How I Do It with Rachael Langley: PODD in the Classroom – Quick Tips for Teams

October 9, 2014 by - 4 Comments

How I Do It by Rachael Langley: PODD in the Classroom

Today we welcome SLP Rachael Langley, who  has been working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist for over 12 years. Currently working as an AAC Specialist in Mid-Michigan, Rachael tells us that she strives to spread the message about the importance of AAC and unlocking the communication potential of all students. In this post, Rachael shares some of her best tips for building communication with learners who are getting started with PODD books. 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. Here are some quick tips I share with classroom teams who are starting out with PODD:  Input before output! Model, model, model! – Without digging too deep into the importance of Aided Language Stimulation, we want to make sure... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Resources: Developing AAC Policies for Schools

October 7, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

Developing AAC Policies for Schools

As much as we appreciate spontaneity, it is sometimes true that well-conceptualized policies and procedures help things run more smoothly. Today, we head to the UK where the ACE Centre has developed a comprehensive guidebook to help schools develop good AAC policies. Obviously, the specifics will vary based on the locale, but there is much to be gained from this thoughtful approach. Take a look. https://acecentre.org.uk/resources/developing-aac-policies-schools/

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Building an Understanding of AAC in Your Workplace

October 6, 2014 by - 2 Comments

Building an Understanding of AAC in Your Workplace

October is International AAC Awareness Month and giving us the perfect opportunity to go beyond our normal therapy-assessment-paperwork routine to spread awareness of AAC. Here are some thoughts for how to do that in the workplace. Inform: You’re probably already spreading the word about AAC as often as you can, but here are a few more ideas to help others gain an understanding of what can be done to support people with little or no functional speech. Create a brief AAC-related public service message that is delivered on morning announcements or staff meetings (E.g., “Everyone communicates,  but some students with disabilities have difficulty talking. Did you know that just because some students can’t talk, they can still understand what you say? Special technology is sometimes used so they can better express themselves. Not only does that help them in the moment, but it may also improve their ability to talk”).... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: The Communication Portfolio

October 5, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

Helping teams to get to know the communication abilities of our AAC clients is something many of us struggle with. In this video from The Perkins School, we learn about their process for developing communication portfolios. http://www.perkins.org/resources/webcasts/communications-portfolio.html    

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Fun Friday: Successful Interactions

October 3, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

Fun Friday: Successful Interactions

Friday is a great day to pause for a bit of fun. I had the opportunity to meet Janelle Sampson, of Two Way Street, this spring and learn a little bit about the work that she does. In this post, we share a video of one of her little friends using various modalities to communicate with his mother and brother. Enjoy this wonderfully prAACtical interaction! Big Words for Little Boys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWimeCvbIY    

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The Faces of AAC: Justyna and Wiktoria

October 2, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

The Faces of AAC: Justyna and Wiktoria

What better way to promote AAC awareness than to share the faces of people who use AAC and the SLPs who serve them? Today, we go to Poland to visit with Justyna Puchalka, who has a private practice in Bielsko, and her young client, Wiktoria. Justyna has been working as a speech therapist for almost 10 years, mostly with young children who have a range of conditions including Down Syndrome, Prader Willi, cerebral palsy, autism and multiple disabilities. Justyna shared that she is very passionate about her work. “Because ‘my children’ make my work a challenge and, thus, my work gives me much satisfaction, not to mention that I simply like to help these children and their parents.” Justyna made a video to share some thoughts about Wiktoria’s AAC journey. Many thanks to Justyna, Wiktoria, and her family for helping us celebrate AAC Awareness Month! Direct link tovideo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eLE2nlA6R8  

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2014 AAC Awareness Month Giveaway

October 1, 2014 by - 6 Comments

2014 AAC Awareness Month Giveaway

Could it really be October already?! Let’s start off AAC Awareness Month with a giveaway. We are so grateful to the following organizations for donating raffle prizes for this drawing. Please take a moment to thank them. Aacorn Ablenet Alexicom Appy Therapy Choice Works/Bee Visual Hump Software Lesson Pix News 2 You Safe N Sound Mobile Saltillo Smarty Ears Speak For Yourself Speak MODalities SpeechPathology.com Speech Tree Apps TapSpeak Therapy Box Tobii-Dynavox How Does It Work? We use Rafflecopter to administer the giveaways. All entries made through there will be counted toward our drawings. Once we’ve drawn our winners, we’ll send an email to each one. You’ll need to be a good sport to play along because we’re not going to get into requests for specific prizes or substitutions. (As I learned from wise-beyond-her-years Pauleen, “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” Love that!) The winners will... [Read More...]

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