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The Year’s Top AAC Posts: 2022

December 26, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

The Year's Top AAC Posts: 2022

As we prepare to say goodbye to December and welcome the New Year, let’s revisit some of the most popular posts of 2022. PrAACtical Goals That Matter How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders AAC Assessment Forms How I Do It: Using PODD books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder How I Do It: Planning AAC Therapy Activities Across Grade Levels Building Your AAC SLP Toolkit: Obtaining Free Apps for AAC Evaluations The First 12: Getting Started with Core Vocabulary Teaching Core Vocabulary Literacy for Everyone with Adapted Books A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 1 (August) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle Make It Monday: Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the... [Read More...]

After the Candy is Gone: Post-Halloween Ideas for AAC Learning

November 3, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

After the Candy is Gone: Post-Halloween Ideas for AAC Learning

We’re sharing some ideas for AAC learning based on a previous post by the late Dr. Robin Parker. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Language learning involves talking about events in the past, present, and future.  Since Halloween is over, it is a perfect opportunity to help AAC users talk about past events. Here are 5 tips for getting started. Use a weekly or monthly (calendar) schedule to ‘remember’ Halloween, or if you are sticking to core words to remember the “great day” or “bad day” depending upon the experience. Use photos of the Halloween festivities to discuss what happened and what everyone did. You can use these to discuss costumes, decorations, the best/worst part of the day, etc. Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast Halloween experiences. This can be done by comparing two people, places, or anything else. For some learners, you can use images to put Halloween things that everyone saw... [Read More...]

Throwback Thursday: Supporting Early Communication with AAC

September 8, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

Throwback Thursday: Supporting Early Communication with AAC

When working with people who are in the early stages of communicative development, there is a lot to think about. If you are planning an assessment, preparing for therapy or instruction, or otherwise supporting an emergent communicator, these past posts may be of interest. Recommended Practices for Beginning Communicators  Using Symbols with Beginning Communicators  Getting Started with AAC Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentences  A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators  Beginning Communicators: Learning Through Touch Cues

How I Do It: AAC Practitioners, Part 2

March 24, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

How I Do It: AAC Practitioners, Part 2

If you like learning from AAC professionals who support individuals with complex communication needs in schools, clinics, online, and elsewhere, read on! We’re reaching back in the archives again on this Throwback Thursday to hear about their experiences, perspectives, suggestions, and materials. You can see the previous post on this topic here. How I Do It Angela Adams Starting AAC with Teens & Young Adults Conversation Practice with Teens and Young Adults Katie Bernadkin Building Friendship Skills with Peer-A-Mids Rebecca Bright Helping Clients Who Use AAC Connect with their Grandchildren Karen Natoci Florka Connecting with Colleagues in a Shared Community of Practice Carole Zangari Preparing AAC Learners for Their First SGD Rachael Langley PODD in the Classroom: Portable, Wearable, & Comfortable PODD in the Classroom – Quick Tips for Teams Georgia Karavias Using an App to Create AAC Materials & Visual Supports Laura Tarver Using PODD books and Aided Language... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 3: January 2022

January 16, 2022 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 3: January 2022

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some AAC posts you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtical Questions: “Can We Use an AAC Tool Created by Our Service Provider?” Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Getting Started with Eye Gaze SGDs Thursday – Throwback Thursday: Honoring Martin Luther King Jr, AAC Style ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, here are a couple of other suggestions for posts to explore. Transitioning to the Workplace: Resources for AAC Learners with Significant Disabilities Working with Multiple Symbol Sets Faces of AAC: Making It Work in A Busy Family Supporting AAC Learners in Working with Words Vocabulary Instruction: When Definitions Don’t Work

The Year’s Top AAC Posts: 2021

December 30, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

The Year's Top AAC Posts: 2021

As we wave goodbye to December and welcome the New Year, let’s revisit some of the most popular posts of 2021. PrAACtical Goals That Matter How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders PrAACtical AAC Goals How I Do It: Using PODD books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder AAC Assessment Forms Building Your AAC SLP Toolkit: Obtaining Free Apps for AAC Evaluations The First 12: Getting Started with Core Vocabulary Teaching Core Vocabulary Literacy for Everyone with Adapted Books A Year of Core Vocabulary Words Make It Monday: Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 1 (August) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list? We’d love to hear about it.

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 45: November 2021

November 7, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 45: November 2021

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have a handful of posts for you. Monday – AAC at Upcoming Professional Conferences: 3 Online Learning Opportunities Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Implementing Comprehensive Literacy Instruction for Students Who Use AAC Thursday – AAC Fair Testing Practices: Test Administration Procedures Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links – Noviembre 2021 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While you’re here, why not sample some of these past posts? Organizing Vocabulary for Communication Books: Getting Started More on Teaching Core Vocabulary Join Together Core and Fringe AAC In the Classroom: Considerations for Modeling Core Vocabulary PrAACtical Resources: Mini Communication Boards

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 40: October 2021

October 3, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 40: October 2021

Happy AAC Awareness Month, prAACtical friends! We have some posts that may be of interest. Monday – October Year of Core Vocabulary & School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Building PVC Stands for Eye Gaze & Tablets Thursday – Kicking Off AAC Awareness Month with Hands-on Activities Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados Con Links – Octubre 2021 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Ready for a few more posts to browse? Here’s a selection that may interest you. PrAACtically Halloween: Considerations for an AAC-friendly Holiday Beyond Requesting – Thoughts on Teaching Interrogatives Expanding AAC Learners’ Single Word Utterances How I Do It: A Framework for Success-Getting Started in the Exciting World of Communication and AAC “I Made a Communication Board. Now What?”

PrAACtical Considerations: An Introduction to Fair Testing Practices in AAC

August 23, 2021 by - 3 Comments

PrAACtical Considerations: An Introduction to Fair Testing Practices in AAC

Why do students who use AAC have difficulty showing what they know when taking tests and quizzes? More than a decade ago, Lisa Proctor and I wrote about the unfair ways that students who use AAC are tested in the book Practically Speaking: Language, Literacy, and Academic Development for Students with AAC Needs that I co-edited with Gloria Soto. Later, I wrote about that on these pages, too, discussing how we set them up for failure in our current practices (see PrAACtically Unfair: Why People Who Use AAC Sometimes Fail at Tests).  As I talk to educators, clinicians, families, and AAC users, it seems that little has changed, at least here in the US. AAC users are still routinely tested in ways that set them up for failure.   We don’t test what a 4-year-old knows about animals by having them write about the subject. Why? Because they can’t write well... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 33: August 2021

August 15, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week # 33: August 2021

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are a few posts you might enjoy. Monday – Starting AAC in the Teen Years: 3 Considerations for Families & Practitioners Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC and Heritage Language Thursday – Throwback Thursday: Activities for AAC Learning :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the mood for a little more? Here are some selections for you to browse. 10 Tips for Starting AAC with the Little Ones How I Do It: A Framework for Success-Getting Started in the Exciting World of Communication and AAC PrAACtical Suggestions: How to Get Started with A New AAC Client How We Do It: AAC Training for Educational Assistants Visual Support for Places Around School