October 10, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
While our focus each October is on building awareness of AAC and promoting acceptance of those who use it, the month also gives us an opportunity to look inward. Today, we propose 7 activities that we believe to be the hallmark of those who specialize in AAC. If you consider yourself an AAC expert or someone who specializes in AAC, we invite you to reflect on these ideas. Those who specialize in AAC should belong to and engage with organizations in their state or region whose mission focuses on support for people with complex communication needs. Those who specialize in AAC should belong to and engage with national and/or international groups that elevate the role of AAC in society. Those who specialize in AAC should be active contributors to those organizations, whether it be through their time, expertise, or financial support. Those who specialize in AAC should critically evaluate new... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
October 9, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, friends. Hope you enjoy these posts from our week of AAC. Monday – AAC Awareness Month Activities Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week- AAC Supports for People with Aphasia Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC & Storytelling Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados: CAA Con Links – Octubre 2022 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Next up: A few more suggestions for AAC reading PrAACtical Ideas: AAC Core Vocabulary Practice for Workshops and Inservices How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets PrAACtically Reading: Over on the Farm with Karen Natoci & Karen Baca 5+ Ways to Make Page Fluffers and Spacers Checking In With The AAC Crew Classroom CORE Book by Tabi Jones-Wohleber (Downloadable file) ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Filed under: Featured Posts
October 7, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Each month we feature a Spanish version of our AAC Link Up, CAA con Links. If you have AAC-related announcements, materials, or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. You’ll find the place to add that information at the very bottom of this post. Organized by Claudia Marimón, these monthly posts often highlight AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. Today, Claudia invites us to “Show Your Voice.” :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ¡Bienvenido Octubre a nuestra comunidad hispanohablante de CAA! El Mes Internacional de Concientización sobre CAA se celebra en todo el mundo cada mes de Octubre. Este mes fue establecido por el Comité del... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
October 6, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Telling stories is such an integral part of the human experience. While any symbolic communicator can create or co-create narratives, it’s not something that is taught as often as it should be. If you’re looking to enhance intervention to build narrative skills, these posts may be of interest. Helping People with AAC Needs Develop Personal Narratives Video: Personal Narrative Writing & AAC PrAACtical AAC & Personal Narratives Let Me Tell You Something- Narratives for the Beginning Communicator Narrative Assessment and People who Use AAC Narrative Skills for People With AAC Needs The PrAACtical Power of Co-Construction in AAC Support Video: Narrative Skills in Students with ASD
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
October 4, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week we invite you to share your own AAC-related content, product news, or anything else that you’d like others in the AAC community to know about. 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 course 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. If you are on a mobile device, click over to the full website version to do this. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed so it may take a little... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
October 3, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Established in 2007 by ISAAC’s LEAD Committee, AAC Awareness month invites us to spread the word about all things AAC, and it’s pretty exciting to think back on all we’ve done and also to plan for the current year. Each week during AAC Awareness Month we’ll share suggestions for things to do to help others learn about a field that emerged to support children and adults with complex communication needs. This week, we’ll focus on hands-on activities. A popular approach to AAC Awareness Month is to invite a group of colleagues or families to come together and communicate only through AAC for the event. Some years, we’ve held ‘Silent Snack’ events before class where we put out a variety of board games and invited some of our AAC clients to come in and play along. They enjoyed serving as our AAC Ambassadors, meeting new people, and ‘wow-ing’ the crowd with... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
September 29, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Our two series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, Year of Core Vocabulary Words and School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, continue to be used by therapists, educators, and families. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle, was first published in 2020. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
September 27, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week we invite you to share your own AAC-related content, product news, or anything else that you’d like others in the AAC community to know about. 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 course 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. If you are on a mobile device, click over to the full website version to do this. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed so it may take a little... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
September 20, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week we invite you to share your own AAC-related content, product news, or anything else that you’d like others in the AAC community to know about. 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 course 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. If you are on a mobile device, click over to the full website version to do this. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed so it may take a little... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
September 19, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Whether they are therapists, educators, or come from some other background, AAC practitioners tend to be overworked and under-resourced. The day-to-day work of planning instruction, measuring growth, documenting services, communicating with other team members, creating or adapting materials, making adjustments on the SGD/AAC app, and advocating on behalf of the AAC user leaves little time for the other types of support that are needed. Thus, things that need attention but can wait for another day when there is more time and energy often get moved to the side. Today, we continue our series of things that get overlooked even by the best professionals and most dedicated families. Time and energy are always in short supply. We’ve already talked about the importance of backing up AAC apps/SGDs but did you know that depending on the specific equipment and software, you’re not always backing up everything you need? (If you missed the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking