January 10, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
In some areas of the country, professionals and school districts are creating their own no-tech AAC systems. These are usually focused on core vocabulary and are often fairly similar to things that are commercially available. There are several reasons that schools or clinical practices might create their own tools, such as having consistency across classrooms so that staff can learn the tool well and focus their efforts on strong implementation practices. Along with the advantages, there are a number of drawbacks to consider in your decision-making. Here are some considerations in determining whether to use locally-created AAC materials. Examine the words that populate the system. Are the words, phrases, and/or sentences on their AAC tool a good fit for the learner in question? Look at the size of the vocabulary it offers. Are there enough words? Review the vocabulary layout to see how words are organized. Does it facilitate language... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
January 9, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some posts you might like. Don’t miss the Spanish AAC resources. Monday – Top 10 AAC Videos of the Year Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Dealing with Emotions, AAC Style Thursday – Improving Assessment Practices for Students Who Use AAC: Mobilizing the Power of Social Narratives Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links – Enero 2022 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, take a look at some of these past posts from the AACtual Therapy series. AAC, Literacy, & Squishy Books Making Core Words Fun for Students with Autism AAC Intervention for Beginning Communicators: Presume Competence and Be the Fun Building Language and Emergent Literacy Skills with ‘Do You Wear Diapers?’ Informal Assessment Activity with Jeanne Tuthill
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
January 6, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Social narratives are an empirically supported intervention that can be helpful in supporting people with AAC needs. They are commonly used to help individuals with autism understand and deal with challenging situations such as fire drills, birthday parties, and trips to the dentist. All types of social narratives can be written in text alone or include pictures and illustrations. Social Stories are a particular kind of social narrative that have a specific set of guidelines for their development and use. The originator of Social Stories, Carol Gray, defines Social Stories this way: “A Social Story accurately describes a context, skill, achievement, or concept according to 10 defining criteria. These criteria guide Story research, development, and implementation to ensure an overall patient and supportive quality, and a format, ‘voice’, content, and learning experience that is descriptive, meaningful, respectful, and physically, socially, and emotionally safe for the Story audience (a child, adolescent,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
January 3, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Before we get too far into the new year, we thought you might like one last look at some of the most popular AAC videos of 2021. AAC Modeling at Home Supporting Core Vocabulary in a Life Skills Classroom Ethical Issues in AAC Relationships and AAC TELL ME: AAC in the Preschool Classroom Calendar Time & Weather Report, AAC Style Talking About Feelings AAC Evaluations Teaching Language in the Classroom to Students Who Use AAC Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in AAC Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list? We’d love to hear about it.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
January 2, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Happy New Year, AAC friends. Here are some posts to ease you into 2022. Monday – January Year of Core Vocabulary & School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Making AAC Devices Relevant with Customization Thursday – The Year’s Top AAC Posts: 2021 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, here are some posts to explore from our ‘How I Do It’ series. Pocket Flipbooks for Teens & Adults (Intro), Part 1 and Part 2 A Year of Core Words in Action Addressing the 4 Most Overlooked Operational Skills for High-Tech AAC Users Using Visual Supports to Build Attention and Cooperation Starting AAC with Teens & Young Adults by Angela Adams
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 30, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
As we wave goodbye to December and welcome the New Year, let’s revisit some of the most popular posts of 2021. PrAACtical Goals That Matter How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders PrAACtical AAC Goals How I Do It: Using PODD books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder AAC Assessment Forms Building Your AAC SLP Toolkit: Obtaining Free Apps for AAC Evaluations The First 12: Getting Started with Core Vocabulary Teaching Core Vocabulary Literacy for Everyone with Adapted Books A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Make It Monday: Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 1 (August) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list? We’d love to hear about it.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 27, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for resources to support core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, two series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, remain popular with therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 26, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed during the busy holiday week. Monday – AAC Devices & Apps Without an Evaluation: A Few Questions to Ask Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Text-based AAC Thursday – An AAC Christmas Tradition ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have some extra time, stick around and check out these posts from the archives. Holiday Talk: AAC Conversations Using Partner-focused Questions Holiday Photos in AAC Learning: 3 Ideas for Using Them to Build Language Teaching Prelinguistic Communication to Beginning Communicators 5 Resources for Your AAC Toolkit Beginning Communicators: Learning Through Touch Cues
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 23, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town Not a creature was stirring, they were all safe and sound. The stockings were hung by their chimneys with care, In hopes that AAC Elves would soon visit there. The teachers were nestled all snug in their beds, With visions of lesson plans banished from their heads. The therapists with data sheets and the strategies they love best, Had just settled in for a good winter-break rest. When outside the schoolyard, there arose such a clatter I rushed toward the window to see what was the matter. Stepping on Legos (does that pain ever fade?) I ran to the window and lifted the shade. With her silvery face, the moon shone from the night sky, Illuminating the landscape from her perch way up high. And what to my sleep-deprived eyes should appear But an accessible sleigh, and 8 AT reindeer.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 20, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
In a perfect world, everyone who needs AAC would participate in a comprehensive assessment to guide the selection of what SGD and/or AAC app will best meet their needs. That evaluation would include a records review, interviews with key stakeholders, observation, direct assessment, and a period of trial use with the communication aids that seem to be the best fit. It’s a complex and time-consuming endeavor, but the feature match process has been the gold standard for AAC device/app selection for several decades. At times, this process is skipped in favor of a quicker approach. Bhodie’s school team already supports several other students with AAC needs and most of them use a popular AAC app on an iPad. Since they are already familiar with that tool and it seems to be working well for other students, they tried it with Bhodie, too. He was successful in using it to request... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking