September 12, 2013
by Robin Parker -
School has begun for almost everyone. Some classes have been in session for a while and routines have been formed, learning is taking place, behaviors have settled down. Now comes what can seem like the hard part: Keeping up with and expanding the strategies that helped students become successful. Instead of trying to fade AAC displays/devices and visual supports, stick with the basics and expand how they can be used. Because if you don’t use it, you may lose it. So: Keep up with: Visual Schedules– monthly, daily, and mini. Even if students know the schedule, continue to use it. Most of us would not like ‘losing’ our day planner or ‘to do’ lists even though we know our schedules. Aided Language Input First- Then Visual Support Visual Boundaries Access to a AAC Display/Device– And the display or device is with the student All the time, everywhere, charged, working, and... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aided language input, resources, visual schedules, visual supports
September 11, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We have students of all ages who love dinosaurs. From young children to the teenager or adult we can use the theme of dinosaurs when teaching AAC, language and literacy. You can do a theme of fun dinosaurs all the way to paleontology and archeology. Dinosaurs as a theme can support goals for core & fringe vocabulary, narratives, reading, and writing. Many students will do more and work harder if there is a high interest theme. Here are some apps for those dinosaur loving students. Dinosaurs Books BooksHow to Hide A Dinosaur– children, iPad, fun book Dinoboy Adventures– children, iPad & iPhone +, interactive book where you can make choices to modify the story Tiny Time Machine- Dinosaurs– children, iPad & iPhone +, a travel adventure mystery Oh Can You Say Di -NO -Saur Dr. Seuss Cat In the Hat– children, iPad & iphone + , fun book Dinosaur Book HD: iDinobook–... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, Dinosaurs, literacy, vocabulary
September 10, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
There is no substitute for systematic instruction in reading and writing for building specific skills. AAC learners need high-quality instruction and lots of it. Beyond that, though, there are many ways to infuse literacy practice into the regular routine in therapy and at home. Writing for authentic purposes refers to experiences that reflect the writing activities of people in their regular lives. Authentic writing builds fluency, promotes skill generalization, and helps to build one’s self-concept as a writer. Plus, it’s fun, motivating, and pretty easy to do. Here are some things we try to do to include authentic writing experiences into our AAC therapies. 1. Sign in and out of the therapy session or classroom: Every AAC learner can do this. If the traditional sign-in form then doesn’t cut it, then make up a special sheet that has the client’s name in traceable letters, a name stamp, or placing a... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: literacy, reading, writing
September 9, 2013
by Robin Parker -
Reading and writing are modalities of language (just like listening & talking). The more we integrate literacy into language learning the more opportunities for prAACtice and learning. Think of all the ways to prAACtice core words with reading and writing (e.g., “read again”, “write about that”, “that is good”, “He was bad”, “tell me more”, “I know”, etc…). With this in mind, we love encouraging a love of literacy for ALL of our students. Here are some top tips we have learned from the most reluctant reader/writers, to beginning reader/writers, to even the more proficient readers/writers. It is such a great pleasure to watch students begin to love literacy as much as we do. Use high interest books– Find books with super high interest pictures and/or text. For some learners, it helps to create your own books with personal interest photos and/or topics. One (very) reluctant reader we know, loved... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: literacy
September 6, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
The SETT Framework by Dr. Joy Zabala (Director of Technical Assistance at CAST) is a widely used approach for collaborative decision-making in AT. It’s a tool we love, teach about, and use, but many SLPs aren’t that familiar with it. Here are some of the reasons we think it deserves your consideration. 1. It gives everyone a common focus. We all look at the student from our own perspective and sometimes fail to think about how our priorities intersect with those of other team members. The SETT Framework helps us to all look at the same thing at the same time. 2. Defensive, who me? When you focus on a framework or process, people are less likely to become defensive when we’re trying to make things better for the student. 3. It becomes a way of thinking. Teams that are in the habit of using the SETT Framework are generally... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, classroom, collaboration, general education, Joy Zabala, SETT
