April 2, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy World Autism Day! April has evolved from the original concept of raising awareness to include much more, but it still gives us an opportunity to learn, improve, and celebrate. Why learn more about working with people who have autism? There are lots of reasons, but here’s one for my fellow SLPs. If you are a school-based clinician, there is an excellent chance that you have these students on your caseload. According to the 2014 SLP Schools Survey Caseload Report, 90% of the school SLPs serve kids with ASD. Whether you are a teacher, therapist, family member, paraprofessional or just a curious person, understanding more about autism, especially from people WITH autism, will be an enriching experience. Whether you #LightItUpBlue or choose to #WalkInRed with #RedInstead, let’s renew our efforts to provide better communication supports to people with autism. Today, we share some ideas both for increasing our own understanding of... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ASD, Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month
March 29, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for a learning resource that goes beyond a quick overview and covers some of the details about providing AAC to school-aged children? Today, we visit an online learning site by the UK Department for Education called Communication-Augmentative and Assistive Strategies. It has wonderful information on a variety of AAC topics and downloadable resources for topics such as low tech AAC, vocabulary selection, and becoming a good communication partner. Take your time to explore this learning module and all of the resources it has to offer.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: downloads, education, resources, school
March 26, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
It’s almost time to turn the calendar to a new page and that gives us the opportunity to highlight a new set of core words. Whether you are following along with the Set 1 (12 words/month) or the Set 2 words (16 words/month; Different than the previous core words), or are just getting started, this post has some helpful resources. We’re grateful to Nancy Inman, Brian Whitmer, Tina Lombardi, Barbara Fernandes, Russell Cross, Gail Van Tatenhove, Allison Wade, Eric Sailers, Bill and Lori Binko, Heidi LoStracco, Rachael Langley, and all the others who have contributed to this effort. Our words for this month are as follows. Set 1 List: big, busy, do, drink, feel, he, in, make, out, some, tell, who Set 2 List: blue, brother, close, family, head, last, long, no, old, right, scared, soft, thing, top, wash, whole Here are some resources to help with implementation. Templates for you to plug... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words
March 22, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Lauren Enders does it again! We can always count on her for up-to-date information on the sales and discounts that get offered for Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month (April) and AAC Awareness Month (October). Check out this useful information. Note: The resources in this post will be updated with new information as it becomes available. Thank you, Lauren! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking to purchase an AAC or literacy app? It’s that time of year again! Don’t miss your chance to download select apps at a substantial discount in honor of Autism Acceptance/Awareness month. (Not all developers will be offering discounts.) Make sure you note specific sale dates for each app as they vary. Link to a PDF of this graphic for sharing: http://bit.ly/aacappsalegraphicmarchapril18 You can view or download a spreadsheet with sale dates and download links here http://bit.ly/aacappsalesmarchapril18 Reminder from my friend and respected colleague Rachael Langley: “Remember many of these programs... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC apps
March 19, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve shared the Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children (by Hazel Dewart and Susie Summers) previously, and it remains a very useful tool. More recently, it has been adapted by Suzanne Martin, Katherine Small, and Rachel Stevens to focus specifically on people who use AAC. The Pragmatic Profile for People Who Use AAC is a welcome addition to our AAC assessment toolkit. Many thanks to the ACE Centre for their leadership and support in this area. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ACE Centre, assessment, pragmatics
March 18, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are a few past posts to start your day. Monday – PrAACtical Alert: AAC Professional Development Options Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Medicaid Funding for SGDs Thursday – Transitioning to the Workplace: Resources for AAC Learners with Significant Disabilities ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for some AAC materials? We pulled out a few from the AAC Toolbox just for you. Spelling Boards & FlipBook– Letter boards (alpha & QWERTY) used at Camp Alec; Created by Tina Moreno Visual Supports Wiki Resources from OCPS – See also How We Do It: Essential TRICKs for Supporting AAC in Schools, Part 1 How I Communicate – Template for a Gesture Dictionary Communicare Language Board Templates – Communication board templates for the post “How We Do It: Using Language Boards to Support AAC Use” Colorful Connections – Templates for teaching modified Fitzgerald Key and Goossens’, Crain, & Elder color-coding schemas
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: downloads, summary post
March 15, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
If we do our jobs well, students with AAC needs will leave school with a solid plan for post-secondary learning and/or the workplace. In most places, it can be challenging to identify meaningful work and learning experiences for young adults with AAC needs as they exit public education. While employment and educational opportunities for these young adults are slowly increasing, it is nonetheless a struggle to help young adults get prepared for their post-school lives. In this post, we share some resources that can help teams guide students and their families. QuickBook Of Transition Assessments (Cline, Halverson, Petersen, & Rohrbach, 2005) Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory–Second Edition (R-FVII:2) (Becker, 2000) Choose and Take Action Vocational Assessment Software (Martin, Marshall, Wray, Wells, O’Brien, Olvey, & Johnson, 2004) Self-Directed Employment: A Handbook for Transition Teachers and Employment Specialists, (Martin, Mithaug, Oliphint, Husch, & Frazier, 2002): May be out of print but available in... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: transition, vocational planniing, work
March 13, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
“The miracle is this: The more we share, the more we have.” (L. Nimoy) 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... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: Link up, sharing
March 12, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Lauren Enders, an amazing AAC SLP from Pennsylvania, graciously shared this list of professional development opportunities that may be of interest. Lauren works as an Augmentative Communication/Assistive Technology Consultant for Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22. In the list below, she shares resources for AAC learning in both online and face-to-face formats. Enjoy! You can see more of Lauren’s guest posts here. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS FOR AAC IMPLEMENTATION ONLINE SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING OPTIONS: Power AAC modules: a FREE training series developed by The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN)with Gail Van Tatenhove, CCC-SLP. This series of brief modules can be used for professional development by individuals or groups who are supporting students with complex communication needs and who need or use AAC. The POWER AAC modules are intended to build the capacity of school personnel to improve communication skills and provide flexible, generative vocabulary for students who need or use AAC. AAC Institute... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Lauren Enders, lifelong learning, professional development
March 11, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
It’s a wonderful week to support people with AAC needs. Here are a few posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – Expanding AAC Learners’ Single Word Utterances Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Building a Love of the Social World in a UDL Classroom Thursday – PrAACtical Research: Aided Language Input for People with Developmental Disabilities :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And if you have an appetite for a few more spoonfuls of AAC, here are a few past posts to sample. Supporting Communication Development in Children with Vision and Hearing Impairments Video of the Week: CVI – The Everyday Impact on People Who Use AAC PrAACtical Resources: High Contrast Core Vocabulary Board 5 Great Resources for Helping Individuals with Vision and Hearing Loss AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: The Eyes Have It-Assessment Considerations for High Tech Eye Gaze Access Hope you make a little AAC magic happen... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post, vision impairment