582 Search Results for a year of core

AAC in Secondary School: Party Planning AACtivity

May 17, 2021 by - 1 Comment

AAC in Secondary School: Party Planning AACtivity

Today, we welcome back AAC SLP Ashley Larisey to these pages for another post in the AAC in Secondary School series. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. Additionally, Ashley presents on AAC topics at professional conferences. In today’s post, she shares thoughts on using party planning as an activity for teaching language and AAC skills. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Party Planning If you work in the schools, the end of the school year is right around the corner! The month of May is generally full of celebrations to culminate a year’s worth of hard work for staff and students alike. For high school students, this can also include celebrations surrounding graduation. Parties are often planned by educational staff, but why not bring students into the process? Party planning is full of... [Read More...]

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Like Myself!’

May 10, 2021 by - 2 Comments

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Like Myself!’

It’s time for another set of wonderful suggestions for robust implementation of core vocabulary support using the TELL ME program. Two amazing AAC SLPs, Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim, are the guest authors of TELL ME About It series and they’re back with prAACtical ideas for classroom activities, virtual learning tips, supporting AAC learning at home, and more. Also, don’t miss their bonus resources or their video read-alouds of this month’s book with aided language input using three different AAC apps. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. If you are new to the series, you can check out their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series below. YEAR 1 TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Brown... [Read More...]

AAC & CVI: Can We Chat?

April 19, 2021 by - 7 Comments

AAC and CVI: Can We Chat?

Do you serve students with cortical visual impairment (CVI)? Teacher of the visually impaired Dr. Sandra Newcomb and AAC SLP Debbie Perry regularly combine their expertise and collaborate to support children with CVI who are learning to use AAC. In today’s post, they take us beyond the basics to share their thoughts on the complex issues that we should consider in serving this population. Follow along as they challenge some assumptions and provide helpful suggestions. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AAC and CVI: Can We Chat? Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) is vision loss due to damage or malformation in the brain that interferes with the child’s ability to understand vision information coming from the eyes.  It is the number one cause of vision impairment for young children in developed countries.  It has been found that 10.5% of children with developmental disabilities have CVI [1].  This means if you are a pediatric SLP you will... [Read More...]

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Where’s Spot?’

April 12, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with 'Where's Spot?'

We’re thrilled that AAC SLPs Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim have returned to these pages with another edition in the TELL ME About It series. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. As usual, their post is chock full of prAACtical information including ideas for classroom activities, virtual learning tips, supporting AAC learning at home, and more. Also, don’t miss their tips for supporting a variety of communicative functions and their video read-alouds with three different AAC apps. If you are new to the series, you can check out their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series below. YEAR 1 TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Brown Bear, Brown Bear I Went Walking From Head to Toe... [Read More...]

AAC in Secondary School: 5 AACtionable Steps to Support the Transition Process

April 5, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC in Secondary School: 5 AACtionable Steps to Support the Transition Process

We’re back with another post in our series focusing on supporting students to use AAC during their high school years. AAC SLP Ashley Larisey, an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois, is here to discuss ways to support students who use AAC as they prepare to transition out of school. Ashley, who is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University, has some prAACtical suggestions that will be of interest to SLPs, OTs, teachers, and parents alike. Enjoy! 5 AACtionable Steps to Support the Transition Process Do you have a student on your caseload who uses AAC and will be aging out of special education services soon? This can be an incredibly exciting time, but it can also be full of feelings of uncertainty. Hopefully, we have put in a lot of time and effort into supporting AAC users, their families, and... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #13: March 2021

March 28, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #13: March 2021

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you might enjoy. Monday – How We Do It: Navigating Successful Post-Secondary Transitions in a Virtual World Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Developing & Using Communication Passports Thursday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 9 (April) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for some resources to use in your AAC work? Check out some of those listed below. AAC 101 Flipbook Communication Partner Data Collection Form AAC Skills: Caught or Taught? AAC Modeling Handout Repairing Communication Breakdowns

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘The Skin You Live In’!

March 15, 2021 by - 1 Comment

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘The Skin You Live In’!

We are back with lots of great core vocabulary resources in another edition in the TELL ME About It series. In today’s post, AAC SLPs Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim share ideas for language learning with the book ‘The Skin You Live In.’ Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. Check out the video read-alouds using 3 different AAC apps, and their ideas for classroom activities, e-learning, supporting AAC learning at home, and more. Also, don’t miss their tips for dealing with communication breakdowns. To read more about how they prepare for a TELL ME week and see resources that are based on other books take a look at their previous posts in the TELL ME About It... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #9: February 2021

February 28, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtical Week # 9

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that you may have missed. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Like It When’! Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in AAC Thursday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 8 (March) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Some of our AAC friends are beginning to prepare for upcoming IEPs so our thoughts have been turning to the classroom, curriculum, and academics. Here are some of the posts we’ve been revisiting. Take a look. Integrating AAC Instruction with Curriculum Standards Research Tuesday: Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities Educating Students with Complex Support Needs in a Standards-Aligned System PrAACtical Partnerships: AAC and Academics Helping the General Education Team Support Students Who Use AAC  

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Like It When’!

February 22, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with I Like It When

AAC SLPs Jeanna Antrim and Maggie Judson return to these pages for another guest post the TELL ME About It series. Today, they focus on the teaching opportunities in the book ‘I Like It When’! Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. In this post, they share their ideas for classroom activities, e-learning, supporting AAC learning at home, and more. TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Like It When’! TELL ME About The Book The sixth book in this new series is “I Like It When” by Mary Murphy.  Such a fun book to use for shared reading, with its simple text, repeated lines, and engaging illustrations.  Also, it’s chock full of embedded text (text that is... [Read More...]

AAC in Secondary School: Defining Age Respectful

February 8, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC in Secondary School: Defining Age Respectful

Today, we welcome back AAC SLP Ashley Larisey to these pages for another post in the AAC in Secondary School series. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. In today’s post, she shares thoughts on being age-respectful in choosing content, activities, and materials for high school students who are learning to use AAC. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Defining Age-Respectful The terms “age-appropriate” and “functional” are terms that come up frequently when working with older learners with complex communication needs and/or significant cognitive impairments. These students are entitled to receive an education that is aligned with the grade level standards in their state. Instruction should respect that these learners are no longer children, but in fact teenagers or young adults. But what do the terms “age-appropriate” and “functional” really mean? How are those terms... [Read More...]