December 21, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for resources to support core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, two series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, remain popular with therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. 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. Many other contributors added to these efforts over the years. The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
December 18, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
For over a year, we’ve had an interest in a version of the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words suited for students in middle school, high school, and beyond. Michaela Sullivan and her colleagues have been hard at work at that, and we’re excited to share the addition of those monthly posts starting in just a few weeks. Look for target words for two levels of communicators, symbol grids, activities for teaching and practicing those words, data collection forms, and helpful information on implementation strategies each month. Today, Michaela and Lindsay Dougherty introduce you to their newest version of these wonderful resources. School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: Introducing “Lessons for Older Students” by Michaela Sullivan and Lindsay Dougherty Welcome back to a new School Year of Core Series – SYOC-Older Student Lessons by Michaela Sullivan, M.A. CCC-SLP and Lindsay Dougherty, M.S. CCC-SLP To the parents, teachers, Speech-Language Pathologists, Para... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 17, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts you might enjoy. Monday – Cultural-Linguistic AAC: Bilingual Literacy & AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Collaborating on AAC-friendly Healthcare Information Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC & Peer Relationships ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you can squeeze in a few more, take a look at some of these posts from the archives. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Hello, Holidays! How We Do It: Using AAC to Repair Communication Breakdowns Data Collection for the Beginning AAC User: Essential Things to Measure AAC & ASD: Beyond Scripting More Words, Please! Expanding Our Manual Communication Boards Activity Schedule AACtion Wishing all of you the magic of the season!
Filed under: Featured Posts
December 14, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to support relationships between AAC users and their peers? These past posts may give you some ideas. Promoting Friendships Between Users of AAC & Their Peers AAC in General Education: Incorporating Peer Modeling AAC Goes to High School: The Power of Peers Beyond Requesting: Let’s Chat with PeersThe PrAACtical Power of Peers Building Friendship Skills with Peer-A-Mids PrAACtical Resources: Teaching Peers About AAC Teaching Peers to Interact with Young Children Who Use AAC
Filed under: Featured Posts
December 11, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Our yearlong series on multilingual AAC support, guest-authored by BilingüeAAC, is drawing to a close. In today’s post, Melissa Tapia and Sarah Lee address AAC, bilingualism, and literacy. BilingüeAAC is a group of SLPs with a shared belief in providing evidence-based intervention strategies and resources to bilingual Spanish AAC clients, families, caregivers, and professionals. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Bilingual Literacy & AAC Welcome back to our Bilingue AAC Series! You can find our previous posts linked here, which wonderfully highlight best practices in bilingualism and AAC. (Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Post 4, Post 5). We are excited to dive into our topic of bilingualism, literacy, and AAC and how we can effectively provide literacy intervention in culturally affirming ways with our Bilingual* AAC users. *Clarification: We address “bilingual populations”; however, the resources discussed are specifically for Spanish/English speaking populations. Several of the suggestions can be broadly applied to other languages. The goal... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
December 10, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts you might enjoy. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Creating Buy-in Thursday – PrAACtically Hanukkah: Resources & Activities for an AAC-friendly Celebration ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Have a little more time? You might want to check out some of these posts from the archives. PrAACtical Questions with Vicki Clarke: What’s the Role of Core Vocabulary? Supporting AAC Learners in Emergent Writing: 5 Helpful Resources Writing AAC Goals Let Me Tell You Something- Narratives for the Beginning Communicator Teaching Word Prediction: 5 Strategies for Consideration
Filed under: Featured Posts
December 7, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Tonight is the start of the 8-day celebration of Hanukkah. In recognition of the holiday, we’re sharing some AAC-friendly resources that might be helpful to those who celebrate or are learning about this festival of lights. This treasure trove of resources from Gateways includes symbols for prayers and songs, social narratives, instructions for lighting the menorah, Hanukkah fire safety, games, and activities. Hanukkah Resources Hanukkah Crafts with Visual Directions by Simply Visual Communication Boards for Hanukkah and Christmas for AAC Users by Susan Berkowitz Hanukkah Short Story Comprehension and Retell with Visuals by MollyB SLP Hanukkah Shared Reading | Project & Trace Chart Worksheet by Cooper’s Crayon Box Digital Token Boards FREEBIE (Hanukkah Edition) – BOOM Cards by Speech Bop Hanukkah/Dreidel Classroom Supports by Miss Laidlaw’s Classroom Free Spanish / English “My Hanukkah” Emergent Reader Mini-book by Miss Shibz Hanukkah recipes and books from PreK Pages Silly Hanukkah Joke Tellers... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
November 30, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
It’s prAACtically time to turn the calendar to a new page, so today we’re re-sharing resources for December year of core word followers. In 2013, when schools and other clinical programs were expanding their emphasis on teaching core vocabulary words, PrAACtical AAC published a set of resources for families and professionals that included symbol cards, sample sentences to model, activity suggestions, and more. All of these were 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). Over the years, the resources were expanded and grew to include a wonderful series of calendars with daily activity suggestions developed by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
November 20, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, we’re getting ready for Turkey Day. If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving, these resources may be of interest. Activities & Materials Sweet Potato Pie Poem by Bloom PCS SymbolStix Regular Turkey Waffle No-Bake Thanksgiving Activity by Preschool Speechie Plus Thanksgiving Book by Speech Brain Build a Scarecrow by Speechie Adventures Thanksgiving Questions by Amy O Speech Language Pathologist Peppa Gives Thanks Adapted by Meredith Rus from Weave Chat Thanksgiving Lunchbox Note Jokes by Southern Mom Loves Thanksgiving Wh- Question Board Game by Speech Time Fun Roll a Turkey Game by Unoriginal Mom Communication Boards/Materials Thanksgiving Dinner Table Tent by AAC for ALL Thanksgiving AAC Communication Board by Just SLPeachy Thanksgiving Communication Board by Adventures in Behavior Thanksgiving Communication Board by Breezy Special Ed Thanksgiving Picture Core Word and Communication Board by Susan Berkowitz
Filed under: Featured Posts
November 19, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you might enjoy. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Executive Function and AAC Thursday – Throwback Thursday: Teaming & AAC ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, check out some of these previously published posts. 5 Ways to Tell If Your Students are Becoming Competent Communicators A Look at PODD Books Using Visual Supports to Bring Music Alive Supports for When Modeling AAC is Hard AACtual Therapy: Use Your Best Spud to Teach Vocabulary With Tanna Neufeld The Critical Nature of Literacy in AAC
Filed under: Featured Posts