September 5, 2013
by Robin Parker -
It is International Literacy Month. We always like to celebrate with food. So when we found these cookies at Ikea we just had to get them, use them, and of course eat them. Here is one of the activities we used with these delicious cookies. Can you guess the goals? To create a meaningful language experience, we started with the cookies in a closed brown bag (communication temptation) and “like it” spelled out on the table. Then we took the box of cookies out, spelled “like it”, waited expectantly and after prAACtice with spelling and saying in/out, more prAACtice and Aided Language Input, the student used the cookies to add “out” So the cookies were taken out. We had a yummy snack. Then it was time for recess but before cleaning up, the student does this: Apparently he wanted to go on the swing first. Note: Other visual supports/AAC... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: literacy, meaningful language experiences
September 4, 2013
by Robin Parker -
Strategy of the Month Back to School with AAC AAC ‘Must Haves’ for the Classroom & Speech Room PrAACtical Partnerships: AAC & Academics AAC Around the School and Beyond Core Words & the Curriculum PrAACtical Thinking 5 Things to Remember About AAC Technology Fun Friday Commenting to the Max 31 Posts You May Have Missed in July Keep Calm & …………. Great Music Apps & AAC Language Goals 5 Free Resources for Making Communication Boards & Visual Supports 5 Reasons to Say Yes to ‘NO’ Magic Moments with Tellagami Watch It Wednesday: AAC Core Word Vocabulary teaching by Gail Tatenhove & Robin 5 Ways to Use Sequenced Message SGDS and APPS 7 Writing Apps & Activities for ALL Writers PrAACtical Uses of QR Codes Watch This: Example of Teaching Expressive Language with the iPad & AAC Device by the Awesome AAC Chicks 5 Things to Consider About Data Collection in... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aided language input, Apps, back to school, language
September 3, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
It’s a(nother) new semester for us and that means we get the chance to work with a whole new crop of graduate student SLPs who are learning to provide AAC services for the very first time. It just doesn’t get any better than that! One of the challenges for all beginning clinicians is deciding what intervention strategies to use to facilitate their clients’ learning in various areas. Recently, I had a wonderful conversation about the power of contrastive examples. I was taught this strategy by Dr. Ed Kame’enui and still use his ‘glerm’ activity today to illustrate the concept. The ‘glerm’ activity was quick way to demonstrate how to use carefully chosen examples to teach a new concept. Here’s the activity. You have to use your imagination and pretend this is a demonstration rather than a paper-and-pencil activity, but you’ll get the idea. And glerm is….? If I did a good... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: contrast, direct instruction, glerm, teaching
September 2, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
If you work with individuals with significant disabilities, chances are that you’ve had some questions from time to time. We wanted to be sure that everyone was aware of the resources of the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities, or the NJC, for short. The NJC is a consortium of professional organizations, such as ASHA, TASH, USSAAC, and ATAP. The NJC has been in existence since 1986 and offers a range of prAACtical resources on its website. 1. Communication Bill of Rights 2. Guidelines for Meeting the Communication Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities including best practices for assessment, goal-setting, and intervention. 3. Qualifying people with significant disabilities for services 4. Frequently Asked Questions: Peruse these or send them your own and they will post the response.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: FAQ, National Joint Committee, NJC
August 30, 2013
by Robin Parker -
by Carole Zangari, originally published on August 27, 2012 “How was school?” (Good) “What did you do?” (Nothing) This scenario plays out in many cars and kitchens in the after school hours and it can be hard to know who is more frustrated: the kids for being asked or the parents for not getting satisfactory answers. And still, we repeat the process day after day. Of course, we want to know the fine details of what happened and how our children felt, but in some cases, we’d settle for ANY school-related conversation at all. I’ll be the first to admit that it took me way too long to get the hang of how to get information about my children’s school days, and it seemed like just when I did, pow! They were pre-teens and then teenagers. New rule book. Here are some ‘lessons learned’ along the way about those afterschool conversations and... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Conversations, visual supports