September 21, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
What is more amazing than seeing kids with AAC needs become competent communicators? How about seeing the next generation of SLPs become competent in AAC?! It is over-the-moon exciting to think of how many lives we could touch if more SLP students became passionate about AAC. Today, we add to our series called PrAACtically SLPs, where we hand the reins to students studying to be SLPs who’ve taken a special interest in AAC. This post is authored by Stephanie Johnson and her colleague Brianna Simmons, two Australian student Speech Pathologists from Macquarie University. They recently completed a clinical placement at Lifestart, an agency that supports children and young people living with disability. Because many of the children on their caseloads had significant communication challenges, AAC options became an important focus of their intervention. In this post, they tell us about their journey learning to use an AAC app with some of their clients. Please... [Read More...]
July 19, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
It’s been a fine week for AAC! Monday – Beyond the Core: A Guide to Teaching New Words for Students Who Use AAC Tuesday – PrAACtical Resources: Activities and Materials to Download or Explore Wednesday – Video of the Week: Narrative Skills in Students with ASD Thursday – Remembering Robin: AAC and Autism Spectrum Disorders Hope you had some AAC fun, too!
June 26, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
There are so many wonderful things about reading with kids, and practicing AAC is one of them. Every month, we’ll try to pick a book and provide some prAACtical suggestions for how to read it and sneak in some opportunities for receptive and expressive AAC use. You can make book-specific screens, overlays, or boards, but we favor a more powerful approach: use core vocabulary as your base and supplement with words specific to that book. Need some core language displays? There are many floating around, but here’s a link to ours if you need some more. We thought we’d start off this series with a book that is familiar to most, if not all, of you. Pull it off your shelf, find your prAACtical pal, grab that core language board, get to a cozy spot, and let’s get started. PrAACtically Reading with Brown Bear Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do... [Read More...]
May 17, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Sunday – Video of the Week: Disaster Preparedness and AAC Monday – Strategy of the Month: Home Programming with AAC Tuesday – More Core Words Visualized Wednesday – 10 AAC Things to Do For Better Hearing and Speech Month Thursday – Throwback Thursday: Posts on Core Vocabulary Friday – Connecting by Phone
April 5, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
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
February 11, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
If there is anything scarier than having a very sick child in the ICU, it has to be when that child has no means of communication. In this Research Tuesday post, we join the efforts spearheaded by Rachel Wynn of Gray Matter Therapy to share an article that discusses the issues and presents some solution strategies. When we think of research studies in SLP, we think of experimental designs and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In AAC, group research designs are uncommon because of the immense heterogeneity of this clinical population. Even limiting the study to one single disorder and age group, say teenagers with dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy, contains too much heterogeneity for most group research. Instead, we see more single subject design experimental studies (SSEDs) in AAC. When well-designed, SSEDs have strong experimental control and allow researchers to answer causal questions, such as “did the treatment (e.g., teaching... [Read More...]
June 29, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
People with aphasia are often most successful when a number of different strategies are combined. In this post, we discuss a number of strategies that we can use in our therapy and teach to communication partners. Augmented Input We’ve written so many posts about aided language input that we’re almost embarrassed to bring it up again. Almost. It seems like no matter which age group or clinical population is the subject of our post, that strategy plays a central role. It is the same for people with aphasia with one exception. They benefit from a broader array of input cues, such as gestures, writing, and even pantomime. Augmented input is the term that is used to refer to oral language that is supplemented with pictures, print, gestures, pantomime, and the use of objects in the environment. By using these things as you speak, you enhance the ability of the person... [Read More...]