportunities to their advantage. For example, some are challenged with sensory issues that... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: explicit instruction, language therapy
August 2, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
It’s Throwback Thursday and today we’re revisiting some past posts on making AAC materials that include core vocabulary. Getting Ready for a Core Vocabulary Journey Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Make It Monday: More Words, Please! Expanding Our Manual Communication Boards Super Size It: 5 Ideas for Making Large Communication Boards
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: core vocabulary
July 31, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week, we invite you to share your own AAC-related content so that others may learn from you and benefit from your efforts. Schedules are often a little more relaxed in the summer, so share away! 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 camp 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. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed, so it may take a little while for your link to show up. Note: If you... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up, preschool AAC
July 30, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
self-ad·vo·ca·cy: self ˈadvəkəsē/ Noun: the action of representing oneself or one’s views or interests. —————————- Empowering AAC learners to advocate for themselves may be one of the most important and impactful things that we can do to help them stay safe and achieve their goals. Here are some ways we can support that process. Provide messages for self-advocacy behaviors: It’s hard to represent your own interests without the appropriate set of vocabulary and messages. Words and prestored messages for protesting and rejecting are essential (e.g., No; Stop; No, thank you; I don’t want to). In addition, consider adding messages which allow the communicator to express disagreement or negative opinions (e.g., I don’t like it; I don’t think so; That doesn’t work for me; This is unfair; That’s disrespectful) and proactively provide self-advocacy information (e.g., Please do what I asked; It’s on my IEP; I have a right to be heard; I... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: advocacy, self-advocacy, vocabulary selection
July 29, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Hope you are having a good weekend, AAC friends. Here are some posts from our prAACtical week for you to check out. Monday – PrAACtically August: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: The Bliss iBand Thursday – PrAACtical AAC Question of the Month: July 2018 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have an appetite for some AAC reading? Here are a couple of suggestions. PrAACtical Teaching in the ASD Classroom: Predictable Chart Writing with Core Vocabulary PrAACtical Resources: AAC Assessment Modules A Tool for Identifying Features for AT Selection Supporting People with Significant Communication Challenges in Medical Encounters AAC Apps and Devices: Thoughts on Conducting AAC Trials And if you’re doing some advance planning, we’d love to see you at this full-day workshop at ATIA in Orlando this coming January. On the graphic below, use the slider on the right to scroll through... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: assessment, ATIA, summary post