June 23, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Have some catching up to do? You’ve come to the right place. Monday – How I Do It: Pocket Flipbooks for Adults & Teens, Part 2 Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Using Sensory Activities to Build Communication & Literacy with Students who Have Visual & Multiple Disabilities Thursday – When Language Is Lost: AAC Supports for Individuals with Aphasia ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Are you looking for some AACtivity suggestions? Here’s a few from past posts. Sometimes I Feel Sunny: AT Recipes for Success from CHoR PrAACtical Supports for AAC Learners: AT Recipes for Success – Sensorimotor Activities Pete the Cat, Rockin’ in My School Shoes: AT Recipes for Success PrAACtical Supports for the Young AAC Learner: Recipes for Success (Bubbles, Cars) PrAACtical Supports for Older Learners: AT Recipes for Success (Computer, Scrapbooking)
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: activities, aphasia, flipbook, sensory activities
June 20, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It’s another Throwback Thursday! In recognition of Aphasia Awareness Month, we are digging into the archives for content on supporting people who’ve lost a good deal of language following stroke, brain injury, or dementia. If this is a population of interest, we invite you to explore these past posts to get ideas of things to add to your AAC assessment and/or therapy. Making It Work: 6 AAC Strategies for People with Aphasia Low Tech AAC for Adults with Aphasia: What Does That Mean? A Fresh Look at AAC & Aphasia with Dr. Kristy Weissling 5 Questions about Aphasia & Communication Books Aphasia Awareness Month: AAC & Aphasia Bridging the Gap: Helping People with Aphasia to Compensate for Their Language Difficulties AAC Assessment for People with Aphasia
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aphasia, throwback, visual scene displays
June 17, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Grilling, wine tasting, horse racing…What did you talk about this weekend? The vocabulary and messaging needs of adults who have significant communication difficulties are often quite different than those of children and youth. Today, we welcome back SLP Katherine Dally who continues to share her experiences in creating and using small flipbooks for adults with complex communication needs. The flipbooks in this post (which can be downloaded via a link later in the article) focus on leisure activities that are perfect for summer. You can see Part 1 and download the template here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How To – Pocket Flip Book For Adults and Teens Have you worked with a client who was given a generic, low-tech paper communication board at the hospital? These are the boards that include pain, yes/no, and bathroom, among other basic needs and wants. With these boards, personalization is limited. The topics can be important, but... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: adults, flipbook, leisure, teens, vocabulary
June 13, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Can you spare a few minutes to help us out? Since Robin and I first started the blog in 2011, PrAACtical AAC has published lots of original content and featured many wonderful contributions of professionals, families, and AAC users from around the world. With hundreds of posts under our belt, I thought it was finally time to give YOU a voice. We’d love to know more about you and what you’d like to see at PrAACtical AAC as we continue to move forward in sharing AAC content. Are there specific topics you’d like to know more about or particular guest authors you want to hear more from? What kinds of materials or resources would be most helpful to you? How you would like to see things grouped or organized? What other ways can PrAACtical AAC support the work you do to address complex communication needs? Help us figure out what... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: feedback, survey
June 10, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
There is no doubt that adults with complex communication needs are an underserved population, something that is on our minds a lot during June, which is Aphasia Awareness Month. We feel fortunate to have a guest post today from Ohio-based SLP Katherine Dally, who works both as an AT consultant for an educational service center and as a home health SLP serving adults with neurological conditions. Katherine has served as the SLP on an ALS clinic focusing AAC evaluations, the use of voice banking, and no-tech/low tech communication. In today’s post, she provides some wonderful ideas for using activity-specific communication books with adults and teenagers and shares her templates for you to download. Pocket Mini-Communication Flipbooks Need a low-tech idea that’s pocket-sized and accessible everywhere for adults? Take a look at these pocket mini-communication flip books. These flip books were originally created for clients with a diagnosis of ALS to... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: adults, COmmunication Books, flipbooks, teens
June 9, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Good morning, AAC friends! Today, we’re sharing AAC posts that you may have missed and also asking for your feedback so that we can improve the functionality of our PrAACtical AAC website. We would be grateful if you could take a few minutes and respond to a short survey. You can do that below or using this link: https://forms.gle/PMmFo3oVV1DK926G8. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And now, onto those posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: AAC-focused Summer Camps Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Growing Up with AAC in the Family Thursday – How We Do It: Incorporating Core Vocabulary Throughout the School Day ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: For those of you who want to browse a little bit more, here are a few suggestions. Supporting AAC Learners in Working with Words Teaching AAC and Sight Words AT for Writing Supporting AAC Learners in Emergent... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: feedback, summary post, survey
June 6, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It is wonderful to see the ways that SLPs and educators are collaborating to support AAC implementation in the classroom. Today, we hear from SLP Kristen Ponce who works at the Gerner Family Early Education Center in the Park Hill School District in Kansas City, Missouri. Kristen has a particular interest in working with preschoolers with autism and AAC needs and is passionate about teaching her students to become competent and independent communicators. In this post, she shares her experiences in collaborating with classroom teachers to promote the use of AAC throughout the school day. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Incorporating Core Throughout the School Day The majority of my caseload is preschoolers who have autism spectrum disorder and who use AAC. We usually introduce communication and how to use an AAC device through learning to request. It is easy to teach that communication is fun when you have a very tangible and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, core vocabulary, school
June 3, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, we’re finishing up school and, for some, it wouldn’t be summer without a little time away at camp. We’ve gotten lots of requests for information on camps that support AAC use in the past few weeks. For those who are interested, we keep a running list here. If you know of a camp that should be added to this list, please let us know so that we can expand the offerings.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: camp, summer
May 30, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It’s such a pleasure to have Angi Pearce back on these pages to share her experiences and passion for teaching students with AAC needs. Angi is a teacher at Kowhai Special School in Hastings, New Zealand, and serves as the team leader for the Junior School classes (ages 5-11). Her initial post (see that here) introduced us to the ways that she embraced AAC and integrated it into her classroom. In today’s post, she talks about how things have evolved. Enjoy the journey! How We Do It: AAC in the Special Education Classroom – Continuing the Journey This is my fifth year teaching in a school for children with special needs. Five years ago, AAC was a new term for me. Core vocabulary boards were the first tools which were introduced to me, which I did not understand the benefit and purpose of until I observed the way it enhanced... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Angi Pearce, classroom, literacy, school
May 23, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for a fun way to integrate more emergent literacy into your AAC work? You’re in the right place! Today, SLPs Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim share one of their many ideas for engaging therapy sessions. Maggie and Jeanna 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. You can see a previous guest post that Jeanna wrote here. Let’s hear how they make and use squishy books in their therapy sessions. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AAC, Literacy and Squishy Books If you’ve done any reading or research around the topic of AAC and literacy, you know that students with complex communication needs do not typically get the same kinds of experiences with literacy activities as do their peers (Light & Kent-Walsh, 2003). So we are always on the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: beginnin communicator, Books, DIY, emergent literacy, reading