June 18, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for more ways to build AAC skills? Book reading can be incorporated into therapy sessions and instructional lessons, as well as part of the daily routine at home. Here are some ideas for using books to support AAC and language learning. Choosing a book: In most cases, we want the AAC learner to have the autonomy to choose a book. However, we can make this part of the AAC learning process by teaching the skill of choosing something to read and talking about it before the learner makes his/her choice. Goal Areas: We can use this time to build basic turn-taking skills, requesting, sentence-building, and new vocabulary, among other things. It’s also a great opportunity to develop more advanced syntax using words like ‘since’ and ‘because’ (e.g., “I want to read about sport because it is World Cup time.”) and various sentence structures (e.g., “First, let’s read a sports... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Books, reading
June 17, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We’re celebrating Father’s Day here in the US but if you have time to catch up on a little AAC, you might be interested in a few of our posts from last week. Monday – AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: Evaluating Skills For Use of Comprehensive AAC Systems, Part 2: Language Representation Elements – Noun Symbol Use for Functional Communication Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC in Emergency Situations – Tales from the Trenches Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: Core Vocabulary Flipbook for June Words :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: We spent part of the week with Dr. Caroline Musselwhite who shared some wonderful ideas for teaching emergent to early conventional literacy skills. Her terrific workshop got us in the mood for a little more on AAC, reading, and writing. Using an Alphabet Flipbook for Writing Writing Instruction for Students with Angelman Syndrome Robust Literacy Instruction for... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: reading, summary post, writing
June 14, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to help the team remember to model and elicit core words? Visual supports work for adults, too! This handy flipbook has sentence suggestions for the June Year of Core Vocabulary words, but you can use it with any AAC system that has core vocabulary. Print in black and white on plain paper or choose some brightly colored cardstock to give it a pop. You can download the file here.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words, download, flipbook
June 12, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Tuesdays are for sharing! 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. 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 receive this post in your email inbox, you are probably getting it before... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
June 11, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Vicki Clarke, CEO of Dynamic Therapy Associates and Director of DTA Schools, is back with another wonderful edition of AAC Assessment Corner. In addition to their clinic, Vicki and her team support school districts in AAC evaluation, equipment procurement, and implementation for individual students in the academic environment. DTA Schools also supports district-wide AAC implementation through the Classroom Communication Goals Project, training, and supporting all team members in classroom AAC implementation. In today’s post, Vicki shares her thoughts on how we can look at the use of AAC symbols for nouns as part of our evaluations for comprehensive AAC systems. You can view her previous contributions to the AAC Assessment Corner here. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Evaluating Skills For Use of Comprehensive AAC Systems, Part 2: Language Representation Elements – Noun Symbol Use for Functional Communication It was a crazy, busy month full of evaluations, trainings, and report writing. I’ve spent a lot of time with... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, beginning communicator, Vicki Clarke
June 10, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Before you start the work week, take a look at some of our posts from the week. Monday – PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: How Do You Know It’s Summer? Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AT for Writing Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: AAC Tag Still have time for a little more AAC? Here are some past posts to browse. AAC in the High School Classroom: Where Core Vocabulary Meets Life Skills PrAACtical Teaching in the ASD Classroom: Shared Reading AAC in the Classroom: Presentations You May Have Missed Developing AAC Policies for Schools Cooking in the Classroom with Carol Goossens’
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: classroom, school, summary post
June 7, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to share a little bit of information about a client’s AAC device, this card may come in handy. The file is editable so that you can customize it to meet your needs. You can download it here.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: downloads, partner instructions
June 5, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
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. 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 later in the day... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
June 4, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Karen Natoci is back just in time for the end of school and the start of summer break. Karen is an AAC Supervisor with The Speech Pathology Group in Walnut Creek, California. In this post, she gets us thinking about summer and shares suggested extension activities for home and a lesson plan for how to implement these materials at the return of school after summer break. Be sure to download the packet of materials using the link at the bottom of this page. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Book: How Do You Know It’s Summer? (Rookie Read-About Science) by Lisa M. Herrington It’s time to wrap up the school year! In the northern hemisphere, we are looking forward to summer break or a more relaxed school schedule. This is a great book to kick off the final week of school and to send along summer homework in preparation for the first week of school. The... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Karen Natoci, lesson plan, reading
June 3, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
First swim of the season. A Brazilian BBQ. School is almost out for our K-12 friends. A bit of AAC writing. Finalizing our prep for this wonderful workshop. Busy week at your house, too? Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – On Memorial Day Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Social Skills at Home Thursday – Research Support for Aided Language Input If you have a little more time, you might want to browse some of these past posts. 5 AAC Downloads to Use & Share Downloadable AAC Posters PrAACtical Resources: AAC Activities to Download or Explore PrAACtical Collaboration: Teaming Up to Build Communication with a Treat Cart If you’re local, take a look at this opportunity to learn from Dr. Caroline Musselwhite on teaching early reading and writing to learners of any age. You can use the scroll bar to explore or... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts