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
March 8, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’re pleased to welcome back Dr. Kathy Howery for another analysis of an AAC research article. Kathy is based in Alberta, Canada, and has worked in the field of AT and special education for over three decades. In the past year, she completed her doctoral studies where she used phenomenological methods to seek to understand the lived experience of speaking with/through a speech generating device. Kathy is currently working as a consultant to schools and school districts across Alberta focusing primarily on children and youth with complex communication needs. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::; Allen, A. A., Schlosser, R. W., Brock, K. L., & Shane, H. C. (2017). The effectiveness of aided augmented input techniques for persons with developmental disabilities: A systematic review. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 33, 149-159. What this Article is All About (The Focus of the Research) This article presents the results of a systematic review of the research into what the authors refer... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aided language input, augmented input, Kathy Howery, research
March 6, 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, 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... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: sharing
March 5, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Know any learners like these? Jacob takes his teacher over to the snack cupboard and uses his SGD to say ‘cracker.’ Mara watches her friend throw a book and signs ‘angry.’ Elisheva finishes her drink and uses a communication book to say ‘more’ Some AAC learners linger at the single word level for far longer than they need to. One of the strategies that we use to help them move forward is to expand on their utterance and build on their word to model a 2-word sentence. ‘Cracker’ becomes ‘Want cracker.’ ‘Angry’ is built into ‘Shoshana’s angry.’ ‘More’ turns into ‘more milk.’ Sounds simple, right? Well, the concept certainly is, but it’s easy to get stuck or draw a blank when trying to do these sorts of expansions in therapy sessions, classroom activities, or daily routines. If you find your team forgetting to expand the learners’ single word utterances, some examples... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: expansions, language intervention
March 4, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Good morning, AAC friends! If you had a busy week, you probably missed one or more of these posts from the week. Monday – PrAACtically March: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Wednesday – Video of the Week: Implementing Visual Supports Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: AAC Info to Use & Share Still in the mood for some more AAC? Here are a handful of previous posts to explore. Video of the Week: On Using Symbols with Beginning Communicators Video of the Week: Object Symbols and Core Vocabulary A PrAACtical Look at Getting Started with AAC Symbols Fast FAACt Friday: On Symbols and Reading Core Vocabulary: Making Sense of Symbols
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post, symbols
March 1, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for information on alternative access for kids with significant motor limitations? Need a basic overview of communication and AAC for a para, parent, or colleague? Wanting to explore a variety of AAC resources? Check out the resources below. Working with Nonverbal Students with Autism: This was written by Susan Stokes under a contract with CESA 7 and funded by a discretionary grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. AAC Basics from Louisiana Assistive Technology Initiative’s AT Answers Indirect Access by Justin Sims Enjoy!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: access, ASD
February 26, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Do the AAC users in your life use only a fraction of the core words in their SGD, AAC app, or communication board? One way to help them move forward is to make a concerted effort to use, highlight, and provide additional teaching on a variety of words. It’s hard to do this without getting overwhelmed, so find a strategy that works for you. A few years ago, we decided to approach this by focusing on 12-16 core words each month. (If this is too much for the teams with whom you work, that’s not a problem. Just cut it back to 4-6 words/month.) Each month, we can highlight those words in our conversation (aided language input), direct intervention, and home programming activities with AAC learners. The repeated experiences with those 12-16 (or 4-6) words helps our AAC learners develop new skills, and keeps the team focused on the same destination. It’s... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
February 25, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
It’s a beautiful Sunday morning in our part of the world – just perfect for catching up on some posts from the week. Here’s what we’ve been up to: Monday – PrAACtical Resources: Scholarly Articles on Aided AAC Wednesday – Video of the Week: Creating AAC Implementation Plans Thursday – Dealing with Feelings: 5 Ways to Encourage Emotion-related Expression by AAC Learners Some of our AAC friends are beginning to prepare for upcoming IEPs so our thoughts have been turning to the classroom, curriculum, and academics. Here are some of the posts we’ve been revisiting. Take a look. Integrating AAC Instruction with Curriculum Standards Research Tuesday: Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities Educating Students with Complex Support Needs in a Standards-Aligned System PrAACtical Partnerships: AAC and Academics Helping the General Education Team Support Students Who Use AAC
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post