December 30, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
As we wave goodbye to December and welcome the New Year, let’s revisit some of the most popular posts of 2021. PrAACtical Goals That Matter How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders PrAACtical AAC Goals How I Do It: Using PODD books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder AAC Assessment Forms Building Your AAC SLP Toolkit: Obtaining Free Apps for AAC Evaluations The First 12: Getting Started with Core Vocabulary Teaching Core Vocabulary Literacy for Everyone with Adapted Books A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Make It Monday: Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 1 (August) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list? We’d love to hear about it.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 28, 2021
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
December 27, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for resources to support core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, two series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, remain popular with therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. 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... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 26, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed during the busy holiday week. Monday – AAC Devices & Apps Without an Evaluation: A Few Questions to Ask Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Text-based AAC Thursday – An AAC Christmas Tradition ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have some extra time, stick around and check out these posts from the archives. Holiday Talk: AAC Conversations Using Partner-focused Questions Holiday Photos in AAC Learning: 3 Ideas for Using Them to Build Language Teaching Prelinguistic Communication to Beginning Communicators 5 Resources for Your AAC Toolkit Beginning Communicators: Learning Through Touch Cues
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 23, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town Not a creature was stirring, they were all safe and sound. The stockings were hung by their chimneys with care, In hopes that AAC Elves would soon visit there. The teachers were nestled all snug in their beds, With visions of lesson plans banished from their heads. The therapists with data sheets and the strategies they love best, Had just settled in for a good winter-break rest. When outside the schoolyard, there arose such a clatter I rushed toward the window to see what was the matter. Stepping on Legos (does that pain ever fade?) I ran to the window and lifted the shade. With her silvery face, the moon shone from the night sky, Illuminating the landscape from her perch way up high. And what to my sleep-deprived eyes should appear But an accessible sleigh, and 8 AT reindeer.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 21, 2021
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
December 20, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
In a perfect world, everyone who needs AAC would participate in a comprehensive assessment to guide the selection of what SGD and/or AAC app will best meet their needs. That evaluation would include a records review, interviews with key stakeholders, observation, direct assessment, and a period of trial use with the communication aids that seem to be the best fit. It’s a complex and time-consuming endeavor, but the feature match process has been the gold standard for AAC device/app selection for several decades. At times, this process is skipped in favor of a quicker approach. Bhodie’s school team already supports several other students with AAC needs and most of them use a popular AAC app on an iPad. Since they are already familiar with that tool and it seems to be working well for other students, they tried it with Bhodie, too. He was successful in using it to request... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 19, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts from our prAACtical week. Monday – PrAACtical Questions: “What Does a Robust AAC System Look Like?” Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC & Board Games Thursday- Self-Advocacy & AAC: 5 Skills to Consider Targeting ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you can squeeze in a few more, take a look at some of these posts from the archives. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Hello, Holidays! How We Do It: Using AAC to Repair Communication Breakdowns Data Collection for the Beginning AAC User: Essential Things to Measure AAC & ASD: Beyond Scripting More Words, Please! Expanding Our Manual Communication Boards Activity Schedule AACtion Wishing all of you the magic of the season!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 16, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Many AAC users need support from family, friends, and professionals in learning to advocate for themselves. Therapists and educators can support this process in many ways, starting with their ability to recognize all communicative acts and respond in respectful ways. At times, formal instruction and intervention are necessary to build specific skills that make it possible to advocate for one’s views and interests. If you are supporting AAC users who are learning to advocate for themselves, here are some skills to consider targeting. Protesting and Rejecting: Objecting to events around us and refusing things that are offered are early-developing communicative functions that don’t seem to get enough attention. These are critical skills for all of us and AAC learners should be given the opportunity to develop a variety of strategies for this type of expression. Ranking: When AAC users can express their preferences by rank ordering different options, they can... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 14, 2021
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