April 9, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Need information on systematic instruction, Functional Behavior Analysis, or other best practice ideas? This document, by the Virginia Department of Education, is easy to read and covers a great many topics. Take a look.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
April 8, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
We are back with another Teach Me Tuesday post, this time featuring the AAC app, SpeechTree. Come learn along with us! User Manual User Manual for Lessons Videos Videos on Lessons SpeechTree Facebook Page Where to go for help: Website contact form If you know of any other helpful training resources, please let us know via the comments so that all can benefit.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: SpeechTree, Teach Me Tuesday
April 7, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Cheryl Jorgensen, least dangerous assumption, presume competence
April 5, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Hope your prAACtical week is going well! Sunday: Video of the Week – Connecting with Prelinguistic Communicators Monday: Strategy of the Month: Thoughts on Teaching Word Prediction Tuesday: 10 AAC Things to Do for Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month Wednesday: Watch It Wednesday – Music and Communication by Ryan Judd Thursday: AACtual Therapy – Supporting the Development of Early Grammar with Kimberly Ho Friday: 3 AAC Presentation Handouts You May Have Missed
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
April 4, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Couldn’t get to the ATIA conference in Orlando in January? Here are some wonderful handouts from three AAC presentations. Lauren Enders: AAC-Ideas for Infusing Core Language Across the Curriculum Kate Ahern: Bringing AAC Home Jennifer Buxton: AT Implementation in the School Setting – Struggles and Successes The Call for Papers for the next ATIA conference will be out later this month. Hope to see you there in 2015!
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ATIA 2014, handouts, Jennifer Buxton, Kate Ahern, Lauren Enders
April 3, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Our guest post for today is from SLP Kimberly Ho, an AAC specialist who operates a private practice, AAC Services. I met Dr. Ho many years ago when she was getting her master’s degree at Purdue University. She went on to get her doctorate and now consults for a number of public schools and works with individuals with AAC needs from preschoolers to adults. Kimberly is active in teaching (undergraduate and graduate courses), writing (published three articles in peer reviewed journals) and public speaking (15 presentations at regional, national and international conferences). In this post, she discusses some concepts in teaching grammar to people who are learning AAC. Traditionally, individuals with complex communication needs (CCN) were provided with communication boards or speech generating devices (SGDs) filled with topic specific vocabulary often called fringe words. The field of AAC is only just beginning to provide early communicators with access to Core... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Brown's stages, grammar, Kimberly Ho, language intervention
April 2, 2014
by Robin Parker -
We continue to love using music in AAC intervention and have learned so much from talented music therapists who incorporate communication into their music intervention. Enjoy this great video of Ryan Judd, of the Rhythm Tree, talking about using simple instruments to help children communicate, improve skills, interact, and have fun.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Communiction, music, special needs
April 1, 2014
by Robin Parker -
We love Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. There is so much excitement and great community activities. The month becomes very busy so we love choosing events and projects that facilitate autism acceptance and AAC learning. We pass out materials, have contests, do extra trainings and have many public awareness events. We make sure to support our events and activities with AAC materials. Here are some of the things we do and recommend to support AAC and Autism learning. Please share any activities or projects that you know about. Bake, share, & eat some desserts. Use and include visual recipes when cooking. Need inspiration?.. Go to Your Special Chef for shopping lists and recipes. Educate peers visually by using the Autism Acceptance Book: Being a Friend to Someone with Autism by Ellen Sabin Develop & Use a personal participation story (modified social story) to let alert someone that this will... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ASD, Autism Acceptance
March 29, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Here are some posts you may have missed. Sunday: Video of the Week – Core Vocabulary In Action Monday: Strategy of the Month – Let’s Read and Write Storybooks Tuesday: PrAACtical Fun (and a little bit of core vocabulary) Wednesday: Opening the Gates Thursday: 5 Quick and Easy Games to Build AAC Skills Friday: Fast FAACt Friday – Quick Reading Tip
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
March 28, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Want to do something really great for some of your prAACtical friends who aren’t yet reading fluently? Turn on closed captioning whenever they watch TV or videos. Our fast fAACt for the week: Subtitles and captioning support reading comprehension and vocabulary learning, too. Check out Chris Bugaj’s podcast and other resources, and turn on those captions! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Koskinen, P.Wilson, R.M., Gambrell, L.B. & Neuman, S.B. (1993). Captioned video and vocabulary learning: An innovative practice in literacy instruction. The Reading Teacher, 47(1), 36-43.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Chris Bugaj, closed caption, reading