262 Search Results for video autism

It’s PrAACtically February: A Calendar & Planning

January 30, 2013 by - 1 Comment

PrAACtically February- Getting ready, A Calendar and Planning

January is (was) a fairly crazy and busy month for us. After a late back to school week, the CARD Conference, the Dan Marino Foundation WalkAbout Autism, and ATIA Conference (hope to see you there), we got a bit of a late start on a few things. To stay ahead of ourselves, we want to end January by being ready for February…… For February, we have a calendar for incorporating AAC into everyday activities (it goes with yesterday’s post 28 things to do).   Feel free to print out and share and use anyway you want to promote PrAACtical AAC. A PDF version (free) can be found at our Teachers Pay Teachers site. Our new Strategy of the Month (on Saturday) will focus on Communication & Language Beyond Requesting.  There are no pre-requisites to learning and being immersed in ALL of the reasons to communicate (communication functions). For some learners, it... [Read More...]

PrAACtical Supports- Walking the Walk AAC Style!

January 28, 2013 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtical Supports in the Community: Walking the Walk

We are extremely proud to be part of the Dan Marino Foundation WalkAbout Autism,  which is a large South Florida event.  It is a true collaboration between the community, volunteers, sponsors, donors, walk partners, and the Miami Dolphins.  The Walkabout helps raise money for organizations that provide programs and services for individuals with autism and other developmental  disabilities.   It also promotes a sense of community collaboration and awareness about autism spectrum disorder and developmental disabilities.  We are writing about the WalkAbout, not as a plea for money  (although read about the WalkAbout and donate if you are so inclined), but instead to tell you how we continue to try to integrate AAC  & visual strategies into community events.  We are so grateful to Dan & Claire Marino and their family and Jeff & Rachel Ireland and their family for continuing to dedicate their time and effort for this amazing event. This past weekend was the 3rd WalkAbout Autism.  It was a... [Read More...]

A PrAACtical Look at the Incredible 5-Point Scale

November 18, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

A PrAACtical Look at the Incredible 5-Point Scale

In an earlier post we listed some of our favorite strategies that aren’t as widely used as they could be in AAC intervention. Among them, was qualitative rating scales, or Likert-type scales. We use them for a variety of purposes and love their potential for expressive communication. – In this video, from From Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports Project of the Kansas Technical Assistance Network, you’ll learn one way of using simple rating scales to help people with ASD regulate their own behavior. We like the detailed implementation information presented in The Incredible 5-point Scale. –

Building Acceptance for AAC: Sharing Information

October 20, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

Building Acceptance for AAC: Sharing Information

While there are certainly attitudinal barriers to AAC, it’s also true that sometimes the people we are trying to influence just need more information. Sounds simple, right? Not exactly. Especially when we consider these factors. Adult learners prefer to chart their own course to learning new things rather than have others lay that out for them. Our behaviors are most likely to change when we discover solutions for ourselves, as opposed to following directions that others give to us. We have a limited amount of time to guide others to the information they need. Here are some things that have worked for us. Develop a bank of educational materials that pertain to the topics that you face most often in your clinical work. Create resource files for general topics, such as the empirically-supported benefits of AAC, and specific topics, such as the evidence base for using SGDs with individuals who... [Read More...]

Watch What You Heat- Fire Safety

October 7, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

Fire Safety

PRACTICE FIRE SAFETY- watch what you heat.   It’s Fire Prevention Week 2012– October 7-October 15, 2012.  There are many Fire Prevention Week campaign resources available through the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).  Additionally, we learned that the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has incredible safety information for EVERYONE, All the time.  In exploring NFPA’s website, we saw the dedication in protecting ALL children and adults from the many dangers of fire.  The Safety Signals Project is another great fire prevention resource funded by Autism Speaks.  We are not super worriers by nature, but thought it is would be great time to update some our fire safety supports. National Fire Prevention Association Fire Safety- Specialized Fire Drill Social Narrative Being Prepared-Autism– (Webinar) Fire Safety-Limited Hearing (great information) Fire Safety- Older Adults– (we love the posters) Safety Fact Sheets- Multiple Languages NFPA E-Newsletter– (love the focus on quality of life for people with disabilities) + lots more The Safe... [Read More...]

119 Free & Lite Versions of AAC Apps + App Selection Resources

October 2, 2012 by - 5 Comments

119 Free or Lite Versions of AAC Apps + App Selection Resources

If you’ve been following our blog, you know that we have mixed feelings about the AAC app revolution. More specifically, we’ve had concerns about the decision-making process around app selection, the paucity of apps that allow for children to learn true generative language, and a few other things. We continue to advocate for AAC app selection to occur within the context of a feature match process that gives appropriate attention to the full range of AAC options. In this mega-post we’ve included our most recent update of free and lite versions of AAC apps for iOS and Android plus a variety of additional resources related to AAC app selection. Tools to Use In Making Decisions About AAC Apps Feature match form developed by Jessica Gosnell at Boston Children’s Hospital Feature match checklist created by Scott Marfilius and Kelly Fonner Our supplemental rubric covering language and communication features,  RELAAACs Places to... [Read More...]

A PrAACtical Look at PECS

September 30, 2012 by - 4 Comments

A PrAACtical Look at PECS

This week, we’re heading back to the Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports Project of the Kansas Technical Assistance Network. They have two wonderful videos by Lori Chambers on Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). – You can view an overview of this approach here: Part 1 and Part 2 . Also, look for the handouts that accompany these videos. –

Balance Pans: A Learning Toy that Helps Build Conversation Skills

September 2, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

Balance Pans: A Learning Toy that Helps Build Conversation Skills

We’ve been thinking a lot lately about the social skills of some of our AAC friends who are not quite fitting in the way that they would like. SLPs frequently work on social interaction skills with learners on the ASD spectrum, but it’s not something that we always think about with learners who have cerebral palsy, apraxia, or other developmental disabilities. – The idea of using a balance scale as a metaphor for balance in conversational turns is intriguing and one we’ve explored a bit. In this video from Autism Teaching Strategies, Joel Shaul demonstrates the strategy and discusses it relative to turn-taking (Click here for Part 1 and click here for the second video). That makes sense for a lot of learners who don’t respond to non-obligatory situations as well as they could. – We’ve also used it for helping people with AAC see how their utterances compare to... [Read More...]

A PrAACtical Look at PODD

August 26, 2012 by - 1 Comment

This week, we return to the team at the Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports Project of the Kansas Technical Assistance Network. They have two wonderful videos by Jane Goetz and Lori Chambers on Pragmatically Organized Dynamic Displays. You can view ‘It’s All About the Interaction,” Part 1 and Part 2 . Also, look for the handout and tip sheet that accompanies these videos. –

More Ideas for Using Visual Supports to Build Conversational Skills

August 5, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

More Ideas for Using Visual Supports to Build Conversational Skills

Cohesion is a tough concept for many of our learners who are developing their AAC skills and struggling to build relationships. In this week’s featured video, Joel Shaul, from Autism Teaching Strategies, discusses how to use two metaphors for building cohesive conversations. One is the idea of links in a chain and the other is the girders of a building. Of course, we are big fans of the use of visual supports whenever we talk and teach. — Although the focus here is learners with ASD, we’ve used this and similar strategies many kinds of learners. Hope you enjoy this informative video. – – – –