February 19, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Today we are excited to share a wonderful collection of articles that help to expand the theoretical underpinnings and empirical knowledge base in AAC. The Augmentative and Alternative Communication journal is providing free access to six articles that are part of an ongoing international collaboration of researchers and clinicians in 16 nations. You can access articles from this project, entitled “Becoming an Aided Communicator: Aided Language Skills in Children aged 5–15 years: A Multi-site and Cross-cultural Investigation,” below. Kudos to the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) and the journal co-editors (Drs. Martine Smith and Bronwyn Hemsley) and Dr. von Tetzchner for making this special issue so widely available. We hope you enjoy reading Aided Language Processes, Development, and Use: An International Perspective.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aided communication, language development, research, theory
February 12, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Karen Natoci’s first book of the year is packed with fun and AAC potential. Karen is currently an AAC Supervisor with The Speech Pathology Group in Walnut Creek, California. Over the years, Karen has supported AAC learners in several capacities. You can see previous posts that Karen contributed here. Today, she talks about ways to build language and communication in this flexible book. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Book: Yo! Yes? By Chris Raschka (Orchard Books, Scholastic, Inc. New York) It’s February, the beginning of the second half of the school year. Let’s make a new friend! This beautiful book was first shared during the Literacy Intensive Course with coached by the wonderful Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver in Michigan. It is a book with few words but with much emotion. Here are some ways to use this book in your classroom. You can read this as is by using core words exclusively It offers... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Karen Natoci, reading
February 8, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Last week’s ATIA Conference in Orlando was packed with AAC energy, excitement about tools, and enthusiasm for learning ways in which professionals are supporting AAC learners at home, in school, and in the community. We’ll be sharing takeaways from that event over the next few weeks. Here are a couple of resources and handouts on access, professional development, and accessibility to get you started. The Access Learning Process (ALP) for AAC introduced a wonderful framework for supporting AAC learners who use alternative access. Power Up Your Professional Development with AT Focused Social Media Creating Inclusive Classrooms with Microsoft Accessibility Did you attend a session or learn about an AAC resource that needs to be shared? We’d love to hear about it.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: accessibility, alternative access, ATIA
February 5, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
The novelty of a holiday creates the opportunity for fun and motivating activities that we can use to teach and practice language, literacy, and AAC skills. If you’re looking for a few more Valentine’s Day activities, we have some ideas for you to explore. Core Words to Target Pronouns: I, you, it, we Action verbs: do, go, give, get, help, know, like, open, read, see, take, want Phrasal verbs: put in/on, take out Locatives: here, there Modifiers: bad, big, fun, good, little, more, some Social words: hi, thank you Determiners: this, these Interrogatives: how, what, who, where Activity-specific Words to Target Colors, shapes People: boy, girl, child, teacher Verbs: paint, squeeze, write Descriptors: nice, smelly, squishy, sticky Nouns: marker, orange (fruit), paint Activity Suggestions Do some Heart Stamping Get gooey while making and playing with Valentine Slime Read a book about kindness like The Nice Book, The Invisible Boy, or Somebody... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC activities, Valentine's Day
February 4, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Busy week? Same here! We’ll fill you in on the AAC goodness from the ATIA 2018 Conference later in the week. In the meantime, here are a handful of posts you might have missed. Monday: PrAACtically February – AAC Resources for a Year of Core Words Wednesday: Video of the Week – Reading with AAC Across the Stages of Language Development ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And if you’d like to keep browsing, check out these past posts on access issues in AAC. AAC Access for Individuals with Significant Motor Limitations Through Partner Assisted Scanning Make It PrAACtical: DIY Switch-accessible Scanner Assessing Barriers to Access for AAC Learners More on Assessing Barriers to Access for AAC Learners Seating and Positioning for AT Access AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: The Eyes Have It-Assessment Considerations for High Tech Eye Gaze Access
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: access, summary post
January 29, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
As prepare to bid January a fond farewell, 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, with using aided language input and focused language stimulation. What else? Here are some ideas to get you started. Print them and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: core vocabulary, downloads, resources
January 28, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’re just about ready to turn the calendar page to a new month, but before we do, take a look at some posts from our prAACtical week. Monday – PrAACtically Printing: AAC Apps & SGDs Wednesday – Video of the Week: Teaching Peers to Interact with Young Children Who Use AAC Thursday – PrAACtical Resources: Building Our Skills in Interactive Book Reading ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And while we’re packing up for the 2018 ATIA Conference in Orlando, here are some posts with handouts and such from previous years for you to browse through. 5 AAC-related Handouts from ATIA 2015 Fun Finds at ATIA 2015 3 AAC Presentation Handouts You May Have Missed PrAACtical Fun A PrAACtical Idea for Aided Language Input If you’re headed to Orlando for the 2018 ATIA Conference, I hope to see you there. Come say hello! Tuesday 4:30 – Strand Advisor Meet and Greet at the Cabana Area between Towers 2... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: ATIA, summary post
January 25, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Reading together with AAC learners can be a great activity for building engagement, language, and literacy skills. Like any other activity, though, it won’t be very helpful in doing that unless we use effective strategies. Today, we share an online module that will help with the basics of interactive book reading. Part of Project CONNECT, The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge, which offers full courses for a fee and a limited set of modules (like the one we are sharing today) at no charge. This is a great starting place for anyone looking to better understand how to use shared reading as a way to build communication skills. From there, we can guide families, paraprofessionals, and professionals who work with AAC learners to utilize additional strategies, such as aided language input and descriptive talking, to support those who use some form of augmentative communication. Enjoy learning more about Dialogic... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: shared reading, teaching strategies
January 22, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Whether you are working with a traditional SGD or an AAC app, chances are, you want to print a ‘no tech’ version for modeling and/or as a backup communication aid. We’ve shared printable communication boards and books on many previous occasions but here are links to some of the ones that are requested most frequently. Proloquo2Go Crescendo (English, Spanish, French, & Dutch) Snap + Core First (multiple sizes/layouts) and editable copies via Boardmaker Online LAMP Words for Life WordPower (many versions: regular and poster; some Spanish) Unity (with free PASS software) Speak for Yourself Core Samples Do you print and use other manual communication boards or posters? We’d love to hear about that.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC apps, downloads, printable, SGDs
January 18, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
For several years, those who specialize in supporting AAC learners have stressed the need to develop AAC systems and programming that go beyond the communicative function of requesting in order to target the ability to protest, reject, comment, etc. This has been an important trend that will empower users of AAC to express themselves in much fuller ways. What other things should we be targeting in order to help our clients and students become more linguistically competent? Here are some ideas for goal areas to consider. Temporal Markers: While no one can overstate the importance of talking about our current needs, interests, observations, and preferences, we have to be careful not to get stuck in the moment. It is also important for our AAC learners to develop the language skills to be able to talk about things that already happened or that will/might be happening. Why? Among other things, this... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: goal setting, goals, language development, language goals, language intervention