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
January 30, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Do you work with people who are just starting to get the hang of communicating with symbols and using SGDs? Today. we’re revisiting some posts that may have some helpful information on ways to support beginning users of AAC. Recommended Practices for Beginning Communicators Using Symbols with Beginning Communicators Getting Started with AAC Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentences A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: beginning communicator
January 28, 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
January 27, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
It’s just about time to turn the page on the calendar and that means we’re looking ahead to ways we can highlight more of the core vocabulary words in our clients’ AAC devices and communication aids. One approach to boosting practice opportunities is to select a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. Throughout the month, we can then pay special attention to that small group of words by highlighting them with focused language stimulation, aided language input, and specific activities designed to teach or practice those words. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that and every month we share some ideas for prioritizing a small set of words. You can use these materials to remind yourself which words to highlight this month, with using aided language input and focused language stimulation. What else? Here are some ideas... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Year of Core Vocabulary Words
January 26, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘What Do You Like?’ Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Growing with Language & AAC Thursday – Throwback Thursday: Books & Reading, AAC Style :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Need a few more suggestions? Try these posts from the archives. How We Do It: Incorporating Core Vocabulary Throughout the School Day How We Do It: AAC in the Special Education Classroom – Continuing the Journey PrAACtical Resources: Teachers’ Toolkit For Students With Little Or No Speech PrAACtical Resources: AAC for School Staff AAC and the IEP
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: education, language
January 23, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Interested in learning more about supporting reading by individuals with AAC needs? Looking for resources that you can plug into your therapy session, classroom activities, or routines at home? Here are some past posts that may be of interest. Making Shared Book Reading Awesome for AAC Users Who Don’t Like Books Alphabet Books & AAC Implementation AAC, Literacy, & Squishy Books Loving Literacy-Let’s Read and Write Storybooks 5 Ways to Use Books to Build Interaction with AAC Learners Adapting Books with Visual Scenes AAC-friendly Accessible Books Make It PrAACtical: Display Stand for Visual Supports or Books 5 Books Featuring Children Who Use AAC Reading with AAC Across the Stages of Language Development Using Adapted Books with AAC Learners: 3 Important Questions to Ask Reading with AAC at the Beenleigh School As They Grow: Books for Beginning Readers of Any Age Do you have a favorite post about AAC and reading?... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking