May 31, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are a few posts that might be of interest. Monday – PrAACtically June – AAC Resources for A Year of Core Words: The Learn-at-Home Edition Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AACtivity Ideas to Jumpstart Learning Thursday – Growing AAC Professionals: Learning about Safeguarding Practices Friday – AACtivity Calendar for June Core Words :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And if you are thirsty for more, check out some past posts on activities and materials for AAC therapy and instruction. Magic Moments with Verb Circus PrAACtical Ways to Make Decisions about Thematic Therapy Materials Why We Love AAC Language Experience Activities Vocabulary Activities: 5 Sites About Learning with Avatars AAC Intervention: 5 Activities with PrAACtical Potential
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC activities, preservice training
May 29, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Rachael Langley has created a perpetual calendar to help us practice the core vocabulary words for June. Whether or not you are following along with the Year of Core Vocabulary, you’ll find a lot of prAACtical suggestions in this wonderful resource.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Rachael Langley, Year of Core Vocabulary Words
May 28, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
There are some things we’d rather not talk about. Sexual abuse toward people with complex communication needs is one of them. In today’s post, Vicki Haddix, a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis, is back to share the experiences of her most recent students and a project they completed to educate young AAC users about this topic. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve tried to incorporate the principles of UDL when designing my AAC course. Another way I do that is by giving students choices within assignments of blogs, webinars, and podcasts to read, view, and listen to in order to gain other perspectives on AAC. Hopefully, this also encourages lifelong learning, as we cannot possibly cover everything future SLPs need to know about AAC in a single class. But PrAACtical AAC as well as blogs by people who use AAC, ongoing webinar series like... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: abuse, Books, preservice training, reducing vulnerability, safeguarding
May 25, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
It’s just about time to flip the calendar to a new page. That means it’s time to prepare to highlight a new set of core words to keep our AAC learners moving forward and expanding their use of AAC throughout the day. We have some learn-at-home ideas that can help you incorporate our June core words into some easy activities and resources to help you have some prAACtical fun with the AAC learners in your life. If you’re helping an AAC learner become more capable in using high-frequency words to express themselves, we hope you join us in highlighting the June words and creating opportunities for our AAC learners to use them throughout the day. Whether you are following along with the 2013 Year of Core (Set 1-12 words/month) or the 2014 A(nother) Year of Core: (Set 2-16 words/month; Different than the previous year’s core words), or just getting started,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words
May 24, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts for you to check out. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: Assessing Distress in Individuals with Communication Challenges Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Tech Tips for Modeling in Tele-AAC Activities Thursday – Growing AAC Professionals: When Learning Meets Service ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Have a little more time? These might be of interest. Five Places for Shared AAC Materials Five AAC and Related Resources to Explore AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #1 (downloadable) AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #2 (downloadable) AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #3 (downloadable) AAC: More Teaching, Less Testing (downloadable)
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: pain, teaming, telepractice
May 21, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Teaching AAC to future SLPs is a longstanding passion of mine so when a fellow instructor, Vicki Haddix, reached out to talk about the AAC projects her graduate students had done, I knew that I wanted to share them with you. In today’s post, Vicki, a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis, tells us about her most recent students and their projects. The materials they created can be used by parents and professionals alike. Make sure to check out the link at the bottom to access the full array of materials that these talented students created. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: As a professor, it’s always exciting when you see the great work that graduate students are doing and think about the potential that they are bringing to the field. I’ve taught the AAC class at the University of Memphis’s SLP graduate program for 5 spring semesters, and I always learn... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: downloads, literacy, preservice AAC
May 20, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Everywhere you look, therapists and clinicians are providing remote services to support AAC learners. They’re working through the challenges of remote learning and figuring out ways to support their clients and families, sometimes with little or no guidance from their own agencies. And through it all, they are finding making time to support other AAC practitioners throughout the world. It’s pretty impressive! We’re really pleased to feature a video by PrAACtical AAC contributor and AAC SLP Sarah Gregory in today’s post. In this video, Sarah helps us with some of the technical aspects of AAC modeling while running an online activity. Take a look. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbVSndMvlMg You can see some of Sarah’s previous contributions here.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aided language input, tele-AAC, telepractice
May 18, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
The use of pain scales is common in healthcare settings to help identify and monitor levels of discomfort. To better address the needs of individuals with significant communication difficulties, Northgate Hospital in the UK created a more detailed tool that expands this concept. Today, we look at the Disability Distress Assessment Tool (DisDAT) which identifies distress and things that signal that for a specific individual with a communication difficulty. DisDAT helps to identify the ways that a specific individual with complex communication needs shows signs of distress and discomfort. You can explore the DisDAT and learn more about how to use it here. There is also a form for monitoring these signals over time (click here for download). Many thanks to the team at Northgate Hospital for creating these tools and making them freely accessible. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Regnard, C., Reynolds, J., Watson, B., Matthews, D., Gibson, L, & Clarke, C.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: discomfort, DisDAT, pain
May 17, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some AAC posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘The Lunch Box Surprise’! Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Explainers for Parent & Staff Training Thursday – Zooming, Masking, Distancing, & More: AAC-friendly Resources for Managing Coronavirus Challenges ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re at it, here are some previous posts that may be of interest. Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentence Length 5 Ways to Make Semantic Maps More Effective in AAC Therapy PrAACtical Questions with Vicki Clarke: What’s the Role of Core Vocabulary? Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations Let Me Tell You Something- Narratives for the Beginning Communicator
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
May 14, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two months since we first published a curated collection of social narratives, videos, visual supports, and communication aids designed for some of the various challenges that come along with the Covid-19 pandemic. Creators from around the world have offered so many resources that our list has doubled in size. We’re reprinting it today so that you can see some of the latest additions. There are over 130 materials to browse through, all of which are free due to the generosity of parents and professionals in the disability community. You can use the slider on the right side of the image below to scroll down through the resources or click here for a full-size version.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking