February 17, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we welcome back guest author Dr. Kathy Howery for another wonderful discussion of an important AAC research article. Dr. Howery’s work in AT and special education spans three decades and her research uses phenomenological methods to increase our understanding of the lived experience of people who use AAC. She works with the Ministry of Education low incidence team, and as a consultant to schools and school districts across Alberta focusing primarily on children and youth with complex communication needs. In this post, Dr. Howery reviews an important article describing research on recasting in AAC mediated conversations. Recasts in AAC Mediated Interaction Soto, G., Clarke, M. T., Nelson, K., Starowicz, R., & Savaldi-Harussi, G. (2020). Recast type, repair, and acquisition in AAC mediated interaction. Journal of Child Language, 47, 250-264. https://doi.org/10.1017/S03035000919000436 What this article is about (the focus of the research)? This article focuses its attention on the power of... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language intervention, recasts
February 16, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Go Away, Big Green Monster!’ Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Supporting Students Who Use AAC with School-wide Implementation Thursday – How I Do It: Project-Based Learning and AAC ———————————————————————————————- Before you leave, here are a few more past posts to check out. Visual Supports for Places Around School (downloadable) Visual Supports for Places We Go (downloadable) AAC Intervention for Children with ASD Teaching Communication Partners Through Video Self-modeling Bilingual AAC Assessment Tips
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: schools, TELL ME, visual supports
February 13, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to promote inclusive practices in your school? Today, AAC SLP and AT Consultant Sarah Gregory returns to share more about the strategies and approaches she uses in the peer support program in her school district in Ithaca, NY. Learn about how she implements problem-based learning to promote authentic learning experiences and meaningful connections between students with and without disabilities. You can see Sarah’s previous post on peer modeling here. Project-Based Learning and AAC I discussed in my first blog post the importance of authentic inclusion of students with Complex Communication Needs in the general education classroom. Involving peers in using AAC has been a great tool to move to a model of true inclusion. When incorporating peer support into a classroom structure I am thoughtful to make the interaction authentic and meaningful for everyone involved. Since starting a peer support program two years ago I have continuously... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Inclusive Education, peer support
February 11, 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
February 10, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
How can we infuse core vocabulary teaching throughout the preschool routine? Today, we welcome back Jeanna Antrim and Maggie Judson for another guest post in the TELL ME About It series. Maggie and Jeanna are SLPs who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. In this series, they discuss how they support preschool teachers who are implementing the TELL ME program with their young students. Today’s post covers ways to promote AAC use while focusing on the book ‘Go Away, Big Green Monster!’ Enjoy their prAACtical suggestions and don’t miss their Lesson Plan, video demonstrations, and other resources at the end of the post. TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Go Away, Big Green Monster!’ TELL ME About Reading: The sixth book in... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: preschool, TELL ME
February 9, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! We have a few posts for you to browse. Monday – Learning to Protest: 5 Considerations for AAC Intervention Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Roadmap to a Communication Positive School Thursday – Throwback Thursday: Helping Teams Provide Better AAC Support :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the mood for a little more AAC reading? Here are some suggestions. Getting ready for a core vocabulary journey Make It Monday: Manual communication boards with core vocabulary Make It Monday: More words, please! Expanding our manual communication boards Super Size It: 5 ideas for making large communication boards Beyond requesting: A week of routines to increase AAC use at mealtimes 5 ways to build understanding Free resources for making AAC and visual supports 5 places for shared AAC materials
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: core vocabulary, protesting
February 6, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome to Throwback Thursday. Today we’re getting reacquainted with some posts that help us encourage teams to better support AAC users. Strategies for Supporting Team Buy-in and Implementation PrAACtical Research: Meta-synthesis of AAC Team Members’ Voices On AAC Training: Skill Building for AAC Team Members Helping the General Education Team Support Students Who Use AAC How I Do It with Rachael Langley: PODD in the Classroom – Quick Tips for Teams On the Same Page: Helping Team Members Recognize and Respond to Unconventional Communication Signals Five Places for Shared AAC Materials Five AAC and Related Resources to Explore AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #1 (downloadable) AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #2 (downloadable) AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #3 (downloadable) AAC: More Teaching, Less Testing (downloadable)
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC teams
February 4, 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
February 3, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Stop it. No, thank you. Don’t do that. I don’t want ___. Not now. In order to be able to express what they are really thinking, AAC learners need the vocabulary and skills to be able to tell us when they don’t like something or when they do not want to participate. Here are some thoughts about facilitating their growth in this area. Review the vocabulary and messages that are available to the learner. Consider single words (e.g., no, not, stop) and contractions (e.g., don’t, can’t, won’t, shouldn’t), as well as prestored messages that will make it faster and easier to express themselves under stressful conditions when the need for protesting is most important (e.g., I don’t want to. I want you to stop. Don’t make me to that.). Model negation in various contexts. Narrate your own experiences throughout the day (e.g., I don’t want to eat that. Stop touching... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC intervention, protesting, rejecting
February 2, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Good morning, AAC friends! It was a busy week of AAC at ATIA 2020. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtically February: More AAC Resources for a Year of Core Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Helping Others Model AAC Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC with Beginning Communicators :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a few more posts to sample before you go. PrAACtical Questions with Vicki Clarke: What’s the Role of Core Vocabulary? AAC Goes to High School: Community-based Instruction Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations Language Development Across the School Day
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language development, school