1788 Search Results for video of the week

Video of the Week: Apps Across the Curriculum

December 16, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Apps Across the Curriculum

For some learners, AAC is essential in order for them to have access to the curriculum. Access, though, is a bit of a low bar. What we REALLY want is for them to have the supports they need in order to learn and achieve. In this post, we feature a trio of videos to help us look further into apps that will do just that. Thanks to the Center on Technology and Disability, and AT Specialists Diana Petschaue and Luis Perez for these wonderful webinars. http://www.ctdinstitute.org/library/2015-11-06/apps-across-curriculum-and-platforms-support-struggling-learners-series

Video of the Week: Engineering Environments to Support AAC

December 9, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Engineering Environments to Support AAC

It has been so exciting to see the amazing supports for AAC implementation sponsored by The Angelman Syndrome Foundation (ASF). In this week’s featured video, Erin Sheldon talks about the process of modifying the environment to be conducive to AAC learning. This is full of great content and prAACtical tips that will be helpful to families and professionals alike. Many thanks to the ASF for making this available.  

Video of the Week: Communication Access as a Social Justice Issue

December 2, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Communication Access as a Social Justice Issue

Curb cuts and ramps are standard accommodations in many parts of the world to reduce barriers to mobility. That’s important, of course, but what about the millions of people who are handicapped by barriers to communication? As AAC practitioners, we generally get so wrapped up in addressing the needs of individual clients on our caseloads that we rarely take time to consider the ways in which we can impact systemic barriers to effective communication. We are quite mindful that people with AAC needs struggle to communicate when they leave our therapy sessions and go about their lives and onto the business of learning, playing, and working. We are cognizant of the barriers they face and put on our best problem-solving hats to help them cope. Client by client. Issue by issue. If you’ve lamented “There has to be a better way,” you’re not alone. It seems overwhelming to think about... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Classroom Support for the Beginning Communicator

November 25, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Classroom Support for the Beginning Communicator

Gabriella doesn’t seem to notice what her teachers and peers are doing in the classroom. When offered a choice of toys, she seems to reach for one rather randomly, has little interest in the one she chose, and knocks it to the floor after 30 seconds. Elliot is assertive in greeting visitors to his classroom, and eagerly leads them around the room, vocalizing excitedly as he shows them around. When he needs help with a toy or material, he hands it to an adult with clear intent and expectation. He’s not using actual words just yet, and his interest in PECS has been limited. Alyssa uses a communication board to make requests and answer questions, but only with a lot of prompting. She uses single symbol utterances in planned communication opportunities during a few activities during the school day. Team members have observed spontaneous use of her AAC tools a... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Apps and Resources for Language and Literacy in Young Children with Disabilities by Beth Poss

November 4, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Apps and Resources for Language and Literacy in Young Children with Disabilities by Beth Poss

Our video for this week features Beth Poss, an SLP and AT consultant, with a wealth of experience. In this video, Beth reviews the many ways in which mobile technology can be used to to support the development of early language and literacy with young children who have disabilities. Many thanks to the Center for Technology and Disability for making this available.  

Video of the Week: Visual Supports on the Fly

October 28, 2015 by - 2 Comments

Video of the Week: Visual Supports on the Fly

For several years, we’ve written many posts on the use of visual supports with AAC learners. One thing we haven’t talked about, though, is what to do when you’re in the midst of therapy or a lesson, and the need for an additional visual support arises. In this week’s featured video, SLP Shannon Hennig does an amazing job of explaining how she improvises to make visual supports on the fly. Like you, I appreciate the plethora of visual supports that have been appearing on Teachers Pay Teachers, SLP blogs, materials exchange sites, and Pinterest. Most of them are just adorable, some of them are well-designed, and all of them make using visual supports more convenient for busy professionals and families. In the end, though, the best visual supports are the ones that meet the needs of the situations. And, while we do our best to predict what will be needed... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Adapting Books with Visual Scenes

October 14, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Adapting Books with Visual Scenes

There is so much we have yet to learn about the best ways to get beginning communicators engaged in language learning. In this brief video, Dr. Nimisha Muttiah talks about a strategy for combining selected features of adapted books and visual scene displays to create an easy-to-use, no-tech communication aid. You can read more about the strategy here. Thanks to Hillary Jellison, Nerissa Hall, and the rest of the team at Communicare for making this available. You can check out more from the Communicare team in these guest posts.  

Video of the Week: Core Vocabulary 101

October 7, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Core Vocabulary 101

Last month, we featured some wonderful videos from a project of the Angelman Syndrome Foundation that is a great starting point for anyone preparing to implement robust AAC for the first time (you can see that here). Today, we return to the ASF Communication Training Series to get an overview of key constructs in core vocabulary. SLP Maureen Nevers helps us understand the role of core vocabulary in AAC systems and instructional plans (such as IEPs). Even if you are familiar with core vocabulary, this video addresses issues that will support implementation. Many, many thanks to the ASF  and the Foster Family Charitable Foundation for the support the provided to create this video and for making it available to all of us.