843 Search Results for core vocabulary

AAC Awareness Month Ideas

October 1, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

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In our part of the world, October brings pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween costumes, and apple cider. But no matter where you live October is more than pumpkins and Halloween. It’s internationally recognized as AAC Awareness Month and it offers a wonderful opportunity for spreading the word as to how we can support people with complex communication needs. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Make an AAC Awareness Bulletin Board in your school or clinic. These materials can be used to create an AAC Awareness display.   Download the files, print on color paper, and you are ready to assemble your display. Punch up the display with an AAC poster, like Lauren Enders’ AAC Boot Camp-Getting AAC Users to Communicate or Kate Ahern’s The Periodic Table of AAC . Other ideas: Print, hang, or give someone an AAC awareness image 10 Commandments of AAC Devices Spice up your AAC instruction with... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #39: September 2019

September 29, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Decorative image with text: AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #39: September 2019

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some AAC posts that may be of interest. Monday –  How I Do It: Teaching the AAC Helpers Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Stepping Stones to Switch Access, Part 2 Thursday – PrAACtically October: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Friday – PrAACtically October: A Month of AAC Ideas ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: We’re excited for the start of AAC Awareness Month and grateful to Lauren Enders for continuing the tradition of helping us stay aware of the discounts on AAC apps.   In the mood for some more AAC exploration? Here are a few suggestions. Building AAC Awareness: Using AAC to Express a Range of Functions From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 1 From Activity-based AAC to Robust Language: Part 2 Social Stories and Narratives PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Apples Have a great week, everyone!

PrAACtically October: A Month of AAC Ideas

September 27, 2019 by - 2 Comments

PrAACtically October: A Month of AAC Ideas

We know how many of you love Rachael Langley’s calendars with prAACtical suggestions for infusing core vocabulary. If you are following along with the Year of Core Vocabulary or are just wanting to add more core word activities to your day, this perpetual calendar for October will come in handy. Perpetual calendars are designed to be used year after year. At the start of the month, just write in the numbers in the blank squares, and you are good to go. You can click here or on the image to download a copy. Many, many thanks to Rachael for making these resources and sharing them so that they can be used by families, teachers, and therapists.

How I Do It: Teaching the AAC Helpers

September 23, 2019 by - 1 Comment

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We welcome Amanda Samperi back to these pages with more ideas for prAACtical ways to address AAC implementation challenges. As an SLP, Amanda has served individuals with complex communication needs in school, home, and medical settings.  She has presented on AAC-related topics st ASHA, an IEE Electrical Safety Workshop, and at the AAC in the Cloud Conference. Amanda hopes to continue sharing her knowledge and experiences about AAC through her blog, AAC is where it’s AT. Today, she shares some ideas for helping staff members better support AAC learners. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: Teaching the Helpers Mr. Rogers had it right – you will always find people helping. Helpers make our world go round. We rely on them in times of tragedy, celebrate with them in times of joy, and lean on them in times of need. Helpers play a large role in both the home and school lives... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #36: September 2019

September 8, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

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Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – How I Do It: Planning AAC Therapy Activities Across Grade Levels Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Safeguards for AAC Users Thursday – How I Do It – AAC in General Education: Incorporating Peer Modeling ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: In the mood for some more AAC? Here are some selections from our archives. Video Modeling & AAC Boosting Communication with Video Modeling PrAACtical Teaching in the ASD Classroom: Predictable Chart Writing with Core Vocabulary How We Do It: AAC Videos for Core Word Modeling

How I Do It: Planning AAC Therapy Activities Across Grade Levels

September 2, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

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AAC SLP Amanda Samperi is back with another post in her series about the prAACtical aspects of AAC therapy. In this post, Amanda shares her views and experiences on helping students with AAC needs build their language skills. You can see her previous posts in this series here. Putting the FUN Back in FUNctional Working with Multiple Symbol Sets ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: AAC Therapy is Language Therapy I’ve traveled between several states and many different schools over the past few years. Because of this, I’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing SLPs! They’re talented, strong, creative, and love their kiddos more than anything. And just like any other team, each of us has different strengths and weaknesses. When I’m joining a Speech team, there’s usually at least one other SLP with specialties that are outside of my wheelhouse. However, she isn’t very comfortable with AAC. It... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #35: September 2019

September 1, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Decorative image reading AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #35: Sept 2019

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Model as a MASTER PAL Thursday – PrAACtically September: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a few more for your browsing pleasure. AAC and Visual Supports for Storms and Hurricanes: 10 Useful Resources How I Do It: Cooking in the Classroom with Carol Goossens’ How I Do It: Conversation Practice with Teens and Young Adults by Angela Adams On AAC Training: Skill Building for AAC Team Members PrAACtical Resources: AAC 101 Flipbook Handout

How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets

August 26, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Title image reading How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets

Amanda Samperi is back with the second post in her series about getting ready to return to school-based AAC services. Amanda is an AAC SLP who has worked in a variety of service delivery settings and runs the blog, AAC is Where It’s AT. Currently, she provides push-in language therapy to children with complex communication needs at a substantially-separate center school in Florida. She also conducts AAC/AT evaluations, provides year-round parent trainings, and assists the SLP team in instructing teachers/staff about communication supports and strategies In today’s post, she addresses a situation faced by many AAC teams: Serving children who use a variety of different AAC symbols and systems. If you missed Amanda’s initial post on back-to-school AAC, you can catch up on that here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: Working with Multiple Symbol Sets It’s the beginning of the year – desks are in their spots, students’ names are... [Read More...]

TELL ME About It: AAC Literacy Kits

August 19, 2019 by - 3 Comments

Title Image: TELL ME About It: AAC Literacy Kits

  Combining AAC learning with literacy activities is one of our favorite ways to support young learners. We start off the week with a taste of how AT specialists in one school district are helping preschool special education teachers build a foundation of core vocabulary in their students. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim 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. This is the first of a series of posts in which Maggie and Jeanna discuss ways that books from the TELL ME program can be used to support AAC learning. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: As AAC facilitators for a special education cooperative, we are always on the lookout for effective ways to provide our students access to instructional materials and activities that not... [Read More...]

How I Do It: Putting the FUN Back in FUNctional

August 12, 2019 by - 3 Comments

Yellow image with cartoon animals & title: How I Do It: Putting the FUN Back in FUNctional

In the US and some other countries, we’re starting a new school year and SLP Amanda Samperi is here to get us off to a good start by sharing her experiences and suggestions for engaging AAC activities. After graduating from Penn State, Amanda worked for several years as an SLP in school, home, and medical settings.  She has presented on AAC-related topics st ASHA, an IEE Electrical Safety Workshop, and at the AAC in the Cloud Conference. Amanda hopes to continue sharing her knowledge and experiences about AAC through her blog, AAC is where it’s AT. Today, she introduces us to a series of posts that focus on creating fun AACtivities for language learning. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Back-to-School with AAC: Putting the FUN back in FUNctional There is something special about this time of year – students are trying on their back-to-school outfits, school supplies are magically discounted beyond belief, and parents... [Read More...]