November 18, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It’s time for another installment of the TELL ME About It series which focuses on AAC, language, and literacy learning with preschool children. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim are back with more great ideas for AAC intervention, this time focusing on the Eric Carle book, From Head to Toe. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in central Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings. You can check out the earlier posts in this series below. I Went Walking Brown Bear, Brown Bear TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘From Head To Toe’! TELL ME About Reading: The third book in the TELL ME program (Teaching Early Language and Literacy through Multimodal Expression) is “From Head To Toe.” We love when books are interactive... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, preschool, TELL ME
November 17, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – 5 Ways to Build Increased Support for AAC Within an Organization Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Using the AAC Participation Model to Guide Implementation Planning Thursday – How We Do It: A Support Walker Mobility Program for Elementary Students with AAC Needs ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::; Before you leave, sample some of these posts from the archives. “But He Doesn’t Like It!” 5 Things to Try with AAC Learners Who Don’t Like Shared Reading Getting Acquainted with Tarheel Reader AAC on TpT: 5 Free Downloads Reading with AAC Across the Stages of Language Development
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC implementation, language development, reading
November 14, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We’re very pleased to welcome back Christine Wright-Ott to continue the series on supporting the independent mobility of children with AAC needs. Christine is an Occupational Therapy consultant at the Bridge School in northern California. She authored the chapter “Mobility” in the 4-7th editions of the book, Occupational Therapy for Children. She lectures at universities and conferences including ATIA, Closing the Gap, ISAAC, ISS, and AAC by the Bay. Today, she discusses the ways she and her colleagues help elementary school students use support walkers. You can read the first two installments of this series using the links below. Part 1: From Wheelchair to Walker: The Cascading Benefit of Hands-Free Mobility Part 2: From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs The Support Walker Mobility Program for Elementary Students with AAC needs The second post in this series described the Preschool hands-free Support Walker Mobility Program developed at... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: mobility, mobility impairment
November 11, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
In many organizations, the AAC practices of individual therapists and teachers outpace the support for AAC by the larger staff or community. Here are some suggestions for building more wide-spread support for AAC in schools and other agencies. Take advantage of any requirements to attend mandatory training events. Most school districts have mandatory staff development days, and often, the training provided on those days has little or no relevance to those who do AAC work. Perhaps you can offer a more relevant alternative. Work with administrators to be able to provide AAC training on these days to share information on AAC implementation with teachers, paraprofessionals, and therapists. To get a spot on that calendar, it may take a while to establish rapport and relationships with the leadership team and various department heads but this is time and effort well-spent. Invite administrators, department heads, and committee chairs to AAC-related events on... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: advocacy, schools, systems change
November 10, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We’ve got some AAC reading for you to catch up on. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: Mini Communication Boards Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Tips for Supporting Students Who Use AAC in School Thursday – Make It PrAACtical: DIY Adapted Toys :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, why not sample some of these past posts? Organizing Vocabulary for Communication Books: Getting Started More on Teaching Core Vocabulary Join Together Core and Fringe AAC In the Classroom: Considerations for Modeling Core Vocabulary If you’re looking for more in-depth information on teaching language to AAC users, join us in Orlando in January for a full-day workshop. Use the slider on the graphic below to learn more and find the registration link.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, communication book
November 7, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Have you looked at the retail prices for switch-adapted toys lately? And have you noticed that the selection is fairly limited? Just in time for the holiday season, we’re pleased to introduce our youngest guest author to date, Michael Dicpinigaitis, who is stopping by to help us figure out a more affordable alternative. Michael used his interest in technology to learn how to adapt toys and create switches with the help of a 3-D printer. Learn about his organization, Jericho Adapts Toys, and peruse the resources he shares. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer or know someone who is, this post is for you. Kudos to the entire team at Jericho Adapts Toys: Michael Dicpinigaitis, Eric Li, Jai Joshi, Corinne Dicpinigaitis, and Sohil Dharia. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: JerichoAdaptsToys.org was a vision that became a reality. The vision was to provide children with significant motor impairments the ability to independently play, have control of their environment, and learn important... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: adapted toys, DIY, play
November 4, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Fall seems to be a prime time for training classroom staff on AAC tools and strategies. These mini communication boards were a topic of conversation at a recent training so today we’re sharing an editable PowerPoint file for you to download. The slides are set to a custom size so when you print them, they’ll fit inside a badge holder. Plenty of AAC options for you to choose from and you can resize the image to meet your needs. You can download the mini communication board file here. Enjoy!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication book, downloads
November 3, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some AAC posts that may be of interest. Monday – PrAACtically November: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Vocabulary Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: The Life-changing Experience of Getting a Speech Generating Device Thursday – Wrapping Up AAC Awareness Month ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have more time, check out these past posts from the archives. 5 AAC Tips for Talking About Halloween After it is Over EET + AAC = OMG Top AAC Videos
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: first-person accounts, Halloween, language intervention, video
October 31, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Another AAC Awareness Month is in the books. If you’re still in the mood to spread the word about AAC, you might be interested in some of these resources. If these don’t appeal to you, scroll down and check out the Halloween AAC cards at the end. Click on the images to download the file. Editable Tags Bookmarks AAC Info Card for Halloween Trick or Treaters Until next time!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Awareness Month
October 28, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It’s just about time to turn another page on the calendar, and that means we’re busy preparing materials and activities for our November core words. Are you looking for some ways to help your AAC learners become more competent in using core words? Need to get staff on board with modeling core vocabulary? Trying to get familiar with where core words are stored in a particular SGD or AAC app? Here’s an approach you may want to try: Choose a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that. Set 1: A Year of Core (12 words/month) Set 2: A(nother) Year of Core (16 words/month; Note: These are different than the core words covered in 2013) Those posts have links to downloadable grids with the core words for each month that can be used as... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: A Year of Core Words, Another Year of Core Words