October 6, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Before we get to our user-submitted content, here’s another look at the AAC app sales that are happening in celebration of AAC Awareness Month. AAC SLP and AT specialist Lauren Enders continues the tradition of tracking these sales and putting together graphics to spread the word. This year, she’s made the image interactive so that you can click on the individual sale picture to go right to the app store for more information. You can go to that version of the image here. If you click on the version below, you’ll be able to download the graphic as a PDF. Thank you, Lauren, for sending this along and allowing us to share it with our PrAACtical AAC readers! AAC Link Up 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... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
October 4, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy AAC Awareness Month! Here are some posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – PrAACtically October: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words (Remote or In-person Learning) Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Methods of Accessing AAC Systems Thursday – TELL ME Virtual Classrooms Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links – Octubre ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, see if one of these past posts piques your interest. PrAACtically SLPs: Hungry for Bilingual AAC Talking Mats: A PrAACtical Tool Using Metaphors to Support Vocabulary Teaching AACtual Therapy: “At first I was afraid, I was petrified…” AACtual Therapy: Running AAC Groups
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
October 2, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
AAC friends, we are back with our second AAC Link Up in Spanish. If you have 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. And if this is of interest to you, mark your calendars to check back in with us on the first Friday of every month for PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links. Today, we are celebrating AAC Awareness Month with a wonderful resource, our AAC 101 Flipbook, which we first wrote about here.. The flipbook is full of information on key strategies for supporting AAC users. Diana Angeles translated it into Spanish as part of the Hablando PráctiCAAmente project. Claudia Marimón helped with the editing and Deanna Wagner reviewed the final product.... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up, Spanish
October 1, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Today we kick off AAC Awareness Month 2020 and there’s no better way to do that than to share some resources with our AAC friends. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim, guest authors of the TELL ME About It series, collaborated to build these virtual classrooms for those who are using the TELL ME program that I wrote with my colleague, ASD and reading specialist Lori Wise. Click the image below to view a video where they explain this wonderful resource. Direct link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRwRD2FlJIk&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=basscAAC You can see what these virtual classrooms look like in the static images below. There are a few different ways to use these resources, which, by design, are not editable. If you just want the static image to use as a virtual background you can use the pictures below. But the magic is only apparent when you download the files and get the interactive version.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: remote learning, telepractice, TELL ME
September 29, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Before we get to our user-submitted content, take a look at the AAC app sales that are coming up in support of AAC Awareness Month. AAC SLP and AT specialist Lauren Enders continues the tradition of tracking these sales and putting together graphics to spread the word. This year, she’s made the image interactive so that you can click on the individual sale picture to go right to the app store for more information. You can go to that version of the image here. If you click on the version below, you’ll be able to download the graphic as a PDF. Thank you, Lauren, for sending this along and allowing us to share it with our PrAACtical AAC readers! AAC Link Up 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... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
September 28, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Do you know any AAC learners like these? Jeremiah has an SGD with thousands of core and fringe words, but he uses less than 100 of them in day-to-day life. Bella used an AAC app with visual scene displays to interact at playtime and during daily routines for the past several months. Her team just added an app with a grid-based vocabulary so that she can begin to create novel sentences and expand her language abilities. Mason was recently evaluated for an AAC device, but it will likely take a few months to get the funding situation straightened out. In the meantime, his team created a manual communication board that mirrors the main screen of the SGD’s language software. Each of them needs lots of practice to become fluent with the core words in their AAC systems. Are you looking for resources to support your use of core words in... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Vocabulary Words
September 25, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Though we are wrapping up the month of September, the core words selected for this month are high-frequency words that will live on throughout the year. Our new Year of Core Words School Edition is in development and the team is working hard to get these helpful posts to you prior to the start of each month so that you can plan and prepare your lessons and materials. Please bear with us for the first few posts as we get up to speed. As with the previous post, these will each highlight a selected set of words along with a suggested order in which to teach them. We know that you’ll appreciate the Activity Packets with information sheets on highlighting these words in a variety of activities, and the accompanying data collection forms. A key intervention strategy is also discussed in each of these posts, with September focusing on the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Vocabulary Words, Education & Schools
September 24, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Predictable chart writing is one of my favorite ways to get kids who are new to writing comfortable with a writing routine. Today, our guest author Ashley Larisey shares detailed information that will help you implement this well and have fun doing it. And she helps us understand how to do this successfully in remote teaching. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. In today’s post, she breaks down the steps of using predictable chart writing, points us to relevant resources, and provides a video overview of the process. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Predictable Chart Writing As many educators look for new and innovative ways to bring comprehensive literacy instruction into their practice, one of the first strategies that comes up in a quick google search is Predictable Chart Writing (PCW). PCW... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Literacy & Literacy Instruction, telepractice, writing & spelling
September 22, 2020
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 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. 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 21, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
It’s no secret that there are not enough well-trained AAC professionals to meet the demands of children and adults with complex communication needs. Today, we’re pleased to highlight the work of Krista Davidson, a clinical educator who is addressing this chronic shortage by developing creative ways to support pre-professional students. As a clinical associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Iowa, she created a virtual AAC camp as part of an inter-collegiate collaboration. Let’s take a look. Virtual AAC Camp – A Collaborative Effort in Preservice Training Last year graduate students from The University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa (under the guidance Dr. Evette Edmister) worked in partnership with Easterseals Iowa to integrate an AAC camp into the summer program at Camp Sunnyside in Des Moines, IA. The intention was to continue that camp in the summer of 2020. But... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: preservice training, telepractice