April 10, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Helping teams get onboard in using supportive AAC strategies is a challenge throughout the world. In today’s featured video, we hear from AAC specialist Lauren Enders, who has been a PrAACtical AAC guest author on many occasions. There is a lot of prAACtical information in this presentation, organized and hosted by Dr. Kathy Howery and the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium (ERLC) and the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia (ARPDC). We are grateful for their wonderful support of the AAC community through this archived webinar and to Lauren for this terrific information. Thanks again to the presenter and to ERLC for making this archived presentation available. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA9iGljqMOM
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: classroom, Lauren Enders, partner training, school, teams
April 3, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
For our first video of April, which is designated as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, we’re turning to the Tedx stage to hear from Dr. Amy Laurent. An occupational therapist by profession, Dr. Laurent shares how her views of autism have changed in her presentation, Compliance Is Not the Goal: Letting Go of Control and Rethinking Support for Autistic Individuals. Enjoy! Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=fx3cfzlCG_Q
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: ASD, compliance, support
March 27, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Have you worked with AAC learners who’ve acquired a good deal of knowledge about their SGD but communicate primarily in single symbol messages? In today’s featured video, veteran SLP Susan Berkowitz provides helpful information on this topic. This archived presentation, AAC Users-Moving Beyond Single Words, was part of the wonderful AAC in the Cloud Conference hosted by Coughdrop in 2018. Handouts for this session can be downloaded here. Heartfelt thanks to the entire team at Coughdrop for organizing their wonderful conferences and making these presentations available. Coughdrop continues to host this amazing online conference which is free to participants around the globe. You can register for the 2019 AAC in the Cloud Conference here. You can learn more from Susan at her blog, Kidz Learn Language. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8D_-yjcVhE
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: language intervention, sentence building, single word messages
March 20, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Our video for today helps us think about some of the linguistic underpinnings of AAC systems. Hosted by Liberator Australia, AAC (Re)Boot Camp: It’s Not About the Technology, is presented by Russell Cross, who always seems to find a way clear and engaging way to discuss complex language concepts as they relate to AAC. Many thanks to Russell and Liberator Australia for making this presentation available. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKTP9w69zXs
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: AAC symbols, vocabulary
March 13, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Over 100 young children with AAC needs and their parents participated in research to look at the ways that their communication changed when families were trained to provide support. For today’s featured video, we turn to the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium (ERLC) and the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia (ARPDC) to learn more about what research teams led by Drs. Maryann Romski and Rose Sevick found out. Learn about the methods and strategies they used in this archived webinar. Many thanks to the ERLC. the ARPDC, and Drs. Romski and Sevcik for making Parent-Coached Augmented Language Intervention for Toddlers available. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=373&v=rnILKJu_ai0
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: AAC implementation, coaching, Maryann Romski, research, Rose Sevcik, young children
March 6, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Planning AAC evaluations can be confusing and overwhelming. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a tool to guide us in planning what sorts of assessment activities to do with the various individuals on our caseloads or in our classrooms? Today, we look at the AAC Assessment Planning Tool (APT) developed by the Grant Wood Area Education Agency AAC Resource Team team in Iowa. In this short video, you learn about the APT. Check out this slide deck for more on the APT. You can download the APT here. Many thanks to everyone at Grant Wood AEA for creating and sharing this wonderful tool. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NmgSSWqA8I&feature=youtu.be
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: assessment, assessment tools
February 27, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
How can we help individuals who are in the earliest phases of communicative development become more effective in expressing themselves? In this video, Dr. Cynthia Cress, from the University of Nebraska, discusses ways that we can use the Communication Signal Inventory and other strategies to document current skill repertoires and develop intervention plans these beginning communicators. You can access the handouts here. Many thanks to Dr. Cress and to the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium for creating this archived webinar and making it freely available. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26HM8K2Xu84
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: beginning communicators, Cynthia Cress, emerging communicators, gesture dictionaries
February 20, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
How can we use modeling to help AAC learners move toward linguistic competence? In today’s featured video, Dr. Melissa Malani has lots of ideas for how to do this in the context of shared book reading. Many thanks to Melissa and the wonderful team at Saltillo for creating this presentation and making it widely available. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehvAwtDX-lM
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: aided language input, modeling, shared reading
February 13, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Social stories(TM) are a type of narrative that are used to help learners with social pragmatic and other difficulties gain a greater understanding of a particular context, skill, or concept. For example, we may use social stories to help a preschooler understand what happens in a fire drill or at a birthday party. We may write social stories for a high school student who asks overly personal questions or talks only about their own favorite topics. First developed by Carol Gray, these stories are written using a specific process so that they meet 10 defining criteria. Both the process of writing social stories and the narrative structure that is used in this genre differentiates them from other types of social narratives. You can see examples of well-written social stories here and learn more about the early history of social stories here. Ready to get started learning how to write ‘real’ social... [Read More...]
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: Carol Gray, social narrative, social stories, TASN
February 6, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve mentioned Tar Heel Reader many times here at PrAACtical AAC, but are still encountering people who don’t yet utilize this game-changing resource and those who aren’t aware of some of its most powerful features. In today’s post, we highlight some videos that will help you get started reading (and writing) with one of the world’s most important literacy tools for individuals with significant disabilities. Overview Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSmP4qwQNkU&index=7&list=PLPOEH_2JO5cUEvngWh4RmO-imE7Mosqjt Tutorial by the Pacer Center Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF3yGOW3KQs&index=1&list=PLPOEH_2JO5cUEvngWh4RmO-imE7Mosqjt Write and Publish a Book in Tar Heel Reader (Gary Bishop) Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91b4UQwgaNc&list=PLPOEH_2JO5cUEvngWh4RmO-imE7Mosqjt&index=3 Are you using Tar Heel Reader in your work with AAC learners? We’d love to hear about it. —
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: reading, Tar Heel Reader, writing