September 30, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It’s prAACtically AAC Awareness Month and we have plenty of resources to help you spread the word. If you’re on a mission to help people with complex communication needs get access to AAC, join our efforts to boost the presence of AAC on your social media feeds. Today’s post has a selection of AAC Awareness Month graphics to choose from. (These are not branded or watermarked so you can use them freely.) And if social media is not your preferred way to spread the word about AAC options, stay tuned. We have lots more to share this week. Download the latest Facebook banners and profile images for AAC Awareness Month 2019 by clicking on the images below. Facebook Banner Image Facebook Profile Image Facebook Banner Image Facebook Profile Image You can grab another style of Facebook banner here. Is Instagram your jam? We’ve got you covered.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Awareness Month, Facebook, Instagram, twitter
September 29, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some AAC posts that may be of interest. Monday – How I Do It: Teaching the AAC Helpers Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Stepping Stones to Switch Access, Part 2 Thursday – PrAACtically October: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Friday – PrAACtically October: A Month of AAC Ideas ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: We’re excited for the start of AAC Awareness Month and grateful to Lauren Enders for continuing the tradition of helping us stay aware of the discounts on AAC apps. In the mood for some more AAC exploration? Here are a few suggestions. Building AAC Awareness: Using AAC to Express a Range of Functions From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 1 From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 2 Social Stories and Narratives PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Apples Have a great week, everyone!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC apps, summary post
September 27, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We know how many of you love Rachael Langley’s calendars with prAACtical suggestions for infusing core vocabulary. If you are following along with the Year of Core Vocabulary or are just wanting to add more core word activities to your day, this perpetual calendar for October will come in handy. Perpetual calendars are designed to be used year after year. At the start of the month, just write in the numbers in the blank squares, and you are good to go. You can click here or on the image to download a copy. Many, many thanks to Rachael for making these resources and sharing them so that they can be used by families, teachers, and therapists.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words
September 26, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Know any AAC learners like these? Jeremiah has an SGD with thousands of core and fringe words, but he uses less than 100 of them in day-to-day life. Bella used an AAC app with visual scene displays to interact at playtime and during daily routines for the past several months. Her team just added an app with a grid-based vocabulary so that she can begin to create novel sentences and expand her language abilities. Mason was recently evaluated for an AAC device, but it will likely take a few months to get the funding situation straightened out. In the meantime, his team created a manual communication board that mirrors the main screen of the SGD’s language software. Each of them needs lots of practice to become fluent with the core words in their AAC systems. Are you looking for resources to support your use of core words in therapy, in... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: core vocabulary, downloads
September 24, 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
September 23, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We welcome Amanda Samperi back to these pages with more ideas for prAACtical ways to address AAC implementation challenges. As an SLP, Amanda has served individuals with complex communication needs in school, home, and medical settings. She has presented on AAC-related topics st ASHA, an IEE Electrical Safety Workshop, and at the AAC in the Cloud Conference. Amanda hopes to continue sharing her knowledge and experiences about AAC through her blog, AAC is where it’s AT. Today, she shares some ideas for helping staff members better support AAC learners. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: Teaching the Helpers Mr. Rogers had it right – you will always find people helping. Helpers make our world go round. We rely on them in times of tragedy, celebrate with them in times of joy, and lean on them in times of need. Helpers play a large role in both the home and school lives... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC partner training, AAC teams, collaboration
September 22, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – How I Do It: Setting Up an AAC Implementation Plan Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: The Unspoken Voices Project Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: Partner Strategies Booklet & Communication Functions Poster ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have time, here are a few more posts to check out. AAC Vocabulary Lists PrAACtical Suggestions: 5 Ways to Elicit Language Without Asking a Direct Question Are you AACtually Listening? PrAACtical Suggestions: How to Get Started with A New AAC Client PrAACtical Questions: How Do I Find Good AAC Service Providers? Have a great week!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC implementation, language facilitation, service delivery
September 19, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for resources that help communication partners develop a better understanding of how to interact with AAC users in supportive ways? We’re grateful to AAC SLP Alicia Garcia for sharing updated versions of two helpful resources. Alicia is the clinical lead of the AAC Clinic at One Kids Place, a children’s treatment center in northern Ontario. You can download a packet with an AAC partner strategies booklet and a poster displaying the variety of communication functions that we can support in our AAC work by clicking on the images below. Enjoy!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: downloads, parent resource, partner strategies
September 16, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome back to another installment of TELL ME About it, guest authored by Jeanna Antrim and Maggie Judson. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists 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, they walk us through the ways that they facilitate AAC use while focusing on a beloved book by Eric Carle. TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with Brown Bear, Brown Bear TELL ME About Reading: The first book in the TELL ME program (Teaching Early Language and Literacy through Multimodal Expression) is the warm-up book, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”. A wonderful classic that may already be part of your classroom... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: shared reading, TELL ME
September 15, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! We’ve rounded up some posts that might be of interest. Monday – How I Do It: Setting Up an AAC Implementation Plan Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: The Unspoken Voices Project Thursday – From Wheelchair to Walker: The Cascading Benefit of Hands-Free Mobility :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: We’ve got a few more posts for you to browse. On the Same Page: Helping Team Members Recognize and Respond to Unconventional Communication Signals From Referential to Descriptive Teaching with AAC Learners Aided Language Input – How Much Language Should We Model? PrAACtical Resources: Promoting Inclusion and Participation for People Who Use AAC When Students are Reluctant to Use AAC: 5 Things to Try
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: summary post