September 29, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you might like. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC & Informed Consent for Participation in Research Thursday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words – Older Student Lessons: AAC Resources for October :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are some from the archives that may also be of interest. Adapting Books with Visual Scenes AAC-friendly Accessible Books Make It PrAACtical: Display Stand for Visual Supports or Books 5 Books Featuring Children Who Use AAC Reading with AAC Across the Stages of Language Development Using Adapted Books with AAC Learners: 3 Important Questions to Ask Reading with AAC at the Beenleigh School
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
September 15, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Library-based Reading Program for AAC Users and their Families Thursday – AAC & Reading Roundup: 20+ Articles, Videos, & Resources ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have time for a bit more? Here’s a sampling of past posts for you to browse. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Apples AAC Partner Training Strategies AAC Device Mounting Fundamentals AACtual Therapy: From PECS to iPad with Jason Butcher 5 Things We’ve Learned from Our AAC Families Understanding and Supporting Families of AAC Learners
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
September 3, 2024
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 a... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
August 12, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
We’re in the home stretch of our Stepping Into AAC series! Follow along as we continue with a focus on ‘AAC on the go’ and talk about connecting with the AAC community. If you missed the earlier posts, you can view those using the links below. Introduction: A PrAACtical Guide to Stepping into AAC Week 1: Starting a Journey with Stepping into AAC Weeks 2-5: Building a Foundation with Stepping into AAC Weeks 6-8: Customizing AAC Tools with Stepping into AAC Weeks 9-12: Getting More Comfortable with AAC Practices Weeks 13-14: AAC & Reading Weeks 15-17: AAC in Everyday Life Target Words: do, he, over, she, they, where Communicative Intents: Social exchanges, exclamations, & humor Hands-on Activities: Try your best to complete the 5 daily activities, each of which take less than 10 minutes. These brief, simple AACtion steps help in building habits of AAC use that will allow your... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
July 21, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you might have missed. Monday – AAC & Reading with Stepping into AAC (Weeks 13-14) Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Interprofessional Practice for AAC Assessments in the Schools :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Enjoy these past posts in honor of my dear friend and PrAACtical AAC co-founder, the late Dr. Robin Parker. An AAC ‘Funny Area’ Solution AUTISM AND AAC: FIVE THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN by Deanne Shoyer More Cooking Beyond Requesting: Let’s Chat with Peers Begin AAC Now: 10 Things to Do AAC Must-Have’s for the Classroom and Therapy Room RECASTING: A LANGUAGE FACILITATION STRATEGY
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
July 10, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Technological advances, perseverance, and creativity are combining to offer new opportunities for accessing AAC technology. In today’s post, we share Pancho Ramirez’s insights on new options for alternative access. Many thanks to Mr. Ramirez and the AAC Research Summit for making this presentation available. Direct link to video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7DVWDeYZIE&ab_channel=CommunicationFirst
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
June 7, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy June, CAA friends! Each month, we feature a Spanish version of our AAC Link Up called CAA con Links. If you have AAC-related announcements, materials, or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. You’ll find the place to add that information at the very bottom of this post. Claudia Marimón organizes these monthly posts, which feature AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. In today’s post, Claudia shares the experiences of Samuel, a young AAC user who traveled to Mexico to participate in an international spelling competition. He did a wonderful job and raised awareness of AAC for many people. Learn... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
May 23, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome back to our series on using the Stepping Into AAC program materials, a self-study program for families seeking to learn about and begin using AAC with their child, teen, or adult. In today’s post, we explore some of the things to do in preparation for starting an AAC journey and move into the first week of AAC learning activities. As you begin your Stepping Into AAC journey, there are 3 main things to do. Think about how you will organize your AAC learning materials and make a plan for incorporating AAC into your life. Starting in Week 1, you’ll do hands-on learning with your communication board (or device/app), watch informational videos, and read through documents. Prepare to select a communication board to use throughout this program. LINK to coom boards If you’re unsure of which one to use, don’t let that stop you. We’ll give you some guidance on... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
May 13, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
We’re excited to welcome back guest authors Marisa Portanova and Marnina Allis to extend the conversation about running AAC groups for children. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: PrAACtical AAC Groups Made Easy – Let’s Have a Weekly Social Lions and tigers and AAC groups, OH MY! Group therapy can be intimidating. We have some tips, tricks and ideas we want to share to help you get started. Let’s jump in! So welcome back, and thanks for following along our AAC group’s journey with us. Within Blythedale Children’s Hospital, we have a school program run in coordination with the Mount Pleasant Blythedale Union Free School District. These children come to school on a regular school calendar, including the extended school year 6-week summer session. Once we were doing groups with our verbal children, we decided to start groups for our AAC users. We wanted to model core language and target literacy, so we made... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
March 31, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends, and a joyous Easter to those who celebrate. We have a free online conference opportunity to share with you and, of course, some AAC posts you might enjoy. The UM-NSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities offers its annual online conference on Saturday, April 6th. The featured speakers are Erin Sheldon (“Nothing about me without me:” Build your supported decision-making toolbox!) and Tabi Jones Wohleber (Ready, Set, Communicate: AACtion steps to AAC Implementation). For more information and a registration link, you can visit this page. There is no cost for this event. And now, let’s look at some of the past posts from our prAACtical week. Monday – April Year of Core Vocabulary & School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: On Transitioning from Paper-based to High-Tech AAC Thursday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking