May 18, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
In honor of ASHA’s Better Hearing and Speech Month, we’ve invited clinicians who use AAC in their schools to share a bit about their work here on PrAACtical AAC. Today’s post is from Kaitlyn Connors and Rachel Egbert, two school-based SLPs in New Jersey. For the past 8 years, Kaitlyn has worked with children who use AAC. She earned her Master’s degree from Ithaca College and remains passionate about AAC, and helping each student communicate to the best of their abilities. Rachel earned her Master’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2013. She eagerly keeps abreast of the latest advances in AAC, which help her to deliver the most positive outcome possible for her students. Both Kaitlyn and Rachel currently serve students at Larc School. Beyond Requesting: PrAACtical Ideas for Building Language in the Classroom To take one student beyond requesting during snack time we implemented a core language board... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, core vocabulary, education, Kaitlyn Connors, Larc School, low tech, Rachel Egbert
May 17, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Monday – Sound/Music Cause and Effect Apps for Engaging AAC Learners Tuesday – Say What?!? AAC Assessment for Children Who Speak with Dr. Jill Senner and Matthew Baud Wednesday – Video of the Week: Communication Supports for Problem Behavior with Dr. Pat Mirenda Thursday – How I Do It: The All-in-One-Visual-Support Tool by Tabi Jones-Wohleber
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
May 14, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
I am constantly in awe of the creativity and generosity of AAC practitioners, particularly those like Tabi Jones-Wohleber who make fabulous materials and share them with colleagues that they’ve never even met. Tabi is an SLP on the AT Team for Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland. A graduate of Penn State University, her career has focused on AAC. Though she works with many schools and addresses a variety of AT needs, most of her time and creative energy is devoted to working with students with the most significant disabilities. In this post, she introduces us to the All-in-One-Visual-Support Tool. You wont want to miss Tabi’s treasure trove of prAACtical materials. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: It was a conversation I’d had many times before. A conversation that kept resurfacing in one form or another. It’s the conversation of how to manage all the stuff; all the visuals, all the reinforcers, all the communication tools. The benefit of visual supports to... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, resources, schools, Tabi Jones-Wohleber, visual supports
May 12, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
While the Index of Augmented Speech Comprehensibility in Children (I-ASCC) has been around for almost 20 years, few clinicians know and use it. In this post, we welcome back Matthew Baud and Jill Senner to talk about how they are using this assessment tool. Enjoy! AAC evaluations can be challenging, especially if there is disagreement among team members as to whether AAC is necessary or not. We frequently see disagreements about AAC arise when a student is able to speak. Let’s examine the following case. Mrs. Brown has had Johnny in her class for the last 2 years and she “understands everything” he is saying during their routine calendar time. The new SLP, who only sees Johnny once weekly for 30 minutes, tried to elicit information about his weekend at home and reported that she “didn’t understand anything.” What is going on here? How can two communication partners have such vastly... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, Jill Senner, Matthew Baud, speech intelligibility
May 11, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
AAC clinicians are a creative bunch. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit some colleagues and was excited to see how they are repurposing free/low cost apps to build engagement and interaction in learners with significant communication challenges. Many of us work with learners who are highly motivated by mobile devices and apps that make music or sound, but still have a way to go to build their skills in using them. For some, we find that using apps that are relatively simple and easy (both motorically and cognitively), can spice up a session. Here are some sound/music cause and effect apps to explore. Of course, these apps are intended for a purpose completely different than how we are using them in therapy. Nonetheless, kids love them and that means that we SLPs can get a lot of mileage out of using apps like these in our therapy sessions. Burp... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, cause and effect, implementation ideas, music
May 10, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Monday – Core Vocabulary Resources for May Tuesday – How I Do It: Classroom Support for Students with AAC Needs by Tina Moreno Wednesday – Video of the Week: Multimodal Communication in the Classroom Thursday – PrAACtically Reading: The Cat in the Hat with Karen Natoci
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
May 7, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Who doesn’t love reading books by Theodor Seuss Guisel? Michigan-based SLP Karen Natoci is back to show us how she is using one of his most beloved books to integrate language and literacy instruction with the AAC learners in some of the classrooms she serves. Be sure to download her lesson plan and watch the video clip of Karen in AACtion. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: CLASSIC Book: The CAT in the HAT, by Dr. Seuss Core Vocabulary focus: LOOK, NOT, LIKE, NOT LIKE, NO, GO, DO, UH-OH or OOPS. COMMUNICATION Matrix Level: I-VII Four Block focus: Shared Reading and Working with Words (at the alphabet/rhyme level) ————————————————————————————————————————————- It is Spirit Week at our school and Monday is Hat DAY!! What better excuse to read, The Cat in the Hat!! The rhythm of the reading along with the site of all of our wacky hats made for a fun morning in room 8!... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Books, Karen Natoci, literacy, PrAACtically Reading, reading
May 5, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
We are fortunate to have a return visit from Tina Moreno, who brings her experiences both as an SLP and also as a mom of a teenager who has used AAC for most of his life. In this post, Tina shares some of the strategies that she has used to support AAC students in their classrooms. If you are a school-based SLP, don’t miss Tina’s classroom observation form for gathering data on how AAC is being used in various activities and lessons. GIVE THEM FIVE As an SLP in the school setting, helping teachers support students in the classroom can be a big challenge. While we can see students making progress in our therapy sessions, it can be difficult to get the same results in the classroom. An important role of the SLP is to collaborate with teachers to help students generalize these skills in conversation with their peers and other... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, classroom, forms, implementation ideas, intervention, resources, Tina Moreno
May 4, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
It is hard to believe that April is behind us and that we are now focusing on new set of core words for May. Whether you are following along with the 2013 Year of Core (12 words/month) or the 2014 A(nother) Year of Core (16 words/month; Different than the previous year’s core words), or just getting started, here are some helpful resources. Our words for this month are as follows. 2013 List: all, down, good, little, my, question, sad, she, turn, up, who, why 2014 List: bathroom, car, child, confused, green, hard, how much, man, mean, never, part, remember, sister, so, today, us A great many thanks to our colleagues Russell Cross, Gail Van Tatenhove, Allison Wade, Heidi LoStracco, and all the others who have contributed to this effort. Templates for you to plug in your own symbols: 2013 words, 2014 words Minspeak/Unity version: 2013 words PCS versions: 2013 words, 2014... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Year of Core
May 3, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Monday – 5 Ways to Use Word Clouds in AAC Therapy Tuesday – PrAACtically May: Core Word Calendar by Rachael Langley Wednesday – Video of the Week: SGDs for People with ASD Thursday – How We Do It: Using Language Boards to Support AAC Use By Nerissa Hall and Hillary Jellison
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking