61 Search Results for descriptive

Overlooked AAC, Part 3

August 1, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

Overlooked AAC, Part 3

There are a lot of aspects of AAC service provision, and usually not enough time to address all the things that need to be done. In today’s post, we continue the conversation of things that often take a back seat in AAC services, hoping that it inspires a few of you to action. This time our focus is transitions.  Going to nursery or preschool for the first time. Moving from one teacher or therapist to another. Exiting the school system. Transitions always seem to bring a little extra anxiety and a few additional bumps in the road. Here are some things that make some of those changes go a little more smoothly. Entering a New Environment Prepare the individual: Explain what will be happening. Use visual supports, like a picture schedule or calendar, to show when the transition will occur. Keep it in a visible spot and review it periodically... [Read More...]

Throwback Thursday: AAC-friendly Resources for Black History Month

February 10, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

Throwback Thursday: AAC-friendly Resources for Black History Month

Here in the US, we’ve celebrated Black History Month each February for several decades. It’s a time for learning, reflection, and celebration. Today, we’re reprising a past post with resources that can be incorporated into your AAC teaching or therapy. Learn with BrainPop and BrainPop, Jr which offers videos, writing and drawing activities, graphic organizers, worksheets, jokes, and more. Brown vs Board of Education Civil Rights   Fannie Lou Hamer   Harriet Tubman   Jackie Robinson   Jim Crow   Malcolm X   Martin Luther King, Jr   Mohammed Ali   Reconstruction   Rosa Parks   Ruby Bridges   Slavery   Tuskegee Airmen From BrainPop Jr   2. Read “The Poet Diaries,” a guest post by inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. View a video of her reading her poem, Rise Up as One, California. 3. Explore a virtual exhibition at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.... [Read More...]

Improving Assessment Practices for Students Who Use AAC: Mobilizing the Power of Social Narratives

January 6, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

Improving Assessment Practices for Students Who Use AAC: Mobilizing the Power of Social Narratives

Social narratives are an empirically supported intervention that can be helpful in supporting people with AAC needs. They are commonly used to help individuals with autism understand and deal with challenging situations such as fire drills, birthday parties, and trips to the dentist. All types of social narratives can be written in text alone or include pictures and illustrations.  Social Stories are a particular kind of social narrative that have a specific set of guidelines for their development and use. The originator of Social Stories, Carol Gray, defines Social Stories this way: “A Social Story accurately describes a context, skill, achievement, or concept according to 10 defining criteria. These criteria guide Story research, development, and implementation to ensure an overall patient and supportive quality, and a format, ‘voice’, content, and learning experience that is descriptive, meaningful, respectful, and physically, socially, and emotionally safe for the Story audience (a child, adolescent,... [Read More...]

AAC in Secondary School: Using Games to Support AAC Learning for Older Students

September 13, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC in Secondary School: Using Games to Support AAC Learning for Older Students

Looking for activities that will help in teaching older students to be effective communicators with AAC? AAC SLP Ashley Larisey is back with us to share another post in the AAC in Secondary School series. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. In today’s post, she shares ideas and resources for using games to support AAC learning by high school students. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Using Games to Support AAC Learning for Older Students It’s no secret that using games is a great way to increase student engagement. Games provide opportunities for language and literacy learning, personal enjoyment, social connectedness, and laughter. Games can be used to target communicative functions like requesting (I want the green piece), commenting (No way!, Me too, Get out of here!), rejecting/refusing (Not that one, Don’t like, Don’t... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 37: September 2021

September 12, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 37: September 2021

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – A PrAACtical Labor Day Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Reading and Talking with AAC Thursday – AAC Round-up: Preschoolers with Complex Communication Needs ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: We’ve got a few more posts for you to browse. On the Same Page: Helping Team Members Recognize and Respond to Unconventional Communication Signals From Referential to Descriptive Teaching with AAC Learners Aided Language Input – How Much Language Should We Model? PrAACtical Resources: Promoting Inclusion and Participation for People Who Use AAC When Students are Reluctant to Use AAC: 5 Things to Try

Throwback Thursday: AAC Intervention Strategies

August 5, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Throwback Thursday: AAC Intervention Strategies

Engaging activities and materials are important in AAC instruction, but the real magic happens when we implement appropriate intervention strategies with fidelity and on a consistent basis. For Throwback Thursday, we raided the archives to revisit some previous posts on several key intervention strategies. Aided Language Input: How Much Language Should We Model? Aided Language Input in AACtion “I’m Using Aided Language Input. Now what??” From Referential to Descriptive Teaching with AAC Learners Recasting: A Language Facilitation Strategy F is for Feedback Environmental Communication Teaching

AAC in Secondary School: Party Planning AACtivity

May 17, 2021 by - 1 Comment

AAC in Secondary School: Party Planning AACtivity

Today, we welcome back AAC SLP Ashley Larisey to these pages for another post in the AAC in Secondary School series. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. Additionally, Ashley presents on AAC topics at professional conferences. In today’s post, she shares thoughts on using party planning as an activity for teaching language and AAC skills. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Party Planning If you work in the schools, the end of the school year is right around the corner! The month of May is generally full of celebrations to culminate a year’s worth of hard work for staff and students alike. For high school students, this can also include celebrations surrounding graduation. Parties are often planned by educational staff, but why not bring students into the process? Party planning is full of... [Read More...]

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Like Myself!’

May 10, 2021 by - 2 Comments

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Like Myself!’

It’s time for another set of wonderful suggestions for robust implementation of core vocabulary support using the TELL ME program. Two amazing AAC SLPs, Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim, are the guest authors of TELL ME About It series and they’re back with prAACtical ideas for classroom activities, virtual learning tips, supporting AAC learning at home, and more. Also, don’t miss their bonus resources or their video read-alouds of this month’s book with aided language input using three different AAC apps. Maggie and Jeanna 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. If you are new to the series, you can check out their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series below. YEAR 1 TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Brown... [Read More...]

AAC in Secondary School: Using Surveys to Support Language Learning

March 8, 2021 by - 1 Comment

AAC in Secondary School: Using Surveys to Support Language Learning

It’s a great day to explore ways to support AAC use, and today AAC SLP Ashley Larisey joins us with some activity suggestions and lots of implementation tips.  Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. This post, part of the AAC in Secondary School series, focuses on the use of language experience surveys with students who are learning to use AAC. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Surveys Surveys can be used within almost any classroom activity to provide students with opportunities to communicate with both familiar and non-familiar listeners. Questions that are used for the survey can be used to gather more information about a topic that guides decision-making. Surveys can be embedded into academic, social, vocational, and community-based instruction. Take a look at some examples of how to use surveys in your classroom... [Read More...]

AAC-friendly Resources for Black History Month

February 4, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC-friendly Resources for Black History Month

Here in the US, we’ve celebrated Black History Month each February for several decades. It’s a time for learning, reflection, and celebration. If you’re looking for resources that you can incorporate into your AAC teaching or therapy, here are some ideas for you. Learn with BrainPop and BrainPop, Jr which offers videos, writing and drawing activities, graphic organizers, worksheets, jokes, and more. Brown vs Board of Education Civil Rights   Fannie Lou Hamer   Harriet Tubman   Jackie Robinson   Jim Crow   Malcolm X   Martin Luther King, Jr   Mohammed Ali   Reconstruction   Rosa Parks   Ruby Bridges   Slavery   Tuskegee Airmen From BrainPop Jr   2. Read “The Poet Diaries,” a guest post by inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. View a video of her reading her poem, Rise Up as One, California. 3. Explore a virtual exhibition at the National Museum of African... [Read More...]