452 Search Results for visual supports
October 22, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
With her SLP, Marissa conjugates verbs and includes function words to make the sentence grammatically correct (e.g., “She is going home with me”). With others, she tends to use her AAC more telegraphically (e.g., “She go home me”). In therapy, Marcus uses his AAC to create 3-4 word sentences. In the classroom, he communicates mostly in single word utterances. Sound familiar? Marcus and Marissa have both learned skills in therapy sessions that they are not using in their daily lives. Data from their therapy sessions show that these students have mastered the target language skills, so the SLP is understandably disappointed when they revert back to using less sophisticated utterances in the classroom. Problems with carryover and skill generalization are not unique to AAC. Ask any SLP who does articulation therapy or teaches kids who stutter how to speak more fluently. Getting them to use the skills demonstrated in... [Read More...]
October 19, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
What better way to celebrate AAC Awareness Month than to share AAC stories from around the world? In this post, we welcome Desirae Pillay, who shares a bit about her daughter, Savannah, and their AAC journey. As the mother of a young adult with ASD and cerebral palsy, Desirae has taken what she has learned about AAC and is using it to help others outside of her family. Desirae began her journey with AAC in 2003 when she could not find a qualified AAC specialist to assist her with her daughter. Her experience and informal learning gained her a job for an AT company. When her daughter’s health needs became pressing, she resigned her job and worked part time as a Disability Consultant for various organisations. Desirae recently returned to work as an AT Advisor, where she trains on a range of topics about communication for people with disabilities. Her passion is for... [Read More...]
October 15, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Holidays are special and Halloween is a favorite among many. As much fun as it is to dress up and get candy, though, there are lots of ways that Halloween can be stressful for AAC learners. From the change in routine, to the costumes and scary decorations, to talking with neighbors and other less familiar communication partners, to the over-abundance of sugar, there are lots of ways in which Halloween can trip us up. If the AAC learners in your life celebrate Halloween, Fall Festival, Harvest Parade, or any other celebration with similar traditions, we SLPs can help them to have a positive experience. Here are some ideas. Use a social narrative to prepare everyone for what to expect on and around Halloween. Read them often in the weeks leading up to the school dress-up parade, party, and the big day itself. More Halloween social narratives can be found at Therapics,... [Read More...]
October 12, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
October’s featured site is full of resources on empirically-supported instructional practices for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The National Professional Development Center (NPDC) on ASD website was a collaborative effort by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and the MIND Institute, University of California-Davis which was funded by the US Department of Education. You may already be familiar with their work through their collaboration with the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI) in creating the Autism Internet Modules. While there are various things to explore on the NDPC site, there are a few main resources that you won’t want to miss. Practice Briefs If you are looking for at-a-glance information on intervention practices and their research supports, this is a page you will want to bookmark. There are over two dozen practice briefs that summarize the literature in instructional... [Read More...]
October 11, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
It’s been a wonderful week of building awareness and acceptance! Monday – How I Do It with Kimberly Scanlon: Using Visual Supports to Build Attention and Cooperation Tuesday – Teach Me Tuesday: PECS V+ Wednesday – Video of the Week: Core Vocabulary 101 Thursday – Supporting Language Growth in AAC Learners: Part 2
September 14, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
September is back-to-school month in our part of the world, and it’s fitting that the site of the month be from an educational entity. Today, we travel to Canada to visit Special Education Technology – British Columbia (SET-BC). Among the highlights: AAC Activity Day Package pictureSET: Hundreds of downloadable visual supports curriculumSET: Educational materials broken down by content area Accessible Book Tutorials and Templates Dozens of recorded training webinars Resource Guide: Planning for the Arrival and Implementation of a Speech Generating Device SET Stories (Who doesn’t love seeing AT in action?!) Happy exploring!
September 7, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
As we all know, it’s a big leap from having an AAC system to being able to use it functionally. For many of our prAACtical friends, one of the areas in which they struggle is conversation. It is no easy thing to have even a brief social interaction. We’ve written before about the use of scripting, a powerful strategy that we can use to help learners build conversational skills.` Scripts provide structure. As clinicians and educators, we understand that many of our learners do best when there is a clear beginning, middle, and end to an activity. For many people learning to use AAC, conversation is a VERY challenging thing because it can be quite amorphous. Scripting gives the learner practice getting comfortable with some of the skills that they need to use in conversation by adding the element of structure. The script has a clear starting point (e.g., “Look... [Read More...]
August 13, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
August’s Site of the Month is chock full of resources for professionals and families working with individuals who have ASD. The Kansas Autism Spectrum Disorders website is maintained by the TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports. Among the highlights: Over 150 social narratives Downloadable materials for communication 50+ classroom resources, including data forms, visual supports, and more Summary sheets on things like The Incredible 5-point Scale, motivational assessments, and reinforcer preference assessments. Dozens of examples of visual tasks A wide variety of archived webinars Hope you enjoy exploring this site!
August 4, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve all been there. You have meaningful goals, engaging materials, and a solid lesson plan for our therapy session. Five minutes into the session, it’s clear that the AAC learner has little or no interest in what we’ve prepared. Now what? Our choices are limited: persevere with the plan, modify it somewhat, or scrap it entirely. What’s a clinician to do? Take A Breath The first thing to do is breathe. Know that you are not the first one to struggle to engage this learner, and you won’t be the last. Think of it not as an excuse for an unproductive session but as a problem-solving challenge. Previous clinicians may have justified the session’s difficulties and atttibuted them to the learner’s lack of engagement, limited attention span, or behavioral problems. Personally, I feel sad for those clinicians because when we take that approach, not only do we fail the client,... [Read More...]
June 15, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Although summer is just beginning, many SLPs in our region are already thinking about the next school year. If you are trying to increase classroom use of AAC, you will want to check out the core vocabulary resources developed by Tabi Jones-Wohleber. Tabi is a Maryland-based SLP who works on the Frederick County Public Schools AT Team. You can view her earlier post (and accompanying downloads) here. In this post, Tabi shares her wonderful Communication Opportunities Ready to Engineer (CORE) book and explains how she uses these materials. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Classroom CORE (Communication Opportunities Ready to Engineer) Book: When posed with the question “How can I use core more?” by a group of teachers inspired to make communication a priority, I was thrilled to be part of a team motivated to investigate this exciting question. These talented Rock Creek School educators teach a diverse population of students with all manner of physical,... [Read More...]