163 Search Results for karen

PrAACtically March: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Words

February 25, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtically March: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Words

Do the AAC users in your life use only a fraction of the core words in their SGD, AAC app, or communication board? One way to help them move forward is to make a concerted effort to use, highlight, and provide additional teaching on a variety of words. It’s hard to do this without getting overwhelmed, so find a strategy that works for you.  A few years ago, we decided to approach this by focusing on 12-16 core words each month. (If this is too much for the teams with whom you work, that’s not a problem. Just cut it back to 4-6 words/month.) Each month, we can highlight those words in our conversation (aided language input), direct intervention, and home programming activities with AAC learners. The repeated experiences with those 12-16 (or 4-6) words helps our AAC learners develop new skills, and keeps the team focused on the same destination.  It’s... [Read More...]

5 AAC Handouts from Conferences Near and Far

February 18, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

5 AAC Handouts from Conferences Near and Far

There have been lots of wonderful AAC sessions at conferences in the past 12 months. Here are a handful of handouts from some of them. Effects of Embedding Core Vocabulary in Emergent Literacy Instructional Routines – Penny Hatch, Lori Geist & Karen Erickson, ISAAC 2018 The Cognitive Demands Checklist Thinking about Thinking for AAC – Melanie Fried-Oken, Aimee Mooney, & Michelle Kinsella The AAC Learning Center(s): Online Supports for Pre-service Instruction – Chris Klein & David McNaughton, ATIA 2019    Talking Early Mobility: Get Moving with AAC – Tami Altschuler, Daniella Klein, Amanda Tesoriero, & Ashley Carr Scully, ASHA 2018  Developing Communication and Access Skills for Children Who Face Severe Physical and Multiple Challenges – Linda Burkhart ATIA 2019  Did you attend an AAC session that was especially helpful? We’d love to hear about it. NOTE: Depending on the presenter and venue, these handouts may be available only for a limited... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 49: December 2018

December 2, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 49: December 2018

Happy December, AAC friends! If you are as busy as we think you are, you probably missed some of last week’s posts. Here’s a recap. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: Teachers’ Toolkit For Students With Little Or No Speech Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Transitioning Students Using AAC: Strategies to Promote Full Inclusion Thursday – PrAACtically December: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary     Still have time for a little more AAC? Here are some of our suggestions. 10 Apps to Gift an AAC SLP Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentence Length 5 Ways to Make Semantic Maps More Effective in AAC Therapy PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book How I Do It: A Year of Core Words in Action Have a great week, everyone!

Letters from Camp, Part 2 (Working with Words)

November 15, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Letters from Camp, Part 2 (Working with Words)

The weather is nippy here in Boston where 12,000+ professionals are gathered for the annual ASHA Convention, and the blustery wind makes us think back longingly to the warmer days of summer. Today. Ohio-based SLP Tina Moreno helps us do just that as she returns to share more information on the reading and writing activities that AAC learners in Camp ALEC experienced. In today’s post, she shares some of the details about Working with Words. If you missed it the first time, you can visit Tina’s earlier post here. Many thank to AAC mom and SLP Tina Moreno for giving us a peek into the wonderful instruction provided to these AAC learners! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Working with Words at Camp ALEC At Camp ALEC in August, our literacy counselors planned fun, motivating activities that helped our campers learn to read and write new words.  In another setting, we might refer to these... [Read More...]

PrAACtically October: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary

September 24, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtically October: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary

Know any AAC learners like these? Jeremiah has an SGD with thousands of core and fringe words, but he uses less than 100 of them in day-to-day life. Bella used an AAC app with visual scene displays to interact at playtime and during daily routines for the past several months. Her team just added an app with a grid-based vocabulary so that she can begin to create novel sentences and expand her language abilities. Mason was recently evaluated for an AAC device, but it will likely take a few months to get the funding situation straightened out. In the meantime, his team created a manual communication board that mirrors the main screen of the SGD’s language software. Each of them needs lots of practice to become fluent with the core words in their AAC systems. Are you looking for resources to support your use of core words in therapy, in... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 37: September 2018

September 9, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 37: September 2018

Well, hello, AAC friends! Thanks for checking in with us during your busy week. Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – On Labor Day Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Strategies for Helping Early AAC Users Engage and Interact Thursday – Building AAC Facilitation Skills with Tabi Jones-Wohleber: MASTER PAL Training, Module 3 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have time for a bit more? Here’s a sampling of past posts for you to browse. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Apples AAC Partner Training Strategies AACtual Therapy: From PECS to iPad with Jason Butcher 5 Things We’ve Learned from Our AAC Families Understanding and Supporting Families of AAC Learners

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #24: June 2018

June 10, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #24: June 2018

Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Before you start the work week, take a look at some of our posts from the week. Monday – PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: How Do You Know It’s Summer?  Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AT for Writing Thursday –  PrAACtical Resources: AAC Tag Still have time for a little more AAC? Here are some past posts to browse. AAC in the High School Classroom: Where Core Vocabulary Meets Life Skills PrAACtical Teaching in the ASD Classroom: Shared Reading AAC in the Classroom: Presentations You May Have Missed Developing AAC Policies for Schools Cooking in the Classroom with Carol Goossens’

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #20: May 2018

May 13, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

AC Posts from PrAACtical Week #20: May 2018

Happy Mother’s Day! Monday – Evidence-based Practice in AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Partner Instruction Thursday – Using Visual Sidekicks to Support Language Intervention :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have an appetite for AAC? Here are a handful of past posts to browse. Faces of AAC: Making It Work in a Busy Family PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book Family Collaboration by Dr. Barry Prizant PrAACtical Families: 5 Grants That Support AAC From Presence to Contribution: A Family’s Journey Toward and Inclusive Life Before you go, we’d like to invite all our local friends to this FREE wonderful 2-day workshop on literacy hosted by UM-NSU CARD.  Explore the online poster below or click here for a larger version. Hope to see some of you there!

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #19: May 2018

May 6, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #19: May 2018

Hello, May – you sure are keeping us busy! I hope your week was a little saner than mine. In case you missed them, here are some of last week’s posts. Monday – On the Same Page: Helping Team Members Recognize and Respond to Unconventional Communication Signals Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: iPad Apps for Learners with Complex Needs Thursday – AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: Evaluating Skills for Use of Comprehensive AAC Dynamic Display SGDs ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: And if you have a bit more time, take a look at some of our previous posts. Saying ‘I love you’ on Mother’s Day AAC Immersion – Happy Mother’s Day! PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Are You My Mother? From ‘No AAC’ to ‘AAC All Day, Every Day!’ Autism and AAC: 5 Things I Wish I Had Known ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Check out these resources for Better Hearing and Speech Month.... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #18: April 2018

April 29, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #18: April 2018

It’s almost time to say goodbye to April and all of the wonderful autism awareness and acceptance activities. Before you head out to your busy week, take a look at some of our past posts. Monday – How I Do It: Building Friendship Skills with Peer-A-Mids Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday –  Video of the Week: From Referential to Descriptive Teaching with AAC Learners Thursday – PrAACtically May: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Still have time for a little more? Here are a handful of posts to get you started. Vocabulary Activities: 5 Sites for Learning with Avatars PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci – The Family Book Using Metaphors to Support Vocabulary Teaching AAC In the High School Classroom – Where Core Vocabulary Meets Life Skills How I Do It: A Year of Core Words in AACtion