Sunday – Video of the Week: Shared Book Reading Monday – Strategy of the Month: Understanding and Supporting Families of AAC Learners Tuesday – Teach Me Tuesday: Sounding Board by AbleNet Wednesday – Watch It Wednesday: Visuals Everyday by Mariacarmen Saleta Thursday – AACtual Therapy: On Motivation and AAC with Samantha Weatherford Friday – Core Words Visualized 2014
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
At the beginning of 2014, we posted another year of core vocabulary words. If you did not have time to plug in symbols, here are the January through May core words with PCS symbols in PDF format. You can print, laminate, and keep them handy as you are teaching core words. We also often give them to educators and families as a reminder to help everyone stay focused on the core words of the week or month. In fact, it was a parent request for these that got us motivated to get the PCS portion completed (Thanks, Liz). Look for June – December early next week. January 2014 Core Words February 2014 Core Words March 2014 Core Words April Core Words May Core Words You can download a PDF file with all the words from January-June, 2014 here. All of these resources can also be directly printed from the... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: 2014 Core Words, PCS
Motivating clients to use and learn more about their AAC systems can sometimes be a challenge, particularly if the learner has had decades of life experience before being introduced to AAC. In this post, we welcome SLP Samantha Weatherford, who works in the areas of early intervention and adult rehabilitation. She blogs at So To Speak regarding the educational, professional, and clinical processes of becoming an SLP. She resides in Delaware with her cat Simon, and took some time to share her thoughts about helping adult clients get motivated to use AAC. On Motivation and AAC Have you ever started the AAC training and trialing process with an adult client and realized, “This person is just not interested in being here or doing this?” Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like this happens quite often. I would never rule-out the possibility for AAC eligibility as a result of an... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AACtual therapy, adults, motivation, Samantha Weatherford
We believe all months and days should be dedicated to better speech (communication) and hearing. However, May is the official Better Speech and Hearing Month. With that in mind, no-tech visual supports help us all have better understanding and expressive communication. Watch the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University- Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (UM-NSU CARD) webinar by Maricarmen Saleta as she gives great explanations and examples of ‘Visuals Everyday’. Direct Link: http://umnsucard.adobeconnect.com/p59bqo69epm/
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: visual supports
Welcome back to Teach Me Tuesday, featuring the free AAC app- Sounding Board from AbleNet. Here are the learning resources we will be using. Be sure to watch the fantastic AbleNet webinar by Mo Buti. Sounding Board Operating Instructions Where to Go for Help: About Sounding Board Videos– under Additional Information tab or Technical Support AbleNet Webinar. Go to AbleNet University. Click on . Then scroll down and find and view: Title: SoundingBoard app – Bigger and Better! – 60 Minutes Presenter: Mo Buti, M.Ed-BD, M.Ed-ADMIN Description: This awesome free app has gotten a makeover! This free app is a communication system that is simple to program and use. Some of the new options include better graphics, screen rotation, new lay-outs, larger message board, and much more. I will go through and demonstrate this great app! Session Level: Beginner
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC app, ablenet, Sounding Board
Sunday – Video of the Week: Apps for Autism Monday – About Difference Tuesday – A Little AAC Reading Wednesday – Watch It Wednesday: Seating and Positioning for AT Access Thursday – AACtual Therapy: Positive Behavior Management with Gail Bennell Friday – PrAACtical Questions: Does Word Prediction Really Make Communication Faster?
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Word prediction is a rate enhancement strategy available in many high tech AAC devices. Which of the following is true about word prediction in longer words? It always saves time. It always saves time and keystrokes. It always saves keystrokes, and sometimes saves time. It always saves time, and sometimes saves keystrokes. It never saves time. In longer words, word prediction always saves keystrokes because the user is inputting only a portion of the word. This is helpful in that it reduces fatigue. It can also save time for some users, but that is not always the case. Some users have difficulty shifting back and forth between inputting letters and reviewing the options that are predicted by the device or computer. This slows the communication process. For users like this, there may not be a time savings. So #3 is the correct answer. For more information on the variables that... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: rate, word prediction
Today we’re welcoming back Australian SLP Gail Bennell, from Raising Nonverbal Children. Gail has a private practice and works tirelessly to disseminate AAC information through social media. You can see Gail’s previous guest post, on empowering parents, here. In this post, Gail talks about her approach to addressing behaviors that are challenging for us or the AAC learners with whom we work. We love the positive and prAACtical approach she uses.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Gail Bennell, positive behavior support
We take so many things for granted. Turning on a laptop. Reaching across a desk. Standing up to turn on the lights. When bodies work well, things like this seem to happen without us even thinking about them. But when someone has a movement disorder, little things can make a big difference. In this video, we hear from OT Aileen Costigan who teaches us the basics of seating and positioning for AT access. Thanks to the AAC-RERC for making this available on their website.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Aileen Costigan, positioning, seating
Looking for a way to learn more about AAC issues and have a limited budget? Be sure to check out the back issues of Augmentative Communication News (ACN) and Augmentatively Speaking (AS). AAC pioneer Sarah Blackstone wrote and published ACN, which distilled research and practice information into a quarterly publication that was both engaging and enlightening. Dr. Blackstone published ACN for 21 years (1988-2009) and has since made each of these newsletters available on her website. You can download them as PDFs here. She also collaborated with Michael Williams on the publication of AS. This was a unique newsletter in that it was written by (and for) individuals who use AAC and was published for 15 years. The back issues are available here. Both publications have information useful to clinicians, educators, families, and people who use AAC. Happy reading!
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ACN, AS, free, Michael Williams, newsletter, Sarah Blackstone