February 14, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Valentine’s Day, AAC friends. We’re glad you are here. Monday – AAC in Secondary School: Defining Age Respectful Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Covid Lessons for the AAC Community Thursday – PrAACtically Valentine’s Day: AAC-friendly Activities and Resources :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, stay awhile and browse the selection of AAC stories below. An AAC Journey: From “No to AAC” to “AAC All Day, Every Day” with Desirae Pillay Faces of AAC – Zainab Omar The Faces of AAC: Dianna and Brian The Faces of AAC: Justyna and Wiktoria Faces of AAC: Making It Work in A Busy Family
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
February 11, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Valentine’s Day, a celebration of love and romance, is just around the corner. We’re keeping up the tradition of sharing ideas for an AAC-friendly holiday so that you can focus your attention on the supportive strategies that facilitate AAC learning. Take a look. Have fun with this animated PowerPoint poem, 5 Little Valentines, from Bloom. Print and send these Valentine’s Day cards from CoughDrop Valentine’s Day Is Here: Enjoy a video sing along with the Swingset Mamas Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2S1AanFmFOY-W42JGdsuloRizrpmEE9e-YcrqU_Aqmo4McFJpqRfDnokY&v=Rbtgl9n3mJg&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=Swingsetmamas Supporting someone in a virtual platform? Check out these Boom cards From Beautiful Speech Life: I LIKE Activity From Welcome to Words: Cupid, Cupid, What Do You See? Make a bracelet with Valentine’s Day vocabulary and print out fun gift tags with this packet from The Alternative Way to PreK Style it up with this Valentine-themed bracelet from The AAC for ALL Read... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC activities, holiday
February 8, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we welcome back AAC SLP Ashley Larisey to these pages for another post in the AAC in Secondary School series. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. In today’s post, she shares thoughts on being age-respectful in choosing content, activities, and materials for high school students who are learning to use AAC. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Defining Age-Respectful The terms “age-appropriate” and “functional” are terms that come up frequently when working with older learners with complex communication needs and/or significant cognitive impairments. These students are entitled to receive an education that is aligned with the grade level standards in their state. Instruction should respect that these learners are no longer children, but in fact teenagers or young adults. But what do the terms “age-appropriate” and “functional” really mean? How are those terms... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: education, school, teens
February 7, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts that we think you’d like. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Not a Box’! Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Calendar Time & Weather Report, AAC Style Thursday – AAC-friendly Resources for Black History Month Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links – Febrero 2021 Have a few more minutes for AAC browsing? Check out these posts from our AAC archives. 5 Ways to Use Books to Build Interaction with AAC Learners Alphabet Books and AAC Implementation Using Adapted Books with AAC Learners: 3 Important Questions to Ask
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
February 5, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
AAC friends, we are back with another AAC Link Up in Spanish. If you have materials or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. But before we get to that, we want to continue sharing AAC experiences with families in different Spanish-speaking countries, to help us create ties and form AAC communities in Spanish, to learn from each other. From Guatemala, we share with Isabel Orellana, who tells us her personal story with AAC and how she has contributed to making this field known in her country and offering AAC alternatives to many children, families, and professionals. “I’m the mother of 9-year-old Eddyto. Eddyto has complex communication needs and has been using Proloquo2Go since... [Read More...]
Filed under: AAC Link Up, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Spanish
February 4, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, we’ve celebrated Black History Month each February for several decades. It’s a time for learning, reflection, and celebration. If you’re looking for resources that you can incorporate into your AAC teaching or therapy, here are some ideas for you. Learn with BrainPop and BrainPop, Jr which offers videos, writing and drawing activities, graphic organizers, worksheets, jokes, and more. Brown vs Board of Education Civil Rights Fannie Lou Hamer Harriet Tubman Jackie Robinson Jim Crow Malcolm X Martin Luther King, Jr Mohammed Ali Reconstruction Rosa Parks Ruby Bridges Slavery Tuskegee Airmen From BrainPop Jr 2. Read “The Poet Diaries,” a guest post by inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. View a video of her reading her poem, Rise Up as One, California. 3. Explore a virtual exhibition at the National Museum of African... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
February 1, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to support preschoolers teachers who are learning to use an AAC system rich in core vocabulary? Today, we welcome back AAC SLPs Jeanna Antrim and Maggie Judson for another guest post the TELL ME About It series. They have lots of ideas for classroom activities, e-learning, supporting AAC learning at home, and more. 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. TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Not a Box’! TELL ME About The Book The fifth book in this new series is “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis. Such a fun book to read, with its simple text, repeated lines, and engaging illustrations. But the real magic of this story lies in the ways... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
January 31, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 7 (February) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Toward Improved Diversity in AAC Thursday – PrAACtically February: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Words :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Stick around for some more AAC reading if you can. Here are some suggestions with info and resources from conferences in previous years. Enjoy! PrAACtical Resources: Partner Strategies Handout PrAACtical Fun A PrAACtical Idea for Aided Language Input 3 Presentation Handouts on Core Vocabulary Implementation
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
January 28, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
February is just around the corner and that means we’re looking ahead to ways we can highlight more of the core vocabulary words in our clients’ AAC devices and communication aids. One approach to boosting practice opportunities is to select a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. Throughout the month, we can then pay special attention to that small group of words by highlighting them with focused language stimulation, aided language input, and specific activities designed to teach or practice those words. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that, and every month we share some ideas for prioritizing a small set of words. You can use these materials to remind yourself which words to highlight this month using aided language input and focused language stimulation. What else? Here are some ideas to get you started. Print them... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
January 25, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
It’s prAACtically February and that means we’re preparing new lessons, materials, and activities for another set of high-frequency words. We welcome back guest authors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle with their latest post in the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words series which focuses on a selected set of words to highlight for the month along. This month, they highlight an important intervention strategy, recasting, that we use to facilitate language development. Also, be sure to check out the helpful Activity Packets, containing sheets on highlighting these words in a variety of activities, and Data Collection Forms. 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 the guest authors’ overview here. You can also review the first 6 months of the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words using... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking