The Faces of AAC: Dianna and Brian

October 31, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

The Faces of AAC: Paula and Brian

As we bring AAC Awareness Month to close, we add add another Face of AAC. Dianna Finlay, an SLP from CLASS in Tacoma Washington and Clinic Director Paula Herrington, introduce us to Brian. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Brian Long. He’s a user. He’s been using all his life. He likes the high. I can’t say I blame him. One of Brian’s buddies was a user for a while. He stopped using and is still going though bad withdrawal. If I was dealt the same hand as Brian, I’d like to think I’d be a user too. Of course, we’re talking about a user of augmentative and alternative communication. Brian Long is a 43-­‐year-­‐old male diagnosed with cerebral palsy. He has no functional oral speech and depends on a speech-­‐generating device to communicate. Brian has been receiving speech therapy through CLASS, Inc. for a few years now. He communicates via a Dynavox Vmax, however, the device sat in... [Read More...]

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AAC Assessment Forms

October 30, 2014 by - 15 Comments

AAC Assessment Forms

One of the challenging things about teaching graduate student SLPs to do AAC assessments is that there is no single, comprehensive protocol to cover the needs of all types of clients. We’ve started a collection of forms and thought some of you might find them helpful. If you know of others, please get in touch so we can add to the list. That way we’ll have them all in one place. Intake and General AAC Assessment AAC Assessment Protocol: Gail Van Tatenhove AAC Checklist and Rubric: Tufte AAC Intervention Rubric: Angela Standridge, Texas Region 4 Education Service Center Adult Pre-Assessment (Acquired Disabilities): Gail Van Tatenhove Adult Pre-Assessment (Congenital Disabilities): Gail Van Tatenhove Bloom and Lahey-Early Communicative Forms and Functions: Exceptional Children Division, NC Department of Public Instruction Dynamic Assistive Technology Evaluation (DATE) Collaborative Worksheet: Texas AT Network Needs Assessment: Gail Van Tatenhove Pediatric Pre-Assessment: Gail Van Tatenhove Picture Assessment: Gail... [Read More...]

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Teach Me Tuesday: Dynavox VMax+

October 28, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

Teach Me Tuesday: VMax+

Need to learn more about the VMax+ from DynaVox? Welcome to the V and VMax Video Getting Started with the V and VMax Video V and VMax Basics Video Understanding InterAACt Video V/VMax Quick Start Guide Series 5 User Guide Series 5 Training Manual Series 5 Full Manual InterAACt Guide Where to Go for Help: Search the Knowledge Base, Live Chat, Phone (800-588-4548)

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5 Things That (Should) Guide SLPs in the Practice of AAC

October 24, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

5 Things that Guide SLPs in the Practice of AAC

Providing good AAC services is messy stuff. To start with, language therapy can’t be tied up into neat little packages. Add in motor skills, symbolization, perceptual abilities, the technology, and all the rest of it and you can see why SLPs new to AAC get overwhelmed. Here are some resources we turn to when trying to blaze a path to communicative competence with our AAC friends. ASHA’s Roles and Responsibilities of SLPs with Respect to AAC National Joint Committee (NJC) Position Statement on Eligibility to Communication Services Developmental Patterns for Syntax and Morphology  Data from a Comprehensive AAC Assessment  ASHA Code of Ethics 

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How I Do It by Rachael Langley – PODD in the Classroom: Portable, Wearable, & Comfortable

October 23, 2014 by - 11 Comments

How I Do It by Rachael Langley - PODD in the Classroom: Portable, Wearable, & Comfortable

We return to Michigan today to hear more from school-based SLP, Rachael Langley. In this post, Rachael shares some prAACtical thoughts on making PODD books always available for communication. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The PODD system offers a complete language approach through carefully organized symbol sets. Because the PODD system promotes a language immersion model, there is no pressure on our language-learners reproducing specific words or patterns at a specific rate. The primary requirement is that adults are modeling PODD for our language-learners. In order to be sure that the PODD books were being used throughout the day, the books had to be PORTABLE, WEARABLE, and COMFORTABLE. Forget any of these three features and PODD books are at a high risk of being stuck on a shelf. My new hobby has become collecting other people’s ideas for how to make PODD books comfortable to carry around. I’ll spare you the pictures of my... [Read More...]

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Global Day of AAC: 2014

October 22, 2014 by - 4 Comments

Global Day of AAC: 2014

Join the party! Today, people all over the world are celebrating the possibilities of AAC. Judy Bailey has once again taken the lead to promote a variety of activities, Here’s what’s happening. A bit of conversation on the International AAC Awareness Month Facebook Page Discussions on Twitter that include a special hashtag: #AACchat An AAC chat via Skype (connect with Judy Bailey on Skype judy.bailey3) starting at 8 AM today Eastern Daylight Time (USA) Justin Bergers’ internet radio program at http://solaremire.ddns.net:8167/listen.pls

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