September 15, 2012
by Robin Parker -
We were looking over the great hospital resources from Patient Provider Communication Forum, Central Coast Children’s Foundation, Dr. Bronwyn Hemsley, and Widgit Software that Carole wrote about and realized that not everyone automatically knows how to talk about pain, illness and injury. We often need to teach the expression of these concepts. We use various types of modeling and create Boxes or Drawers that have items (i.e., bandaids, antiseptic, washcloth, ice buddy, etc) to ‘help with Cuts/Scrapes’ (or any other illness). We have had some fun and lots of practice using these apps to also help the learning process. 5 Apps To Learn and Practice Talking About Pain, Illness, & Injury Don’t forget to model, play, and use the apps often in the teaching process so when they are really needed you will see spontaneous communication and language. Toca Doctor– learning about injury and sickness through fun noncompetitive challenges that involve ‘healing’ the damaged part.... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, illness, Injury, Medical Resources, pain, visual supports
September 14, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We are so happy to share a link to downloadable resources that come from the collaborative effort of the Patient Provider Communication Forum, Central Coast Children’s Foundation, Dr. Bronwyn Hemsley, and Widgit Software. These research-based materials were developed to help improve communication in hospital settings. The link takes you to the Widgit Health site and is a set of cards with 26 key phrases for patients who use picture symbols to communicate. The cards are printable and available in 20 different languages. You can access those materials here.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: advocacy, communication boards, download, hospital, Medical, resources
September 7, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
It’s been a depressing week for us. Too many exchanges with SLPs who should know how to ‘do’ this intervention and don’t. Too many conversations with parents who have not been able to access decent AAC services. Too many delays in getting devices in the hands of clients. We’ll get back to being positive and solution-oriented, but first we need to wallow in the misery of it a bit. The case for improved services to individuals with little or no functional speech is perhaps best made by those whose voices we cannot hear in a traditional sense. Below is a sampling of quotations from scholarly and personal writings of and by users of AAC. Michael Twice a week my academic pursuits were interrupted. I was sent out of the classroom and wheeled down to the other end of the building where I was put into a small, airless room to await... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: advocacy, rant, transitions
September 5, 2012
by Robin Parker -
AAC Supports- Don’t Go ANYWHERE Without Them.. Access To AAC & Visual Supports Allows Students to: Let you know what they want Let you know nicely what they don’t want Answer class questions Ask a question Say ‘I don’t know’ Ask for help Tell you they are having fun Create a Sentence Argue Negotiate Say a line in a school play Say ‘here’ during attendance Tell what they did on the weekend Tell what they did over the summer Tell you what they want to do at home Tell you if they are happy Tell you if they are scared Tell you if they are frustrated Tell you about their family Tell you about their pets Say please Say their name Say hello to a person Tell you what they like to do Ask for more Tell you which color they want Ask for a break Tell you why they are... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Benefits AAC, Nice Things To Say
September 3, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Last week I was talking to a bright, young professional who is starting her second year as a school-based SLP. She has a caseload of 60+ students, including a class of students who have significant communication impairments. When the conversation turned to building a support system for her students who use AAC, we talked about strategies for keeping all of the stakeholders in the loop. Here are some of the the things we touched on.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication, families, home, schools, therapy, tips
September 2, 2012
by Robin Parker -
We have recently been surprised (ok, shocked) by the absence of communication supports in educational settings that are supposed to be supporting learners with significant communication challenges. To be even more specific and blunt, the students do not have functional spoken speech. They can’t speak to let you know: what they need, what they don’t need or want, how they feel, what they see, what interests them, what questions they have, what they like and don’t like, when they really reallywant something, etc., etc. etc. And, trust us, they do need to say all of these things. If you work with anyone who does not use spoken speech and we mean ANYONE, they deserve the basic right to communicate with you. Our PrAACtical AAC Absolute A’s: AAC displays need to be accessible ALLOVER. There is no special ‘communication time.’ Communication teaching is ALL the time in authentic situations.... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Strategies
August 27, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
“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 some suggestions for parents of the kids... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: families, home, implementation ideas, schools, visual supports
August 25, 2012
by Robin Parker -
We live in Florida and there are lots of general summer storms. They can be very loud and dark. There are also many hurricane warnings (like now for Hurricane Isaac). Many children and adults with communication challenges can become upset or anxious because of the loud noises, the change in routines, and/or the heightened state of anxiety that is usually around the house or community. Because of this we are often asked to help find visual support resources. Here are some great prepared visual support stories and resources that we use: Bad Weather Tips and Story by Hands in Autism Hurricane Preparedness More Hurricane Preparedness Thunder/Lightning Storms Thunder Box Sometimes though the prepared supports do not meet the needs for specific learners. Here are our tips for developing your own storm visual supports and resources Creating Personal Participation Stories Use language of the story that is at the... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: choice boards, Social Story, Sotrms, visual supports
August 25, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
It seems like only last week that I was enjoying ISAAC 2012, spending time with friends, and attending AAC sessions. Here are some links to handouts for a few of the sessions. 1. Sarah Blackstone and many others: Effective Patient Provider Communication: The Expanding Role of our Professions 2. Jane Farrall: What’s APPropriate: AAC Apps for iPhones, iPads and other devices 3. Melanie Fried-Oken: A Comparison of Communication Board Use for Conversations in Primary Progressive Aphasia and Alzheimer’s Disease 4. Janice Light and her colleagues: Effects of AAC Systems with “Just in Time” Programming For Children with Complex Communication Needs 5. Janice Light & David McNaughton: Evidence-based Literacy Intervention for Individuals with Autism who Require AAC
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Conference, handouts, ISAAC, resources
August 24, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We loved it as a computer program and now we love it as an app. 1. The AAC Evaluation Genie app covers a lot of ground, starting with simple discrimination tasks all the way up through word prediction. 2. It helps keep us organized and focused in the app portion of the assessment process: The way the assessment activities are laid out helps us move beyond picture identification in a organized fashion. 3. It allows for a lot of flexibility. How many times have you done an AAC evaluation where you prepared for a client with a certain set of skills, only to find yourself face-to-face with someone whose skills are way above or below what you planned for? It ’s great when you have a tool that will let you move easily to another set of tasks when the need arises. 4. It accommodates both direct selection and scanning. 5.... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Evaluation Genie, Apps, assessment