April 24, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
What’s new and interesting in your world of AAC? Each Tuesday, we invite you to share your own AAC-related goodness so that others may benefit from your efforts. 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. 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 receive this post in your email inbox, you are probably getting it before anyone has had a chance to add their links. Check back... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
April 23, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Many of our AAC learners need help building the knowledge and skills that are important when trying to connect with others and develop true friendships. In this post, SLP Katie Bernadkin shares one approach that she uses with her students. Katie is a New York City native now working in San Diego middle and elementary schools. She focuses on autism, AAC, and social cognition. In this post, she explains how uses Social Thinking’s Peer-A-Mid concept to support her students. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Building a Peer-a-mid Do you have any kids on your caseload that have a hard time recognizing when other kids are attempting to befriend them? Conversely, do you know the student who seems to always end up with a “friendly” peer, who is daring them to say something naughty? Recognizing these signs is such a valuable skill for our socially challenged kids to learn. I like to start with the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: friendship, social cognition, social emotional development
April 22, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
It’s hard to believe that we’re more than half-way through the month of April. Has it been as busy a month for you as it has been for us?! In case you missed them, here’s a wrap-up of our posts for the week. Monday – When Students are Reluctant to Use AAC: 5 Things to Try Tuesday – AAC Link Up (Check out AAC-related things that readers posted.) Wednesday – Video of the Week: Parent-implemented Intervention for Challenging Behavior Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: Promoting Inclusion and Participation for People Who Use AAC :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still in the mood for a little more AAC? Here is a potpourri of past posts. Build AAC Intervention Skills: Skillful Use of Time Delay Pragmatic Skill Intervention Developing Skills for Switch Use 10 AAC Intervention Strategies We Can’t Live Without Beyond Requesting: Routines to Increase AAC Use at Mealtime
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post
April 19, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’re so pleased to discover a new resource created by Talking Mats through a partnership with Scotland’s National Health Service Education. This guide, Promoting Inclusion and Participation A holistic approach to working with children and young people who use AAC, has lots of useful information, embedded video clips, discussion questions, and more. You can download the book here. (Note: It is a large file that takes awhile to download.) Kudos to the wonderful team at Talking Mats for their fine work on this project, and to NHS Education Scotland for making it available on their website!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: community, inclusion, schools
April 17, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
What’s new and interesting in your world of AAC? Each Tuesday, we invite you to share your own AAC-related goodness so that others may benefit from your efforts. 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. 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 receive this post in your email inbox, you are probably getting it before anyone has had a chance to add their links. Check back... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
April 16, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Work with students who are reluctant to use their AAC in front of others? Sometimes students become self-conscious and hesitate to use SGDs or other forms of AAC out of the fear that it will make them stick out. Of course, we do our best to encourage them but what else can we do? Here are a few things to try. Normalize AAC use: When lots of people use AAC, it reduces the student’s feeling that they stick out. Be relentless in your own modeling, and help others to build the habit of using AAC when they speak. Connect them with an AAC mentor: Role models can have a powerful influence on our perception of our world and ourselves. Connect students to others who use AAC successfully. If there aren’t older students or adults in your community, consider making online connections using social media. There are quite a few people... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: emotional competence, emotional support, peer supports, reluctant communicator, self-esteem
April 15, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts from the week gone by. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: Structured Play Groups Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Aided Language Input – How Much Language Should We Model? Thursday – “We don’t ‘do’ AAC.” :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Have time for a little more AAC reading? Here are a handful of posts to browse. How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders Documenting AT in the IEP 5 Reasons to Put AAC Training for Staff and Parents into the IEP AAC and the IEP: 5 Resources to Explore PrAACtical Resources: AT in the IEP Have a wonderful week!
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: IEP, school, summary post
April 12, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Armando’s parents were so disappointed when they inquired about AAC supports for their son during a recent visit to his classroom. “We don’t ‘do’ AAC,” they were told. “We’d love to, but we just don’t have the resources.” When Mia’s family moved to a new school district, they were expecting her to be able to continue using the Minspeak-based device that Mia had been learning to use in her previous school. Instead, they were told that this school uses ‘other’ kinds of AAC and that Mia would be provided with one of the AAC apps used by some of her new classmates. After all the time and effort of an AAC evaluation, and then struggling to learn the basics when Mia first got her device, it seemed unreasonable to start over with a new AAC system. But, Mia’s parents were told, ‘once she gets used to it, she’ll be able to... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Barriers, policy, practice, schools
April 10, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
What’s new and interesting in your world of AAC? Each Tuesday, we invite you to share your own AAC-related goodness so that others may benefit from your efforts. 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. 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 receive this post in your email inbox, you are probably getting it before anyone has had a chance to add their links. Check back... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
April 9, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
In today’s post, we visit an online module for helping children with autism learn to better interact with their peers using a structured play group methodology. Structured play groups are among the evidence-based practices that professionals can use to support young children with significant communication challenges. This online module was developed as a part of the Autism Focused Intervention Resources and Modules (AFIRM), a project of the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Enjoy! If you enjoy this module and its accompanying resources, please consider supporting AFIRM.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AFIRM, EBP, play, Structured Play Groups