A Few Great Posts From Around the Web to Illustrate This: His Body Does His Feelings by A Diary of A Mom We Knew She Understood but Now We Know She Minds by Living with Rett Syndrome Yellow- Living with Rett Syndrome Life with Lief: We are Different But Same by Sunshine Bodey Perception Drives Everything – Uncommon Sense Share your stories of perception and competence.
Community participation and communication for AAC users is an integral part of of developing, growing up, and having inclusive opportunities. We often relate community participation to quality of life indicators. Community participation for AAC users begins from the… beginning. Young children can order in restaurants, use picture menus, and have access to many inclusive events. As children grow into adolescents and adults, community participation involves post secondary options, employment, and community living. Perspectives from AAC Users Have communication displays and devices available at ALL times– You need access to a communication system(s) to participate in all situations. Remember to take AAC with you. The sooner the AAC user becomes responsible for taking or telling someone to take the device/displays with them the easier it becomes. For mobile technology systems, there are rugged cases that withstand wind, water, even medical waste (see Lauren Enders Pinterest boards for case and accessory options).... [Read More...]
We love active participation for communication and language learning. Actually, we love active participation in all areas of life for us, for our students, for everyone. When Carole introduced the Building Participation Strategy of the Month, she discussed the role of the Participation Model (Beukelman & Mirenda, 1988; 2013). The Participation Model is a framework for understanding the barriers to participation and then from a prAACtical intervention standpoint developing strategies and activities to increase active participation in a variety of (ALL) aspects of life. For the 2012 AAC Awareness Month, we discussed barriers to participation. This year’s focus is on activities and strategies for getting past the barriers to building age appropriate authentic active participation for ALL learners. We have learned that when older learners with significant communication challenges are provided with age appropriate activities and supports, they can be engaged and motivated to participate and can often surprise us with... [Read More...]
A song brought to you by some great advocacy people AND definitely guaranteed to make you smile. This is not new but the ideas are relevant now just as before. ISAAC International AAC Awareness Campaign TASH Communication Committee Everyone Communicates Judy Bailey Snoopi Botten
When we think of AAC and communication boards or displays, we often think of comprehensive core and fringe words. We think of a board that will represent the most possible communication functions, vocabulary, and generative language. However, there are many other ways to create and use communication boards. There are many other ways because there are many reasons we communicate and sometimes it is best to create a communication board that focuses on a specific communication need. AAC is not one thing but a system of communication supports, and for most AAC users, there should be a multitude of communication options that will aid in robust communication and language needs. All AAC users should have a comprehensive individual communication display whether low tech (communication book) or high-tech (AAC device or App). But…. many AAC users will also benefit from communication boards that support a specific communication purpose. The reason for... [Read More...]
Enjoy! Voices of Autism- The SongStream Project explores the role of music in the lives of four young musicians on the autism spectrum. This project contributes to the conversation about autism beyond statistics and into the domain of appreciation and celebration. AAC Image Links (Great for training and education)- Speak for Yourself – Autism & AAC Awareness (bonus- enter to win Speak for Yourself AAC App) AAC Do’s & Dont’s by Lauren Enders AAC It’s Easy as 1,2,3 by Marcia Sterna World Autism Day Free or Discounted Apps- These are worth checking out! Look for more at the Appy Mall.
For AAC Awareness Month, we would be remiss if we did not think about literacy. It is a form of communication and language that supports AAC use. Sometimes literacy is difficult for our students, other times it is actually easier and it helps conversational communication and even natural speech. Either way, reading, writing, talking, and listening (understanding) are all modalities of language. There are so many great resource lists for supporting literacy: Jane Farrall’s Letter of the Week: Resources for Older Students, Spectronics Apps for Literacy Support, Melissa Taylor’s 24 Educational iPad Apps for Kids in Reading and Writing, and 25 Great Children’s Apps to Stimulate Literacy, Learning, & Creativity just to name a few. We wanted to share a few additional resources for literacy with general education apps that approach reading through fun with words. And any literacy discussion could not be complete without some seriously great literacy information, theory, and supports... [Read More...]
Get ready, AAC lovers, AAC Awareness Month is coming! One of the most wonderful things about the AAC community is the pervasive sense of sharing and giving. When we told some of the people we know that PrAACtical AAC was planning a giveaway for AAC Awareness Month, they responded with an overwhelming level of generosity. So far, we have books, switches, software, apps, and a low tech SGD to give away from some of the companies whose logos are appear in his collage and more. What can you do to win some of these fabulous goodies? Help spread the word about what AAC is, who can benefit, and how to better implement it. We’ve started you off with some suggestions here: 50 PrAACtical Things to Do In Celebration of AAC Awareness Month. We’ll be sharing more information about how to enter to win some fabulous AAC-related goodies, but we’ll give... [Read More...]
We love this video that reminds us that technology is a beautiful thing, but the real power is in communication. Kudos to the AAC team at Thames Valley Children’s Centre for this wonderful reminder of three important things. Language learning happens through good teaching, not the mere provision of equipment. Verbal expression without technology is not only powerful but awesome. Literacy is something we should prioritize for all learners. As we prepare for AAC awareness month, enjoy this lovely conversation.
Happy June, CAA friends! Each month, we feature a Spanish version of our AAC Link Up called CAA con Links. If you have AAC-related announcements, materials, or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. You’ll find the place to add that information at the very bottom of this post. Claudia Marimón organizes these monthly posts, which feature AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. In today’s post, Claudia shares the experiences of Samuel, a young AAC user who traveled to Mexico to participate in an international spelling competition. He did a wonderful job and raised awareness of AAC for many people. Learn... [Read More...]