465 Search Results for year of core words
May 30, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
It’s such a pleasure to have Angi Pearce back on these pages to share her experiences and passion for teaching students with AAC needs. Angi is a teacher at Kowhai Special School in Hastings, New Zealand, and serves as the team leader for the Junior School classes (ages 5-11). Her initial post (see that here) introduced us to the ways that she embraced AAC and integrated it into her classroom. In today’s post, she talks about how things have evolved. Enjoy the journey! How We Do It: AAC in the Special Education Classroom – Continuing the Journey This is my fifth year teaching in a school for children with special needs. Five years ago, AAC was a new term for me. Core vocabulary boards were the first tools which were introduced to me, which I did not understand the benefit and purpose of until I observed the way it enhanced... [Read More...]
May 9, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We are pleased to welcome Beth Waite-Lafever, an SLP with over 30 years of AAC experience, back to these pages. She has worked in outpatient rehab, private practice, and public school and has the RESNA ATP credential and LAMP certification from The Center for AAC and Autism. Beth has given many presentations at the state, national and international levels on AAC and related topics. In her private practice, she has provides evaluations, therapy, and training. Beth is the proud co-creator of The Indiana AAC Summit. Currently, she provides monthly online training for PRC as a contracted employee and is an SLP and AT Coach for MSD Martinsville, a public school system in Martinsville, Indiana. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How We Do It: Increasing AAC Acceptance and Making Better Communication Partners In Our School Each May when I see the Better Hearing and Speech campaign gear up, I wonder what more I can do... [Read More...]
May 6, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Are you ready for some reading, AAC style? In today’s edition of PrAACtically Reading, Karen Natoci and Karen Baca share a preschool book about farm animals. Karen Natoci is an AAC Supervisor who is well-known to the readers of this site (see her wonderful contributions here.). Her colleague Karen Baca is an AT and AAC Specialist with over 30 years in the field of AT, specializing in AAC, alternative access, and literacy for all students with disabilities. They both work for The Speech Pathology Group in the San Francisco Bay area. Book: Over on the Farm by Marianne Berkes and illustrated by Cathy Morrison (Copyright © 2003, Little, Brown and Company; Hachette Book Group, www.lb-kids.com) Vocabulary focus: All core words Fringe Vocabulary focus: horse/foals/neigh, cat/kittens/meow, cow/calves/moo, goat/kids/maa, chicken/chick/cheep-cheep, owl/owlets/hoot-hoot, mouse/pups/squeek, turkey/poults/gobble-gobble, duck/ducklings/quack, pig/piglets/oink Actions: peck, nibble, swish, wash, gallop, hide, fly, strut, waddle roll Communication Matrix (Rowland, 2009) level: I-VIII... [Read More...]
May 5, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – PrAACtically May: More AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Looking at AAC Modeling Thursday – How We Do It: Coaching AAC Use in the Natural Environment :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, check out these posts from the archives. It’s PrAACtically Mother’s Day- 5 Activities that Support Communicating with Mom Using Vest Displays with Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum Aided Language Input During Play Five Resources for Making and Using Visual Scene Displays From Solitary Play to Interaction: 5 Things to Try With Kids Who Love Their iPad Games
April 14, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Good morning, AAC friends. Here are the posts we published this week. Monday – AACtivity of the Month: Concept Sorts Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Strategies for Supporting AAC Team Buy-In & Implementation Thursday – How I do it: Using Videos & Instructional Feedback to Support Communication Partners ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Have time for a little more browsing? Check out these past posts. When Helping Isn’t Helping-Prompt Awareness in AAC Instruction Administratively Speaking: 5 Considerations for Recruiting and Retaining AAC SLPs AAC In the Classroom: Considerations for Modeling Core Vocabulary How I Do It: A Year of Core Word in Action AAC in the High School Classroom: Where Core Vocabulary Meets Life Skills
February 21, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
We have deep respect for clinicians and educators who are willing to share their approach to developing strong AAC instructional sessions. Today, we are excited to welcome SLP Jeanna Antrim to these pages. Jeanna has been an SLP for the past 7 years practicing at special education cooperatives in southern Illinois. She works both with students in a self-contained behavior school and as an AAC facilitator conducting AAC evaluations, providing direct therapy, and consulting with school teams. In this post, she shares her approach to developing AAC sessions using shared reading. (Don’t miss her book packet and handouts.) ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: Literacy, Language, and AAC After graduating, it took me a few years of trial and error before I figured out (and don’t get me wrong I’m still figuring out) my niche. I absolutely love books and love how I can target any language and communication concept within a... [Read More...]
December 17, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’re so pleased to welcome back Sarah Mueller, who teaches high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Rochester, Michigan. In this post, she shares her experiences in working with peer mentors and how she has helped to facilitate meaningful relationships between students with and without disabilities. Don’t miss her video or the links to download some of the materials they used. Enjoy! The Power of Peers We often talk about the functions of communication and their importance in developing and expanding the students’ communicative repertoire. Moving beyond requesting to protesting, commenting, and greeting and other functions is often the focus. But as high schoolers included in the school community, my students want to be social with their peers without disabilities. What does that look like for students with complex communication needs? How, as a teacher, can you structure social opportunities to teach and practice core? What... [Read More...]
November 8, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Thanks to all who reached out to express appreciation for Tabi Jones-Wohleber’s training resources in the MASTER PAL series. Many of you have already used the slides, video links, handouts, and discussion points that were shared over the past few months, and others have plans to do so. In this final post, Tabi shares some of the ‘lessons learned’ in creating and utilizing these materials. If you’re new to the series, you can check out each of the 11 modules here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::; Over the last 11 weeks, facilitation strategies for communication partners have been shared through the Model as a MASTER PAL series. Model as a MASTER PAL is a framework for supporting communication partners of those who use AAC that evolved in response to the need go beyond the imperative and always present conversations of “use core words” and “model AAC”. It started as a list of ideas to... [Read More...]
October 22, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve been focusing on training communication partners recently and today we’re focusing specifically on paraprofessionals/educational assistants. Our guest post is authored by SLPs Corinna Duffitt, M.Sc., RSLP (practicing for 21 years, 14 years in AAC) and Jennifer Wiegert, M.A., CCC-RSLP (practicing for 21 years, focusing on AAC for the past 6 years). They are colleagues on an AAC team with 4 other SLPs in a large school district in Surrey, BC, Canada. Their school district consists of 101 elementary schools and 20 secondary schools. Corinna and Jennifer are both passionate about giving children a voice and letting that voice uncovers their potential. They recently joined their private practice endeavours, outside of their public school positions, to form Chickadee AAC Communication Services. You can find them on Instagram (@chickadeeaacslps or #chickadeeaac), check in on their website, and/or follow them on Facebook. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AAC Training for Educational Assistants Some of the challenges we encountered... [Read More...]
October 15, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Supporting language development through well-planned intervention is a favorite topic here, and it is with pleasure that we feature Indiana-based SLP and ATP, Beth Waite-Lafever. Beth is a speech-language pathologist and has RESNA certification in Assistive Technology. She has worked in the field of AAC over the past 30 years in outpatient rehab, private practice, and public schools. Beth is a frequent presenter at national conferences, including ATIA and Closing The Gap, and teaches monthly online courses in implementation and use of speech generating devices. Currently, she is an SLP and Assistive Technology Coach for MSD Martinsville, a school district 30 miles south of Indianapolis and maintains a private practice. In this post, Beth shares her experiences in using the Expanding Expression Tool in language therapy with students who use AAC. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: EET + AAC = OMG! You may have heard of EET; Expanding Expression Tool, a multi-sensory strategy designed by speech-language... [Read More...]