December 29, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
We are closing out the year with a bang by combining two of our favorite things: working on AAC and literacy. In this post, Michigan-based teachers Amy Devin and Lauren Pawlowski return to discuss their strategies for building communication skills in the context of writing activities. Enjoy their detailed descriptions of how they implement a 5-day writing sequence in their classrooms! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Predictable Chart Writing with Core Vocabulary If writing with your students is something you are apprehensive about, then Predictable Chart writing is a good place to start. You get a lot of bang for your buck, as you can work on many different concepts as you are instructing through the week. Some areas you will be able to work on is location and meaning of core, concepts about print, print awareness and fine motor skills. Prior to starting your Predictable Chart Writing, you have to have a plan on which... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ASD, classroom, school, writing
December 28, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or some combination of holidays, these events offer rich opportunities for building language in people who use AAC. There’s a good chance that someone took photos which can be a terrific source of motivating materials. In this post, we’ll look at a few ideas for using those to strengthen language and communication skills. Collect them into a photo album: Use PowerPoint, Keynote, or an app to pull the photos together into a collection that can serve as a highly motivating context for language learning activities. With these albums we can: Page through them together to practice making comments (e.g., cold; I see tree, That is pretty), Co-create a narrative about the picture, Work on morphological goals such as pluralization and verb tenses, and, Build longer sentences (e.g., ‘hot chocolate’ becomes ‘drink hot chocolate’ or ‘make more hot chocolate’). Create a photo collage: Work with the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: implementation, language therapy, photo
December 26, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
A great many AAC learners would love to be more actively involved in social conversations but may not have the skills to carry on a conversation. For some individuals, the use of pre-stored messages designed to get their partners talking is a great way take the pressure off and allow the AAC learner to be more actively involved in the conversation. Partner-focused questions serve to get information, opinions, or feedback. By creating these and storing them as whole questions, the AAC learner has a relatively quick and easy means to drive the direction of the conversation. Here are some examples: How were your holidays? What did you get for Christmas/Hanukkah? What do you think? Where did you go over break? How’s your family? What’s going on with you? In general, people love talking about themselves and questions like these are a great way to get the ball rolling or keeping... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Conversation, holiday, language therapy, prestored messages
December 25, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Hoping you are enjoying the holiday season with friends and family. Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday: Selecting AAC Apps & Devices: A Handful of Reasons Not to Skip the Trial Period Wednesday: Video of the Week: Implementing Object-based Schedules in the Classroom Thursday: AAC Apps and Devices: Thoughts on Conducting AAC Trials Friday: An AAC Christmas Carol
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: summary post
December 23, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
A very happy holiday from me to you.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 22, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
In an earlier post, we talked about why a period of trial use with multiple AAC devices and/or apps is an important part of the process of selecting a communication tool. As with test driving a car prior to purchasing it, giving clients an opportunity to use the AAC options that have the features they need allows us to better determine whether it is likely to meet their needs and expectations. Few of us would purchase a car without taking it out for a spin. It makes a lot of sense, but what does the ‘test drive’ equivalent look like in AAC? What makes for a fair and reasonable period of trial use when we’re trying out an SGD or AAC app? Here are some thoughts to get us started. Clarify the primary purpose of the trial, which generally involves determining a) whether the person can actually utilize it, and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: device trials
December 19, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Would you buy a car without test-driving it first? Most of us would not, and for very good reasons. The car might have all the features we need, come with strong reviews from respected organizations, and look great, but there’s other important data that we can only get from driving it. How does the car feel when you’re in the driver’s seat? We might rule it out if the blind spots were too big, the seat was uncomfortable, or the handling didn’t meet our needs. That information can only come from actually trying it out. Prevailing wisdom suggests that a similar process is a critical step in selecting an AAC device or app. There are a lot of things that make it tempting to skip this step. It’s difficult to arrange for trials with multiple devices and apps. It takes a lot of time. We have to train them on... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: app selection, assessment, SGD selection, trial use
December 18, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Thinking of all of you at this busy time of year and sending wishes for a healthy, happy holiday season. Monday: PrAACtical Resources: A Tool for Identifying Features for AT Selection Wednesday: Video of the Week: Supporting the Communication Needs of Children with CVI Thursday: PrAACtical Resources: AAC Assessment Modules
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: summary post
December 15, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
If you talk to a dozen SLPs about AAC assessment practices, chances are great that at least 10 of them aren’t quite comfortable with the area. That’s why we’re so very appreciative of the efforts of Dr. Janice Murray, Helen Bell, Helen Whittle, and Osman Javaid of Manchester Metropolitan University, Sara Dale from the ACE Centre, and Janet Scott of Scottish Centre of Technology for the Communication Impaired for this terrific set of learning activities. If you want to learn more about doing good AAC assessments, this resource is a fine one to check out. Level 1 Module Level 2 consists of several modules, each of which can be accessed here. Thanks to all involved in this collaboration for sharing it with the rest of us!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment
December 12, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Professionals who are involved in the selection of AAC and other AT are quite familiar with the concept of determining what features are needed and then selecting tools that have those features to sample. The feature matching process has been the gold standard for AAC device selection , though many practictioners report that its implementation may not be robust. Determining exactly which features an individual might need in their AAC or other AT is a critical part of this process, and one with which many teams struggle. In today’s post, we highlight an online resource designed to make this process easier for school-based teams. The Student Inventory for Technology Supports (SIFTS) is a free, web-based survey tool that helps teams match the needs and abilities of a student to specific AT features. It is not a comprehensive assessment tool but provides guidance to help teams in the process of AAC... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, AT, feature match, schools