452 Search Results for visual supports
January 5, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy New Year, AAC friends! It’s the first Sunday of a new decade and we’ve queued up a handful of AAC posts that you might have missed. Monday – Top AAC Posts of 2019 Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Welcoming a New Year of AAC Thursday – Top AAC Videos of the Year :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, here are some posts to explore from our ‘How I Do It’ series. Pocket Flipbooks for Teens & Adults (Intro), Part 1 ,and Part 2 A Year of Core Words in Action Addressing the 4 Most Overlooked Operational Skills for High-Tech AAC Users Using Visual Supports to Build Attention and Cooperation Starting AAC with Teens & Young Adults by Angela Adams
November 24, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! It’s been a busy week here in Orlando at the 2019 ASHA Conference, but we still managed to get a few blog posts published. Here’s a recap for those who may have missed them. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘From Head To Toe’ Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: The Critical Nature of Literacy in AAC Thursday – How We Do It: Changing AAC Mindsets & Outcomes ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, check out some of these previously published posts. 5 Ways to Tell If Your Students are Becoming Competent Communicators A Look at PODD Books Using Visual Supports to Bring Music Alive Supports for When Modeling AAC is Hard AACtual Therapy: Use Your Best Spud to Teach Vocabulary With Tanna Neufeld
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...]
September 5, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for examples of how AAC is successfully incorporated into inclusive education? Today, we head to upstate New York to learn from AAC SLP Sarah Gregory who shares her experiences in supporting students in general education settings. In this post, Sarah shares her ideas for using peer modeling to support AAC learning. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AAC in General Education: Incorporating Peer Modeling Authentic inclusion of students with Complex Communication Needs (CCN) or non-speaking students is essential and can also be difficult to achieve. One of the most effective strategies I have found is involving all students in AAC learning. Folks in my district started a peer modeling program a few years ago and we found this to be a powerful tool in achieving our goals for academic inclusion and social belonging. In this blog post, I will outline the why and the how of our current peer modeling program.... [Read More...]
September 2, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
AAC SLP Amanda Samperi is back with another post in her series about the prAACtical aspects of AAC therapy. In this post, Amanda shares her views and experiences on helping students with AAC needs build their language skills. You can see her previous posts in this series here. Putting the FUN Back in FUNctional Working with Multiple Symbol Sets ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: AAC Therapy is Language Therapy I’ve traveled between several states and many different schools over the past few years. Because of this, I’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing SLPs! They’re talented, strong, creative, and love their kiddos more than anything. And just like any other team, each of us has different strengths and weaknesses. When I’m joining a Speech team, there’s usually at least one other SLP with specialties that are outside of my wheelhouse. However, she isn’t very comfortable with AAC. It... [Read More...]
September 1, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Model as a MASTER PAL Thursday – PrAACtically September: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a few more for your browsing pleasure. AAC and Visual Supports for Storms and Hurricanes: 10 Useful Resources How I Do It: Cooking in the Classroom with Carol Goossens’ How I Do It: Conversation Practice with Teens and Young Adults by Angela Adams On AAC Training: Skill Building for AAC Team Members PrAACtical Resources: AAC 101 Flipbook Handout
August 19, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Combining AAC learning with literacy activities is one of our favorite ways to support young learners. We start off the week with a taste of how AT specialists in one school district are helping preschool special education teachers build a foundation of core vocabulary in their students. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. This is the first of a series of posts in which Maggie and Jeanna discuss ways that books from the TELL ME program can be used to support AAC learning. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: As AAC facilitators for a special education cooperative, we are always on the lookout for effective ways to provide our students access to instructional materials and activities that not... [Read More...]
August 5, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Looking to create a sustainable AAC program in your school? Today, we learn about the way one school district in Illinois created a core vocabulary initiative that has been up and running for almost a decade. Kelly Key, the Assistive Technology (AT) Coordinator for Barrington School District 220 serves as our tour guide. Kelly is passionate about giving students a voice through core vocabulary and empowering others to support students. She has been in the field for over 22 years as a special education teacher, an administrator, and AT Coordinator. Kelly presents at local, state, and national conferences and colleges on various AT topics including core vocabulary and AAC implementation. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How We Do It: Getting to the CORE of Communication (Part 1) Rolling Out a Core Vocabulary Initiative- How this District has been going strong for a decade! The Importance of Using Core Vocabulary As we all know, individuals with complex... [Read More...]
July 22, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Let’s start the week with some downloadable resources for those of you teaching core vocabulary. Today, we’ll head to the online marketplace for educators, Teachers Pay Teachers, to check out some of the free AAC resources. Enjoy! DIY AAC Visuals Freebie (Speechy Musings) Customizing AAC Systems Top 10 Tips for Augmentative Communication Users (Susan Berkowitz) Word of the Week: Come (Sister SLPs) Visual Supports/AAC for Pizza and Birthday Cake Toys (Speech Universe) Expressing Negatives Lesson Plan (AAC Language Lab)
July 21, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: A Potpourri of Visual Supports, AAC Handouts, & More Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Thinking Beyond the Device – What Autistic Adults who Use Speech & AAC Can Teach Us Thursday – PrAACtically Visual: Supports to Organize Time and Tasks ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, here are a few of Karen Natoci’s popular literacy-focused posts to check out. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Yo! Yes? PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Hello Baby PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Five Senses PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Are You My Mother?