146 Search Results for isaac
June 2, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Each month we feature a Spanish version of our AAC Link Up, CAA con Links. If you have AAC-related announcements, materials, or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. You’ll find the place to add that information at the very bottom of this post. Organized by Claudia Marimón, these monthly posts also feature AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. Today, she focuses on an exciting event that will be of interest to many, the ISAAC AAC Conference in Cancun. Enjoy the post, and remember to scroll to the bottom to add your link and see what others are sharing. Este mes... [Read More...]
February 1, 2023
by Carole Zangari -
Learn about AAC myths and strategies to combat them in this archived webinar by Drs. Maryann Romski and Rose Sevick. We are grateful to the presenters and to USSAAC and ISAAC for this important presentation. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMmsC4nHlKA&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29
October 7, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Each month we feature a Spanish version of our AAC Link Up, CAA con Links. If you have AAC-related announcements, materials, or videos in Spanish that you would like others to know about, we’d love to have you add that information below. Also, please share this with anyone who might be interested in contributing to or using the materials that get added to these posts. You’ll find the place to add that information at the very bottom of this post. Organized by Claudia Marimón, these monthly posts often highlight AAC work being done in Spanish-speaking countries and offer translations of material that can help families and service providers. Today, Claudia invites us to “Show Your Voice.” :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ¡Bienvenido Octubre a nuestra comunidad hispanohablante de CAA! El Mes Internacional de Concientización sobre CAA se celebra en todo el mundo cada mes de Octubre. Este mes fue establecido por el Comité del... [Read More...]
October 3, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Established in 2007 by ISAAC’s LEAD Committee, AAC Awareness month invites us to spread the word about all things AAC, and it’s pretty exciting to think back on all we’ve done and also to plan for the current year. Each week during AAC Awareness Month we’ll share suggestions for things to do to help others learn about a field that emerged to support children and adults with complex communication needs. This week, we’ll focus on hands-on activities. A popular approach to AAC Awareness Month is to invite a group of colleagues or families to come together and communicate only through AAC for the event. Some years, we’ve held ‘Silent Snack’ events before class where we put out a variety of board games and invited some of our AAC clients to come in and play along. They enjoyed serving as our AAC Ambassadors, meeting new people, and ‘wow-ing’ the crowd with... [Read More...]
July 13, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
How can we best support individuals with AAC needs following brain injury? In today’s featured video, SLP Jill Adlin discusses advancements and best practices for teens and adults with acquired brain injury. We thank Jill and ISAAC for creating and sharing this helpful presentation. You can obtain the handout for Jill’s webinar here. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_jSrr6baWg&feature=emb_imp_woyt&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29
June 29, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
What supports are needed by individuals who use AAC so that they can communicate effectively when faced with an emergency or disaster? In today’s featured video, we gain insights on this topic from Pam Kennedy, Marcie Roth, Shaylin Sluzalis, and Germán Parodi. Many thanks to the presenters as well as to USSAAC and ISAAC for making this webinar possible and sharing the recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7QB_Srh2Po Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7QB_Srh2Po
June 8, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Learn about the ways that Canada promotes access to justice through the use of Communication Intermediaries (CIs) for individuals with AAC needs and other communication disabilities. In today’s featured video, SLP Caitlin Buchel explains the way that trained CIs to provide accommodations and other supports within the legal, police, corrections, and justice services in Canadian society. Many thanks to Caitlin, Communication Access to Justice (CAJust), Communication Disabilities Access Canada (CDAC), ISAAC Canada, and ISAAC International for their role in supporting this important work and making the webinar recording available to us all. There is a lot for us all to learn from this archived presentation, AAC friends. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-kE1UNisF8&t=4s&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29
May 4, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
‘Bad’ words are fairly common in conversations among non-disabled individuals but we often censor the words available to AAC users based on what we think is appropriate or proper. In today’s featured video, SLP Hali Strickler helps us think through the decisions about curse words, profanity, slang, and more. This archived webinar is made possible through a collaboration between USSAAC and ISAAC. We are grateful to them both, and to Hali for this important presentation. You can obtain the handouts for this session here. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDbs7ogNHLw&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29
March 7, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Professionals who teach people with complex communication needs to express themselves with AAC frequently ask about the evidence base for AAC devices and apps. Evidence-based practice (EBP) has three basic pillars: Clinical expertise, external and internal evidence, and the perspectives of clients and caregivers. We have good evidence for the effectiveness of SGDs and AAC apps as a general category of communication tools, rooted in a strong array of research studies, a great deal of clinical expertise, and extensive experiences of consumers and families. As in many areas of clinical practice, though, more work still needs to be done. It’s not as easy to get this sort of research evidence as it may seem. A medical device like a speaking valve may have an evidence base tied to a specific brand and model of the equipment because there isn’t a great deal of variability in what it is expected to... [Read More...]
February 7, 2022
by Carole Zangari -
Terminology has always been a challenge in the field of AAC, at least in English. Why does it take 14 syllables (“aug-men-ta-tive and al-ter-na-tive com-mu-ni-ca-tion”) to refer to a field that emerged to support individuals for whom speech is intensely problematic? I remember spirited discussions on what to call this work back when I was at Purdue University on an AAC doctoral fellowship, just after the birth of the International AAC Society (ISAAC) in 1983. When the US Society for AAC was started in 1991, those debates continued. The terms ‘nonvocal,’ ‘nonoral,’ ‘nonspeech,’ and ‘nonspeaking’ were used by many in the early days. Those terms eventually dwindled in popularity, primarily because so many children and adults who needed the support of AAC were able to talk and/or make sounds. Often, their speech was difficult to understand, slow and exhausting to produce, and limited in terms of conventional structures for expressing... [Read More...]