November 27, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
With Thanksgiving behind us, it’s time to look ahead to the month of December. A few years ago, we suggested that one way to help strengthen learners’ abilities with core words is to take a different set of 12-20 core words each month and focus on them for a few weeks. How? By modeling those words, making resource materials (like word cards with the symbols), creating activities in which those words figure prominently, posting them in the classroom/therapy room, reading books that have heavy use of these words, sharing them with families, write stories using them, etc. Core words are a great addition to the highly motivating, learner-specific words that many AAC users start with. If you are looking to expand to more robust language, this approach may be of interest. Here are the specific words we are focusing on in December. Set 1 (2013): ask, favorite, goodbye, hear, of,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words
November 26, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the U.S., it’s been a beautiful but busy week of family, friends, food, and fun. If you missed a few posts between the preparation and celebration, you can catch up here. Monday – “But He Doesn’t Like It!” 5 Things to Try with AAC Learners Who Don’t Like Shared Reading Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC 101 for First Responders Thursday – A PrAACtical Thanksgiving And if you’re in the mood, feel free to poke around some AAC posts from years gone by. 5 Quick and Easy Games That Build AAC Skills Building Sentence Length Through Conversational Routines and Games eGames for Switch Users Appy Learning with The Speech Techie Home Programming with AAC
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post
November 23, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, it’s a day of thanksgiving and that makes it a perfect time to express my gratitude for the contributions of our guest authors. It is amazing to look back and reflect on the contributions from families, therapists, and teachers, all of whom are incredibly busy. Special thanks to those who’ve come back time and time again to share their ideas, experiences, and resources in one of our recurring series. Vicki Clarke: AAC Assessment Corner and other topics Karen Natoci: PrAACtically Reading Jill Senner and Matthew Baud: How We Do It Amy Devin and Lauren Pawlowski: PrAACtical Teaching in the ASD Classroom Lauren Enders: PrAACtically Pinteresting, How I Do It, and more! Tabi Jones-Wohleber: How I Do It And others! I am grateful to all who make sharing what they know a priority and humbled that some of you choose to do it on PrAACtical AAC. Happy Thanksgiving,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: gratitude, holiday, Thanksgiving
November 20, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Have you had an experience like Stacy’s? Stacy SLP knows the importance of building literacy skills in her students who use AAC and was happy to have found an age respectful book that aligns with the curriculum. She downloaded it onto her iPad and practiced reading it so that the push-in session would go smoothly. Stacy reviewed the students’ SGDs and came up with a plan for targeting specific language or AAC skills. She was determined to infuse more literacy activities into her therapy and began the reading activity with equal measures of excitement and nervousness. It was both frustrating and disheartening when her students didn’t like the activity, were hard to engage, and even tried to escape. Within the first few minutes, her enthusiasm had turned to fear (’What do I do NOW?’) and dread (‘How am I going to get through this session?!’). Many of us have had... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Books, shared reading
November 19, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some posts that you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: AT in the IEP Wednesday – Video of the Week: Assessing AAC Learners of Different Ability Levels Thursday – On AAC Training: Skill Building for AAC Team Members ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for a few more places to browse? Here are some selected posts on making and using visual supports. Free Resources for Making AAC and Visual Supports How I Do It – Using an App to Make AAC Materials and Visual Supports AAC Teaching Tips on Scaffolding and Visual Supports Designing and Using Visual Supports for Older Students 5 Visual Supports for the AAC Classroom Wishing a meaningful week to all who celebrate Thanksgiving!
Filed under: Featured Posts
November 16, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
It’s throwback Thursday! Today, we are revisiting some prior posts on the topic of helping parents, colleagues, and classroom staff learn ways to better support people who use AAC. Explore these past posts to get ideas for videos, download presentation slides, and peruse suggestions for hands-on activities to use in your training. Enjoy! How I Do it: AAC Inservices by Tabi Jones-Wohleber Hands-On Activities for AAC Training PrAACtical Ideas: AAC Core Vocabulary Practice for Workshops and Inservices How We Do It: S’MORRES and Partner Augmented Input with Dr. Jill Senner & Matthew Baud Video Explainers for Aided Language Input
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC training, inservice, partner training, workshop
November 13, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for information about how to incorporate AT into a student’s IEP? Today, we share a helpful guide, Assistive Technology and the IEP. Originally produced by the Family Center on Technology and Disability, this booklet has been republished by the Center on Technology and Disability. It provides a good overview of some of the important issues and is a great resource to share with families of students who use AAC. Click on the image below to review this guidebook.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AT, IEP, schools
November 12, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
It’s a beautiful day to grab a mug of coffee or pour a cup of tea, and head for a comfy spot to catch up on some AAC reading. Monday – AAC Site of the Month: Centre for AAC (CAAC) Wednesday – Video of the Week: Analyzing the Communication Environment Thursday – PrAACtical Information: 5 AAC Presentation Handouts :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Need a few more suggestions? Here are a handful past post on AAC and young children. Preschool AAC and Visual Supports from Orange County Public Schools TELL ME – AAC in the Preschool Classroom Supporting Preschoolers with AAC Needs-A Case Study Visual Supports in Action: The Preschool Classroom Mining Preschool Routines for PrAACtical AAC Opportunities Have a great week, AAC friends!
Filed under: Featured Posts
November 9, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
In a perfect world, we’d all be able to travel to conferences whenever we wished to soak up the AAC expertise from presenters around the world. Until then, we’ll keep posting links to handouts from conferences, workshops, and inservices with AAC content. Developing Language and Communication Power Usin a Core Vocabulary Classroom Approach by Gail Van Tatenhove Getting and Keeping AAC After High School Considerations for Transitioning Students who Use AAC Now, and Who Will Need AAC in the Future by Kathryn Helland AAC Strategies and Considerations for Children with Severe Speech Disorders: Not a Substitution, Just Part of the Solution by Erinn Fincke Life Before and After PECS: Reflections on Supports for Early Communication and Language by Cathy Binger Is the iPad the Best AAC Choice? by Nykki Montano
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: conferences, handouts
November 6, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
November’s Site of the Month is situated at the intersection of research, clinical/educational practices, and professional preparation. The Centre for AAC, housed at the University of Pretoria, has been serving the AAC community for over two decades. Their site has many helpful resources to explore. Highlights include: Links to many AAC research studies that CAAC has been involved with, including several with full-text access. AAC Resource Manual (selected chapters) AAC in the Home Setting up the AAC classroom for learning How to make an E-tran Talking Mats™ Information on their post-graduate programs in AAC Presentation handouts Communication boards focused on reporting abuse (available in many languages) Communication board for testifying in court Communication Bill of Rights You can learn more about CAAC by perusing past newsletters which are archived here.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: abuse, CAAC, Communication Bill of Rights, Site of the Month