October 6, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
We’re back with another Teach Me Tuesday post to help us all learn more about the wide range of traditional SGDs and AAC apps. If you use the traditional paper-based PECS or the PECS III app, this may be of interest to you. You can use these resources to explore PECS Phase IV+ by Pyramid Education Consultants. PECS Phase IV+ App Product overview Video Overview Manual Getting Started Video Where to go for help Phone: 302 368-2515 Email: pyramidus@pecs.com
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Teach Me Tuesday
October 5, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Having solid goals and fun activities is one thing, but being able to connect the two and teach communication and language takes skill. We have the best outcomes when the interventionist knows a variety of strategies that can support the learning outcomes. We’ve written about implementing countdown boards and other visual supports to build attention in the past, and have been gratified to hear from many of you who utilize those strategies. In today’s post, SLP Kimberly Scanlon, owner of Scanlon Speech Therapy, discusses how she implements this strategy and shares her own clever variation. You can download it at the end of the post. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: You plan the session. In fact, you over-plan and over prepare. You carefully select materials ensuring they are appropriate, engaging, and motivating for the client. Each activity will be short. Short is key as this student grows restless and losses interest rather quickly. You remove... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: attention, countdown board, Kimberly Scanlon
October 4, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
It’s been a wonderful week to launch a month of activities for building AAC awareness and acceptance! Monday – PrAACtically October: Year of Core Word Resources Tuesday – PrAACtically October: A Core Word Calendar Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC in a Shared Reading Group Thursday – AAC Awareness Month
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
October 1, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Happy International AAC Awareness Month! Do you have plans to celebrate or build awareness about AAC? Here are some images that can help you do just that. The larger images are sized for Facebook header images and the smaller ones for Facebook profile photos.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Awareness, Facebook
September 29, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for a way to connect with families to encourage modeling of AAC at home? If your learners have AAC systems that are rich in core vocabulary, this calendar by Rachael Langley may be just the ticket. Each day has a suggestion for things to do or say that build experience with our October core words. Click on the image to get a version you can download. BIG thanks to Rachael for creating these each month and allowing us to share them on PrAACtical AAC.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words, core vocabulary, Rachael Langley
September 28, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
It has been so exciting to hear about the growing number of classrooms, therapy sessions, and families who are prioritizing high-frequency core words with AAC learners. Whether you are using a high tech SGD, AAC app, or no-tech communication boards/books, core vocabulary teaching can play a powerful role in building language skills. If you are following along with our 2013 Year of Core (first set with 12 words/month) or the 2014 A(nother) Year of Core: (second set 16 words/month; Different than the previous year’s core words), you may have printed out some of the word cards to use with the AAC learners in your life. Thanks to the kindness of PrAACtical AAC readers (Bill and Lori Binko, Heidi LoStracco, Alison Wade, Russell Cross, Gail Van Tatenhove, Eric Sailers, Rachael Langley, Laura Kessell, Christine Bayley and others) we have a variety of resources to explore. Once you have them, the idea... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Year of Core
September 27, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Monday – PrAACtically SLPs: An AAC App Journey Tuesday – Supporting Language Growth in AAC Learners, Part 1 Wednesday – Video of the Week: Preparing for an AAC Journey Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: Communication Access Cards
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
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