September 24, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Even the most well-intentioned person can be a poor communication partner for individuals who use AAC. The average person has no idea how to communicate effectively with someone who has a significant communication disability, and is likely to do things that are less than helpful. These Communication Access Cards, developed by Scope, can be just the thing to improve the quality of interactions. You can download this wonderful resource here.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Communication Access Cards, Scope
September 22, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Here’s a sobering thought. Relatively few users of AAC use grammatically correct sentences when they communicate. There are lots reasons for that, but in this post, we focus on understanding the things that contribute to that problem. In Part 2, we’ll look at ways to address the issue. Let’s reflect on the problem of why many AAC learners don’t communicate with complete, grammatically correct utterances. When communication is time-consuming and difficult, it makes sense to put your effort to saying things that convey a lot of meaning and skip the rest. If you are trying to get your point across with as little effort as possible, content-heavy words, like agents, actions, and places, pack a punch. As clinicians, we are often so driven to understand the main points of what the learner is trying to convey that we promote that strategy. Here are two snippets to illustrate. Clinician: Look at... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: intervention, language therapy, vertical structure
September 21, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
What is more amazing than seeing kids with AAC needs become competent communicators? How about seeing the next generation of SLPs become competent in AAC?! It is over-the-moon exciting to think of how many lives we could touch if more SLP students became passionate about AAC. Today, we add to our series called PrAACtically SLPs, where we hand the reins to students studying to be SLPs who’ve taken a special interest in AAC. This post is authored by Stephanie Johnson and her colleague Brianna Simmons, two Australian student Speech Pathologists from Macquarie University. They recently completed a clinical placement at Lifestart, an agency that supports children and young people living with disability. Because many of the children on their caseloads had significant communication challenges, AAC options became an important focus of their intervention. In this post, they tell us about their journey learning to use an AAC app with some of their clients. Please... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC app, Brianna Simmons, Macquarie University, Proloquo2Go, SLP students, SLP2B, Stephanie Johnson
September 20, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Monday – PrAACtical Site of the Month: SET-BC Tuesday – How We Do It: Handy Tools for Language Sampling with Dr. Jill Senner and Matthew Baud Wednesday – Video of the Week: Visual Schedules with AAC Learners Thursday – Throwback Thursday: 10 Posts on Activity Ideas for Language Therapy in AAC
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
September 17, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Great kid. Check! Appropriate AAC system. Check! Well-developed intervention goals. Check! Key intervention strategies. Check! Where do we go from here? Well, if you are anything like the young clinicians with whom I’ve been speaking, you might be thinking about therapy activities and materials. Here are some past posts that may be of interest. Magic Moments with Tellagami New Word Teaching: A Look Inside Some PrAACtical Therapy Sessions 5 Ways to Use Word Clouds in AAC Therapy and Magic Moments with Word Clouds Magic Moments: Painting with Time Teaching the Use of Social Phrases and Comments Let’s Go Outside! 5 PrAACtical Ideas Magic Moments with Disneyland Explorer “Can I Ask You a Question?” Language Experience Surveys 5 PrAACtical Thoughts on Catch-up Conversations Magic Moments with Sentence Builder
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: activities, language intervention, language therapy
September 15, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
We are pleased to welcome back Dr. Jill Senner and Matthew Baud to talk about a topic near and dear to my heart: language sampling. Jill is an AAC SLP and the owner of Technology and Language Center. An experienced AAC interventionist, she has presented at numerous national conferences and has taught graduate AAC courses. You can follow Jill on Pinterest or visit her at the TALC Facebook page. Matthew (@Mbaud12/Twitter) is the AT Coordinator at Niles Township District for Special Education where he conducts AAC evaluations, trainings, and coaching of AAC. He has an AAC private practice and is an adjunct AAC instructor at Saint Xavier University. Matthew has presented at several national and state conferences. In this post, they share their favorite tips and resources for language sampling and language sample analysis. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Language sample analysis is an oldie but a goodie in the field of speech-language pathology. While writing down and analyzing what children say is not a new idea,... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: download, Jill Senner, language sample, language sample analysis, Matthew Baud, resources
September 14, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
September is back-to-school month in our part of the world, and it’s fitting that the site of the month be from an educational entity. Today, we travel to Canada to visit Special Education Technology – British Columbia (SET-BC). Among the highlights: AAC Activity Day Package pictureSET: Hundreds of downloadable visual supports curriculumSET: Educational materials broken down by content area Accessible Book Tutorials and Templates Dozens of recorded training webinars Resource Guide: Planning for the Arrival and Implementation of a Speech Generating Device SET Stories (Who doesn’t love seeing AT in action?!) Happy exploring!
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: SET BC, Site of the Month
September 13, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Monday – 5 Thoughts on Using Scripts in AAC Therapy Tuesday – 4 Things to Consider When Embracing the ‘New Normal’ Wednesday – Video of the Week: Aided Language Input with Dr. Caroline Musselwhite Thursday – AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues – PrAACtical Tool # 3
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
September 10, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
AAC is best played as a team sport. We’ve written about doing this with AAC inservice training, using AT throughout the school day, building classroom conversations, and other tools for using AAC in the classroom. No matter how you view it, AAC interventionists have to support one another. In this post, we continue our series of sharing printables that can be used to provide a little encouragement and recognition of our colleagues who are out there every day trying to do their best for AAC learners. You can download the bookmarks here, print and laminate them back-to-back, and share with with families, teachers, therapists, paraprofessionals, and others who are with you on this journey. And, if you missed the earlier printables, you can get those here and here.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: collaboration, resources, teamwork
September 9, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
There is a short list of presenters that I like go see, no matter what topic they are speaking on. Dr. Caroline Musselwhite has been on that list for a very long time. In this video, she provides an insightful discussion of a pivotal intervention strategy, aided language input. If you appreciate hearing from clinicians who have been doing this work for many years, you will love this engaging and prAACtical presentation. You can get the accompanying handouts here and here. Please note that you will need to register in order to view the presentation. Many thanks to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation for making this available. Direct Link to Video: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/7139066695959986690
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aided language input, Angelman Syndrome Foundation, Caroline Musselwhite