Hockey Lessons

November 12, 2013 by - 2 Comments


Hockey Lessons

When WrightsLaw  posted the video below on Facebook, we just had to share it on our PrAACtical AAC FB page. If you haven’t seen this clip from Special Hockey International, do yourself a favor and watch it.  We may not be the world’s biggest hockey fans, but we got something quite meaningful from this clip and think you will, too. Here are the some of the things we’ve been pondering after watching the video. 1. Friendship matters. Teaching friendship skills is central to our mission as SLPs, not a trivial thing that we might focus on after all the other goals are accomplished. If our AAC learners have no real relationships outside of their own families and those professionals and caregivers paid to work with them, how much impact  have our therapies really made? If they are lonely, has what we’ve done really mattered? 2. A single act of kindness can change... [Read More...]

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10 Apps to Gift to an AAC SLP

November 11, 2013 by - 1 Comment


10 Apps to Gift to an AAC SLP

It’s definitely time to think about the holidays because they are almost here. Apps are often a great gift for your colleagues or for the SLP working with your child. Here are just a few suggestions that will help the SLP.  Please feel free to share others you think should be added to this list.     Evaluation Genie – This app is an informal assessment tool that helps with identifying skill areas that relate specifically to the language representation methods commonly found on augmentative communication systems. There are 14 subtests that help with identifying the features for an AAC device that a student would need. The student responses are recorded and easily reportable. ATEval2Go – designed helps guide you through a template for technology considerations so that the SLP can document observations and information in a structured manner.  All the documentation can then generate an editable usable report. Additionally, a goal bank can be... [Read More...]

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Fun Friday: Holiday Shopping with a Purpose, Part 1

November 8, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts


Fun Friday Holiday Shopping with a purpose

The holidays are prAACtically here and depending upon the holiday traditions you celebrate they may be closer than you realize.  Chanukah begins the day before thanksgiving and we never think it is too early to shop for Christmas or any other holiday, so here are some great companies to help you get started.  We will update this holiday shopping list a few times throughout this holiday season. Please send any additional companies you feel should be included.  Paper Clouds Apparel– Get t-shirts, hats, and totes featuring artwork designed by individuals with special needs. Paper Clouds apparel also hires individuals with special needs to package all of the products.  and more.  Paper Clouds Apparel was formed to showcase the creative minds and artistic abilities of individuals with special needs while raising funds to provide financial support for special needs schools and organizations. Fifty percent of the net proceeds from the sale of... [Read More...]

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Writing Goals for AAC Learners

November 7, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts


Writing Goals for AAC Learners

Whether we’re writing recommendations following an evaluation, contributing to an IEP, updating a Plan of Care, talking to a family member, or just planning therapy, goals are something that most SLPs think about deeply and often. We’ve recently updated our Goals That Matter document and thought it would be a good time to share that here. We would love to add to this, so please get in touch with any ideas that you have. You can access the document via the image below or in our AAC eToolbox.

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A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators

November 6, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts


A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators

We’ve been having a great time supporting beginning communicators and gently modeling how they can be involved in literacy learning activities. In this post, we share a super simple activity to build alphabet knowledge and letter-sound correspondence. It has worked well (or fairly well) for beginning communicators who: Are just learning to establish cause-effect relationships Have little interest in existing classroom alphabet activities Are verbal, but reluctantly Are reluctant participants in group activities and seem to prefer being alone Have no formal AAC system, but would benefit from one Treat books and other printed materials as objects to spin, rip, or throw Have not been given the opportunity to participate in traditional literacy instruction. We love it because: It is is quick and easy. It requires almost no advance planning other than having a camera (or one on your phone/mobile device) Other people in the classroom notice us doing real... [Read More...]

