A family, a sibling, and autism. A positive message from a loving family who is doing an amazing job spreading the autism acceptance message. Loved watching this, but we just have 1 question- why no AAC? Seems like there would be so many options. We continue to need to spread the AAC word…
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: autism spectrum disorder
We love getting EVERYONE involved in Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month. We like to take a goal focused approach to our autism activities by choosing projects that facilitate autism awareness & acceptance, positive attitudes, and autism & communication learning. We pass out materials, have contests, go to events, do extra talks, and try and engage EVERYONE we know and even some we do not know. We do a lot of shopping (with small amount of money, but we have to EAT and accessorize). Our families, pets, friends, and students all participate. It is a month filled with purposeful fun. Here are some of the things we will be doing. Please share any activities or projects that you know about. Read & share 5 references that support the use of AAC & Autism (evidence based research) Check out the Online Autistic Carnival which is currently accepting submission of various video documentaries (music, art, writing,... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Happy Passover & Easter to those who celebrate! There are some great free visual supports to help ALL children participate in the holiday routines. We are thankful to Gateways Access to Jewish Educationand Positively Autism– Daily Autism Freebie for making these readily available. Whether you use them for your students, clients, family, or guests, we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and everyone is included. Passover The Seder Order, The Ten Plagues, Passover Social Stories, Passover Prayers, Passover Songs, Passover File Folder Activities Easter Going to Church on Easter Travis the Train Goes on an Easter Egg Hunt Decorating Easter Eggs Going on an Easter Egg Hunt Easter Vocabulary Easter Songs (scroll to the bottom of the page for the videos)
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: easter, inclusion, Passover, visual supports
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: robust teaching, semantics, vocabulary instruction
As much as we love fresh new voices in the AAC community, there is simply nothing like the voice of experience. When a program has had more than 40 years of experience providing AAC services, we listen! Today, we are honored to have Marlene Cummings, an AAC SLP from Michigan, share the collective wisdom of her team. I have found that one of the joys in my professional life is asking hard questions about my present work and then figuring out ways to address those questions. Much of my 30 + years have been spent designing and implementing programs, systems and materials to support young children with complex communication needs in the role of the teacher in these classrooms. I explored ways to design environments and develop curricular frameworks and instructional materials, which would provide students with the instruction and opportunities to become competent communicators, all from the view of... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, How I Do It, Marlene Cummings, schools, teams
Spring break brings a lot of change in routine, unstructured time, & different expectations for most families and clinicians. The changes usually happen even before the break begins because everyone is getting ready (in school, clinics, & at home). When you add daylight savings time, holidays, field trips, travel, family gatherings, and more there is potential for lots of learning of language as well as possible challenges. At this time, it is often helpful to use AAC & visual support strategies for supporting meaningful language experiences and preventing disorganization and meltdowns. We love going through the Watson Institute You-Tube video channel (thank you, thank you , thank you Watson Institute) and looking for demonstrations of visual strategies that are effective for helping learners visually organize and communicate all kinds of information. We use the videos for training and education of clinicians and families. The list of videos is also a... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: videos, Visual Strategies
Earlier this year, we shared some articles about supporting students who use AAC in general education settings. Although we don’t have data to back this up, our estimation is that most children who use AAC are not in inclusive classrooms. Nonetheless, they all learn literacy skills. In this post, we share an article about literacy learning in students with significant disabilities by Karen Erikson, Penny Hatch, and Sally Clendon. We love the way that it addresses a comprehensive approach to learning to read and write and how AT can be used to support the learning process. You can access that article here. Erikson, K., Hatch, P., & Clendon, S. (2010). Literacy, assistive technology, and students with significant disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 42,5, 1-17.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: article, AT, Clendon, Erickson, Hatch, literacy, reading, writing
Language Facilitation Strategies The Art of Scaffolding Recasting: A Language Facilitation Strategy F is for Feedback Don’t Miss These Visual Supports & The Chance to PrAACtice Language Facilitation Strategies PrAACtical Teaching Aided Language Input Pivotal Skills for AAC Intervention: Aided Language Input Why We Love Aided Language Input Aided Language Input Demo Learning to Use Aided Language Input Teachers in AACtion- Aided Language Input 5 Ways to Elicit Language Without Asking a Question Don’t Ask: 5 Reasons to De-Emphasize Questions in Your AAC Therapy 5 Tools to Make Aided Language Input Easier F is for Feedback Video
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Language facilitation strategies
We have noticed that daylight savings time has been difficult for some of the learners that we know (for more about this see Karla Fisher’s ASD page). Sleep patterns seem to have been out of whack which in turn may lead to some re-emergence of behaviors that may pose challenges in speech-language sessions. However, instead of getting frustrated, this is the time to get more organized, teach more high priority communication (“need an extra break today”), and in some ways be more flexible. Be prepared to use the visual supports that keep learners focused, highly interested, and organized. By staying with the basics, there will be no need to sacrifice in AAC & language learning time. Remember to Use: Choice Boards– Give lots of choices. When we choose what we do, we are more likely to be interested and participatory. The session goals can remain the same but a... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Challenging Behavior, resources
We’re back to share more from SLP Shareka Bentham whose enthusiasm for providing AAC services to children in Barbados is infectious. If you’ve read any of her previous posts, you’ll know why we appreciate her perspective. Today, Shareka shares some of what she’s learned through starting AAC groups. Groups can be daunting for many Speech & Language Therapists. They sure were for me for many years. So to make the decision to start an AAC group was more than out of my comfort zone, especially as a beginning AAC therapist. However I think that it has been a great decision so far, as the changes that I have been seeing in the children, parents, and in myself as a therapist have been extremely encouraging. As I keep stressing I am by no means an AAC expert, but I’m an expert in reflection. I have been able to review each... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AACtual therapy, group, Shareka Bentham