166 Search Results for karen

PrAACtically October: A Year of Core Vocabulary Resources

September 29, 2016 by - 7 Comments

PrAACtically October: A Year of Core Vocabulary Resources

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 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 need 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 the... [Read More...]

AAC in the Classroom: 5 Presentation Handouts

May 16, 2016 by - 3 Comments

AAC in the Classroom: 5 Presentation Handouts

Looking for ideas on how to strengthen language learning by students with AAC needs in the classroom? Here are some presentation handouts that may spur your thinking. Start Talking in Class: Helping Students Using AAC Devices by Gail M. Van Tatenhove  Incorporating AAC Use into the Classroom  by Karen Vinson and Eleanor Thompson  Aided Language Stimulation and the Descriptive Teaching Model by Gail M. Van Tatenhove Communication Peeled and Cored for the Classroom by Jennifer M. Ro and Amy Thomsen Score with Core: Implementing Core Vocabulary in the Classroom by Janet S. Lehr 

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week 13: March, 2016

March 27, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week 13: March, 2016

Happy Sunday, prAACtical friends. Hope you’re taking some time to recharge, Monday – PrAACtically Pinteresting with Lauren Enders: AAC Video Examples Wednesday – Video of the Week: Boosting Communication with Video Modeling Thursday – PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: April Fool’s Day Above everything else, AAC is a person’s communication tool. If it’s not always available, it’s not AAC.

PrAACtical Teaching in an ASD Classroom: Bigger is Better with Core Vocabulary

March 14, 2016 by - 16 Comments

PrAACtical Teaching in an ASD Classroom: Bigger is Better with Core Vocabulary

Today we launch a new series, PrAACtical Teaching in an ASD Classroom, which will address the nuts and bolts of infusing AAC throughout the school day. I couldn’t be more delighted to introduce you to two talented special educators, Amy Devin and Lauren Pawlowski, who work in the public school system in Michigan. Amy and Lauren began teaching in self‐contained ASD elementary classrooms in 2009 and taught in resource rooms prior to that. When they first started with their own classrooms, there was not much talk about core language, let alone how to implement it on a classroom-wide basis. They started with a 32-cell core board on a digitized speech device and now use a 64-location core vocabulary on a manual communication board, large instructional core boards, and individual AAC devices. They are passionate literacy teachers and believe that every child can read, write and communicate. Enjoy their post and... [Read More...]

PrAACtically March: Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words

February 29, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtically March: A Year of Core Vocabulary Resources

Why spend valuable intervention time teaching words that relate only to one specific activity or environment when you could be teaching words that the learner can use all day long? Building competency with a robust base of 300-500 core words gives people the vocabulary they need to function in any environment. (Try that with AAC systems that are mostly nouns and action verbs!). How can we continually increase our clients’ competence with core words? A few years ago, we decided to approach this by focusing on 12-16 core words each month. Each month, we would 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 words helped the learners develop new skills, and kept the team focused on the same things. An added bonus: We were less likely to be overwhelmed. It’s gratifying to see many... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week 8: February, 2016

February 21, 2016 by - 1 Comment

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week 8: February, 2016

Hope you had a week of AAC fun and inspiration. Monday – PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Are You My Mother? Tuesday – Efficiency or Precision: Striking a Balance for AAC Learners Thursday – Video of the Week: Aided Language Input with Gail Van Tatenhove