January 30, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
As we tick off the final days of the month, we’re looking ahead to ways we can highlight more of the core vocabulary words in our clients’ AAC devices and communication aids. One approach to boosting practice opportunities is to select a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. Throughout the month, we can then pay special attention to that small group of words by highlighting them with focused language stimulation, aided language input, and specific activities designed to teach or practice those words. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that and every month we share some ideas for prioritizing a small set of words. You can use these materials to remind yourself which words to highlight this month, with using aided language input and focused language stimulation. What else? Here are some ideas to get you started. Print... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words, Another Year of Core Words, prAACtically
January 26, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
“He knows what to do. He just doesn’t do it.” “He’s prompt-dependent. How can I get him to use AAC on his own?” “I love his strong-willed nature, but it works against him sometimes. He doesn’t initiate.” If any of these remarks sound familiar, it may be time to think about alternative approaches to build independent communication. Here are a few things to try with AAC users who’ve learned to wait for support before communicating. Exaggerate the pause time: Many of our AAC learners need at least 5 seconds of pause time after a communication opportunity presents itself. This helps them process the experience, organize their thoughts, decide on a response, and then begin to execute that response. Sometimes, though, we work with people who’ve learned that if they just wait, the communication partner will start to help (whether or not they need it). We can sometimes nudge the learner... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: implementation ideas, prompting, the fives
January 23, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
The good news is this: A growing number of people with complex communication needs are getting access to AAC. Educators whose students had AAC only at circle and snack time are now using it more consistently with their students throughout the day and teaching lessons specifically designed to build skills with AAC systems. SLPs who had eschewed AAC or who had focused their AAC efforts on choicemaking, requesting, and labeling are now embracing their role as language specialists and teaching a fuller array of semantic, morphological, and syntactic skills to AAC learners. AT specialists who had been doling out the same few SGDs and AAC apps are now digging deeper and using established practices for AT selection in supporting minimally verbal and nonverbal students. Behaviorists who had previously focused primarily on receptive identification and verbal imitation are supporting the expressive needs of their clients in new ways. Families who had little... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: intervention, language development, myth
January 19, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
As a speech-language pathologist, most of my attention goes to strategies for building language and communication, but there is, of course, much more to AAC. The Independent Living Centre Western Australia (ILC) has a wonderful set of resources that focus on the operational aspects of AAC, a critical area for many individuals with complex communication needs. This is a great site to check out for ‘how-to’ information on how to help AAC users develop skills with direct selection (eye gaze, touch screen) and scanning. Many thanks to ILC and the Unlocking Abilities Project for making these available.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: access, direct selection, eye gaze, Scanning, switch
January 16, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on the third Monday of January. It presents, among other things, a wonderful opportunity to talk and teach about concepts like tolerance, fairness, dignity, respect, and peaceful protest. Many of our AAC learners have a deeper understanding of these concepts than we will ever realize but they lack the language skills to discuss them in the same ways as their speaking peers do. Today, we share some ideas for continuing the conversation about these issues to help our AAC learners continue to develop their language skills. You may already have books, videos, and other resources that are useful in teaching about the life of Dr. King and the values he fought for, but here are some previous posts with a few more suggestions. Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday: 5 Resources for AAC Learners AAC and Anti-bullying... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: holiday, language therapy
January 12, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
The NJC has been one of my go-to resources for many years, so I was delighted when Amy Goldman agreed to write an update on recent activities. Amy is one of my AAC heroes but you may know her best from her long career of advocacy with AAC and AT through professional organizations (e.g., ASHA, USSAAC, ATIA, PSHA, ATAP). Amy is now one of three technical assistance specialists with the national Assistive Technology Act Technical Assistance and Training Center (AT3). She recently retired from her position as Co-Executive Director of the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, PA’s University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities where she directed local, state, and federal projects related to assistive technology. She is honored to represent ASHA on the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC). She and I co-chair the ATIA strand on AAC and hope to see many... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Communication Bill of Rights, NJC
January 9, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Sometimes it’s the little things that trip us up. A detail we missed, a corner we cut, or a small step we didn’t know about…Any of these can foul up an entire project (not too mention our mood!). That’s why appreciate clearly written guides like this one from Kate McCallum at Equality Time. Hope you find it helpful. Note: Those outside the UK will need to adjust printing for their own paper sizes.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication book
January 5, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Looking to infuse additional activities to support the reading and writing development of the AAC learners with whom you work? Today, we’re revisiting some popular posts with helpful ideas and resources. Robust Literacy Instruction for People Who Use AAC A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators Literacy Lessons for Beginning AAC Learner Infusing Literacy Learning Opportunities in AAC Therapies Literacy for All: A Series of Videos by Dr. Caroline Musselwhite Hope you find some useful tips and suggestions.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: emergent literacy, implementation ideas, reading, writing
January 2, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Happy 2017! As we welcome another prAACtical year, it’s time to start preparing the materials we’ll need to model and teach core words to our AAC learners. This is a great time to get the word cards and other materials for the Year of Words (Set 1/2013; Set 2/2014) ready to use with the AAC learners in our lives. Thanks to the generous spirit of PrAACtical AAC readers we have posts with a variety of resources: Minspeak/Unity version: Set 1/2013 PCS versions: Set 1/2013 , Set 2/2014 Speak for Yourself version: Set 2/2014 SymbolStix version: Set 1/2013 Lesson Pix: Set1/2013 Smarty Symbols: Set 1 words, Set 2 words CoughDrop: Set 1 words; Set 2 words WordPower: Set 1 words (Note: This is a large file that contains the resources for several versions of WordPower) Thanks to Brian Whitmer, Barbara Fernandes, Nancy Inman, Deborah Lesher, Beth Erwin, Bill and Lori Binko, Heidi LoStracco, Alison Wade,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words, core words, PrAACtically January
December 29, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
We are closing out the year with a bang by combining two of our favorite things: working on AAC and literacy. In this post, Michigan-based teachers Amy Devin and Lauren Pawlowski return to discuss their strategies for building communication skills in the context of writing activities. Enjoy their detailed descriptions of how they implement a 5-day writing sequence in their classrooms! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Predictable Chart Writing with Core Vocabulary If writing with your students is something you are apprehensive about, then Predictable Chart writing is a good place to start. You get a lot of bang for your buck, as you can work on many different concepts as you are instructing through the week. Some areas you will be able to work on is location and meaning of core, concepts about print, print awareness and fine motor skills. Prior to starting your Predictable Chart Writing, you have to have a plan on which... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ASD, classroom, school, writing