597 Search Results for tell me about it
October 27, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with I Went Walking Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Social Closeness in AAC Intervention Thursday – PrAACtical Research: Effects of Parent Instruction on SGD Use ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for a few more posts to browse? We’ve got a few suggestions for you. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations AACtual Therapy: Building Language and Emergent Literacy Skills with ‘Do You Wear Diapers?’ How We Do It: Using Language Boards to Support AAC Use By Nerissa Hall and Hillary Jellison “I Made a Communication Board. Now What?”
August 25, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. It’s been quite a week here, and if your week was just as crazy then you might have missed some of these posts. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Literacy Kits Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: A Look at PODD Books ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, take a look at some of these posts from the archives. Write to Talk with Dr. Caroline Musselwhite Sound/Music Cause and Effect Apps for Engaging AAC Learners Beyond the Basics: Thoughts On Effective Language Instruction for AAC Learners When Materials Aren’t Effective in AAC Teaching: 5 Things to Try When Students are Reluctant to Use AAC: 5 Things to Try
June 18, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for more ways to build AAC skills? Book reading can be incorporated into therapy sessions and instructional lessons, as well as part of the daily routine at home. Here are some ideas for using books to support AAC and language learning. Choosing a book: In most cases, we want the AAC learner to have the autonomy to choose a book. However, we can make this part of the AAC learning process by teaching the skill of choosing something to read and talking about it before the learner makes his/her choice. Goal Areas: We can use this time to build basic turn-taking skills, requesting, sentence-building, and new vocabulary, among other things. It’s also a great opportunity to develop more advanced syntax using words like ‘since’ and ‘because’ (e.g., “I want to read about sport because it is World Cup time.”) and various sentence structures (e.g., “First, let’s read a sports... [Read More...]
October 8, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Last month, we began some musings about the sad reality that the percentage of people who use AAC to communicate in a grammatically correct fashion is woefully small. In that post, we explored some of the reasons for that and looked at conversations in which the communication partner does a lot of vertical scaffolding. While the term vertical scaffolding may be new to some of you, the concept is one with which you are quite familiar. Here’s an example: Learner: Olaf. Elsa. Clinician: Are you telling me about Frozen? Learner: Nods Clinician: What about Frozen? Learner: Book. Clinician: Oh, did you get a Frozen book for your birthday? Learner: Nods excitedly Clinician: Awesome! You should bring it next time so we can read it together. Scenarios like this are very common in AAC, especially among communicators who use their AAC to say 1-2 words at a time. Because their... [Read More...]
September 7, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
As we all know, it’s a big leap from having an AAC system to being able to use it functionally. For many of our prAACtical friends, one of the areas in which they struggle is conversation. It is no easy thing to have even a brief social interaction. We’ve written before about the use of scripting, a powerful strategy that we can use to help learners build conversational skills.` Scripts provide structure. As clinicians and educators, we understand that many of our learners do best when there is a clear beginning, middle, and end to an activity. For many people learning to use AAC, conversation is a VERY challenging thing because it can be quite amorphous. Scripting gives the learner practice getting comfortable with some of the skills that they need to use in conversation by adding the element of structure. The script has a clear starting point (e.g., “Look... [Read More...]
August 29, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We are so excited to start off the new school year with a wonderfully prAACtical post by Lauren Enders. Lauren’s “How I Do It” posts have been very popular and this one is no different. Today, she shares ways to incorporate key AAC principles in engaging intervention activities and models that with high school students. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: LEARNING TARGETS (Samples: can be changed to meet student goals) Using core vocabulary, the student will: control the actions of others (beginning with core words like “more”, “stop”, “go”, “again”, and “different”) express his or her opinions through commenting (beginning with core words such as “like”, “don’t like”, “good”, “bad”, and “silly”) TARGET POPULATION: all ages (I have used variations of this activity successfully with students from age 3 through age 21.) TYPE OF AAC: ALL types!! What’s crucial here is the availability of core vocabulary, not the system used. Systems used can vary from... [Read More...]
June 4, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
One of the things SLPs frequently do at the start of their therapy sessions is have some casual conversations with their clients to catch up on what happened since their last visit. Whether it is an elementary school student with ASD, a teenager with cerebral palsy, or an older adult with aphasia, we engage in polite conversation to find out what they’ve been up to and perhaps share a bit about our own experiences. Here are some thoughts on making those ‘catch-up conversations’ work from a prAACtical perspective. 1. Possible goal areas: initiate conversation; maintain dialogue on an established topic; redirect conversation to a new topic; respond to non-obligatory communication opportunities; use temporal terms in multi-word utterances; convey a personal narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end; use regular past tense verbs; ask partner-focused questions 2. Core language targets: it, we, they, do/did, have/had, was/were, not It was (not);... [Read More...]
April 25, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We’re so happy to welcome Lauren Enders back to share some more thoughts on AAC and the IEP. In her first post on this topic, Lauren addressed some frequently asked questions. Today, she provides a very valuable perspective on writing IEP goals for students who use or need AAC and some wonderful resources. Very often, I receive requests for support from teachers and speech therapists that are writing IEP goals for their students who use AAC. When we sit down to discuss their questions, the first thing I remind them is that AAC goals are no different from any other IEP goal. I recall a workshop I attended years ago presented by Gail VanTatenhove that helps put IEP goals for AAC into perspective. Gail said that AAC therapy is just language therapy. Isn’t that true? Aren’t we just teaching language? For this student, language is simply being expressed in a... [Read More...]
March 11, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
5 Things to Do to See If Your Vocabulary Instruction is Effective (& 5 Things to Do If It’s Not) AACtual Therapy: Fun & Functional Vocabulary with Shareka Bentham In the Treasure Bag: Using Sharing Time to Focus on Vocabulary Why We Love AAC Language Experience Activities 5 Great Sites for AAC Vocabulary Practice Complete Vocabulary Instruction Ideas & Activities Vocabulary Learning Materials & AAC Strategies Explicitly Speaking: Vocabulary Teaching in AAC Choosing a Focus for Vocabulary Instruction Building Word Consciousness: Vocabulary Instruction in AAC Vocabulary Learning Using Infographics Say THIS, NOT THAT to Reinforce Vocabulary Learning How to Use Magnets to Promote Language Development Vocabulary Activities: 5 Sites for Learning with Avatars What Makes a Good Vocabulary Teaching Activity? 4 Things to Look For Ideas about Vocabulary Instruction for the Beginning Communicator 10 Things to Do in Using Focused Language Stimulation in AAC Vocabulary Teaching Tell Me About It:... [Read More...]
December 18, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
5 Great Sites for AAC Vocabulary Practice Complete Vocabulary Instruction Ideas & Activities Vocabulary Learning Materials & AAC Strategies Explicitly Speaking: Vocabulary Teaching in AAC Choosing a Focus for Vocabulary Instruction Building Word Consciousness: Vocabulary Instruction in AAC Vocabulary Learning Using Infographics Say THIS, NOT THAT to Reinforce Vocabulary Learning How to Use Magnets to Promote Language Development Vocabulary Activities: 5 Sites for Learning with Avatars What Makes a Good Vocabulary Teaching Activity? 4 Things to Look For Ideas about Vocabulary Instruction for the Beginning Communicator 10 Things to Do in Using Focused Language Stimulation in AAC Vocabulary Teaching Tell Me About It: Focused Language Stimulation In AAC Vocabulary Teaching Vocabulary Instruction In AAC