February 19, 2013
by Robin Parker -
February 2013 is the 5th annual Jewish Disability Awareness Month. In honor of inclusion into a Jewish education and life we wanted to share some resources that will help support full participation for everyone. Keep in mind though, the idea of inclusion transcends a specific religion and all of the resources here can customized and used to welcome ALL families. A Virtual Book Club Webinar: Now I See The Moon- A Mother, A Son, A Miracle **Definitely Worth Watching (great story and learn how inclusive programming was created where there was none)** Jewish Disability Awareness Facebook Page Gateway Access to Jewish Education Visual Supports for Passover, Shabbat, High Holidays, Chanukah, & Purim. Jewish Disability Awareness Month Guide Children’s Book’s About Disability
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Books, Disability Awareness, inclusion, visual supports
February 18, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Although we struggle on a daily basis to facilitate good AT implementation with children who have significant communication challenges, the reality is that they are better served than their adult counterparts. Even the simplest communication supports are less available to people with AAC needs once they leave school, at least here in the US. This video shows the remarkable impact of mainstream technology, an mp3 player, on individuals with dementia. It made us wonder…how can we spread what we know about AAC and AT to individuals beyond the reach of the school system? Each one, teach one. We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: dementia, music, underserved
February 15, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We have learned so much by working with children with Angelman Syndrome (AS) over the years. Because they generally have complex communication needs, we wanted to share some resources in support of AS Awareness Day. Overview of AS by The Angelman Syndrome Foundation Information about the 2013 Biennial Angelman Syndrome Conference in Orlando, Florida Learning modules on AS and behavior (Must register for a free account to access the content.) Videos from a recent educational seminar by Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST) that was held in Chicago. The main speakers are Erin Sheldon and Mary-Louise Bertram. Part 1: Learning Issues Part 2: Communication Part 3: Questions and Answers
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: angelman syndrome, AS awareness
February 14, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We are delighted to have Shareka Bentham back to share another post about the AACtual therapy she provides to little ones in Barbados. Last month, we followed her along to the zoo where her little friends got to generalize the language skills developed in therapy sessions. In this post, Shareka discusses her approach to something we all struggle with: selecting vocabulary that will both fun and functional. One of my biggest challenges in AAC is choosing good vocabulary targets, and working on vocabulary instruction for early communicators. By ‘good’ I mean targets which are functional for their everyday settings, representative, and most of all fun for children who are not only beginning communicators, but also beginning AAC users. I have become the AAC ‘specialist’ at a school for children with complex communication needs, so I generally have to cater to the communicative needs of children from the pre-communication to... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AACtual therapy, Shareka Bentham, vocabulary selection
February 13, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We love the versatility of flip books and charts. They are a great format option for communication books, particularly the flip books that have a static ‘base’ and a set of strips/mini pages that you can flip through for additional vocabulary. Once you have a template, it’s not too difficult to make a number of them that fit different purposes. Here are some resources to explore. SET-BC has wonderful material on communication supports including a brief video about flip books here. They also have some terrific downloads, including this one by Kathy Ryan. Flip ‘n Talk has been around for a long time, but it continues to be a really useful tool. We typically have the core language as the static portion, but here’s an example of doing it the other way around. There are so many ways to use flip books for language learning. We love this one for... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication book, flip book
February 12, 2013
by Robin Parker -
14 Valentine’s Day Activities for Love, Literacy, & Learning Valentine’s Day is a theme that seems to take precedent in February. When we use this theme, we like to focus on it before, during, and after February 14th because then there is a lot of opportunity to talk about it before, during, & after the holiday. This is like conversation which involves so much more than talking about the ‘here & now’. For the Computer: Use Heart Generators http://www.cryptogram.com/hearts/ http://acme.com/heartmaker/ http://www.bobarmadillo.com/sluggyv-day/ Use Word Clouds Taxedo Wordle Image Chef Practice Valentine’s Day Spelling Words Research Valentine’s Day & Write Key Fringe Vocabulary Create sentences with core words using multiple hearts Write word poems using heart generators Have students take turns telling you or another student what to write on the hearts Apps Special Valentine Day Apps First Words Valentines– Free- learn and spell key Valentine’s Day vocabulary. Nice errorless learning... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: literacy, Valentine's Day, writing
February 11, 2013
by Robin Parker -
In a previous post, PrAACtical Pictures, we hopefully illustrated that we had an amazing time at the ATIA 2013 Orlando conference. We laughed, learned, and loved meeting so many ‘on-line’ friends. So, of course there is a little more to share… It was great stopping by the Attainment booth and learning about a soon to be released iPad app- Community Success. Community Success has learning tools to teach about community activities (i.e., riding the bus, shopping, movie theater, etc). Learning is made accessible through video modeling, photo-based directions, talking stories, and illustrations of social behaviors. Can’t wait to get this. Everyone at the booth was great but we missed seeing John Sajdak. Also, we got to learn more about My Talk Tools. There is so much to this AAC application. Try it out with My TalkTools Mobile Lite (free), and Workspace (free 30 day trial). We watched some app demos through the My Talk Upgrades. It... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, ATIA
February 7, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We are so happy to have Deanna Wagner back with more AACtual Therapy. In her previous post, Deanna talked about her work with AAC groups for adults. Today, she shares a lesson plan and some implementation ideas. As a veteran AAC interventionist, Deanna’s therapy plan has many wonderful features that undoubtedly contribute to the success her students experience. Lesson/therapy Session: Using Social Phrases/Comments Intended audience & type of AAC: All devices/AAC users should have access to social commenting. Our Class: Middle school, self-contained classroom. Group of 3 students, SLP leading activity, paraprofessional, and Teacher of Visually Impaired supporting Goal for Overall Lesson: Use word/icon combinations to express opinions or make social comments Specific Student Goals: Student #1 will combine 2 icons for social interjections – please, thank you, cool, awesome, yum, yuk, ok (ECO2 from PRC) Student #2 will functionally use new phrases to chat or indicate an opinion (Dynavox... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AACtual therapy, commenting, Deanna Wagner, lesson plan, middle school, social phrases
February 6, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
In a previous post, we talked about the fun ways to get in some good AAC practice with language experience surveys. Here are some great examples of survey-related materials that we found on one of our favorite communities, Boardmaker Share. Hot Chocolate Survey by Sharon Maack-Connolly What I Did Over the Holidays by Becki Ratcliffe I Can (corresponds with MeVille to Weville but also good for any core language practice) by Alison R Songs About America by Kate Ahern How Do You Like to Travel by Vicki Clarke My Opinion: Pets by Vicki Clarke How Do You Get to School by Tiffany Paul What is Your Favorite Fast Food Restaurant by Tiffany Paul We’d love to hear more prAACtical ideas for using language experience surveys.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language experience survey, question, survey
February 5, 2013
by Robin Parker -
All we can say is Wow! ATIA 2013 Orlando was awesome! Since it is February, we will focus on things we LOVE as it relates to our ATIA experience. Here are just a few thoughts and pictures from our time in the Exhibit Hall. (Please note, this is just a small sample of the many, many things seen and learned. Our list is based on the pictures we took and the time we had in the Exhibit Hall (both limited). A comprehensive list of Exhibitors can be found at the ATIA 2013 Orlando Site under the Exhibit List. So much to see and learn! FRS Custom Solutions.- We loved meeting the FRS Team (especially since they are based in Fort Lauderdale) and learning about the CommLink ProSlate Series. Fat Cat Chat– Love the Fat Cat Chat apps for ‘small talk’ (Thanks Jane Farrall for blogging about Fat Cat Chat apps). Immediately... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking