December 14, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to support relationships between AAC users and their peers? These past posts may give you some ideas. Promoting Friendships Between Users of AAC & Their Peers AAC in General Education: Incorporating Peer Modeling AAC Goes to High School: The Power of Peers Beyond Requesting: Let’s Chat with PeersThe PrAACtical Power of Peers Building Friendship Skills with Peer-A-Mids PrAACtical Resources: Teaching Peers About AAC Teaching Peers to Interact with Young Children Who Use AAC
November 30, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
It’s prAACtically time to turn the calendar to a new page, so today we’re re-sharing resources for December year of core word followers. In 2013, when schools and other clinical programs were expanding their emphasis on teaching core vocabulary words, PrAACtical AAC published a set of resources for families and professionals that included symbol cards, sample sentences to model, activity suggestions, and more. All of these were based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Over the years, the resources were expanded and grew to include a wonderful series of calendars with daily activity suggestions developed by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these... [Read More...]
November 16, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
If you’re in a role that requires you to provide support to a team and strengthen their AAC practices, today’s post may have something of value. Take a look. Tech Tools for Supporting AAC Team Collaboration AAC Team Leadership Supporting Young AAC Teams: 5 Considerations for Facilitating Growth Teaming with Related Services to Support AAC Users Strategies for Supporting Team Buy-in and Implementation PrAACtical Research: Meta-synthesis of AAC Team Members’ Voices On AAC Training: Skill Building for AAC Team Members Helping the General Education Team Support Students Who Use AAC How I Do It with Rachael Langley: PODD in the Classroom – Quick Tips for Teams On the Same Page: Helping Team Members Recognize and Respond to Unconventional Communication Signals AAC in Secondary School: Collaborative Teaming for High School Students Who Use AAC AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #1 (downloadable) AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #2 (downloadable) AAC Teamwork: Encouraging Colleagues #3 (downloadable)... [Read More...]
November 9, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for therapy activities and materials to support language learning with your AAC clients? Here are some past posts that may be of interest. New Word Teaching: A Look Inside Some PrAACtical Therapy Sessions 5 Ways to Use Word Clouds in AAC Therapy and Magic Moments with Word Clouds Magic Moments: Painting with Time Teaching the Use of Social Phrases and Comments Let’s Go Outside! 5 PrAACtical Ideas Magic Moments with Disneyland Explorer “Can I Ask You a Question?” Language Experience Surveys 5 PrAACtical Thoughts on Catch-up Conversations Magic Moments with Tellagami Magic Moments with Sentence Builder
October 16, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Many AAC professionals are known for their generosity in creating and sharing resources to support individuals with complex communication needs. In today’s post, we feature a sampling of some that can be helpful during AAC Awareness Month and beyond. Print and display an AAC Poster. Create a bulletin board with an AAC focus or sprinkle these around the environment. From Drawn to AAC: AAC Awareness Month October Printable Posters From Emily B. Speech: AAC Awareness Month Poster and Bulletin Board Kit From The AAC Coach: Never Too Late or Early From CoughDrop: Keys to Modeling From Rachael Langley: Subway Art From Lauren Enders: AAC Do/Do Not From Kate Ahern: The Periodic Table of AAC From Noodle Nook: 5 Tips for Communicating with Nonverbal Students From Scope: Speak Up and Be Safe From PrAACtical AAC: More Teaching, Less Testing Share handouts Print, hang, or give someone an AAC awareness image 10... [Read More...]
October 5, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Our two series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, Year of Core Vocabulary Words and School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, continue to be used by therapists, educators, and families. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle, was first published in 2020. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people... [Read More...]
September 16, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
About Week 2 Welcome to the second week of your Stepping into AAC journey! Now that you have a communication board (or other AAC tool) to use and an idea of what to expect over the next 19 weeks, we’re going to dive into some concepts that will help you begin using this with your AAC learner. We will explore the following concepts this week: Word List: Get a preview of all the words that we’ll be focusing on over the course of this program. Shared Attention: Gain an understanding of the crucial role that joint attention plays in learning and communication and how to maximize it for the benefit of your AAC learner. Multimodal Communication: Learn about different forms of communication and how to incorporate them when supporting a beginning AAC user. Modeling Language with AAC: Consider how to help your AAC learner expand their language abilities by giving... [Read More...]
September 16, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
About This Week Welcome to Week 3 of your Stepping into AAC journey! This week will get us thinking about how words are symbolized, what kinds of words should be on AAC systems, and other foundational information. We will explore the following concepts this week: Why Use Symbols for AAC? Gain an understanding of symbolic communication and issues related to using picture symbols in AAC systems. Balancing Core and Fringe Vocabulary: Learn about different types of words that AAC learners need access to and the role of each. Navigating AAC: Build your knowledge of the logic in the design of communication boards, AAC apps, and speech-generating devices. AACtion Steps Week 3 AACtion Steps Signposts Link to References Gayl Porter & Linda Burkhart, 2010 – Limitations of Using a Representational Hierarchy Get the Handout Balancing Core & Fringe Get the Handout Navigating AAC- 3 Things to Know Travelog Week 3 Travelog... [Read More...]
September 16, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
About Week 5 Welcome to the fifth week of your Stepping into AAC journey! In Week 5, we do a deep dive into key strategies for beginning AAC users. We will explore the following concepts this week: Say What You See: Familiarize yourself with the concept of narrating the world around us to facilitate language development in AAC learners. Model AAC Without Expectation: Learn about one of the most helpful AAC support strategies we have in our toolbox. Pause – Give Time for AAC Learning: Expand your understanding of ‘wait time’ and the positive role it can play in interactions with AAC users. Make the Most of Requesting: Consider the importance of making requests along with some of the pitfalls of over-emphasizing this aspect of communication. Think Aloud with AAC: By giving voice to our thoughts, feelings, and internal dialogue, we can support the development of cognitive and linguistic skills... [Read More...]
September 16, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
About This Week Welcome to Week 7 of your Stepping into AAC journey! We continue to explore ways to customize our communication boards this week with a focus on accommodating challenges with vision and attention. You will explore the following concepts this week: Be an Access Detective: What does ‘access’ mean in an AAC context, and how can we address this for AAC learners with complex bodies? Attention, Please! Explore the role of attention in AAC learning and how to accommodate challenges in this area. Customization to Address Challenges with Vision, Hearing, & Attention: Learn ways to personalize the communication board so that people with sensory and attention difficulties can be successful users of AAC. AAC Learners with CVI: Cortical vision impairment (CVI) can make AAC learning a lot more challenging. Learn about this condition and how we can support AAC learners with CVI. AACtion Steps Week 7 AACtion Steps... [Read More...]