320 Search Results for goals
July 28, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Some PrAACtical AAC thoughts about challenging behavior: I wonder if it is ok to say that we love seeing challenging behavior during speech-language therapy sessions or observations. Well, I said it, both of us do, because if we really ‘listen’ then we can figure out what to teach that will really help our students. We tend to prioritize our goals into High Priority and General Priority. Challenging behavior and the communication message behind it, definitely falls into high priority. This is because challenging behavior in students limits experiences, limits interaction, and overall limits opportunities for people to get to know you. Consider Challenging Behavior through Communication Glasses Is it really Challenging Behavior? behavior that is or can be destructive or hurtful. Examples include but are not limited to: hitting, biting, spitting, throwing, pounding, etc. (Note: we are not talking about poor eye contact or poor attention to task or even laughing... [Read More...]
July 21, 2012
by Robin Parker -
A ‘funny area’ is not a technique or strategy you will see in a behavior or speech-language therapy text-book. But here is how we came to know and love ‘funny time’ & the ‘funny area’ A Little Background Tommy, a 9-year-old boy, seemed to be getting the ‘giggles’ each session. The graduate student clinician was not sure how to ‘control the situation’. Tommy typically worked hard using his Vantage Lite to build long and complex sentences for communication during natural age-appropriate activities (i.e., golf, art, and reading). But then the ‘giggles’ would start… and less and less communication was getting done. Initially, the clinician spent time redirecting Tommy. She would have him sit straight, pay more attention, and re-focus, but in the long run it would be more about what the clinician wanted then about Tommy communicating. We prompted the graduate student to think about how more could be accomplished,... [Read More...]
July 6, 2012
by Robin Parker -
It’s not too early to begin. It seems that everyone is talking about the London 2012 Olympics. The Olympic conversation is an interesting teaching and learning platform for almost any communication and language goals. It is fun, educational, and most importantly, most smaller and larger ‘communities’ will have Olympic images, videos, television shows, and conversation. There will soon be Olympic immersion. You can TALK and TEACH before the Olympics start, while they are happening, and even after they are over. It is easy to include ALL learners at ALL levels with these free resources that do the time-consuming preparation work for you. Just use your language facilitation strategies and have fun! News 2 You London 2012 Olympics Widget Free Pack- Olympics 2012 Primary Treasure Chest- Olympic Printable Free Resources **Bonus- we often also use these resources for home programming because our clinic is closed... [Read More...]
June 29, 2012
by Robin Parker -
We have ‘grown up’ with many of our students and their families. We have learned from the students themselves, their parents, siblings, teachers, and their other SLP’s, OT’s, & ABA therapists. So when we recently met with a terrific mom and contemporary ABA therapist, we needed to speak about apps for adolescents (goals and activities had been discussed previously). The student communicates and organizes herself through natural speech, the Dynavox Maestro, apps on the iTouch, & apps on the iPad. The student is now 16 and she cooks amazing food, hikes through the mountains of Switzerland, takes inventory for her school, types shopping lists, puts together scrapbooks, and does a lot more really cool things. Here is the list of apps we recommended to support her favorite leisure & literacy activities, and quest to be more & more independent. We only stopped giving more apps when ALL of us were... [Read More...]
June 14, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Father’s Day is almost here. We love celebrating fathers and/or the positive male role model in our students lives. The reason we celebrate a variety of ‘father figures’ is that we want to include ALL of our students. So we celebrate grandfathers, uncles, godfathers, husbands, brothers, or any other male the child feels represents a ‘father’ figure. Speech-language pathologists tend to love holidays and art projects. Communication and language is learned in real (authentic) activities. So we found some great Father’s Day Crafts that we are using to facilitate communication/language AND to give ‘dads’ a great home-made gift. Remember though with a little AAC training, Anything we can do, families can do better and more often at home… Dad Tie Snack Jar Candy Bar Letter Tie Wreath Photo Collages Possible Goals (but limitless): requesting with adjectives– ‘want blue crayon’; ‘can I have striped tie?’; ‘need wood glue’ commenting– ‘pretty’; ‘that’s... [Read More...]
June 10, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Schools are out for the summer in our area, but that doesn’t mean the work or planning stops. In fact, summer is the time when we catch up on projects, learn new things, make materials, and plan for the fall. One of my goals is to do some thinking and planning about how to help some of our preschool AAC kids make a good transition to inclusive environments in the fall. – One of our little AAC friends will be starting kindergarten in a few months, and the excitement is infectious. Support for the SLP and the teachers, both new to AAC, is high on the priority list. Something I hadn’t thought about until a recent team meeting, though, was the role of the administrator, particularly the principal. We’re big believers in the notion that the school culture is built by the principal, so it stands to reason that if... [Read More...]
June 2, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Well, it’s Week 4 of the new semester and, in our AAC classes, we’ve been talking a lot about how language is represented and organized in communication boards/books, SGDs, and AAC apps. We’ve talked about the pro’s and con’s of representing language in various ways, and discussed the options for how to set up displays so that people can easily access the words they need. At this point, we know how to choose appropriate symbols, select appropriate vocabulary, and arrange it in an appropriate format. In short, we know how to put language ‘in.’ Now comes the hard part: Getting it out. How do we get people to actually use the language that’s been so carefully stored in the no tech, low tech, and high tech AAC tools? Our June Strategy of the Month is about techniques for language facilitation. If you’re an SLP well-versed in language therapy with speaking children,... [Read More...]
May 17, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
– In one of my AAC classes, we’ve been talking about how to help families make informed decisions. To do that, they need to have solid information presented clearly, in digestible bites from a trusted source. When we don’t have that information, it is easy to fall prey to fads and/or adopt a herd mentality and do what everyone else is doing. Here are some suggestions for supporting families through the AAC decisions they will need to make. – 1. Have direct conversations about the pros and cons of the available options. For example, if the family expressed interest in an iPad with AAC apps over a full fledged SGD, then we’d have to be prepared to reiterate the merits and drawbacks of each. 2. Share a process for making AAC decisions rather than attempting to take the decision out of their hands. For example, you may want to encourage... [Read More...]
May 15, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
– This is the first week of a new semester for us, and that means we get the pleasure of introducing a new crop of student SLPs to clients with AAC needs. We’ve been busy looking at lesson plans, discussing goals and objectives, listening to ideas for therapy activities, and helping to develop plans for data collection. With those recent conversations buzzing in our ears, here are some thoughts about getting AAC therapy sessions off to a good start. – 1. Connect with the client and family before the first session. Take some time to plan out questions that will help you get to know their expectations, family culture, and daily routine. 2. Know the history. Go beyond the diagnosis and device. Take time to research what’s been done before, how that worked out, and, if you can, how that was perceived. Knowing where the client has been on his/her... [Read More...]
April 21, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
– Guest post by Stefanie Finocchio, M.S., CCC-CF As we’ve said before, we feel incredibly fortunate to have made our careers educating the next generation of SLPs. Sharing what we’e learned about AAC, AT, autism, literacy, and language intervention with graduate student clinicians is a challenge we both love. In this post, we share the wonderful ideas of a recent graduate, Stefanie Finocchio. Although she has only been out of grad school for a few months, Stefanie has some very prAACtical ideas about how to create communication opportunities for young children who are learning to use AAC. – One of my favorite “go-to” activities/games that I use frequently with my students diagnosed with autism is the Playskool Busy Gears game by Hasbro. It comes with 11 plastic gears of all different sizes and colors. Once a gear is placed on the board, you hit a button on the bottom and... [Read More...]