November 5, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Busy week? Here are a handful of AAC posts that you might have missed. Monday – PrAACtically November: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Vocabulary Wednesday – Video of the Week: Understanding Functional Communication Training Thursday – PrAACtical Families: 5 Grants That Support AAC Looking for materials to get ready for another busy week? You might get some ideas from these posts: AAC on TpT: 5 Free Downloads Miami Dade Prekindergarten Program for Children with Disabilities 5 ‘Go-To Sites for Visual Supports Free Resources for Making AAC and Visual Supports Downloadable AAC Posters
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post
November 2, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Unless you have a family member with a disability, it’s hard to really understand the toll that specialized services and equipment take on their financial well-being. We’re always on the look-out for sources of support that can help these families. This is the first in a periodic series of posts that list some of the AAC-friendly grant resources open to individual families and clients. The plan is to grow this list and update it with new information, so please comment or email me through the blog if you know of other opportunities. Help is particularly needed for those outside the US. Here are a handful of grants that are AAC-friendly to get us started. CASANA: The iPads for Apraxia program funds iPads for children with apraxia in the US and Canada Small Steps in Speech: Funds supplemental therapies and provides some support to nonprofit organizations who serve very young kids with... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: families, financial support, grants
October 30, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
It’s just about time to turn another page on the calendar, and that means we’re busy preparing materials and activities for our November core words. Are you looking for some ways to help your AAC learners become more competent in using core words? Need to get staff on board with modeling core vocabulary? Trying to get familiar with where core words are stored in a particular SGD or AAC app? Here’s an approach you may want to try: Choose a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that. 2013: A Year of Core (12 words/month) 2014: A(nother) Year of Core (16 words/month; Note: These are different than the core words covered in 2013) Those posts have links to downloadable grids with the core words for each month that can be used as a focal... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words
October 29, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Hope you found a way to make AAC Awareness Month meaningful in your life and/or community. Here are some posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – AAC Awareness Month, Week 4: Read & Share Wednesday – The Power of AAC for Distance Communication Thursday – How I Do It: Using Animated Shorts in Language Therapy with AAC Learners And if you’ve got time to squeeze in a little more Halloween-y fun, take a look at these past posts. PrAACtically Halloween: Considerations for an AAC-friendly Holiday 5 Fun AAC Things to Do to Get Ready for Halloween Halloween Recipes for Cooking AAC Style 5 Tips for Talking About Halloween After It’s Over Finally, we know that there are lots of AAC Superheroes out there. (Yes, you!) Claim your name, AAC friends!
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: Halloween, summary post, superhero
October 26, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to engage AAC learners in language therapy? Today, we welcome back SLP Rachel Madel to tell us about her experience in using wordless videos. Her prAACtical tips will get you excited about using videos like these, curated by The Activity Tailor, in your lessons. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Using Animated Shorts to Build Language Skills with AAC Learners We are living in a digital age, where video content is often free and easy to access. Children on my caseload are tech savvy and are constantly dazzling me with how well they can navigate YouTube to find their favorite videos. Motivation is paramount in creating meaningful communication interactions and watching animated videos is highly motivating for both students and clinicians. I’ve had great success utilizing wordless videos in my practice and was lucky enough to present on the topic during “AAC After Work” with a fellow AAC colleague, Susan Berkowitz. In case... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: implementation ideas, language therapy
October 25, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we look to South Africa to learn from AT specialist Desirae Pillay who shares her thoughts on using AAC for communicating at a distance. In an earlier post, Desirae shared her experience as an AAC parent. In the current post, she talks about things we don’t always think about when supporting people with AAC needs. The Power of AAC for Distance Communication I am an Assistive Technology Advisor for a company in South Africa and a parent to a young adult, Savannah Pillay who is cerebral palsied and autistic. As an advisor, it is my job to know of all the communication options that are available which includes knowing about unaided AAC options. I am a big fan of gesture dictionaries as I have seen how impactful it can be especially when using a multi-modal communication system. I am also a fan of AAC software that not only has... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC family, distance communication
October 23, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
How is AAC Awareness Month shaping up in your corner of the world? Our activities for this week involve reading and sharing. Pour yourself a cup of tea, grab a mug of coffee, or just settle into your favorite reading nook for some AAC reading. Get ready to participate in the AAC Read-a-Thon Read and share this AAC information kit Read with kids 5 Books Featuring Children who Use AAC Books for Beginning Readers of Any Age Send home some fun book extension activities that help families use AAC at home Grab a book! Check out the AAC offerings from some of these publishers: Attainment Company Brill Publishing LinguiSystems Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company Plural Publishing Inc. Pearson Rowman & Littlefield Routledge Woodbine House Other/Self-published By Betsy Furler By Susan Berkowitz (resource document) What did we miss? Leave your suggestions for AAC reading material below.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Awareness Month
October 21, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Each October, we like to share stories of people who use AAC throughout the day. to gain insight from those who have found a way to prioritize AAC despite their hectic and complicated lives. Today, Erin Compton shares some of the keys to making AAC a priority in her busy family. You can learn more about Erin and her family on their blog, Lotsacomptons and Room for More. In this post, Erin give us some tips on getting started in AAC and keeping up the momentum. Enjoy! Our journey into the world of AAC began last year with the adoption of our two sons from China. Philip and Arthur both have cerebral palsy and developmental delays from years in an orphanage. Just recently they began using communication devices so we have jumped in feet first to all things AAC. We are already having great success so I’m here to share some of the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC implementation, families
October 19, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
She’s bAACk! We couldn’t be happier to have another guest post on AAC assessment practices from Vicki Clarke of Dynamic Therapy Associates. In today’s post, she shares her tips and experiences for applying the SETT Framework to AAC assessment. If you are looking for information about how AACtual SLPs conduct their evaluations, Vicki’s posts are just what you need. You can view her previous contributions to the AAC Assessment Corner here. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Ready, SETT, AAC Evaluate! Last week I had the pleasure of joining the AAC After Work online conference hosted by Yapp Guru University. Jenna Coyer and I presented a session chatting about AAC assessment in emergent communicators. As we have worked to define our process for evaluation, we found ourselves repeatedly returning to the same approach our Assistive Technology teams use—the SETT Framework. The SETT Framework was developed by Joy Zabala as a process for making decisions about... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC assessment, SETT, Vicki Clarke
October 18, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we welcome back SLP Karen Natoci who is resuming her wonderful series on interactive book reading with AAC learners. Karen has supported AAC learners in different capacities throughout her career and is currently an AAC Supervisor with The Speech Pathology Group in Walnut Creek, California. You can read more about Karen at the end of her post and explore some of her previous posts here. PrAACtically Reading Book: The Family Book Written and Illustrated by Todd Parr (2003); Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group AAC Competency Areas: Linguistic: Core Vocabulary Focus: big, small, same, different, like, help, my, I, Fringe Vocabulary focus: you, me, family, families, mom, dad, sister, brother (their names) Math Concept: concept of 1, more than 1, 1 versus 2, Actions: eat, noise/quiet, clean/messy Syntax: provide co-construction support, model same + one word more Strategic: Students will express a variety of communicative modalities to gain attention, and share... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking