November 4, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Recently, I had a great conversation with an insightful SLP/AT specialist about how to best help professionals who just seem more committed to being right than to helping students with AAC needs succeed. It’s a complex issue, to be sure, with no quick fixes or easy answers (as all of you know). But sitting there on her roof deck, watching the waves, and sipping some New Zealand wine did inspire us to find one small piece of the puzzle. – It’s about vision. Not the sensory type of vision, but the imagination type of vision. As in envisioning the possibilities. A vision of successful implementation. A peek into ‘what could be’ for the children and adults we serve. Something we don’t get enough of. – Seeing examples of good AAC and AT implementation is inspiring. Not only do they give us hope, but they imbue a sense of urgency. They... [Read More...]
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: good implementation, inspiration, success stories
October 28, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Dan Habib’s film, Thaysa, needs no introduction. Enjoy!
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: AAC Awareness Month, ASD, inclusion, schools, support, teacher
October 21, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We love this idea from Amy Laurent about Helping Hands, a positive and proactive way for children to get help when they need it. The strategy involves placing a visual support, such as a picture of Helping Hands, around the classroom in places where the student is likely to need assistance. Her Helping Hands video explains it in more detail. We love the proactive nature of this strategy, which aims to prevent frustration, rather than waiting for a problem to occur. We took a stab at creating some visual supports that can be used with the Helping Hands strategy, and you can download it below.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: communication, schools, visual supports
October 21, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Awareness helps people understand potential. The event premieres on Comedy Central on Sunday at 8/7c.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: ASD, awareness, Fireworks, Katie Perry
October 14, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Just when we think we’ve ‘seen it all,’ along comes another set of ideas for how to use technology to support kids with limited communication skills. In this week’s video, we peek in at what’s going on at the Special School District of Saint Louis County. Hats off to this team of creative professionals for getting the most out of their iPods! We love how their ideas save time for the teacher, enhance student learning, and extend communication to the home. Looks like a win-win-win situation for the classroom, family, and student.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: AT, communication, families, home, iPod, schools, teachers
October 7, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
For this week’s video, we head back to the Aaron W. Perlman Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for a wonderful video about getting started with AAC symbols. We know you will enjoy this overview of some of the most popular AAC symbols and the lovely examples they share. –
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: AAC system, choice making, getting started, implementation ideas, intervention, symbol
September 30, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
This week, we’re heading back to the Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports Project of the Kansas Technical Assistance Network. They have two wonderful videos by Lori Chambers on Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). – You can view an overview of this approach here: Part 1 and Part 2 . Also, look for the handouts that accompany these videos. –
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: ASD, implementation ideas, intervention, PECS, reinforcement
September 23, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We love this video that reminds us that technology is a beautiful thing, but the real power is in communication. Kudos to the AAC team at Thames Valley Children’s Centre for this wonderful reminder of three important things. Language learning happens through good teaching, not the mere provision of equipment. Verbal expression without technology is not only powerful but awesome. Literacy is something we should prioritize for all learners. As we prepare for AAC awareness month, enjoy this lovely conversation.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: intervention, language
September 9, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
It’s a beautiful Sunday here in South Florida and we are ready to turn our faces to the sun. Nothing makes us smile more than hearing directly from people who communicated effectively with their AAC systems. Enjoy this panel presentation of young adults who are using AAC in college.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: college
September 2, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve been thinking a lot lately about the social skills of some of our AAC friends who are not quite fitting in the way that they would like. SLPs frequently work on social interaction skills with learners on the ASD spectrum, but it’s not something that we always think about with learners who have cerebral palsy, apraxia, or other developmental disabilities. – The idea of using a balance scale as a metaphor for balance in conversational turns is intriguing and one we’ve explored a bit. In this video from Autism Teaching Strategies, Joel Shaul demonstrates the strategy and discusses it relative to turn-taking (Click here for Part 1 and click here for the second video). That makes sense for a lot of learners who don’t respond to non-obligatory situations as well as they could. – We’ve also used it for helping people with AAC see how their utterances compare to... [Read More...]
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: Conversation, intervention