Sunday: Video of the Week – Is It the Right Device? Monday: Speak AAC Tuesday: Calling All PrAACtical Advocates Wednesday: 5 AAC-related Assessment Tools You Should Know About Thursday: How I Do It – Using PODD Books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with ASD Friday: Fast FAACt Friday: Core Words
Sunday-Video of the Week: PODD in the ASD Classroom Monday-Something to Say Tuesday-PrAACtical Resources on Communication and Autism Wednesday-PrAACtical Resources on PODD & Partner Assisted Scanning Thursday-PrAACtical Resources on the SETT Framework Friday-PrAACtical Resources on AAC & Language Therapy
As many of you know, it was a very sad week for PrAACtical AAC and many of our friends. Thanks to all who reached out with comments, emails, Facebook messages, and texts. Sunday: Video of the Week – The Right to Be Heard Monday: A PrAACtical Resource – Communication Access Tuesday: AAC Knowledge and Skills for SLPs Wednesday: Watch It Wednesday – Selfie Bandit Thursday: PrAACtically Heartbroken Friday: On Autism and AAC
We are pleased to be sharing another post by a graduate student SLP. Stephanie Amundsen attends the SLP program at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and has worked for the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST) Atlantic Regional Demonstration Center (ARDC) since May 2012. She is currently completing an externship working with children with complex communication needs, and is writing her thesis on AAC access in acute and sub-acute facilities. She has presented posters on service learning using AAC intervention and grammatical intervention using AAC under the direction of Dr. Kent-Walsh at the 2013 ASHA Convention, and has volunteered at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Conference in 2013 and 2014. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: As a graduate student placed in my first externship, I encountered multiple clients with AAC needs from day one. Because one of my placement sites is a Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care (PPEC) facility, many... [Read More...]
Sunday: Video of the Week – AAC App Selection Help Monday: Strategy of the Month – Building Sentence Length Tuesday: Research Tuesday – Comparing PECS and SGDs Wednesday: Watch It Wednesday: Effective Communication Strategies Thursday: How We Do It: Using the Pocket Calendar With Heather Buhr and Dr. Kristy Weissling Friday: Evidence-Based AAC Strategies for Students with Autism with Betsy Corporale
Sunday – Video of the Week: Apps for Autism Monday – About Difference Tuesday – A Little AAC Reading Wednesday – Watch It Wednesday: Seating and Positioning for AT Access Thursday – AACtual Therapy: Positive Behavior Management with Gail Bennell Friday – PrAACtical Questions: Does Word Prediction Really Make Communication Faster?
There is a lot of prAACtical buzz around 2 AAC apps that have recently released free/lite versions Check them out: Avaz Lite Version- AAC App for Autism (Augmentative Picture Communication Software for Children with Special Needs)- Try out Avaz AAC app with the lite version and a 7-day promotional subscription period to the symbols and voices which can be used for decision making options. Learn more about the full version at Avaz Support. Dynavox Compass (try for 30 days or full version for ASHA Certified Professionals)- A full version for professionals with weekly resource emails with videos and tips to help learn the full potential of the app. Other long standing free and lite versions: 133 Free or Lite Versions of AAC Apps
We are pleased to share a guest post by SLP Jason Butcher, who serves students at Grant County Middle School. Jason has been working with middle and high school students for the past 14 years. He earned his Master’s in Communication Disorders from the University of Kentucky in 1999. He admits that he came to do AAC more out of necessity than interest due to serving a huge variety and degree of speech/language impairments on his caseload. He has always enjoyed working with technology and is patient when fixing problems, qualities that he thinks have served him well when hitting the inevitable roadblocks that come with working in the area of AAC. In this post, Jason shares some candid thoughts on the transition from PECS to an iPad for a student with whom he works. It was nearing the end of September when I began to fear that Ms. Ruff, a teacher... [Read More...]
Hope your prAACtical week is going well! Sunday: Video of the Week – Connecting with Prelinguistic Communicators Monday: Strategy of the Month: Thoughts on Teaching Word Prediction Tuesday: 10 AAC Things to Do for Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month Wednesday: Watch It Wednesday – Music and Communication by Ryan Judd Thursday: AACtual Therapy – Supporting the Development of Early Grammar with Kimberly Ho Friday: 3 AAC Presentation Handouts You May Have Missed
We’re so excited to introduce a new AACtual therapist, Jeanne Tuthill. Jeanne has been an SLP for over 15 years and has specialized in AAC for the past 6 years. As an AT specialist for the Collaborative Center for Assistive Technology and Training (CCATT) in Northampton, Massachusetts, Jeanne evaluates and provides consultation services for K-12 students in schools throughout Western Massachusetts. In addition, she provides workshops and professional development training in that region. Since 2012, Jeanne has served as an adjunct faculty member for the Assistive Technology Graduate Program at Simmons College. She has also presented at a number of regional and national conferences. You can see Jeanne here with her long-time student Lauren Suprenant, who is using a Step-by-Step Communicator, to share information about how she communicates with others (introduction strategy). Jeanne shares a little bit about her work and then discusses an activity that is used in their AAC... [Read More...]