Sunday: Video of the Week – Core Vocabulary in Activity-based Intervention Tuesday: Teach Me Tuesday – Dynavox V/VMax Wednesday: Now It’s Your Turn Thursday: AAC Assessment Forms Friday: The Faces of AAC – Paula and Brian
Sunday: Video of the Week – Getting Started with AAC Assessment Tuesday: Teach Me Tuesday – iAssist Communicator Wednesday: Global Day of AAC Thursday: How I Do It by Rachael Langley – PODD in the Classroom: Portable, Wearable, & Comfortable Friday: 5 Things that (Should) Guide SLPs in the Practice of AAC
Have you been hearing a lot about telepractice lately and are wondering how that works when the client has AAC needs? In this post, we turn to Nerissa Hall and Hillary Jellison of Communicare who tell us how they use it in their clinical practice. Nerissa and Hillary are both SLPs and assistive technology practitioners specializing in AAC, AT, and telepractice/tele-AAC. They have worked together for a number of years and are the proud owners of Commūnicāre, LLC, organization based in Western Mass and CT, that offers intervention, consultation, and evaluation services focusing on supporting an individuals, or a team’s, success and independence through implementation of AAC, AT and innovative and evidence-based practices. We are committed to our clinical work, as well as translational research and are members of the C.A.R.E. Consortium. Tele-AAC: A Powerful Way of Supporting Individuals Using AAC Telepractice, which is used to provide professional services by linking clinicians... [Read More...]
October is International AAC Awareness Month and giving us the perfect opportunity to go beyond our normal therapy-assessment-paperwork routine to spread awareness of AAC. Here are some thoughts for how to do that in the workplace. Inform: You’re probably already spreading the word about AAC as often as you can, but here are a few more ideas to help others gain an understanding of what can be done to support people with little or no functional speech. Create a brief AAC-related public service message that is delivered on morning announcements or staff meetings (E.g., “Everyone communicates, but some students with disabilities have difficulty talking. Did you know that just because some students can’t talk, they can still understand what you say? Special technology is sometimes used so they can better express themselves. Not only does that help them in the moment, but it may also improve their ability to talk”).... [Read More...]
Sunday: Video of the Week – Is It the Right Device? Monday: Speak AAC Tuesday: Calling All PrAACtical Advocates Wednesday: 5 AAC-related Assessment Tools You Should Know About Thursday: How I Do It – Using PODD Books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with ASD Friday: Fast FAACt Friday: Core Words
Sunday-Video of the Week: Teaming Up for AT Assessments Monday-See the Student Tuesday-Research Tuesday: Supporting Children with Severe and Profound Multiple Disabilities Wednesday-Watch It Wednesday: Towards an Inclusive Maker Movement Thursday-PrAACtical Questions: “Should I Put Yes/No on an SGD?” Friday-Supporting Communication Development in Children with Vision and Hearing Impairments
What do we know about the best ways to provide communication support to individuals with severe and profound multiple disabilities (PMLD)? PMLD is a term that generally refers to people who experience profound cognitive limitations in addition to sensory and/or physical disabilities. Many of these individuals have complex medical histories and chronic health concerns. Often, the communication difficulties experienced by individuals with PMLD cause them to be isolated and excluded from many social and educational opportunities. Despite their many challenges, there is evidence to suggest that AAC supports can help these children develop their communication skills. Not much is known, however, about how to structure the AAC intervention to maximize learning. In this study, Harding and her colleagues sought to reduce isolation and promote personal autonomy by providing AAC supports to two children with PMLD. As other researchers have demonstrated the positive impact of AAC on people with PMLD, this... [Read More...]
Sunday: Video of the Week – Every Move Counts Monday: What We Know Tuesday: On Not Talking Wednesday: 3 Ways to Promote Interest in Language Therapy for AAC Learners Thursday: AACtual Therapy: Informal Assessment Activity with Jeanne Tuthill Friday: Five Questions That AAC Practitioners Ask Themselves
What do we know about the best ways to provide communication support to individuals with severe and profound multiple disabilities (PMLD)? PMLD is a term that generally refers to people who experience profound cognitive limitations in addition to sensory and/or physical disabilities. Many of these individuals have complex medical histories and chronic health concerns. Often, the communication difficulties experienced by individuals with PMLD cause them to be isolated and excluded from many social and educational opportunities. Despite their many challenges, there is evidence to suggest that AAC supports can help these children develop their communication skills. Not much is known, however, about how to structure the AAC intervention to maximize learning. In this study, Harding and her colleagues sought to reduce isolation and promote personal autonomy by providing AAC supports to two children with PMLD. As other researchers have demonstrated the positive impact of AAC on people with PMLD,... [Read More...]
Sunday: Video of the Week – A Light-hearted Approach to Making People Comfortable with AAC Monday: Strategy of the Month – Building Sentence Length Through Conversational Routines and Games Tuesday: PrAACtical Resources: Developing Skills for Switch Use Wednesday: Watch It Wednesday – Client Priorities Drive AAC Assessment Recommendations Thursday: PrAACtically Reading with Brown Bear Friday: Learning How to Swim: On Being a New SLP Graduate in the Field of AAC