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
October 14, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
In therapy, Matthew made sentences with many of the vocabulary words he learned 4 months ago. He hasn’t generalized that skill to the classroom yet, largely because it is still quite effortful for him to find the new words and use them to build sentences. With more experience and a lot of practice, this is sure to improve. Teesha is learning how to use 2-switch step scanning with her speech-generating device to share her thoughts and make requests. Because she’s relatively new at this, it takes a lot of effort to express herself with the AAC system. Her team is confident that this will eventually become easier and faster for Teesha, but that will only come with a lot of practice. Mallory has a lot to say, and, at times, she can hardly contain her enthusiasm for sharing her thoughts and ideas. Often, though, she spends a minute or more... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: intervention strategies, repetition with variety
October 13, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! We have some AAC posts that might be of interest. Monday – 5 Things You May Not Know About the Early Days of AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Fostering Emergent Writing in AAC Users Thursday – From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have an appetite for some AAC reading? Here are a few more suggestions. PrAACtical Ideas: AAC Core Vocabulary Practice for Workshops and Inservices How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets PrAACtically Reading: Over on the Farm with Karen Natoci & Karen Baca 5+ Ways to Make Page Fluffers and Spacers Classroom CORE Book by Tabi Jones-Wohleber (Downloadable file)
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: summary post
October 10, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We are excited to share the second post in Christine Wright-Ott’s series on promoting hands-free independent mobility in young AAC learners. Christine is an Occupational Therapist and consultant at The Bridge School in Hillsborough California. She authored the chapter “Mobility” in the 4-7th editions of the book, Occupational Therapy for Children. She lectures at universities and conferences including ATIA, Closing the Gap, ISAAC, ISS, and AAC by the Bay. Enjoy! Support Walker Mobility at the Bridge School I would like to share with you an innovative hands-free Support Walker Mobility Program developed at The Bridge School, which is a private school for preschool and elementary children with complex communication and physical disabilities located on the district’s public elementary school campus. It is dedicated to ensuring that students achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC), mobility and assistive technology (AT) applications. ... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: mobility, mobility impairment, physical disability, young children
October 7, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Given that October is AAC Awareness Month we thought that some of you AAC lovers would appreciate a stroll down memory lane. Here are a few things you may not know about the early days of AAC. The first papers that focused on AAC intervention were published in the 1950’s. In 1952, Goldstein and Cameron wrote about their use of communication boards with people with aphasia, and, a few years later, Sklar and Bennett discussed their experiences in using communication charts with this same population. Toward the end of the decade, professionals began describing their efforts in using communication boards with people with physical disabilities (e.g., Feallock,1958; Goldberg & Fenton, 1960). While speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists were among the first to disseminate their AAC work, professionals from many backgrounds contributed to its growth. In the early days, some of the strongest contributors to the field of AAC were rehabilitation... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC history
October 6, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have a couple of things to share with you today. One is an invitation to join me in Orlando in January for a full day of language intervention and AAC. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to present a full-day pre-conference workshop with Gail Van Tatenhove and Gloria Soto, two of the biggest names in AAC and language learning, at ATIA 2020. You can find out more about that using the slider on the graphic below or visit this site for an overview and registration link. Also, we kicked off AAC Awareness Month (#AACaware19) with a number of posts that contain resources for you to use. Take a look. Monday – Spreading the Word About AAC Awareness Month Tuesday- AAC Awareness Month Ideas Wednesday – Video of the Week: Connection – The Heart of Communication Thursday – AAC Assessment Corner: Evaluating Skills For... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: #AACaware19, AAC Awareness Month, ATIA, summary post
October 3, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We are so very pleased to welcome Vicki Clarke back to these pages for another installment in our AAC Assessment Corner. Vicki is the CEO of Dynamic Therapy Associates and Director of DTA Schools, is back with another wonderful edition of AAC Assessment Corner. In addition to their clinic, Vicki and her team support school districts in AAC evaluation, equipment procurement, and implementation for individual students in the academic environment. DTA Schools also supports district-wide AAC implementation through the Classroom Communication Goals Project, training, and supporting all team members in classroom AAC implementation. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Evaluating Skills For the Use of Comprehensive AAC Systems: CORE WORD USE ACTION/OBJECT REQUESTS-RECURRENCE, CESSATION, ACTION More, Stop, Go and Want Once we have assessed our student’s ability to understand and use photos and symbols for concrete, motivating items, it’s time to take a look at their ability to understand and use more abstract, generalizable core vocabulary. ... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC assessment, Vicki Clarke
October 1, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
In our part of the world, October brings pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween costumes, and apple cider. But no matter where you live October is more than pumpkins and Halloween. It’s internationally recognized as AAC Awareness Month and it offers a wonderful opportunity for spreading the word as to how we can support people with complex communication needs. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Make an AAC Awareness Bulletin Board in your school or clinic. These materials can be used to create an AAC Awareness display. Download the files, print on color paper, and you are ready to assemble your display. Punch up the display with an AAC poster, like Lauren Enders’ AAC Boot Camp-Getting AAC Users to Communicate or Kate Ahern’s The Periodic Table of AAC . Other ideas: Print, hang, or give someone an AAC awareness image 10 Commandments of AAC Devices Spice up your AAC instruction with... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Awareness Month