Busy week? Here are some AAC posts you may have missed. Tuesday – Getting Ready for a Core Vocabulary Journey Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC in the Classroom for Students with Significant Disabilities Thursday – PrAACtical Supports for Young AAC Learners: Recipes for Success, Part 1
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Tagged With: summary post
One of the most gratifying things about the AAC field is being able to connect with talented professionals who love what they do and are passionate about supporting learners with little or no functional speech. I am humbled by the incredibly generous ways in which clinicians are supporting their clients and one another. Today’s post, by SLP Sara Barnhill, is a case in point. Sara has worked at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU (CHoR) for seven years. She is a member of the Assistive Technology (AT) Core team and completes multiple AAC evaluations per week as well as AAC therapy. Her caseload includes patients in clinics, out-patient therapy, and on the Transitional Care Unit which provides pediatric long-term care. Through her specialty areas, Sara has discovered a love for sharing information and training others. Sara has presented in multiple conferences at the local, state, and national levels. Sara has... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: beginning communicators, core vocabulary, parent training, play
Summer is a great time to prepare materials for the busy year ahead. Next week, we launch a new series, Make It Monday, to help you do just that. We’ll focus on creating one thing at a time so that you’re ready to start the school year with an ample supply of core vocabulary resources that you can use in therapy, instruction, and informal conversation. Later in the series, we’ll be making individual and classroom communication boards and instructional materials. For now, though, we’ll spend some time getting organized and prepared. Before you make the investment of time and resources, it helps to make a few key clinical/educational decisions. This will keep us from wasting color ink, laminating pouches, velcro, and, most of all, time. Here are the things to think about before you begin. Symbols In order to make AAC materials, you’ll need to decide on how language is... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: core vocabulary
Busy week? Here are some AAC posts you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Hello Baby Wednesday – Video of the Week: Activity Schedule Action Thursday – PrAACtically July: Resources for a Year of Core Vocabulary
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Keiran has a new AAC app that is well-populated with core vocabulary. Gabbie has had an SGD for awhile but doesn’t use it as frequently as her team had hoped. Hudson is transitioning from PECS to an AAC device with more robust language. While different in many ways, each of these learners has a common need: frequent opportunities to learn about and use core vocabulary. To accomplish this, their SLPs, teachers, and families select a dozen or so core words and pay special attention to those each month. That allows them to highlight this small group of words using focused language stimulation, aided language input, and specific activities designed to teach or practice them. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that. Set 1 (2013: A Year of Core) (12 words/month) Set 2 (2014: Another Year of Core) (16 words/month) In today’s post,... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: Calendar, core words, download
Karen Natoci is back with some wonderful suggestions for reading and building AAC skills with young children. Although her focus is on little ones with visual impairment, these books and the implementation suggestions, would be useful for a wide range babies, toddlers, and preschoolers who are developing their language skills. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Books Hello Baby Words (high contrast board books) by Roger Priddy, illustrated by Holly Jackman (Published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, NY 10010) Hello Baby Words: On The Go Hello Baby Words: Faces Hello Baby: Animals Hello Baby: Faces Core Vocabulary Focus: GO, GET, WHO, THAT, SEE, IT Fringe Vocabulary Transportation: digger, balloon, train, roller skates, helicopter, truck, car, submarine, rocket, dump truck, fire truck, boat, race car, tractor, car carrier, plane Animals: cat, turtle, fish, pig, butterfly, cow, mouse, bird, bear, zebra, rabbit, panda, penguin, dog, sheep, snake Faces: boy, girl, woman, man, grandfather, grandmother... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: Books, literacy, reading, visual impairment
We had a busy week filled with learning about AAC, autism, and inclusive education. Hope your week was just as productive! Monday: Three Ways to Use AAC Goals to Strengthen Implementation Wednesday: Video of the Week – Observational Assessment of Beginning Communicators
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Concerned about AAC systems not being implemented as often as they should? Looking for ways to help AAC learners gain additional practice? Trying to help colleagues build the habit of actively supporting AAC learners? You are not alone. There are several strategies to boost the use of AAC, and adding some key phrases to the goals we write is one of them. Here are some thoughts on ways to use goals to strengthen the day-to-day AAC experiences of the learners with whom we work. Aided Language Input: Experienced AAC professionals and knowledgeable families understand that consistent use of this strategy is the most powerful way to build AAC use. If this is an issue for your AAC teams, consider adding verbiage to the goals that mandate the use of this strategy. Examples: “Given consistent AAC modeling, ___ will…” “When provided with aided language input, ___ will…” Frequent Implementation: Like many... [Read More...]
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Tagged With: AAC goals, goal setting, implementtion
Hope you had a wonderful, AAC-filled week. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: Book-related Communication Boards Wednesday – Video of the Week: Teaching Clients to Program Their Own AAC Devices Thursday – On Friendship: Supporting AAC Learners
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It’s throwback Thursday! Today, we are revisiting some prior posts on the topic of helping learners with AAC needs develop and maintain meaningful friendships. 5 Ways SLPs Can Support Friendships for People who Use AAC 5 (More) Resources for Supporting Friendships in Individuals who use AAC Video of the Week: A Recipe For Friendship Communication Circles: With A Little Help From My Friends Back to School-Making Friends Fresh Look: Friendship Skills for Children With ASD Who Use AAC Do you have ways of supporting the friendships of learners who use AAC? We’d love to hear about them.
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Tagged With: friendship