November 29, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Chanukkah is prAACtically here, even though it seems very early. Chanukkah starts at sundown on December 8th and ends at sundown on December 18th. Holidays are usually fun and busy. With all the fun comes changes in routines, less sleep, more stress, more excitement, more people, more compromise, and overall different expectations. This is a time to plan in advance the visual supports, visual systems, and AAC displays that will help everyone understand, organize, and communicate most optimally. Check out these great resources to help with the planning: Friendship Circle Blog- Preparing for Hanukkah, 15 Tips to Make Sure Your Child is Ready for The Holidays, & More Gateways Program Resources- There are visual supports for the Chanukkah Blessings. There are social story books that help with understanding that birthday candles and Chanukkah candles are different, that Chanukkah candles go out by themselves, and about Chanukkah candles and fire safety.... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Chanukah, Chanukkah, Hanukkah, resources, visual supports
November 28, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
PrAACtical Goals That Matter It’s All About Us Free & Lite Versions of AAC Apps + App Selection Resources Beyond Behavior Problems: How Visual Supports Can Help Our AAC Teaching Fire Safety Week Over, Need to Learn Strategies is Not Watch What You Heat- Fire Safety 3 Communication-Behavior Visual Support Power Tools Simple Start: Visual Supports for Places Around School Ain’t No Stopping Us Now! Video of the Week No Introduction Needed A PrAACtical Look at Getting Started with AAC Symbols Creative Uses of the iPod for Students Who Use AAC Video of the Week: Helping Hands + Visual Supports A PrAACtical Look at the Incredible 5-Point Scale Strategy of the Month Avoiding Insanity: AAC & the Pace of Change Strategy of the Month: Building Acceptance of AAC The Path to Acceptance AAC & Change: Some Thoughts on Influencing Behavior Building Acceptance for AAC: Sharing Information AAC Awareness Month Global... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
November 27, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Between the craziness of the election, the stress of Superstorm Sandy, some frustration over some blog issues, and the pace of getting ready for the ASHA convention, we were ready for a little levity. It seemed like just the time to rustle up some jokes that could be programmed on an SGD, an AAC app, or a sequential message device. If you need a laugh, too, here’s a list of places to check out for some jokes that may work for the AAC learners you know. Jokes for Every Season – From Ducksters Knock Knock Jokes – From Funology More Knock Knock Jokes – A whole website full of them Jokes by Category – From Activity Village Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Jingle Jokes from Kelly Martin Christmas Jokes from the Nurture Store Photo courtesy of Silver Lining Multimedia via Picture This Pro
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: humor, jokes, sequential message device, SGD
November 26, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We’re always happy to find sites that can be used to solidify new word learning. Once we completed a variety of activities for explicit instruction on new vocabulary, we start thinking about adding in some practice activities. Repetition with variety keeps the learners engaged and helps them cement their understanding of the target words. No more ‘learning to pass the quiz, then forgetting it all.’ With some extra effort, we can help our AAC friends hang onto the new knowledge that they’ve gained. Here are are some sites that you can use to create fun practice activities. Make acrostic poems with the target words Find related words with Word Hippo See how the target word relates to other concepts with Wordsift: Type the vocabulary word into the box to see a semantic web unfold. Explore a bunch of vocabulary games at Wordia Make a digital bulletin board around the new... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: semantics, vocabulary, vocabulary practice, websites for vocabulary
November 23, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
When we’re writing AAC evaluation reports, compiling funding documents, and summarizing the present level of performance in IEPs, we frequently comment on speech intelligibility. In some cases, we’ve administered a standardized assessment instrument and are sharing those results. Often, though, the comments are more descriptive in nature. It is not uncommon to read documentation in which someone with articulation difficulties is described as having speech intelligibility that is mildly, moderately, or severely impaired. Those categories are pretty broad, open to interpretation, and can be quite vague. What do we really mean when saying that someone does or doesn’t have intelligible speech? To narrow down the meaning, we specify the two variables that have the greatest influence on how comprehensible the communicator’s speech output actually is: the context and the communication partner. Specifying whether the context is known and the partner is a familiar one, helps us better interpret the descriptors... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: documentation, report writing, speech intelligibility
November 22, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: appreciation, thankful, Thanksgiving
November 20, 2012
by Robin Parker -
We are super big fans of Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT). We need the PrAACtical resources that TPT offers. In addition to paying ridiculously low prices for some great teaching materials and cool classroom resources, there are also many free options. Check out these free vocabulary resources and have lots of fun. As always, the materials are only as good as the teaching strategies that go with them. As we check out these awesome vocabulary resources, we will use the following guiding principles and we will create appropriate communication opportunities for ALL learners to participate in direct vocabulary instruction. Active Participation for Everyone– Make sure all learners can make choices within the activity, respond to questions, add information, request clarification, and even ask for a break if they need it. To do this we will need one hit message devices, visual supports, individual and group communication displays, choice boards, switches, etc.... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: vocabulary instruction, vocabulary materials & resources
November 20, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
An essential part of the model we shared for AAC semantic intervention is Step 2, teaching the new words with explicit instruction activities. In our posts, explicit instruction refers to the process of designing and using carefully planned sequence of empirically-supported teaching activities. Though focused on reading, not vocabulary, development, this PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Anita Archer gives an excellent overview of the characteristics of explicit instruction. In our initial teaching of new words, we to be sure that the learners have frequent opportunities to respond: Active participation is critical at this point. We have to give the learner a lot of opportunities to say the word (e.g.,“resume”) and tell about it (e.g., “keep going,” “start again and not stop,” “verb”, etc.). We want to elicit a lot of responses so that we can monitor their performance. That allows us to provide feedback that is affirmative when the learners respond... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: implementation ideas, new word learning, semantics, teaching, teaching activities, vocabulary
November 19, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
In writing our posts on vocabulary teaching, we came across a host of vocabulary materials, games, apps, activities, lesson plans, worksheets, and websites. Some were by SLPs, but the majority were by general education teachers, teachers of English as a second language, and special education teachers. No matter what the age, grade level, or instructional setting, they all shared the same focus: teaching the meaning of new words. At first glance, that makes sense. But learning the meaning of new words is just the beginning. There are other, equally important things to focus on in vocabulary instruction that go beyond learning the meaning of new vocabulary words. Beyond learning the meaning of brand new words (“I understand it when I hear it.”), we can help learners to: • Develop a deeper understanding of known words (“I understand different aspects of this word.” “I know many different ways to use this... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: broader lexicon, intervention, language intervention, lexical diversity, new word learning, semantics, vocabulary
November 18, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
For anyone who doesn’t see how vocabulary instruction can possibly be a priority for kids who have intellectual disabilities or multiple disabilities, A short video with a gentle reminder… Words matter. For everyone. Click image for video.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: vocabulary