October 29, 2019
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
Tagged With: language intervention
October 28, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It’s just about time to turn another page on the calendar, and that means we’re busy preparing materials and activities for our November core words. Are you looking for some ways to help your AAC learners become more competent in using core words? Need to get staff on board with modeling core vocabulary? Trying to get familiar with where core words are stored in a particular SGD or AAC app? Here’s an approach you may want to try: Choose a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that. Set 1: A Year of Core (12 words/month) Set 2: A(nother) Year of Core (16 words/month; Note: These are different than the core words covered in 2013) Those posts have links to downloadable grids with the core words for each month that can be used as... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words, Another Year of Core Words
October 27, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with I Went Walking Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Social Closeness in AAC Intervention Thursday – PrAACtical Research: Effects of Parent Instruction on SGD Use ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for a few more posts to browse? We’ve got a few suggestions for you. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations AACtual Therapy: Building Language and Emergent Literacy Skills with ‘Do You Wear Diapers?’ How We Do It: Using Language Boards to Support AAC Use By Nerissa Hall and Hillary Jellison “I Made a Communication Board. Now What?”
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication boards, parent training, reading, research
October 24, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
As we all know, parents of kids with complex communication needs play a critical role in their children’s learning of communication, language, and AAC. Today, our guest authors describe an important study that can help us support these families with effective training, practice, and coaching. Jill Senner, Kathy Post, and Matthew Baud describe the study they did on AAC parent training and explain the outcomes. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In 2018, we wrote about the importance of evidence-based practice in ensuring a high standard of care for our clients and patients. Reading AAC-related journal articles is a great way to both continue developing clinical expertise and stay informed about best research evidence. It can be quite time consuming for busy professionals to regularly read journal articles and keep up with the AAC literature so we’ve been invited back to share a summary of our latest publication with PrAACtical AAC readers. The article... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC partner training, parent training
October 22, 2019
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
Tagged With: AAC Link Up, ATIA
October 21, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Jeanna Antrim and Maggie Judson are back with another installment of their series on implementing TELL ME in preschool classrooms. Each month, they share their tips and suggestions for helping classroom teams target core vocabulary with a different book. 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. In today’s post, Jeanna and Maggie share their ideas and experiences in target a set of core words with activities that focus on the book, I Went Walking. Looking for the other posts in this series? TELL ME About It: AAC Literacy Kits Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with I Went Walking TELL ME About Reading: The second book in the TELL ME program (Teaching Early... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: preschool, TELL ME
October 20, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are a few posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – Thoughts on Practice in AAC Instruction Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Natasha’s Voice Thursday – Magic Moments with a Crafty Flashlight Friday – Sharing Your AAC Experiences ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Also, if you are interested in upping your game on AAC and language instruction, consider joining me in January for a full-day workshop with AAC pioneer Gail Van Tatenhove and AAC language researcher Gloria Soto. You can get more information on Beyond AAC Modeling: Effective Language Instruction for AAC Learners here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have a little bit more time, these posts from the archives may be of interest. The Faces of AAC: Gretchen and Zach The Faces of AAC: Justyna & Wictoria The Faces of AAC: Dianna & Brian The Faces of AAC: Zainab Omar... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
October 18, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Whether you are a highly experienced AAC professional or a relative newcomer to the field, you’re invited to share your perspective. It’s been several years since the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) first surveyed SLPs to find out about their AAC preparation and experiences. You can take a look at the White Paper that summarizes the results of that survey here. In this current survey, ATIA is expanding its reach and is looking for input from parents, AAC users, paraprofessionals, and professionals from a range of disciplines and backgrounds. Created with the input of a panel of AAC and AT specialists, this new survey is designed to gather information about the training, advocacy, and technology needs of AAC stakeholders. Please take a few moments to provide your feedback. You can access the survey here or by clicking on the graphic below. The survey is available until October 25.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ATIA, survey
October 17, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for an engaging activity to support AAC and literacy learning? Today, we’re adding to our Magic Moments series and getting ideas (and materials) from Maggie Judson. Maggie is an SLP and ATP, working as an AAC facilitator for a special education cooperative in central Illinois. In her work as an AAC SLP, she provides direct therapy, evaluations, consultations, and trainings for staff and families. You can find some of Maggie’s previous posts that she co-authored with her colleague Jeanna Antrim, here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Magic Moments – Crafty with Core I love hanging out on Instagram and Pinterest because there are so many cool educators doing cool things, and I get so inspired by them. As an AAC SLP, I follow a lot of SLP and teacher accounts. But I also follow some crafty accounts, because you never know where your next inspiration will come from for a super fun and engaging... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC activities, Maggie Judson, Magic Moments
October 15, 2019
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