327 Search Results for aac awareness
March 22, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
It’s prAACtically spring in much of North America! To all of our friends who suffered through a c-r-a-z-y winter: You made it!! Here’s what we’ve been up to. Sunday: Video of the Week – A Right to Communicate Monday: Strategy of the Month – Building Communication Skills During Storybook Reading Tuesday: Teach Me Tuesday – Predictable App Wednesday: On Communication and Behavior – Back to Basics Thursday: AACtual Therapy with Jeanne Tuthill – An AAC Assessment Activity Friday: 5 Resources for Creating AAC and Visual Support Materials
February 22, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Such a great week of prAACtical fun at the 31rst Annual Conference of the North Carolina Augmentative Communication Association. Inspiring to be with so many great therapists, educators, students, and parents! Hope you had an AAC-filled week, too! Sunday: Video of the Week – Dealing with Feelings Monday: Strategy of the Month – More Thoughts About Reinforcement in AAC Therapy Tuesday: Teach Me Tuesday – Go Talk Now Wednesday: 5 Ways to Build Awareness of the Power of Communication Thursday: Converting Disordered Natural Speech to Clear Synthetic Speech Friday: Make It PrAACtical – Adapted Writing Tool
February 19, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Awhile back I helped a graduate student clinician lead a session with some children who do not yet have AAC systems in place. Communicating with pictures is hard for them and doesn’t yet make sense. They haven’t connected the dots to see that when they use these picture-based materials, they can influence the environment in a way that makes their lives more interesting and fun. Our first step was to help them begin to understand that they could control aspects of their environment. Here are some things we did to help the AAC learners feel the power of communication. 1. Made communication easy: Talking switches and sequential communicators are great ways for learners to get a big payoff with little effort. In classrooms where there was no functioning technology, we used free apps for mobile devices and paper-based communication boards. 2. Made the response big and fun: Think silly,... [Read More...]
December 9, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
. A strange thing happened while we were busy thinking and writing about AAC. Two strange things, actually. First, we got nominated for the 2013 Edublog Awards by fellow SLP bloggers. (Many thanks to those who put our name into the hat in the Individual Blog and Resource Sharing categories.) Then, we became finalists. Not too shabby for a low incidence topic like AAC! The cool thing about these nominations is that it is yet another way to raise awareness about AAC. It must be working because we’re hearing from professionals who are curious about what AAC is and how it relates to their area of interest, language. There are many deserving nominees in both categories. We listed our nominees here. Take a moment to vote for your favorites. They are ALL winners! Best Individual Blog 2013 – Edublog Awards Best Resource Sharing Blog 2013 – Edublog Awards View more lists from... [Read More...]
October 15, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We participated in a silent tea. We used no tech, low tech, and high-tech AAC. For 1 hour. With a group of graduate students, families, and clients. We only communicated with AAC, no natural speech. It was enlightening to say the least. We have done silent teas before, but not recently and as it turns out, a lot was forgotten. Lessons Learned: Communication Takes Longer. Communication takes much longer when using a speech generating device. This is true even when you know the message you are trying to compose, even when you know where the symbols or words are located. We are pretty good at using pause time and waiting expectantly but realized we need to probably wait even longer for messages to be composed. As long as the interaction is continuing, waiting 45 seconds is not too long and if you see someone in... [Read More...]
October 11, 2013
by Robin Parker -
It’s time for the 2nd 2013 AAC Awareness Month celebration! It is so exciting to see all of the AAC activities and plans from around the country and world to help spread AAC Awareness. There has been sharing of AAC information, AAC decorations, Silent teas, and much more. We hope that with increased awareness, there is increased ACCESS for ALL who need it. Keep spreading AAC information and keep teaching & learning. HAPPY INTERNATIONAL AAC AWARENESS MONTH! Celebrate with us by entering our AAC giveaway. Good Luck Everyone! The PrAACtical AAC Celebration is made possible by the very generous and awesome people at the organizations listed below: : Ablenet, Inc Abilipad Alexicom BeeVisual/ChoiceWorks Dynavox/Mayer Johnson Handhold Adaptive Hump Software MarbleSoft Mozzaz News-2-You Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company Safe N Sound Mobile Silver Lining Multimedia Smarty Ears Speak For Yourself SpeechPathology.com SpeechTree TapSpeak TherapyBox/TBoxApps TouchChat Verbally How Does It Work?... [Read More...]
September 10, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
There is no substitute for systematic instruction in reading and writing for building specific skills. AAC learners need high-quality instruction and lots of it. Beyond that, though, there are many ways to infuse literacy practice into the regular routine in therapy and at home. Writing for authentic purposes refers to experiences that reflect the writing activities of people in their regular lives. Authentic writing builds fluency, promotes skill generalization, and helps to build one’s self-concept as a writer. Plus, it’s fun, motivating, and pretty easy to do. Here are some things we try to do to include authentic writing experiences into our AAC therapies. 1. Sign in and out of the therapy session or classroom: Every AAC learner can do this. If the traditional sign-in form then doesn’t cut it, then make up a special sheet that has the client’s name in traceable letters, a name stamp, or placing a... [Read More...]
September 7, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Most of our conversations with SLPs about teaching literacy to individuals with AAC needs revolve around the ‘How’s.” “How can I possibly teach reading and writing? I don’t have enough time with her to teach language and communication!” “How am I going to teach reading to someone who can’t sound out words? Or writing to someone who can barely use a pencil or keyboard?” In general, SLPs WANT to teach literacy skills. They understand the importance of this skill set and how it can level the playing field for people with communication difficulties. They know that reading and writing are inherently linked to speaking and listening. They know that literacy is a powerful key that unlocks many, many doors. And yet, getting from there to the point of actually teaching clients with AAC needs to read and write is not something we do enough of. This month, we’ll look at ways... [Read More...]
August 26, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We often write and talk about using every opportunity to teach through meaningful language experiences. This concept works not just for our students and clients but also for professionals and families we collaborate with. Here are some old and new quotes, pictures, and printables to help create meaningful AAC awareness learning opportunities. Just print out the ones you like and you have ‘decorations’ for your office, classroom, speech room, hallways, etc. As we like to say: Use every expected and unexpected opportunity to teach AAC. AAC Myth Busting (AAC ToolBox- Under Miscellaneous) Keep Calm AAC Teaching Posters- Under Miscellaneous ... [Read More...]
August 3, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, August is Back-to-School month. Throughout this month, we’ll try to post ideas and resources to help make the transition back to school a smooth and successful one. One of the most important things for students who use AAC is having their SLPs, teachers, and families on the same page. They each have a different but very intense relationship with the student’s AAC system. Here are some prAACtical thoughts on getting everyone on the same page. 1. Develop a communication profile of the student: In the initial weeks, try to get a baseline of how the student is communicating at the start of the year. For beginning communicators, we track things like their communicative intents (WHY they are communicating), modalities (HOW they are communicating), and the frequency of their communication. We’ve written about one of our favorite tools for this, the Communication Matrix. 2. Share what you know:... [Read More...]