223 Search Results for partner strategies
September 14, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome to Year 2 of the TELL ME About It series, guest authored by Jeanna Antrim and Maggie Judson. For the past year, they’ve written monthly articles to discuss how they support preschool teachers who are implementing the TELL ME program with their young students. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. In Year 1 of this series, Jeanna and Maggie focused on the 11 books in the TELL ME program. In each of those posts, they shared a lesson plan, activity suggestions, video demonstrations, and much more. You can see their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series below. Max’s Breakfast If You’re Angry and You Know It The Lunch Box Surprise Come Out and Play, Little... [Read More...]
September 13, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – Supporting Young AAC Teams: 5 Considerations for Facilitating Growth Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week – AAC Device Mounting Fundamentals Thursday – Growing AAC Professionals: Resources for Mythbusters ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 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
September 7, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve all been there. An AAC user enters a new situation where the team is open to AAC but not very skilled. They are full of good intentions but their AAC knowledge and skills aren’t quite there yet. To be honest, they probably are somewhat wary of what we’re expecting them to do as it all seems so overwhelming. And in many cases, they’re also fearful of our judgment and worry about looking less than competent in front of others. We’re eager to help them get up to speed so that they can provide the AAC supports that our communicators need in order to flourish. Our own AAC skills are strong but we may have constraints of a different type that threaten to undermine the success of this budding AAC team. For example, we often feel the pressure of time and hear the tick-tock of the clock as each second... [Read More...]
August 31, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
August may be on the way out but the words for this month are useful all throughout the year. The new Year of Core Words School Edition is in development and the plan is to get these monthly to you prior to the start of each month so that you can plan and prepare. Please bear with us for the first few posts as we get up to speed. Each of the monthly posts will highlight a selected set of words and a suggested order in which to teach them. You’ll also find resources, such as Activity Sheets for each word and data collection forms, and information on a key intervention strategy. The series authors, Michaela Sullivan, Beth Lytle, and Alisa Lego, created an introduction that you may want to review before digging into this month’s target words. You can see that here. Enjoy Month 1 of the School Year... [Read More...]
August 13, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, millions of teachers, therapists, families, and students are planning to return to school, whether virtually, in person, or with some combination of the two. No matter what the format for instruction, one of the most important things for students who use AAC is having their SLPs, teachers, and families on the same page. They each have a different but very intense relationship with the student’s AAC system. Today, we reprise a popular post with some prAACtical thoughts on getting everyone pointed in the same direction. 1. Develop a communication profile of the student: In the initial weeks, try to get a baseline of how the student is communicating at the start of the year. For beginning communicators, we track things like their communicative intents (WHY they are communicating), modalities (HOW they are communicating), and the frequency of their communication. We’ve written about one of our favorite... [Read More...]
July 20, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Finding ways to engage AAC learners is important to professionals across disciplines and service delivery settings. In today’s post, we feature guest author Kate McLaughlin, who is an SLP serving individuals with AAC needs in Connecticut. She shares a perspective on building engagement through the perspective of meaning making. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: “Motivating” Emergent Communicators through Shared “Meaning-Making” & Communication Responsibility Are you a speech-language pathologist (SLP), teacher, or parent supporting an emergent AAC learner? Maybe you are just starting AAC with a learner who has a complex profile (for example, significant motor impairments, difficulties with motor planning, and/or sensory processing differences)? Maybe you have a learner who has learned to ask for some favorite things, but is not communicating beyond that? Do you struggle to “motivate” them? You’re not alone. I’ve met many kids who have been described as “not motivated to communicate.” I’ve also met many parents and professionals... [Read More...]
July 6, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Although we’ve written extensively on the role of modeling in AAC, there are always new perspectives to consider regarding this evidence-based and widely-used strategy. Today, we feature SLPs Kate Grandbois and Amy Wonkka who share their approach to aided language modeling. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Bringing it all Together: Aided Language Modeling Most SLPs working in AAC have come across a variety of different interventions in their practice. Some, like aided language modeling, are popular and commonly seen at conferences. They are the most popular option on the intervention buffet. Others, like discrete trial training, are like the mystery meat – you think you know what it is, you don’t think you’re going to like it, and you’re going to watch while someone else tries it first. Sometimes these teaching procedures are straightforward, and sometimes they are confusing, intimidating, or complicated. You may find that choosing which intervention to use is influenced by... [Read More...]
July 2, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Have you worked with learners like these? Shameka wore a favorite t-shirt, featuring her beloved Moana, to her teletherapy session. She pointed to it to show her therapist and used her AAC device to say “Moana.” After acknowledging her Moana shirt and having a brief conversation about it, the therapist was ready to move on to the activities planned for that session. Shameka continued to bring up Moana many times throughout the session. Bryce’s love of pizza is no secret. It’s so important to him that Bryce can say ‘pizza’ with a word approximation, sign it with his unique version of the manual sign, or use a manual communication board or SGD to say the word. Most days, that’s a very good thing. But sometimes, Bryce starts mentioning pizza early in the morning and brings it up a few times an hour for the rest of the day. Many of... [Read More...]
June 8, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome to a new edition of TELL ME ABout It, a series looking at ways to use children’s trade books to build AAC core vocabulary and literacy skills. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim are back with more great ideas for AAC intervention, this time focusing on the book, ‘If You’re Angry and You Know It.’ Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in central Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings. You can see their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series below. The Lunch Box Surprise Come Out and Play, Little Mouse No, David Go Away Big Green Monster What Do You Like? Here Are My Hands From Head to Toe I Went Walking Brown Bear, Brown Bear TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Don’t miss their videos... [Read More...]
May 7, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
If I had a crystal ball, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it told us that telepractice in AAC is here to stay. My guess is that when schools and clinics re-open there will still be a role for remote AAC services. That’s why I am so pleased that guest authors Jill Senner and Matthew Baud are returning to these pages to share their approach to using tele-AAC to educate and coach parents. Tele-AAC for All With social distancing, local shelter in place orders, and general concerns about the health of our high-risk clients who use AAC, most of us have made an abrupt transition to providing AAC therapy via telehealth. Doing direct therapy using video conferencing platforms might be going swimmingly for some clients who will sit and attentively gaze at the books, games, and other materials you present remotely. However, what about your younger clients? Or kiddos... [Read More...]