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Teach Me Tuesday: PRC Accent

November 5, 2013 by - 2 Comments


Teach Me Tuesday: PRC Accent

This week in Teach Me Tuesday we’re learning more about Accent from Prentke Romich Company (PRC). Here are the learning resources we’ll be using. Easy Start Manual NuVoice Software Manual Accent 700 Easy Start Manual Accent 700 Hardware Manual Accent 700-SB Quick Start Manual Accent 700-SB Hardware Manual Accent 1000 Hardware Manual Accent 1200 Hardware Manual Download Demo Software Where to Go for Help and Accent Knowledge Base for Various Models: 1200, 1000, & 700 Models   If you know of other applicable resources, please add them in a comment below. See you next time!  

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31 Posts You May Have Missed in October

November 4, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts


31 Posts You May Have Missed in October

Strategy of the Month Building Participation Building Participation with Older Learners Classroom Participation Community Participation PrAACtical Thinking Second Annual AAC Awareness Month Celebration! 5 Fun AAC Things to do to Get Ready for Halloween 30 Posts You May Have Missed in September Celebrate AAC Awareness Month with PrAACtical Giveaways Another PrAACtical Celebration How Can we Make ‘Clients’ ‘like’ Using their AAC ? 6 Things to Learn from Talking AAC Communicative Competence in AAC Throwback Thursday Core Word Round Up Celebrating AAC Awareness Month 2013 Halloween Recipes for Cooking AAC Style Fast FAACt- What 24 Cents Will Buy Perception & Presuming Competence 5 Ways to Promote Consistent AAC Use What Went Well How I Do It Implementing AIded Language Input with Alicia Garcia 5 AAC Things I Wish I Had Known with Deanne Shoyer Teach Me Tuesdays Alexicom AAC Proloquo2Go Video of the Week Everyone Communicates- Advocacy & Inclusion Developing Communicative Competence... [Read More...]

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Fun Friday: 5 AAC Tips for Talking About Halloween After it is Over

November 1, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts


5 AAC Tips for Talking About Halloween After It is Over

Language learning involves talking about events in the past, present, and future.  Since Halloween is over, it is a perfect opportunity to help AAC users talk about past events. Here are 5 tips for getting started with ALL learners. Use a weekly or monthly (calendar) schedule to ‘remember’ Halloween or if you are sticking to core words to remember the “great day” or “bad day” depending upon the experience. Use photos of the Halloween festivities to discuss what happened, what everyone did, and you could even go for the best and/or worst part of the day.   Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast Halloween experiences. This can be done with comparing 2 people or 2 groups.  For some learners, you can use images to put Halloween things that everyone saw or did while others you will need text only.  Then, a  discussion of what each student/group did that... [Read More...]

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How I Do It: AUTISM AND AAC: FIVE THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN by Deanne Shoyer

October 31, 2013 by - 9 Comments


How I do It 5 AAC Things I wish I had Known by Deanne Shoyer

We are so pleased to have connected with  Deanne Shoyer from Small But Kinda Mighty and even happier that she is our guest blogger today.  Deanne is a mom of twin boys who both are on the autism spectrum.  Deanne successfully fundraised to buy iPads for her boys and has been active for more than 3 years in social media and in the special needs app community.  She has written about many things but often focuses on implementing AAC in a very PrAACtical way.  Please feel free to share this very important post as she highlights AAC, what she has learned, and how it may help others. by Deanne Shoyer at  Small But Kinda Mighty (original post at Small But Kinda Mighty) In the title of this post I’ve linked autism and AAC for a specific reason. A lot of the points here are equally applicable to people who have a... [Read More...]

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What Went Well

October 30, 2013 by - 9 Comments


What Went Well

We love writing posts about AAC topics, but we also love hearing about the AAC experiences of SLPs, both experienced and new to the field. In honor of AAC Awareness Month, we thought it would be fun to reach out to you and find out what is happening in your part of the world. Today, we’re asking our PrAACtical AAC friends to comment below to tell us about a positive AAC-related experience that you’ve had recently. It could be learning about a new SGD, an experience with a client, a webinar you attended, working with a family or colleague, of anything else related to AAC. We’re calling it ‘What Went Well.’ We’d love it if you took a moment or two to share your WWW news below.

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