April 12, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
We’re thrilled that AAC SLPs Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim have returned to these pages with another edition in the TELL ME About It series. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. As usual, their post is chock full of prAACtical information including ideas for classroom activities, virtual learning tips, supporting AAC learning at home, and more. Also, don’t miss their tips for supporting a variety of communicative functions and their video read-alouds with three different AAC apps. If you are new to the series, you can check out their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series below. YEAR 1 TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Brown Bear, Brown Bear I Went Walking From Head to Toe... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 11, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts from our prAACtical week. Monday: AAC in Secondary School: 5 AACtionable Steps to Support the Transition Process Tuesday: AAC Link Up Wednesday: Video of the Week: Use It Tomorrow Tools for Data Collection in AAC Thursday: Growing AAC Professionals: Introducing Middle School Students to AAC Through Project HOPE ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Have time for a little more browsing? Check out these past posts. When Helping Isn’t Helping-Prompt Awareness in AAC Instruction Administratively Speaking: 5 Considerations for Recruiting and Retaining AAC SLPs AAC In the Classroom: Considerations for Modeling Core Vocabulary How I Do It: A Year of Core Word in Action AAC in the High School Classroom: Where Core Vocabulary Meets Life Skills
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 8, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
It’s never too soon to introduce people to AAC. Clinical Associate Professor and SLP Krista Davidson, a strong advocate for AAC, is back to share more about the training of pre-professionals. In today’s post, you’ll hear about the way the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at the University of Iowa faculty and graduate students introduce middle schoolers from the local community to the field of AAC. – Growing AAC Professionals: Project HOPE As I have said in my previous posts, the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at The University of Iowa uses a team-based approach to clinical education. Each graduate student typically rotates through 6 specialty-based clinical teams, mine being the AAC Team. I am continually looking for a variety of learning opportunities to engage students. This time we connect with Iowa’s College of Education and Project HOPE (Healthcare Occupations Preparation and Exploration). Project HOPE is a STEM... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 5, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
We’re back with another post in our series focusing on supporting students to use AAC during their high school years. AAC SLP Ashley Larisey, an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois, is here to discuss ways to support students who use AAC as they prepare to transition out of school. Ashley, who is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University, has some prAACtical suggestions that will be of interest to SLPs, OTs, teachers, and parents alike. Enjoy! 5 AACtionable Steps to Support the Transition Process Do you have a student on your caseload who uses AAC and will be aging out of special education services soon? This can be an incredibly exciting time, but it can also be full of feelings of uncertainty. Hopefully, we have put in a lot of time and effort into supporting AAC users, their families, and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 4, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you might enjoy. Monday – PrAACtically April – More AAC Resources for A Year of Core Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Ethical Issues in AAC Thursday – 30 PrAACtical Ideas for Celebrating Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links Abril 2021 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In recognition of Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, here are some autism-related posts to get you in the mood to celebrate those around us who have autism. Building Engagement in Young Students with Autism AACtual Therapy: Making Core Words Fun for Students with Autism Autism and AAC: 5 Pinterest Boards to Follow Evidence-based AAC Strategies for Students with Autism with Betsy Corporale An ABA Perspective on AAC for Students with Autism Before you go, enjoy the ABC’s of Autism support…
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
April 1, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to celebrate Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month in ways that honor people with autism spectrum disorders? Here are a few suggestions. Get flappy with Julia and Abby from Sesame Street. Check out some new autistic YouTubers to follow. Focus on safety. Help families affected by autism take preventative action with this helpful kit. Attend, create, or volunteer at an event that is accepting of people with neurological differences. I’m a huge fan of The Friendship Journey and their Wings of Friendship Virtual Camp and Virtual Hangouts. Read autistic authors, like Alyssa Hillary Zisk, who also wrote a guest post here. You can get access to one of their recent works, AAC for Speaking Autistic Adults: Overview and Recommendations, co-authored with Elizabeth Dalton. Learn more about what makes a narrative a social story or comic book conversation as opposed to something else by reviewing the guidelines for sentence types... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ASD, autism acceptance month
March 29, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Whether you are a parent trying to keep your child’s AAC skills up or a professional who is providing AAC support, we hope that our monthly Year of Core Vocabulary posts help you stay focused and keep your learners using their AAC skills. In today’s post, we share some ideas for boosting core word learning throughout the week, focusing on a small set of words. Whether you are following along with the Set 1 (12 words/month) or the Set 2 words (16 words/month; Different than the previous core words), or are just getting started, this post has some helpful resources. Our words for this month are as follows. Set 1 List: big, busy, do, drink, feel, he, in, make, out, some, tell, who Set 2 List: blue, brother, close, family, head, last, long, no, old, right, scared, soft, thing, top, wash, whole We have some specific ideas for how to build a learning... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Vocabulary Words, core vocabulary
March 28, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you might enjoy. Monday – How We Do It: Navigating Successful Post-Secondary Transitions in a Virtual World Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Developing & Using Communication Passports Thursday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 9 (April) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for some resources to use in your AAC work? Check out some of those listed below. AAC 101 Flipbook Communication Partner Data Collection Form AAC Skills: Caught or Taught? AAC Modeling Handout Repairing Communication Breakdowns
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
March 25, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Before we turn the page on the calendar, here’s the April post in the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Series by guest authors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle. This series focuses on a selected set of words to highlight for the month along with a suggested order in which to teach them. Therapists and teachers will appreciate the Activity Packets, containing suggestions for highlighting these words in a variety of activities. Their Data Collection Forms and tips on using shared reading in our AAC teaching are appropriate for AAC learners of various ages. If you are new to this series, you may want to review the introduction that our series authors created before delving into this month’s target words. You can see series overview here. You can also review the first 8 months of the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words using the links at the bottom... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: core vocabulary
March 22, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
AAC professionals can provide a great deal of support to help students prepare for post-school life. Today, guest authors Meredith Gohsman, Jamie Lawson, Heather Patton, and Melanie Melton team up to share their thoughts on helping students who use AAC move successfully toward this transition. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Speech-language pathologists, educators, and other AAC stakeholders all share responsibility in preparing students for successful post-secondary transition. The need to explicitly address post-secondary transition is well-established. Despite benefits of employment for both the employer and employee (McNaughton et al., 2002; McNaughton et al., 2003), individuals using AAC are unemployed at a staggering rate. For individuals using AAC, communication remains a vital component in the workplace (Bryen et al., 2007). Communication interactions and skills are associated with income, as well as job options (Mank et al., 1997; McNaughton & Bryen, 2007; McNaughton & Richardson, 2013). This includes all 5 communicative competencies: Linguistic Competence: Mastery of... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking