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August 5, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Cohesion is a tough concept for many of our learners who are developing their AAC skills and struggling to build relationships. In this week’s featured video, Joel Shaul, from Autism Teaching Strategies, discusses how to use two metaphors for building cohesive conversations. One is the idea of links in a chain and the other is the girders of a building. Of course, we are big fans of the use of visual supports whenever we talk and teach. — Although the focus here is learners with ASD, we’ve used this and similar strategies many kinds of learners. Hope you enjoy this informative video. – – – –
June 20, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
While I am not one of those folks who has a phone glued to her ear, I sure wouldn’t want to live without the ability to make a phone call. Here are some sites with information of interest to people with AAC needs. 1. Photo Phone Dialing: While many high tech SGDs can do phone dialing, sometimes the best solution is the simplest one. For some people, using a phone that has prestored numbers stored under photo buttons, provides just enough support to make the call. Once the call is placed, however, out comes the SGD so the conversation can proceed. – 2. Phone Skills: We’re not born knowing how to use the phone and some of our AAC friends have needed direct instruction and lots of practice phone skills. Making visual supports, like this one from SET BC, can help. Another neat tool is the Tele-Trainer, which is a... [Read More...]
May 27, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
— Being in the military? That’s some tough stuff. Having a child with AAC needs? Lots of challenges there, as we all know. – Both? Hard to imagine — As professionals, few of us know much about the unique pressures and demands on military families of children with special needs. In this post, we highlight some resources that SLPs, educators, and others can use to educate ourselves and provide better supports to these families. – 1. U.S. Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) Special Education Information and information on the The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children 2. Military Homefront pages on Special Education and Assistive Technology with link to TRICARE Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) 3. Military Child Education Coalition Special Education Leadership Institute (SELI) 4. STOMP: Specialized Training for Military Parents, a project dedicated to training and support of families who have a... [Read More...]
May 23, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
– For some people with significant communication difficulties, mobile devices and AAC apps play an important role. When selected after a process of careful evaluation, they can be incredibly useful in building communication, literacy, self-regulation, and other important skills. Here are links to organizations that provide support to families seeking mobile devices and communication apps for their children. – 1. The iTaalk Autism Foundation 2. Babies with iPads 3. Apps for Children with Special Needs 4. Different Needz Foundation 5. Gift a Voice Program from Different Iz Good™: iPhones only –
May 20, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
– For many people who use AAC, one of the biggest hurdles to communicating more effectively involves physically accessing their SGDs and/or mobile devices. – In this week’s video, we feature a collection of resources on this topic by SET BC. The collection has 7 complete modules, with print information, presentations, and videos. We’re linking to the series here so that you can explore any of the ones that are of interest to you. –
May 15, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
The content of this post has been updated. Click HERE for the most current version that includes Android apps and a link to our AAC app rubric. —– Thanks to all who’ve given us great feedback and suggestions on our list of free and lite AAC apps. If you’ve been following our blog, you know that we have mixed feelings about the AAC app revolution. More specifically, we’ve had concerns about the decision-making process around app selection, and have advocated for that to occur within the context of a feature match process that gives appropriate attention to the full range of AAC options. In our digital curation sites, we link to tools we use for this process, such as the feature match forms developed by Jessica Gosnell at Boston Children’s and the ones created by Scott Marfilius and Kelly Fonner. In our own teaching and clinical work, when AAC apps... [Read More...]
May 2, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
– 1. We love this article by ConnectAbility on helping children build friends. – 2. Online connections can be fun, too. AAC Small Talk is a Yahoo group for kids who use AAC and their friends. It’s hosted by Pam Harris and Dr. Jill Senner. – 3. Games and friends go hand-in-hand, but sometimes a little adult support is needed. We really liked the ideas in this post by SLP Tahirih Bushey on how to choose and play games that build communication: http://bit.ly/J3IMtM 4. Novita Children’s Services has some wonderful information about helping friendships to develop: http://bit.ly/HQQoMD – 5. Explaining AAC to a child’s friends and classmates doesn’t have to be hard! We love this PowerPoint by master AAC clinician Gail Van Tatenhove. She wrote it for students in inclusive classrooms to introduce Minspeak so that they can be good communication partners for their friends who use AAC. – . Want to see our... [Read More...]
February 17, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
The thought of an IEP meeting fills many parents we know with dread and anxiety, particularly if they are in a district where inclusive education is not running very smoothly. Jillian, a very passionate and competent mom of a youngster who uses high tech AAC, was pretty blunt about it. “I’d rather have root canal,” she said, and the parents within earshot gave her a round of applause. — So when we came across an app that provides support to families in this process, we had to check it. Developed at the Syracuse University School of Education, iAdvocate is an app designed to share information that parents can use to support their request for inclusive education. It lists some of the common roadblocks that families sometimes encounter, such as: “Your child needs small group instruction with few distractions and that can only be provided in a separate classroom.” “Meeting your chid’s needs is... [Read More...]
September 15, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Library-based Reading Program for AAC Users and their Families Thursday – AAC & Reading Roundup: 20+ Articles, Videos, & Resources ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have time for a bit more? Here’s a sampling of past posts for you to browse. PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Apples AAC Partner Training Strategies AAC Device Mounting Fundamentals AACtual Therapy: From PECS to iPad with Jason Butcher 5 Things We’ve Learned from Our AAC Families Understanding and Supporting Families of AAC Learners
September 8, 2024
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Rebooting Our Efforts to Support Communication Thursday – PrAACtical Tools: Evolving Progress Monitoring for Beginning AAC Users- Where Do I Begin? Friday – PráctiCAAmente Conectados: Estrategias de CAA en el Aula ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you have time for a bit more browsing, here are some posts you can explore. AAC Printables The Crust of AAC Every Second Counts Goodbye, Summer! A Clinician Prepares for a New School Year 3 Ways to Use AAC Goals to Strengthen Implementation