359 Search Results for complex communication

How We Do It: Getting to the CORE of Communication (Part 1)

August 5, 2019 by - 2 Comments

How We Do It: Getting to the CORE of Communication (Part 1)

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...]

PrAACtically Visual: Supporting Communication Across Activities & Environments

August 1, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtically Visual: Supporting Communication Across Activities & Environments

We’re thrilled to continue our series on visual supports, guest authored by AAC SLP Tabi Jones-Wohleber. Tabi has been an AAC service provider for many years and graciously offered to share some of her resources with our PrAACtical AAC readers. In today’s post, Tabi focuses on supplemental AAC supports that promote communication throughout the day. Be sure to download the files for the templates and resources she is sharing. In case you missed them, here are the links to the previous posts in this series. Part 1: Visual & Environmental Countdown Part 2: Organizing Time & Tasks Part 3: Self-Regulation & Understanding Expectations :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: PrAACtically Visual: Visual Supports for Communication Across Activities and Environments As the near entirety of this site is dedicated to resources for AAC  implementation and access for individuals with complex communication needs, I’m not going to attempt to summarize here, as I have with the other... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Unconventional Communication 

July 3, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Unconventional Communication 

Today we return to the AAC in the Cloud archives for another enlightening presentation, this time on multimodal communication. In this session, Stephanie Fuller and Saoirse Tilton discuss the varied ways that people communicate and remind us of the importance of considering the full palette of communicative options when interacting with children and adults who have complex communication needs. Many thanks to CoughDrop for hosting this conference and to Stephanie and Saoirse for their insightful session. Enjoy! Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=837&v=4VSQC2QJYpo

How I do it: Using Videos & Instructional Feedback to Support Communication Partners

April 11, 2019 by - 1 Comment

How I do it: Using Videos & Instructional Feedback to Support Communication Partners

As AAC interventionists well know, we can improve learning outcomes by getting key communication partners to use specific strategies to support AAC learning. How can we do that effectively and efficiently? Today, we hear from Laura Hayes, an AAC Facilitator for Special School District of St. Louis County, Missouri. Using her 10+ years of AAC experience, Laura provides support to staff and students across 4 school districts. She has presented locally and at state, national, and international conferences, and has been involved in both inpatient pediatric and educational AAC research.  Laura loves providing staff training, implementation resources and guided direction to help students using AAC succeed. In today’s guest post, she shares her experiences and tips for supporting communication partners. (Don’t forget to download the resources she is sharing before you go.) ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I do it: Using Videos and Instructional Feedback to Support Communication Partners Prior to the Training... [Read More...]

AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: Evaluating Skills For Use of Comprehensive AAC Systems, Part 2: Language Representation Elements – Noun Symbol Use for Functional Communication

June 11, 2018 by - 1 Comment

AAC Assessment Corner with Vicki Clarke: Evaluating Skills For Use of Comprehensive AAC Systems, Part 2: Language Representation Elements - Noun Symbol Use for Functional Communication

Vicki Clarke, CEO of Dynamic Therapy Associates and Director of DTA Schools, is back with another wonderful edition of AAC Assessment Corner.  In addition to their clinic, Vicki and her team support school districts in AAC evaluation, equipment procurement, and implementation for individual students in the academic environment.  DTA Schools also supports district-wide AAC implementation through the Classroom Communication Goals Project, training, and supporting all team members in classroom AAC implementation. In today’s post, Vicki shares her thoughts on how we can look at the use of AAC symbols for nouns as part of our evaluations for comprehensive AAC systems. You can view her previous contributions to the AAC Assessment Corner here. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Evaluating Skills For Use of Comprehensive AAC Systems, Part 2: Language Representation Elements – Noun Symbol Use for Functional Communication It was a crazy, busy month full of evaluations, trainings, and report writing.  I’ve spent a lot of time with... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Environmental Communication Teaching

March 1, 2017 by - 3 Comments

Video of the Week: Environmental Communication Teaching

Back in the late 1980’s when I was doing my doctoral work at Purdue University, there was exciting research going on in classroom-based AAC intervention. Environmental Communication Teaching (ECT) has been through some changes in the past 25+ years, but it is still a powerful approach to helping teams support learners with complex communication needs. In today’s video, we feature Kelly Fonner discussing ECT as part of a webinar made possible by the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia. You can download the accompanying handout here.  Enjoy! Many thanks to the  Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia for making this available.

Video of the Week: Supporting the Communication Needs of Children with CVI

December 14, 2016 by - 1 Comment

Video of the Week: Supporting the Communication Needs of Children with CVI

There are a myriad of challenges in addressing the AAC needs of children with CVI. Today’s video, based on a presentation by Drs. Christine Roman-Lantzy and Sarah Blackstone, raises a number of important issues of interest to families and professionals alike. Many thanks to the West Virginia Department of Education for making this video available. http://wvde.state.wv.us/player.php?m=m4&vid=osp/cvi/complex-communication

Video of the Week: Supporting People with Significant Communication Challenges in Medical Encounters

December 7, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Supporting People with Significant Communication Challenges in Medical Encounters

Encounters with healthcare providers can range from the mundane (e.g., getting a prescription filled) and routine (e.g., doctor’s appointment) to situations which are more complicated and urgent (e.g., Emergency Room visit, hospital stay). People who use AAC are part of a larger group of individuals whose communication challenges make these situations more complex. In today’s featured video, Dr. David Beukelman discusses ways in which effective communication between patients with communication challenges and their healthcare providers can be supported.   This video was part of the USSAAC webinar series, which is made possible through the support of ISAAC. Many thanks to those organizations and the Patient Provider Communication organization whose free resources and information are shared in the presentation. Please consider joining and supporting these organizations so that they can continue to serve the AAC community with information, advocacy, and resources like these. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxd-hWODfm8

AAC and ASD: Teaching Communication Partners through Video Self-Modeling

April 18, 2016 by - 1 Comment

AAC and ASD: Teaching Communication Partners through Video Self-Modeling

It is an honor to have Dr. Joanne Cafiero, an AAC consultant for individuals with complex communication needs and Autism Spectrum Disorders, as a guest contributor for today’s post. Dr. Cafiero is the author of Meaningful Exchanges for People with Autism an Introduction to AAC (2005). She is a consulting editor for Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities and has guest edited several of ASHA’s Perspectives in AAC.  She was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism (2001) and is currently working on an update on AAC and Autism for the Academy. In this post, she shares some of her work on video self-modeling. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Growing research and first-person reports are illuminating the unique sensory and motor differences experienced by people on the Autism Spectrum. This new information has a huge impact on the AAC practitioner. Motor planning differences in ASD can... [Read More...]