448 Search Results for autism
February 20, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Expanding vocabulary Increasing sentence length and complexity Using a greater range of communicative functions Applying morphological markers Given the heterogeneity of our AAC learners, it’s no surprise that the language goals we address are just as diverse. Today, we dig through the archives to highlight activities that can be used to target an array of language learning objectives. Browse through the list to see if you can find some that are of use in your AAC work. Magic Moments with Tellagami New Word Teaching: A Look Inside Some PrAACtical Therapy Sessions Teaming Up to Build Communication with a Treat Cart: Part 1, Part 2 AACtual Therapy: Use Your Best Spud to Teach Vocabulary With Tanna Neufeld PrAACtical Supports for AAC Learners: AT Recipes for Success – Sensorimotor Activities AAC Intervention: 5 Activities with PrAACtical Potential Vocabulary Activities: 5 Sites for Learning with Avatars PrAACtical Teaching in the Autism Classroom: Instructional... [Read More...]
February 17, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we welcome back guest author Dr. Kathy Howery for another wonderful discussion of an important AAC research article. Dr. Howery’s work in AT and special education spans three decades and her research uses phenomenological methods to increase our understanding of the lived experience of people who use AAC. She works with the Ministry of Education low incidence team, and as a consultant to schools and school districts across Alberta focusing primarily on children and youth with complex communication needs. In this post, Dr. Howery reviews an important article describing research on recasting in AAC mediated conversations. Recasts in AAC Mediated Interaction Soto, G., Clarke, M. T., Nelson, K., Starowicz, R., & Savaldi-Harussi, G. (2020). Recast type, repair, and acquisition in AAC mediated interaction. Journal of Child Language, 47, 250-264. https://doi.org/10.1017/S03035000919000436 What this article is about (the focus of the research)? This article focuses its attention on the power of... [Read More...]
January 16, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for some AACtivities to build AAC learning? We might have a few suggestions. Concept Sorts A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators New Word Teaching: A Look Inside Some PrAACtical Therapy Sessions 5 Ways to Use Word Clouds in AAC Therapy Teaching the Use of Social Phrases and Comments Let’s Go Outside! 5 PrAACtical Ideas “Can I Ask You a Question?” Language Experience Surveys 5 PrAACtical Thoughts on Catch-up Conversations Magic Moments Magic Moments with Tellagami Magic Moments with a Crafty Flashlight Magic Moments with Disneyland Explorer Magic Moments: Painting with Time Magic Moments with Sentence Builder Magic Moments with Word Clouds Teaming Up to Build Communication with a Treat Cart: Part 1, Part 2 AACtual Therapy: Use Your Best Spud to Teach Vocabulary With Tanna Neufeld AAC Intervention: 5 Activities with PrAACtical Potential Vocabulary Activities: 5 Sites for Learning with Avatars PrAACtical Teaching in the Autism Classroom: Instructional... [Read More...]
January 12, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – January Core Vocabulary Activities Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Using No Tech and Low Tech AAC Thursday – 5 AAC Facebook Groups for Families of Beginning Communicators ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, take a look at some of these past posts from the AACtual Therapy series. AAC, Literacy, & Squishy Books Making Core Words Fun for Students with Autism AAC Intervention for Beginning Communicators: Presume Competence and Be the Fun Building Language and Emergent Literacy Skills with ‘Do You Wear Diapers?’ Informal Assessment Activity with Jeanne Tuthill
December 30, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
As we prepare to greet a new year and enter a new decade, let’s revisit some of the most popular posts of 2019. How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders PrAACtical AAC Goals Core Samples How I Do It: Using PODD books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder AAC Assessment Forms Teaching Core Vocabulary Literacy for Everyone with Adapted Books A Year of Core Vocabulary Words AAC Vocabulary Lists Make It Monday: Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list? We’d love to hear about it.
December 1, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. If the holiday hustle and bustle has been keeping you busy, you might have missed our AAC posts from this week. Monday – Fringe Vocabulary: How to Select and Not Neglect Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Building AT Capacity Thursday – A PrAACtical Day of Thanksgiving Friday – PrAACtically December: Some AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Before you go, we have a few more posts that may be of interest. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: I Eat Thanksgiving Dinner PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Hello, Holidays! 5 Different Gifts to Give To A Classroom PrAACtical Ideas: AAC Core Vocabulary Practice for Workshops and Inservices Video of the Week: Helping Students with Autism Prepare for Non-routine Events
November 11, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
In many organizations, the AAC practices of individual therapists and teachers outpace the support for AAC by the larger staff or community. Here are some suggestions for building more wide-spread support for AAC in schools and other agencies. Take advantage of any requirements to attend mandatory training events. Most school districts have mandatory staff development days, and often, the training provided on those days has little or no relevance to those who do AAC work. Perhaps you can offer a more relevant alternative. Work with administrators to be able to provide AAC training on these days to share information on AAC implementation with teachers, paraprofessionals, and therapists. To get a spot on that calendar, it may take a while to establish rapport and relationships with the leadership team and various department heads but this is time and effort well-spent. Invite administrators, department heads, and committee chairs to AAC-related events on... [Read More...]
October 1, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
In our part of the world, October brings pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween costumes, and apple cider. But no matter where you live October is more than pumpkins and Halloween. It’s internationally recognized as AAC Awareness Month and it offers a wonderful opportunity for spreading the word as to how we can support people with complex communication needs. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Make an AAC Awareness Bulletin Board in your school or clinic. These materials can be used to create an AAC Awareness display. Download the files, print on color paper, and you are ready to assemble your display. Punch up the display with an AAC poster, like Lauren Enders’ AAC Boot Camp-Getting AAC Users to Communicate or Kate Ahern’s The Periodic Table of AAC . Other ideas: Print, hang, or give someone an AAC awareness image 10 Commandments of AAC Devices Spice up your AAC instruction with... [Read More...]
August 26, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Amanda Samperi is back with the second post in her series about getting ready to return to school-based AAC services. Amanda is an AAC SLP who has worked in a variety of service delivery settings and runs the blog, AAC is Where It’s AT. Currently, she provides push-in language therapy to children with complex communication needs at a substantially-separate center school in Florida. She also conducts AAC/AT evaluations, provides year-round parent trainings, and assists the SLP team in instructing teachers/staff about communication supports and strategies In today’s post, she addresses a situation faced by many AAC teams: Serving children who use a variety of different AAC symbols and systems. If you missed Amanda’s initial post on back-to-school AAC, you can catch up on that here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets It’s the beginning of the year – desks are in their spots, students’ names are... [Read More...]
August 12, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
In the US and some other countries, we’re starting a new school year and SLP Amanda Samperi is here to get us off to a good start by sharing her experiences and suggestions for engaging AAC activities. After graduating from Penn State, Amanda worked for several years as an SLP in school, home, and medical settings. She has presented on AAC-related topics st ASHA, an IEE Electrical Safety Workshop, and at the AAC in the Cloud Conference. Amanda hopes to continue sharing her knowledge and experiences about AAC through her blog, AAC is where it’s AT. Today, she introduces us to a series of posts that focus on creating fun AACtivities for language learning. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Back-to-School with AAC: Putting the FUN back in FUNctional There is something special about this time of year – students are trying on their back-to-school outfits, school supplies are magically discounted beyond belief, and parents... [Read More...]