December 6, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Students with disabilities rarely play an important role in developing and discussing the plan that guides their educational experiences, the IEP. That needs to change. Today, we’re delighted to welcome back AAC SLP Ashley Larisey to continue an important discussion on this topic. Ashley Larisey, an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois, discusses ways to support students who use AAC as they prepare to transition out of school in the AAC in Secondary School series. Ashley, who is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University, has some prAACtical suggestions that are important for school teams, students who use AAC, their families, and school administrators. You can find Ashley’s first post on this topic here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Centering AAC Users in the IEP Planning Process Part Two: Putting It into Action Last month, we discussed different strategies for including AAC users in the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 5, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you might like. Monday – December Year of Core Vocabulary & School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Assessing Classroom AAC Practices Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC & the Teenage Years Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links Still have time for a little more AAC? Here are some of our suggestions. 10 Apps to Gift an AAC SLP Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentence Length 5 Ways to Make Semantic Maps More Effective in AAC Therapy PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book How I Do It: A Year of Core Words in Action Have a great week, everyone!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
December 2, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Teenagers are a fun and exciting group to work with. In today’s post, we reach into the archives for some past posts that address some of the issues that arise in serving this age group. Starting AAC in the Teen Years: 3 Considerations for Families & Practitioners How I Do It: Starting AAC with Teens & Young Adults by Angela Adams How I Do It: Pocket Flipbooks for Adults & Teens How I Do It: Pocket Flipbooks for Adults & Teens, Part 2 How I Do It: Pocket Flipbooks for Teens, Part 3 How I Do It: Conversation Practice with Teens and Young Adults by Angela Adams Faces of AAC – Zainab Omar Let’s Hit the Town, AAC Style Bridging Literacy and AAC for Adolescents Communication Strategies for Adolescents as They Transition through Adulthood AAC in Secondary School: Defining Age Respectful
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
November 29, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
In 2013, when schools and other clinical programs were expanding their emphasis on teaching core vocabulary words, PrAACtical AAC published a set of resources for families and professionals that included symbol cards, sample sentences to model, activity suggestions, and more. All of these were 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). Over the years, the resources were expanded and grew to include a wonderful series of calendars with daily activity suggestions developed by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. In 2020, a new series was launched, School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
November 28, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts that you might like. Monday – AAC Fair Testing Practices: Implementation & Beyond Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: ‘Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving Thursday – A Day To Be Thankful Before you go, we have a few more posts that may be of interest. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: I Eat Thanksgiving Dinner PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Hello, Holidays! 5 Different Gifts to Give To A Classroom PrAACtical Ideas: AAC Core Vocabulary Practice for Workshops and Inservices Video of the Week: Helping Students with Autism Prepare for Non-routine Events
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
November 25, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
grat·i·tude /ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/ noun the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness Today, we pause to reflect on our blessings and offer thanks. We’re grateful for: The people who use AAC and their families for all they do to help us get better at this business of supporting communication Service providers in homes, schools, clinics, hospitals, and community agencies The university programs that have a dedicated AAC class, especially if they have a permanent faculty member with expertise in this area Bonus thanks to those that also offer supervised clinical or student teaching experiences with AAC mentorship opportunities or an AAC lab with SGDs, AAC apps, switches, and mounts. The professional and service organizations that support AAC through professional development opportunities, grants, mentorship programs The power of e-communication platforms for the AAC support on listservs, blogs, groups, threaded discussions, and through the sharing of images and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
November 23, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Tuesday, AAC friends! Once a week we invite you to share your own AAC-related content, product news, or anything else that you’d like others in the AAC community to know about. It may be a recent post you’ve written, a slide deck from your AAC presentation, a handout, video, or meme that you’ve posted online, an AAC product you’ve created, an announcement for an AAC course or conference, or any other prAACtical content you developed and want to share with the AAC community. To post your own link, scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post and complete the form. Enter the URL and the name/title in the boxes provided below. If you are on a mobile device, click over to the full website version to do this. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed so it may take a little... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
November 22, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Fair testing practices based on individual needs, abilities, and priorities can be a game-changer for people who use AAC. These are created when teams* come together to engage in collaborative problem-solving and develop a set of guidelines that address an important question: How can we assess this individual so that we are tapping into what they actually know? You can see previous posts in this series here. What Are AAC Fair Testing Practices & Why Should We Use Them? Preparation for the Assessment Modes of Responding in Tests & Assessments The Testing Environment Test Materials Test Administration Procedures Communication & Documentation Today, we explore two final topics. First, we’ll think about the transition from planning our AAC fair testing practices to actually implementing them. Secondly, we’ll consider ways to continue the conversation about these practices with an eye on continuing to refine them over time. TOPIC 14 Implementation: How can... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
November 21, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you may have missed. Monday – AAC in School: Classroom Communication Goals Grid – Revised Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC for Emergent Communicators Thursday – AAC Fair Testing Practices: Communication & Documentation ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, check out some of these previously published posts. 5 Ways to Tell If Your Students are Becoming Competent Communicators A Look at PODD Books Using Visual Supports to Bring Music Alive Supports for When Modeling AAC is Hard AACtual Therapy: Use Your Best Spud to Teach Vocabulary With Tanna Neufeld The Critical Nature of Literacy in AAC
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
November 18, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
We’re continuing to discuss strategies for helping teams devise ways to test students who use AAC in ways that allow them to show what they actually know in test-taking situations. For the most part, this involves team discussions and collaborative problem-solving to develop a plan based on each AAC user’s individual needs, abilities, and priorities. Today’s post addresses two important topics: How individuals will communicate during testing and how teams document the ways that assessments are administered to a particular individual. TOPIC 12 Communicating During Testing – How will students express themselves during testing? People who use AAC should always have easy access to the tools they use for communication. In testing, professionals may be tempted to remove or restrict the AAC device during testing, but there are several reasons why this is not a good idea. For starters, we’re violating basic human rights in making communication aids less accessible.... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking