November 7, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Have you looked at the retail prices for switch-adapted toys lately? And have you noticed that the selection is fairly limited? Just in time for the holiday season, we’re pleased to introduce our youngest guest author to date, Michael Dicpinigaitis, who is stopping by to help us figure out a more affordable alternative. Michael used his interest in technology to learn how to adapt toys and create switches with the help of a 3-D printer. Learn about his organization, Jericho Adapts Toys, and peruse the resources he shares. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer or know someone who is, this post is for you. Kudos to the entire team at Jericho Adapts Toys: Michael Dicpinigaitis, Eric Li, Jai Joshi, Corinne Dicpinigaitis, and Sohil Dharia. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: JerichoAdaptsToys.org was a vision that became a reality. The vision was to provide children with significant motor impairments the ability to independently play, have control of their environment, and learn important... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: adapted toys, DIY, play
November 5, 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
November 4, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Fall seems to be a prime time for training classroom staff on AAC tools and strategies. These mini communication boards were a topic of conversation at a recent training so today we’re sharing an editable PowerPoint file for you to download. The slides are set to a custom size so when you print them, they’ll fit inside a badge holder. Plenty of AAC options for you to choose from and you can resize the image to meet your needs. You can download the mini communication board file here. Enjoy!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication book, downloads
November 3, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some AAC posts that may be of interest. Monday – PrAACtically November: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Vocabulary Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: The Life-changing Experience of Getting a Speech Generating Device Thursday – Wrapping Up AAC Awareness Month ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have more time, check out these past posts from the archives. 5 AAC Tips for Talking About Halloween After it is Over EET + AAC = OMG Top AAC Videos
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: first-person accounts, Halloween, language intervention, video
October 31, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Another AAC Awareness Month is in the books. If you’re still in the mood to spread the word about AAC, you might be interested in some of these resources. If these don’t appeal to you, scroll down and check out the Halloween AAC cards at the end. Click on the images to download the file. Editable Tags Bookmarks AAC Info Card for Halloween Trick or Treaters Until next time!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Awareness Month
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