October 17, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are a few posts that you might have missed. Monday – AAC in Secondary School: Collaborative Teaming for High School Students Who Use AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: This Is Not About Me Thursday – AAC Fair Testing Practices: The Testing Environment ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have a little bit more time, these posts from the archives may be of interest. The Faces of AAC: Gretchen and Zach The Faces of AAC: Justyna & Wictoria The Faces of AAC: Dianna & Brian The Faces of AAC: Zainab Omar Enjoy your week, AAC friends!
September 26, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – AAC-friendly Library Visits: 5 PrAACtical Ideas Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Teaching Language in the Classroom to Students Who Use AAC Thursday – AAC Fair Testing Practices: Response Modes :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the mood for some more AAC exploration? Here are a few suggestions. Building AAC Awareness: Using AAC to Express a Range of Functions From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 1 From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 2 Social Stories and Narratives PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Apples Have a great week, everyone!
September 5, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some posts that you might like. Monday – September Year of Core Vocabulary & School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Back to School AAC Tips Thursday – AAC Fair Testing Practices: Preparation Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links – Septiembre 2021 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the mood for some more AAC? Here are some selections from our archives. Video Modeling & AAC Boosting Communication with Video Modeling PrAACtical Teaching in the ASD Classroom: Predictable Chart Writing with Core Vocabulary How We Do It: AAC Videos for Core Word Modeling
August 29, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have a few AAC posts for you to explore. Monday – PrAACtical Considerations: An Introduction to Fair Testing Practices in AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Introduction to Literacy for Students with Complex Communication Needs Thursday – Growing AAC Professionals: AAC-friendly Classrooms, AAC for Toddlers, & AAC for Healthcare Providers ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a few more for your browsing pleasure. AAC and Visual Supports for Storms and Hurricanes: 10 Useful Resources How I Do It: Cooking in the Classroom with Carol Goossens’ How I Do It: Conversation Practice with Teens and Young Adults by Angela Adams On AAC Training: Skill Building for AAC Team Members PrAACtical Resources: AAC 101 Flipbook Handout
March 17, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
No one likes to be tested, least of all people with communication difficulties who don’t have the tools to express their anxiety or discomfort in the ways they would like to. Some of the people we evaluated had real issues with this and so we’ve experimented with ways to make the testing less stressful and more productive. Here are some of the strategies that we found to be most successful. – 1. Work with the team to establish Fair Testing Practices for the person you’ll be evaluating. Our chapter on ‘Language Assessment for Students Who Use AAC’ describes this in more detail, but essentially it involves writing a ‘rule book’ for how to test this person. It might specify how long the test session can/should be, how to set up the situation so the person can respond, and what other supports are needed so that we are testing the person’s... [Read More...]
December 22, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
In an earlier post, we talked about why a period of trial use with multiple AAC devices and/or apps is an important part of the process of selecting a communication tool. As with test driving a car prior to purchasing it, giving clients an opportunity to use the AAC options that have the features they need allows us to better determine whether it is likely to meet their needs and expectations. Few of us would purchase a car without taking it out for a spin. It makes a lot of sense, but what does the ‘test drive’ equivalent look like in AAC? What makes for a fair and reasonable period of trial use when we’re trying out an SGD or AAC app? Here are some thoughts to get us started. Clarify the primary purpose of the trial, which generally involves determining a) whether the person can actually utilize it, and... [Read More...]