April 26, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtically Earth Day: Celebrating the Planet with AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Strategies & Resources for Students with Complex Support Needs in Distance Learning Environments Thursday – AAC at a Distance: 5 Ways to Use Video Chat & Videoconferencing to Boost Engagement Have time for a little more? Here’s a small selection for you to peruse. “Can I Ask You a Question?” Language Experience Surveys Language Experience Surveys: 8 Fun Ideas Strengthening the Communication Environment Barriers to Access for AAC Learners Living an Accessible Life
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 23, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Like many of you, I have a love-hate relationship with video chat and videoconferencing these days. On one hand, we are immensely grateful for the technology that allows us to teach classes and hold meetings remotely so that we can continue with some semblance of our daily obligations. On the other hand, there is just no substitute for being in the same physical space as our co-workers, students, friends, and relatives. We are all adapting to this new reality of social distancing and experimenting with new ways of teaching, learning, and working. Across the globe, people are using video chat and videoconference technology, like FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Zoom, in creative ways. If you’re looking for some ways to support AAC learners using these technologies, here are a few ideas. Hold a virtual Friendship Friday meeting: Invite a few classmates or friends to join an online meeting space to do... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: distance communication, remote learning, telepractice
April 21, 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
April 20, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
It’s almost Earth Day, and whether you are sheltering in place or still able to be out in the community, there are ways we can all celebrate Earth Day. Here are some suggestions for incorporating AAC as you do. Getting to the Core of Earth Day Let’s Read Let’s Create Let’s Go Outside! Create a language experience survey. Here are some possible questions for your survey What are your favorite outdoor activities? Tell me about a time when you had an outdoor adventure. What are some ways that you reuse and recycle? Tour the Grand Canyon with Elmo & friends. Pay a virtual visit to a national park. Explore some of the Junior Ranger virtual activities. Plan to take some mindfulness moments with trees as suggested by the Heritage Conservancy Build a backyard fairy house. Play backyard conservation Bingo. Go on a nature scavenger hunt using this form from the Delaware... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 19, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Come Out and Play, Little Mouse’ Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Telepractice in AAC – Working with What You’ve Got Thursday – PrAACtical Conversations About Hand Washing Friday – A Coronavirus ‘Must-Do’ for AAC Users —————————————————————— And while you’re here, check out some of these past posts. 5 Ways to Promote Consistent AAC Use Twin Powers Unite: Teaching AAC and Sight Words Pragmatic Skill Instruction and AAC with Matthew Baud and Dr. Jill Senner Parent Collaboration in AAC Therapies PrAACtical Questions with Vicki Clarke: What’s the Role of Core Vocabulary?
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 17, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Twelve years ago, when Robin and I first wrote about preparing AAC users for medical emergencies, a pandemic wasn’t on the radar. We were thinking about ‘regular’ things that go wrong, like broken bones and asthma attacks, not a worldwide emergency. Still, some of the helpful tools that we suggested back then remain very helpful and today we are revisiting them. There are a lot of unknowns about Covid-19, but one thing we do know is that when someone is affected, things can change very quickly. The time to plan for the unexpected and unimaginable is now. Please do whatever you need to so that the AAC users in your lives have a communication passport or other document that can help unfamiliar partners understand them and communicate with them. Accept that there may be a situation in which the AAC user is separated from familiar people. AAC users may be... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication passport, coronavirus, emergency preparedness
April 16, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
The other day, a friend posted something on social media that many of us can relate to. “Between all the hand sanitizer and cleaning solution that my skin absorbs,” she said, “I’m probably disinfecting the toilet with every trip to the bathroom!” While that’s a bit of a stretch, it is true that most of us are washing our hands more often now than ever before. And for good reason. But some of our AAC learners don’t really like hand washing and it can be a struggle to have them do that several times a day. In today’s post, we share some ideas that can help keep those hands clean. Not everyone will need every strategy, but we included several ideas so that you can select those that are most beneficial for the AAC learners in your life. Teach the skill and use a visual schedule to illustrate the steps.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Covid-19, daily routines
April 14, 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
April 13, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
It’s time for another edition of the TELL ME About It series which focuses on AAC, language, and literacy learning with preschool children. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim are back with more great ideas for AAC intervention, this time focusing on the book, Come Out and Play, Little Mouse. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in central Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings. You can check out the earlier posts in this series below. No, David Go Away Big Green Monster What Do You Like? Here Are My Hands From Head to Toe I Went Walking Brown Bear, Brown Bear TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Be sure to see their videos modeling book reading with two AAC systems toward the end of this post. TELL ME About It:... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: core vocabulary, reading, TELL ME
April 12, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. To those who are celebrating Easter, Passover, and other holidays, we hope you find joy and meaning as you find new ways to commune and celebrate with those you love. We are all adjusting to this new way of being. If you’re interested in some AAC reading, here are a few suggestions. Monday – PrAACtical Perspectives: Normalizing AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Telepractice Thursday – Finding My Words: Considerations in Language Displays and Organization A few weeks back, we asked those who provide AAC telepractice services and wanted to publicly share that information to complete an online survey. You can access that information in the edited version of that post. If you are looking to do some book-related AAC teaching this week, check out some of Karen Natoci’s popular literacy-focused posts from the archives. PraAACtically Reading with Karen... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language organization, reading