February 15, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
This is the first in an occasional series in which we attempt to address questions posed to us by families, SLPs, and others who are providing AAC services. The first question we’ll tackle came from a school administrator who asked about what happens to AAC devices during transitions. — The Situation: School district A had purchased an AAC device for a student following sound educational practices, such as a feature match assessment in which all key stakeholders played a significant role. The student then moved to a different part of the state but the device did not. The administrator from School District B wondered, “Shouldn’t the student be able to keep her AAC device?” The administrator from the original school district didn’t think so. The device was costly, she reasoned, and while it had been customized for this particular student, it could easily be re-programmed for a different student. Budgets are... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: FAQs, schools
February 15, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We wanted to take a breather from all the busyness to reflect on the year and to offer up some words of appreciation. For us, 2011 started with our version of a retreat: a long walk in the sun, a half day of venting our frustrations and a half day of planning new projects interspersed with lunch at the beach. (There might have been a bottle of wine in there somewhere, too.) We’d both been feeling more than a bit discouraged that the quality of AAC services is still so spotty. There are some fantastic SLPs and teachers, of course, but not enough to go around. The ‘good ones’ are too busy. And the not-so-good ones were doing too much damage. It seemed to us that too many folks with significant communication challenges weren’t getting what they needed and that stressed us out to no end. Just when we had calmed down, we... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: appreciation, families
February 14, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
1. Various activities for the K-12 set from the SLPs and educators in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. 2. For AAC systems that use DynaVox SGDs make sure to explore the DV Implementation ToolKit 3. For AAC systems that use Pixon symbols 4. All kinds of goodies in Ms. Click’s classroom site. (Those of us here in South Florida especially love the materials for hurricane preparaton.) 5. For AAC systems that use Minspeak/Unity, the AAC Language Lab has a host of resources.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: download, symbol
February 13, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
So much to love about Speakbook, a lovely and hugely functional tool for people who communicate by eye gaze. – Love the generosity of its designer, Patrick Joyce, in making this available under a Creative Common license Love the creative approach of blending an eyegaze board with a communication book Love the use of color encoding so that the communicator has access to more words/messages Love the plentiful access to the alphabet for spelling novel messages Love the beautiful feel of the Speakbook website – Check out this video when you can and share the eye love.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication boards, eye gaze, free download
February 12, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Early Valentine’s Day Surprises! From time to time we find out about free apps for holidays, other special occasions, or just as a Random Act of Kindness. We will put out our version of a ‘Random Apps of Kindness’ post to let you know. Many will be for the iOS (apple) platform. However, some will be for other platforms like Android, the Web, or even google tv. Enjoy! Be a MeeGenius Newsletter Subscriber and Get a Free Valentines Day Book We wrote a post the other day about MeeGenius and some of the things we Loved about it. Subscribe for Free to the MeesGenius Newsletter and you get will a Valentines Book added to your Bookshelf free. The book, I Love You For Who You Are by Meredith Hairston, is a story about a boy who gets assigned a Valentine’s Day project at school. He ends up finding out that love... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: random apps of kindness
February 12, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Some people thrive on conflict. Not us. We’re happiest when things are running smoothly and everyone is getting along. Nonetheless, we’re secretly thrilled by the conflict that has erupted between apps and traditional SGDs. — Here’s what we love about this conflict. 1. We LOVE that the technology that launched this controversy has raised the public’s awareness of AAC as an option. AAC in the local papers and New York Times. AAC on 60 minutes and segments of the nightly news. No matter how you feel about apps versus traditional SGDs, you gotta love the fact that more people now know that there are tools out there for people with little or no functional speech. – 2. We LOVE that AAC technology has progressed to a point where there is something to argue about. When I started my AAC career, the Express 3 (PRC), Zygo 100 (Zygo), and the HandiVoice... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, historical perspective, SGD, technology
February 11, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We all have them. We all use them. We all get in ruts. Here are some creative uses for using single message voice output communication aids. — 1. To build letter-sound correspondence: Record the sound that the letter makes so that the AAC user can participate in phonological awareness activities. Works great with multiple talking switches, each programmed with a different letter sound. – 2. To give time-limited access to a battery-operated toy: By using the Big Mack as a switch, you can record a message and the toy will stay on for the length of the message. Great for creating teachable moments to practice recurrence and cause/effect in a meaningful way. – 3. To build support communicators who are learning 2-switch step scanning: With this type of scanning, we use one switch to move the highlighted item and the other to select it. By using a talking switch, you can... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: SGD
February 11, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Books, books, and more books! We love reading, personally and professionally. We found this e-book site and it just keeps getting better. It has many free e-books (some even have repeated story lines), Many, Many additional books for purchase at reasonable prices. Works on ALL technology platforms (web, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, android, google tv) and has Read -Along Technology (word highlighted while read) Bookshelf updates automatically and across platforms Has special accounts for schools and libraries- with access to over 70 free books. Has sharing options, you can use the ‘Like it’ to share with friends about books (great communication activity) — ... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: literacy, MeeGenius, reading
February 10, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Magic Moments: AAC Intervention with Apps You Love- Toca Boca Doctor “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”… If it were only that simple. But it is not that easy and since we are right in the middle of cold and flu season, it reminds us about teaching AAC users to let us know when they are not feeling well. The more we can find ways to make the concepts of pain, injury, and distress more concrete and specific, the easier it is to learn. Telling others about your own discomfort is an important self-advocacy and self-determination skill. —- On a more PrAACtical note, telling about your symptoms... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps. toca boca, causality, doctor, joint action routines, language activities, symbolic play
February 9, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
With apologies to the SGD and app designers for making things more complicated for you we offer up these wishes for the next generation of AAC devices and apps. Everything should have a readily accessible ‘un-do’ button. Seriously, folks. Are we the only ones who make mistakes? AAC devices/apps that let you pick the symbol set/system and organize the vocabulary accordingly. Variety is still the spice of life. A universal standard or convention across SGDs/apps for button shapes and color-coding, with option to customize, of course. (Isn’t it great to have your cake and be able to eat it, too?!) Built in core word libraries that make it easy to populate screens with the words we use most often ‘Smart’ templates that suggest vocabulary and organization options as you build the display. – How about you? What do you dream of in the next generation of AAC technology?
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, SGD