September 28, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts from our prAACtical week. Monday – Make It Monday: Customizing Core Boards for Students with AAC Needs Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Telework as a Workplace Accommodation for AAC Users Thursday – October AAC Year of Core Vocabulary Resources: PreK Through High School :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 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
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
September 3, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
How can SLPs provide effective AAC support in the classroom? Today’s video features a recorded session from AAC in the Cloud with thoughts on this topic from Randi Brown and Candace Armstrong, SLPs and AAC specialists who have a passion for pushing into the classroom. Many thanks to the presenters and the AAC in the Cloud team for this helpful video. Enjoy! Direct link to video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mbbMTZYZaw&ab_channel=OpenAAC ‘—
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 25, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
In 2013, when schools and other clinical programs were expanding their emphasis on teaching core vocabulary words, Robin Parker and I developed a set of resources for families and professionals that included symbol cards, sample sentences to model, activity suggestions, and more. All of these were based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Over the years, the resources were expanded and grew to include a wonderful series of calendars with daily activity suggestions developed by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. In 2020, a new series was launched, School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 24, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts that may be of interest. Monday – August AAC Year of Core Vocabulary Resources: PreK Through High School Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Exploring The Communication Matrix Thursday – Beyond Good & Nothing: Helping Children With AAC Needs Tell About Their School Day While you’re here, take a look at some of these posts from the archives. Write to Talk with Dr. Caroline Musselwhite Sound/Music Cause and Effect Apps for Engaging AAC Learners Beyond the Basics: Thoughts On Effective Language Instruction for AAC Learners When Materials Aren’t Effective in AAC Teaching: 5 Things to Try When Students are Reluctant to Use AAC: 5 Things to Try
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 21, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
“How was school?” (Good) “What did you do?” (Nothing) This scenario plays out in many cars and kitchens in the after school hours and it can be hard to know who is more frustrated: the kids for being asked or the parents for not getting satisfactory answers. And still, we repeat the process day after day. Of course, we want to know the fine details of what happened and how our children felt, but in some cases, we’d settle for ANY school-related conversation at all. I’ll be the first to admit that it took me way too long to get the hang of how to get information about my children’s school days, and it seemed like just when I did, pow! They were pre-teens and then teenagers. New rule book. Here are some ‘lessons learned’ along the way about those afterschool conversations and some suggestions for parents of the kids on... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 20, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
The Communication Matrix has evolved to be one of the most useful assessment tools available for individuals who are at the earliest stages of communicative development. In today’s featured video, you can learn about the tool from Deirdre Galvin-McLaughlin, Jill Tullman, and Alexandria Cook. Although their focus is on Rett Syndrome, the information they share is applicable to a much broader audience. Many thank to these talented presenters and to Rett University for sharing this archived web chat.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 19, 2025
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 course 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... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 18, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
We’re back and ready for a new school year and all that comes with it. Are you planning for comprehensive core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, two series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, both have resources that can be helpful to therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. Many other contributors over the... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 1, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
On the first Friday of each month, we publish a post in Spanish by guest author Claudia Marimón to highlight AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. In this month’s post, Claudia introduces us to Melania García, from Try It Pediatría, who gives us an overview of a fascinating and impactful project. This month, we’d like to share with the Spanish-speaking community — and the entire PrAACtical AAC community — an experience that has deeply inspired us. It has moved us, surprised us, and motivated us to continue developing similar activities in different parts of the world. We firmly believe in the importance of creating diverse, structured, and safe environments with real communication opportunities, where individuals who use AAC systems can participate, have fun, and communicate fully. Melania García, is the person who made this project possible —its... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
June 30, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Planning for comprehensive core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words has resources that can be helpful to therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising a past post for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. The initial Year of Core Vocabulary series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. Many other contributors over the years added to these efforts. You can access the resources for July words by clicking on the image below. Set 1 & Set 2 Words
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking