462 Search Results for opportunities
February 21, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Communication and language involves so much more than requesting. Without much effort, communicators with typical language development and even delayed language development communicate for many reasons. Showing or telling about a shared interest comes easily and is a form of commenting to communicate. Commenting is one of the most social reasons that we communicate. So, it makes perfect sense that children with social communication disorders may not have an easy time with these social aspects of communication and language. We know many children who frequently use long (or short) sentences to say ‘I want the blue truck’, ‘I want the big ball’, or even ‘Can I have the cold drink’. They may even communicate frequently to ask for toys, games, or activities of their choice. All of the requesting is GREAT but not enough to be part of comprehensive conversations and social language interactions. It is not that children with... [Read More...]
February 19, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
This is the first in an occasional series of posts in which we take activities designed for students in general education and tweak them a bit to make them into opportunities for AAC teaching. We’ll be building on great ideas from clinicians, parents, and educators (giving credit where it is due, of course). – The first HijAACked activity is from the Classroom Magic blog by Selina Smith. We chose this one because it gives us a chance to promote one of our favorite online book sources, We Give Books and share a wonderful book that supports Black History Month. We Give Books is a project of the Pearson Foundation and Penguin Books (you can find out more here). The Hallelujah Flight is the story of pilot James Banning and his good friend, mechanic Thomas Allen, flew cross country during the Great Depression. Written by former teacher Phil Bildner, this book... [Read More...]
February 18, 2012
by Robin Parker -
We just had a conversation (one of many) about teaching someone how to USE an AAC device. A colleague who is learning about AAC brought up the idea that teaching AAC was like teaching someone a different language. Thinking about that made us realize it was also like learning another language for both the communicator and the communication partner. In fact was not ‘like’ learning another language, it really WAS another language. It may be another form of English (for us, Spanish for others, Mandarin for others still) but for our students/clients, learning an AAC system is just like trying to learn a new language without ever going to the country that the language is spoken and very rarely hearing other people speak this new language. People may also have trouble understanding this new language. There are few opportunities for an AAC user to be fully immersed in AAC... [Read More...]
February 17, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We’re always looking for engaging ways to give our preschool children practice with their core word vocabulary. Stop and Go by ShortStack is an app that will get your little friends using core language without even realizing how much practice they are getting. — We love the simple structure of the app, which shows vehicles stopped at a traffic light. We see and hear the name of the vehicle and then press the green light for the vehicle to go. It has an English or a Spanish option and lots of interactive elements to try and then talk about. — Magic Moments with Stop and Go 1. Core Word Practice: As expected, there are tons of opportunities for the child to move the vehicles in this app. Using the strategy of controlled access, we can elicit ‘stop’ and ‘go’ multiple times in this game. 2. More Core Word Practice –... [Read More...]
February 16, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
One of the reasons that we fell in love with AAC community was the seemingly boundless capacity for creativity. Creativity is something that most people associate with art and writing more than clinical work, but the reality is that creative problem-solving is a key skill among successful SLPs. As clinical educators, we’re always interested in finding ways to help our students (future SLPs) to analyze a problem situation and come up with a host of possible solutions. Creativity is enormously valuable in that process and we’re always looking for great examples of creative approaches to tough AAC problems. – So I was very intrigued by the way that educators, administrators, and therapists in British Columbia set out to help high school students with AAC needs master their systems. Approximately 5 years ago, SET-BC began the process of developing an AAC course that could be used for credit in provincial high... [Read More...]
February 11, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
The concept of Aided Language Input is simple: Speak AAC to the learner. If you were teaching her French, you’d speak to her in French. No one would dispute that hearing the new language is an essential prerequisite to learning it. It’s the same in AAC. If we want our folks to learn to express themselves with AAC, they have to have a lot of expose to people speaking AAC. – Here are the top reasons we are such strong advocates of this as an intervention strategy. – 1. It has a strong research base, thanks to studies by Kathryn Drager, Cathy Binger and Janice Light, Jennifer Kent-Walsh, Shakila Dada, and others. – 2. It is the fastest way for a clinician, teacher, or parents to get familiar with the language in the AAC device. If we don’t know what words are in there and where they are located, can... [Read More...]
February 10, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Magic Moments: AAC Intervention with Apps You Love- Toca Boca Doctor “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”… If it were only that simple. But it is not that easy and since we are right in the middle of cold and flu season, it reminds us about teaching AAC users to let us know when they are not feeling well. The more we can find ways to make the concepts of pain, injury, and distress more concrete and specific, the easier it is to learn. Telling others about your own discomfort is an important self-advocacy and self-determination skill. —- On a more PrAACtical note, telling about your symptoms... [Read More...]
February 7, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Rainy days and movies go together like peanut butter and jelly. We had a dreary afternoon the other day and it seemed like we would never see the sun again. I settled in to watch a documentary that I’d bookmarked awhile ago but couldn’t quite bring myself to watch. Refrigerator Mothers is a look back to the 1950’s-60’s at the devastating experience that families of children with autism had during an era when medical professionals attributed the cause of ASD to poor mothering. It follows the stories of several American mothers and their adult children who were challenged by autism but traumatized by the professionals whose help they sought. – Surely we know better than this, right? One would thank that we’d never again blame families for causing a disability. And one would be wrong, as this article from the Huffington Post points out. The Bruno Bettelheim era is... [Read More...]
February 6, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
I’m trying to learn to see the good in all things, even when it is not immediately apparent. Lucky for me, the universe just keeps tossing me opportunities to practice my emerging skill in this area. – Case in point: A phone conversation with an SLP serving a kindergarten child with developmental disabilities. “We’re working on speech right now, especially oral motor exercises. He can almost extend his tongue past his lips. And in the last year he’s been vocalizing a little louder. Oh, and Mom heard him say ‘Pa’ in the car last week, too! I wish progress were faster but he’s come a long way.” – No mention of the fact that he has an expressive vocabulary of, um. ZERO. – No consideration that if we continue with this current rate of learning, he’ll be able to say hist first three-word sentence at about the same time... [Read More...]
February 5, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Disney’s free app, Disneyland Explorer, is literally a walk in the park. We love the quality of the graphics, which are incredibly vivid and reminiscent of the old ViewMaster toy. The app is simple-just some views of Disneyland but because many of our kids have such intense memories of the Florida version of this theme park, it’s a natural for language therapy. Not everyone is lucky enough to live near a Disney park, but even so, there are lots of fun things to explore on this app.Take a peek at a video of the app here and you’ll see what we mean.There are lots of clinical/educational uses for this app, particularly for those kids we know whose lives are punctuated by trips to the Magic Kingdom. Here are some suggestions for AAC users of various ability levels. = Magic Moments: AAC Intervention with Disneyland Explorer 1. Multiple opportunities for using AAC... [Read More...]