44 Search Results for presume competence
January 12, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – January Core Vocabulary Activities Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Using No Tech and Low Tech AAC Thursday – 5 AAC Facebook Groups for Families of Beginning Communicators ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, take a look at some of these past posts from the AACtual Therapy series. AAC, Literacy, & Squishy Books Making Core Words Fun for Students with Autism AAC Intervention for Beginning Communicators: Presume Competence and Be the Fun Building Language and Emergent Literacy Skills with ‘Do You Wear Diapers?’ Informal Assessment Activity with Jeanne Tuthill
October 22, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve been focusing on training communication partners recently and today we’re focusing specifically on paraprofessionals/educational assistants. Our guest post is authored by SLPs Corinna Duffitt, M.Sc., RSLP (practicing for 21 years, 14 years in AAC) and Jennifer Wiegert, M.A., CCC-RSLP (practicing for 21 years, focusing on AAC for the past 6 years). They are colleagues on an AAC team with 4 other SLPs in a large school district in Surrey, BC, Canada. Their school district consists of 101 elementary schools and 20 secondary schools. Corinna and Jennifer are both passionate about giving children a voice and letting that voice uncovers their potential. They recently joined their private practice endeavours, outside of their public school positions, to form Chickadee AAC Communication Services. You can find them on Instagram (@chickadeeaacslps or #chickadeeaac), check in on their website, and/or follow them on Facebook. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AAC Training for Educational Assistants Some of the challenges we encountered... [Read More...]
August 23, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Are you… Hoping to train team members to be better communication partners for their AAC students/clients but overwhelmed by the thought of all the preparation? Relatively new to AAC and not sure what content to share in your training? Looking for additional resources to utilize in your existing training sessions? Good news, AAC friends! This post is for you. We’re so happy to have SLP Tabi Jones-Wohleber returning to the blog to share more of her wonderful AAC resources. Tabi works with young children at the West Virginia Birth to Three program and serves on the AT Team for Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland. Today, she launches a new series on partner training that focuses on the use of aided language input and other facilitative strategies. There are 11 modules in all (1 overview for administrative discussions and 10 for communication partners) and each one includes slides, handouts, discussion prompts, links... [Read More...]
July 2, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Happy July, AAC friends! Monday: PrAACtically July: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Tuesday: PrAACtical Learning with AAC in the Cloud Wednesday: Video of the Week: Supporting AAC Learners in Working with Words Thursday: AACtual Therapy-AAC Intervention for Beginning Communicators: Presume Competence and Be the Fun No matter where you live, AAC is something to celebrate!
December 20, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Monday – Laugh It Up: 5 Resources for Using Jokes and Riddles in AAC Therapy Tuesday – PrAACtical Resources: Presume Competence Guide Book Wednesday – Video of the Week: Apps Across the Curriculum
October 26, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
“What’s the best AAC app?” I’m starting to think that every AAC SLP has been asked this question at least a dozen times. And with over 200 AAC apps for mobile devices to choose from, it’s no wonder that families and professionals are looking for guidance. So when USSAAC (the US Society for AAC) invited me to participate in their webinar series, I knew just which topic I wanted to tackle. In today’s post, you can see the archived version of that webinar, get the handout, and pose some questions using the ‘Comments’ feature at the bottom of the page. Before we get to that, though, I’d like to encourage those of you with strong interests in AAC who live in the US to become members. USSAAC is our national chapter of the International Society for AAC (ISAAC), and if you are not already familiar with the organization, please consider checking... [Read More...]
May 5, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
We are fortunate to have a return visit from Tina Moreno, who brings her experiences both as an SLP and also as a mom of a teenager who has used AAC for most of his life. In this post, Tina shares some of the strategies that she has used to support AAC students in their classrooms. If you are a school-based SLP, don’t miss Tina’s classroom observation form for gathering data on how AAC is being used in various activities and lessons. GIVE THEM FIVE As an SLP in the school setting, helping teachers support students in the classroom can be a big challenge. While we can see students making progress in our therapy sessions, it can be difficult to get the same results in the classroom. An important role of the SLP is to collaborate with teachers to help students generalize these skills in conversation with their peers and other... [Read More...]
February 12, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Those of you who are still digging your way out of the most recent snowstorm may not believe it, but it’s almost time to make plans for summer. There are quite a few AAC camps, some that are quite well established and others that have been running for only a few years (see our AAC Camp Pinterest board here). In this post, we hear about one of them from Tina Moreno, an SLP and mom of Mateo, who uses PicturePower 100 on the Maestro to communicate, maintain friendships with his teammates on the cross country team, advocate for himself, reveal his wicked sense of humor, and even sing the National Anthem for his high school’s basketball games. Tina blogs at Voices4All. With the help of Drs. Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver, she and her friend Gina Cunningham created Camp ALEC together in memory of Gina’s son Alec, who never gave up, and... [Read More...]
August 1, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
We had a lot of fun with the post “You Might Be an AAC Therapist If,” especially in reading all the contributions from our prAACtical friends. Along those same lines, here are some questions that we’ve asked ourselves a few (dozen) times. Are these AAC devices/apps EVER going to be able to use context to know the tense and pronounce the word ‘read’ correctly? (Followed by an exasperated gesture) How is it that the student with disabilities can remember passwords that the nondisabled adults cannot? (Followed by a glance toward our ‘Presume Competence’ poster) Did he/she really just spell that out instead of using core words? (Followed by a low growl) Why is that device coming home from school fully charged? (Followed by a rise in blood pressure) Did I remember to turn off the laminator? (Followed by a face palm) How about you? What AAC-related questions do you ask yourself?
June 20, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
It’s graduation time where we live and a whole new cadre of SLPs is off to spread their wings. We’ve been so inspired by the enthusiasm and dedication of some of the graduate students we’ve met this year that we thought it would be a good time to write a post just for them. So here are a few words of advice for the new grads. Don’t be afraid of AAC: We get that you may feel that you don’t know enough, but the truth is that we’ve all felt that way. You can do this, and, honestly, we desperately we need you. There aren’t nearly enough good AAC interventionists to go around. Reach out: There is an amazing community of professionals and parents who are willing to help you get up to speed. If you’re willing to branch out into social media you will find a ton of help... [Read More...]