119 Search Results for enders
September 25, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
It’s almost that time of year, AAC friends. With AAC Awareness Month right around the corner, AAC and AT Specialist Lauren Enders Gonzales is upholding her tradition of creating a graphic that shows all of the upcoming AAC app sales. You can see the updated version of each graphic by clicking here or on the image below. Thank you, Lauren, and all of the AAC companies who provide deep discounts supporting the AAC community.
August 25, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to help others know how to support people who use AAC? This image from our dear friend Lauren Enders Gonzales can be printed and displayed as a poster, given as a handout, or texted as an image. They are available in Spanish and English. Thank you, Lauren, for sharing this so generously! You can download this in English as an image (JPG) or PDF file. The Spanish language versions are also available in image/JPG and document/PDF formats. Many thanks to Claudia Marimón for the translation assistance!
April 7, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
We’re ending the week with some wonderful resources shared by AAC expert, Lauren Enders. In her continuation of the Goal Writing series, she reviews some important tools that can help in determining which skills to target when writing goals for AAC learners. You can see other posts in this series using the links below. AAC Goal Writing with Lauren Enders 5 Common Challenges Laying a Solid Foundation :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the first post of this series, you learned that you are in good company if you find AAC goal writing to be intimidating. Thankfully, you were also assured that despite the learning curve, you CAN write meaningful goals for AAC learners given the right tips, tools, and guidance. In the second post, you learned how the Four Communicative Competencies (Linguistic, Operational, Social, and Strategic) (Light et al., 1989, Light & McNaughton, 2014)) plus Psychosocial or Emotional Competency (Light & McNaughton, 2014, Blackstone... [Read More...]
October 18, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Goal writing is a challenging topic even for veteran AAC service providers. Today, we continue the AAC Goal Writing series guest authored by AAC and AT expert, Lauren Enders, who works as an AAC/AT Consultant for Bucks County Intermediate Unit in eastern Pennsylvania. A frequent presenter at local, regional, and national conferences, Lauren uses her knowledge to support families and professionals alike. In this post, she provides suggestions for addressing some of the most common challenges in writing AAC goals and objectives. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: FIVE COMMON AAC GOAL WRITING CHALLENGES In the inaugural post of this series, you learned that if you feel intimidated by the process of writing goals and objectives for AAC learners, you are not alone. AAC goal writing can be intimidating. The good news is that with guidance, resources, tools, and practice, AAC goal writing gets easier. In this post, we’ll examine common AAC goal writing... [Read More...]
August 2, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Writing goals for AAC learners, whether they are beginning communicators or focusing on more advanced linguistic concepts, can be tricky and intimidating. Today, we introduce a new series authored by PrAACtical AAC friend and AAC/AT expert Lauren Enders to give us insight on the process and tips for developing strong goals and objectives. Throughout this series, Lauren shares her perspective developed from her years of experience in public schools and as a nationally recognized presenter. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Though it may be hard to believe, back-to-school is around the corner! As we get ready to head back into the classroom, now seems like the perfect time to launch a series exploring best practices to consider when writing IEPs for our AAC learners. The thought of crafting IEP goals and objectives for students who are learning to use AAC strikes fear into the hearts of many SLPs, special education teachers, and other school... [Read More...]
May 23, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Even veteran clinicians and educators find themselves looking for resources to help others better understand what AAC is and why it may have been recommended in a particular situation. Today, we welcome back SLP Lauren Enders to introduce us to the information she has collected for this purpose. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: This month on PrAACtically Pinteresting, we’ll be taking a look at the board AAC: Why Use AAC?/Benefits of AAC. Very often, I am asked if I have resources that can be shared with team members or families who are reluctant to implement AAC. Often this reluctance results from of simple lack of information or beliefs in a variety of myths surrounding AAC use. I created this board to serve as an easily accessible repository of resources that can be shared with parents, professionals, or support staff who are hesitant to use AAC with their child/student/client. The board contains pins with information that... [Read More...]
April 22, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Is it IEP season where you live? In many places, clinicians, educators, and families are in discussion about specific AAC skills to target for the year ahead. Luckily for us, Lauren Enders has been collecting digital resources on this topic. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Very frequently, I am asked to support teachers and clinicians as they look to document AAC in the IEP. On this board, I have curated a selection of resources that provide support for writing IEP goals and objectives as well as more general information about inclusion of AAC and AT in the IEP. The resources on this board include descriptions of well-written, measurable goals as well as more focused examples of goals that target various stages of language development for students who use AAC. I’m hopeful that access to these resources is helpful as we head into a time of year that is often chock full of IEP meetings!
March 21, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Among the things that our prAACtical value the most are videos of AAC in action. Lauren Enders once again comes to our rescue with dozens of them to explore. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: For this installment of PrAACtically Pinteresting, I’d like to highlight one of the boards that I reference most when working with SLPs, teachers, support staff, and parents who support individuals who are learning to use AAC. This board is called AAC: Video Examples of Implementation/Aided Language Input and is a compilation of videos that show clinicians, teachers, and parents demonstrating excellent aided language input/stimulation skills with AAC users. Whenever I come across a new video that is an wonderful example of how to support language development and system learning in an AAC user, I pin it to this board. When pinning videos, I do my best to represent an array of AAC system types. You will see videos showing various dedicated devices,... [Read More...]
February 22, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we welcome back an old friend, Lauren Enders. Many of you are already familiar with Lauren through the posts she has shared on AAC in the IEP, encouraging AAC implementation, and writing AAC goals, and also the wonderful work she does in curating resources on Pinterest. We’re thrilled that she will be joining us each month to highlight a different Pinterest board that has AAC-related content. Lauren identifies interesting and helpful resources and adds relevant commentaries to all of the items she includes. In this first post, she shares a collection of resources on apps that can be used to engage AAC learners in therapy, instruction, play, and leisure time. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: For the past few years, I have been building a Pinterest site with the goal of providing visual, categorized, and easily accessible resources that relate to AAC as well as Assistive Technology, Speech and Language Therapy, Special Education, iPads,... [Read More...]
August 29, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We are so excited to start off the new school year with a wonderfully prAACtical post by Lauren Enders. Lauren’s “How I Do It” posts have been very popular and this one is no different. Today, she shares ways to incorporate key AAC principles in engaging intervention activities and models that with high school students. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: LEARNING TARGETS (Samples: can be changed to meet student goals) Using core vocabulary, the student will: control the actions of others (beginning with core words like “more”, “stop”, “go”, “again”, and “different”) express his or her opinions through commenting (beginning with core words such as “like”, “don’t like”, “good”, “bad”, and “silly”) TARGET POPULATION: all ages (I have used variations of this activity successfully with students from age 3 through age 21.) TYPE OF AAC: ALL types!! What’s crucial here is the availability of core vocabulary, not the system used. Systems used can vary from... [Read More...]