May 16, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
If you’ve been planning to begin using switch-accessible iPad games in your AAC work but haven’t quite gotten it all figured out, this post is for you. We’re delighted to introduce PrAACtical AAC readers to Daniel Rigney, an SLP who with students who have complex communication needs at the Rosedale School in Austin, Texas. Daniel’s professional interests include the AT/AAC Maker Movement (see this post for info on that topic), language development for students with moderate to severe disabilities, and disability rights. He also maintains a YouTube channel, Assistive Technology ATX, with helpful AT content and tips. In this post, Daniel shares the process he uses for integrating iPad games into AAC therapy for students who use switches rather than direct selection. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Let’s Play! Using Switch-accessible iPad Games for AAC Learning iPad games can be a great teaching tool for core vocabulary. From having your angry birds “go” to... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: access, Gaming, play, Switch Access
May 14, 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 while... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
May 13, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We couldn’t be more excited that the world’s AAC experts will be coming together in Mexico next summer for the ISAAC 2020 Conference. In recognition of this wonderful event, we’re excited to embark on a new project here at PrAACtical AAC. We hope that you will support this initiative and help us get this new project off the ground. PrAACtical AAC en Español is our effort at supporting the Spanish-speaking community and we are thrilled that this will be headed up by AAC specialist and veteran SLP, Deanna Wagner. Many of you are familiar with Deanna through her work in Arizona, her presentations around the world, her articles on the wonderful blog AAC Girls, and her guest posts on these pages (like her AACtual Therapy posts here and here, and videos such as this one). Over the next few months, she will be coordinating efforts to build a collection of Spanish-language... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: collaboration, crowdsource, Spanish
May 12, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends, and Happy Mother’s Day! If AAC is on your mind, we have some reading material for you. Monday – PrAACtically Reading: Over on the Farm with Karen Natoci & Karen Baca Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Classroom-based AAC Thursday – How We Do It: Increasing AAC Acceptance and Making Better Communication Partners In Our School Have time for a little more? Here are a couple of suggestions. AAC Funding Help Building Your AAC SLP Toolkit: Obtaining Free Apps for AAC Evaluations Check Your Knowledge of AT History AACtual Therapy: Making Core Words Fun for Students with Autism AAC Goes to Summer Camp
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: camp, classroom, funding, reading, summary post
May 9, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We are pleased to welcome Beth Waite-Lafever, an SLP with over 30 years of AAC experience, back to these pages. She has worked in outpatient rehab, private practice, and public school and has the RESNA ATP credential and LAMP certification from The Center for AAC and Autism. Beth has given many presentations at the state, national and international levels on AAC and related topics. In her private practice, she has provides evaluations, therapy, and training. Beth is the proud co-creator of The Indiana AAC Summit. Currently, she provides monthly online training for PRC as a contracted employee and is an SLP and AT Coach for MSD Martinsville, a public school system in Martinsville, Indiana. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How We Do It: Increasing AAC Acceptance and Making Better Communication Partners In Our School Each May when I see the Better Hearing and Speech campaign gear up, I wonder what more I can do... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Acceptance, Better Hearing and Speech Month, BHSM, classroom, partner training, school
May 7, 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 while... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up
May 6, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Are you ready for some reading, AAC style? In today’s edition of PrAACtically Reading, Karen Natoci and Karen Baca share a preschool book about farm animals. Karen Natoci is an AAC Supervisor who is well-known to the readers of this site (see her wonderful contributions here.). Her colleague Karen Baca is an AT and AAC Specialist with over 30 years in the field of AT, specializing in AAC, alternative access, and literacy for all students with disabilities. They both work for The Speech Pathology Group in the San Francisco Bay area. Book: Over on the Farm by Marianne Berkes and illustrated by Cathy Morrison (Copyright © 2003, Little, Brown and Company; Hachette Book Group, www.lb-kids.com) Vocabulary focus: All core words Fringe Vocabulary focus: horse/foals/neigh, cat/kittens/meow, cow/calves/moo, goat/kids/maa, chicken/chick/cheep-cheep, owl/owlets/hoot-hoot, mouse/pups/squeek, turkey/poults/gobble-gobble, duck/ducklings/quack, pig/piglets/oink Actions: peck, nibble, swish, wash, gallop, hide, fly, strut, waddle roll Communication Matrix (Rowland, 2009) level: I-VIII... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Books, emergent literacy, preschool, reading
May 5, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – PrAACtically May: More AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Looking at AAC Modeling Thursday – How We Do It: Coaching AAC Use in the Natural Environment :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, check out these posts from the archives. It’s PrAACtically Mother’s Day- 5 Activities that Support Communicating with Mom Using Vest Displays with Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum Aided Language Input During Play Five Resources for Making and Using Visual Scene Displays From Solitary Play to Interaction: 5 Things to Try With Kids Who Love Their iPad Games
Filed under: Featured Posts
Tagged With: play, summary post
May 2, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
If it’s May, it must be Better Hearing and Speech Month (#BSHM), and we’re thrilled to kick off the festivities by two Illinois-based SLPs, Dr. Jill Senner and Matt Baud. They have a wealth of AAC experience and have generously shared their expertise here in several previous posts. Today, we welcome them back as they share some advice on helping staff use AAC in natural settings. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Put Me in, Coach: Coaching AAC Use in the Natural Environment “Help, I already trained the team and the device is still not being used outside of my sessions.” Sound familiar? We hear this a lot. This actually is quite common if one key training element is missing. In fact, without this critical instructional component, there’s only about a 5% chance that the strategies you’re teaching will actually be used in the natural environment. What is the essential ingredient to maximizing your... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: coaching, Jill Senner, Matt Baud, partner training
April 30, 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 while... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, Featured Posts
Tagged With: AAC Link Up