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
August 29, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We are so excited to start off the new school year with a wonderfully prAACtical post by Lauren Enders. Lauren’s “How I Do It” posts have been very popular and this one is no different. Today, she shares ways to incorporate key AAC principles in engaging intervention activities and models that with high school students. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: LEARNING TARGETS (Samples: can be changed to meet student goals) Using core vocabulary, the student will: control the actions of others (beginning with core words like “more”, “stop”, “go”, “again”, and “different”) express his or her opinions through commenting (beginning with core words such as “like”, “don’t like”, “good”, “bad”, and “silly”) TARGET POPULATION: all ages (I have used variations of this activity successfully with students from age 3 through age 21.) TYPE OF AAC: ALL types!! What’s crucial here is the availability of core vocabulary, not the system used. Systems used can vary from... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: activities, aided language input, classroom, education, Lauren Enders, schools
August 28, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We continue to work with core words and if you have been following our ‘Year of Core Words’, here are some ways to use the September words for preparing, playing, & reading about ‘back to school’, making new friends, cooking and eating in the fall, and for general fall/autumn activities. Create opportunities throughout the day and add some aided language modeling (ALI), repetition with variety, and meaningful language experiences, you will expand communication, language, and core word vocabulary quickly. September Core Word PrAACtice Almost almost done he almost fell they look almost the same the book was almost my favorite Calltelephone call call me now call name softly let’s call her name loud Listen listen bell listen for the music the girl needs to listen I try to listen and learn Name same name name is not that her name is pretty that name is the same but spelled differen Nice nice and soft... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language, practice, resource
August 27, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
As readers of this blog know, we are sometimes awed and inspired by families of people with AAC needs. There are many who seem to know just what to do and make it a priority to implement AAC in their homes. It isn’t always smooth sailing, though, and we often rack our brains to find ways to support famiies who are struggling. Here are some prAACtical ideas of things to say when a family member is feeling unsuccessful. 1. “Take small bites: You don’t have to revolutionize your household to help your child/parent. Do what you can do, when you can do it. Small changes are more sustainable, anyway.” 2. “Starting over is better than giving up: Yes, you may have tried XYZ before but things are different now. Let’s give it another shot.” 3. “I won’t judge you. ” Say it and mean it. 4. “You’re not alone.”... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: encourage, family, home, inspire, support
August 26, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We often write and talk about using every opportunity to teach through meaningful language experiences. This concept works not just for our students and clients but also for professionals and families we collaborate with. Here are some old and new quotes, pictures, and printables to help create meaningful AAC awareness learning opportunities. Just print out the ones you like and you have ‘decorations’ for your office, classroom, speech room, hallways, etc. As we like to say: Use every expected and unexpected opportunity to teach AAC. AAC Myth Busting (AAC ToolBox- Under Miscellaneous) Keep Calm AAC Teaching Posters- Under Miscellaneous ... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Myths, AAC printables, AAC quotes