610 Search Results for visual support

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #1: January, 2016

January 3, 2016 by - 2 Comments

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #1: January, 2016

The New Year is a perfect time to give your clinical and educational practices a boost of AAC. Here are some posts from the week to get you started. Monday –  Ready/Not Ready: 5 Visual Supports for AAC Learners Tuesday – PrAACtically January: Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Wednesday – Video of the Week: Using Structure to Minimize Behavioral Challenges Thursday – The Most Popular AAC Posts of 2015 Thanks for all you do to support children and adults with little or no functional speech.

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 52: December, 2015

December 27, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 52: December, 2015

It’s prAACtically a new year! Hope your holiday season is bringing you fun times with friends and family. Monday – Tri-fold Love: 5 Visual Supports for AAC Learners Tuesday – PrAACtical Resources: Fix the Problem Wednesday – Video of the Week: Conversations with Adults who Have Intellectual Disabilities Thursday – 12 Days of an AAC Christmas

Autism and AAC: 5 Pinterest Boards to Follow

November 6, 2015 by - 3 Comments

Autism and AAC: 5 Pinterest Boards to Follow

Pinterest has just exploded as a curation venue for content related to AAC and autism. Here are some boards to check out and consider following. Considerate Classroom by Lindy McDaniel  Autism Teaching Tools Visual Supports by Christine Reeve  Visual Supports and Social Stories by the Michigan Association of School Social Workers  Visual Schedules by Brandi Shinn  Behavior Management Strategies by The Autism Helper  Do you have favorite Pinterest boards that we should know about?

From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 1

October 27, 2015 by - 4 Comments

From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 1

As far as I can tell, most AAC learners are taught by people who don’t specialize in AAC. Their school SLPs may have caseloads of 50, 60, 70, or more students with IEPs, 90% of whom have goals for articulation, language, and fluency. Their classroom teachers serve students whose disabilities range from none at all, to dyslexia to cerebral palsy, to significant intellectual disabilities, and everywhere in between. In all likelihood, neither group had much AAC training. What little AAC they know, they’ve picked up on their own from reading, going to workshops and conferences (usually self-funded), talking to colleagues, and exploring online resources. Many times, their first foray into AAC is with things like choice boards and visual supports, such as daily schedules and first/then boards. From there, they may begin labeling the environment with pictures symbols (e.g., ‘table’ on the table, ‘on/off’ near the light switch), using mini-schedules... [Read More...]

An AAC Journey: From “No to AAC” to “AAC All Day, Every Day” with Desirae Pillay

October 19, 2015 by - 2 Comments

AAC Journeys: From “No to AAC” to “AAC All Day, Every Day” with Desirae Pillay

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...]

PrAACtically Halloween: Considerations for an AAC-friendly Holiday

October 15, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtically Halloween: Considerations for an AAC-friendly Holiday

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 Site of the Month: The National Professional Development Center on ASD

October 12, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

October Site of the Month: The National Professional Development Center on ASD

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...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 41: October 2015

October 11, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 41: October 2015

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