September 16, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
About This Week Welcome to Week 9 of your Stepping into AAC journey! Now that we have a basic foundation in AAC (Weeks 1-5) and have customized the communication board (Weeks 6-8), we turn our focus to AAC use in everyday life. You will explore the following concepts this week: Language Learning in Daily Routines: Learn why it is essential to use everyday routines and activities to build language and AAC learning. Using Patterns of Language Development to Guide AAC Learning: Gain insights into the role of typical language development as we guide the learning of beginning AAC users. AAC at Mealtime: How can snacks and meals boost AAC learning? Stay tuned! We have some ideas for you. AACtion Steps Week 9 AACtion Steps Signposts Get the Handout Language Development is Our Guide Travelog Week 9 Travelog Print the Week Want all of the resources shared in this week’s Stepping... [Read More...]
September 3, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that might come in handy. Monday – September Year of Core Vocabulary & School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Fundamentals for Families Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC Support for Beginning Communicators Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados: CAA Con Links – Septiembre 2023 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the mood for some more AAC? Here are some selections from our archives. Video Modeling & AAC Boosting Communication with Video Modeling PrAACtical Teaching in the ASD Classroom: Predictable Chart Writing with Core Vocabulary How We Do It: AAC Videos for Core Word Modeling
August 28, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
About Week 1 Welcome to Week 1 of your Stepping into AAC journey! You’ll begin this week by selecting a starter AAC tool for your learner. The resources below include a stepwise guide to help you choose one. You will need this for hands-on activities during each week of your Stepping Into AAC journey. If you already have an AAC tool with core vocabulary words, such as a speech-generating device, AAC app, or communication book, you can skip this step and use that tool instead. With your AAC tool ready, you’ll work through the following concepts this week: The 20 weeks of your Stepping Into AAC journey cover a lot of territory. The graphic below shows the major topics and themes covered in each week of the program and the focus of the hands-on activities, videos, and newsletter resources. Introduction to 100 Days of AAC Choosing an AAC Tool Get... [Read More...]
August 28, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
This table of contents has clickable links to help you navigate through various resources included in Stepping into AAC. You can view and download a PDF version with clickable links using the image or button below. Table of Contents Communication Boards Stepping into AAC requires the use of a communication board with target core vocabulary and/or the use of an AAC device or app that contains these words. If you do not already have access to one of these AAC tools, you will be guided to select one of the communication boards that appear in this section. We are grateful to the AAC organizations listed below for their collegiality in granting us permission to use these communication boards. Information on how to select a communication board is provided in Week 1. AssistiveWare Proloquo Core Board Proloquo2Go Core Board Proloquo Board Customization Template Proloquo2Go Board Customization Template Project Core Project Core... [Read More...]
August 27, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome to Stepping into AAC ! Stepping into AAC is a collaborative project created by PrAACtical AAC and the Angelman Syndrome Foundation (ASF) that focuses on supporting families who want to integrate AAC into their lives. There are 20 weeks of Stepping into AAC materials, which are intended to provide simple, week-by-week resources to help families support beginning communicators of all ages. Each week, there are easy hands-on activities, videos and companion handouts, and a newsletter to learn from. Thanks to the generous support of the ASF, these materials are available at no charge. Stepping into AAC is designed for families that include: Children, adolescents, and adults who are new to AAC and would benefit from using communication aids with high-frequency words or core vocabulary; and Individuals of any age who previously used AAC but are not currently communicating with it throughout the day. We hope that Stepping into AAC... [Read More...]
August 6, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts that you might enjoy. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Summer Fun with AAC Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados: CAA Con Links – Agosto 2023 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a few more for those who want to do a little more AAC reading. Back To School with AAC (printables) AAC Goes to High School: The Power of Peers AAC Goes to High School: Community-based Instruction Extension Activities for AAC Practice Making AAC Core Vocabulary Materials
July 30, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you might enjoy. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: A Deep Dive into AAC Modeling Thursday – August Year of Core Vocabulary & School Year of Core Vocabulary Words :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a few more to explore before you go. Why We Love Language Experience Activities 5 Things to Do If You’re Not Confident Teaching Core Vocabulary Building Sentence Length through Conversational Routines & Games 5 Quick & Easy Games That Build AAC Skills 5 Ways to Promote Generalization of AAC Use Have a great week, AAC friends!
July 20, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Our series on multilingual AAC support guest authored by BilingüeAAC continues. In today’s post, Sarah Lee addresses issues specific to features of AAC apps and SGDs. BilingüeAAC is a group of SLPs with a shared belief in providing evidence-based intervention strategies and resources to bilingual Spanish AAC clients, families, caregivers, and professionals. If you are new to this series, you can check out the previous articles using the links below. Bilingual AAC Support from Monolingual Professionals: An Introduction Cultural-Linguistic AAC Intervention: A Framework for Consideration Gathering Information from Families with Questionnaires and Surveys Most of us WANT to provide culturally-linguistic responsive bilingual Spanish AAC intervention, but we don’t feel confident without knowing/speaking the language. In an effort to foster Spanish heritage language development and empower the monolingual SLPs*, we have created context-specific templates using the sociocultural approach (Soto & Yu, 2014) for the monolingual English-speaking SLP*. We will be referencing... [Read More...]
July 7, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Each month we feature a Spanish version of our AAC Link Up, CAA con Links. If you have AAC-related announcements, materials, or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. You’ll find the place to add that information at the very bottom of this post. Organized by Claudia Marimón, these monthly posts also feature AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. Today, she focuses on the topic of Natural Language Acquisition and gestalt language processing. Enjoy the post, and remember to scroll to the bottom to add your link and see what others are sharing. En el campo de la CAA siempre hay... [Read More...]
July 2, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts that you might enjoy. Monday – PrAACtically July – AAC Resources for A Year of Core Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Supporting Social Connections in AAC Learners Thursday – Throwback Thursday: Writing AAC Goals ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the mood for some more AAC browsing? We have a few suggestions for you. 5 Ways to Support Self-Advocacy in AAC Learners How We Do It: Using AAC to Repair Communication Breakdowns PrAACtically SLPs: Hungry for Bilingual AAC 5 Kinds of Pre-stored Messages That Put the AAC Learner in Control PrAACtical Perspectives: Randomness & AAC