Here are a couple of AAC posts you may have missed. Monday: LiveBinders: 5 Online Notebooks on AAC Implementation Wednesday: Video of the Week: AAC Around the World with the 2016 ISAAC Film Festival
At the ISAAC 2016 conference in Toronto, I had the opportunity to talk about using technology to share information with families, colleagues, and pre-professionals. LiveBinders, is one of the tools that were discussed both in the pre-conference session with Chris Bugaj and in my seminar on pre-service AAC education. LiveBinders are digital notebooks that make it easy to collect, curate, and share information. We’ve been writing about this tool for the past four years, but there is new material being created all the time. Here are some AAC-related LiveBinders that I’ve been exploring. AAC by Jill Beall/Region 7 ABCs of AAC (Preschool AAC) by D. McLauchlin Literacy and AAC/Balanced Literacy by Deanna Wagner TAAT 2015 by Janice Reese Visuals for ASD by Penelope Arp For more information on LiveBinders and features that you may not know about, check out their tutorials and blog. Do you make or use LiveBinders? We’d... [Read More...]
Here are some posts you might have missed. Monday – The World’s AAC Conference: 10 Presentation Handouts from ISAAC 2016 Wednesday – Video of the Week: Living Life Without Limits-Perspective from an AAC User Thursday – PrAACtical Supports for Older Learners: Recipes for Success, Part 7 Have a great week, everyone!
Those who had the opportunity to attend ISAAC’s Biennial Conference in Toronto undoubtedly left with lots of information and a big dose of inspiration. Let’s keep the momentum for change and growth going as we turn our thoughts to implementing good AAC practices. Godfrey Nazareth’s talk, The Sky is Only the Beginning: Living Life Without Limits, is a great video, both for the information he shares and the way that he shares it. Thanks to the AAC Team at Penn State and the AAC RERC for making this available. Enjoy!
I had an AAC-filled week at the ISAAC 2016 Biennial Conference in Toronto (stay tuned for posts with info on that and links to presentation handouts). Hope your prAACtical week was a good one, as well. Monday: Goodbye, Summer! A Clinician Preps AAC Materials for the New School Year Thursday: PrAACtical Supports for Older Learners: AT Recipes for Success: Nail Polish and Magazines
Looking forward to connecting with some of our prAACtical friends in Toronto this week! Can’t make it to the International AAC Society Biennial Conference this week? Get your fill of AAC with these posts from last week. Monday: Make It PrAACtical: DIY Switch-accessible Scanner Wednesday: Video of the Week: AACtual Therapy Using Pre-stored Messages Thuerday: PrAACtical Supports for Older Learners: AT Recipes for Success, Part 5 – Let’s Cook!
Hope to see some of our prAACtical friends at the 2016 ISAAC Biennial Conference starting August 6th. If you’re headed to Toronto, let’s connect for some prAACtical conversations! Monday – PrAACtically August: Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Core Word Calendars for August Wednesday – AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: Standardized Tests for AAC Users Thursday – PrAACtical Supports for Young AAC Learners: Recipes for Success, Part 4
What’s better than a bunch of bright, dedicated professionals who love improving the state of AAC? How about a group that facilitates the collegial sharing of this kind of information?! In today’s post, Dr. Joe Reddington discusses his efforts to promote open-source AAC solutions. You can read about an earlier project, CommuniKate, here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AAC Wins the Inclusive Technology Prize A few months ago, the nonprofit I run was given £50,000 to make open licensed resources (both materials and software) a key part of the AAC world. Figure 1: Kate McCallum and Dr Joe Reddington, winners of the Inclusive Technology Prize There are lots of definitions of open-licencing that make it sound more than what it is. Open-licencing is nothing more or less than letting people share. One of the reasons we really like PrAACtical AAC is that they release their work under Creative Commons, letting people make use of... [Read More...]
AAC assessment is an area that most professionals struggle with for one reason or another. I am so grateful to Vicki Clarke for returning to share her thoughts on the prAACticalities of conducting these evaluations. If you are looking for tips on assessing someone who needs high tech eye gaze AAC, this post is for you. For other posts authored by Vicki, click here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The Eyes Have It: Assessment Considerations for High Tech Eye Gaze Access Eye gaze control for AAC device access is a hallmark technological achievement in the world of speech generating devices. For people with significant motor challenges we are no longer limited to scanning as our one choice for AAC access. AAC Specialists have been using light tech eye gaze boards and PVC pipe frames with these friends for years, but now we are able to offer voice output. Eye gaze is for a much... [Read More...]
For our March Site of the Month, we return to the public school system, this time to Loudoun County, Virginia. The AT Program has amassed an impressive set of resources, many of which are listed on their web page. We’ve featured posts by some of their AT trainers, such as Chris Bugaj, Judie Schoonover, and Sally Norton-Darr, who’ve written on the use of podcasts and on their approach to professional development. There are lots more resources on the LCPS AT website for you to explore. Their AT Strategy-A-Day Calendar is not to be missed. AT team members with expertise in a variety of areas collaborate to create a new calendar every year, and they are always full of great tips, information, and resources. You can view it online or, if you are very lucky, win a printed copy at one of their many workshops and presentations. Bonus: They also share the template so... [Read More...]