1058 Search Results for Core

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘The Lunch Box Surprise’!

May 11, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘The Lunch Box Surprise’!

Reading with preschoolers is a great way to build language and AAC skills. Today, we share another post in the TELL ME About It series on incorporating AAC, language, and literacy support with young learnes.. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim are back with more great ideas for AAC intervention, this time focusing on the book, Come Out and Play, Little Mouse. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in central Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings. To read more about how this team prepares for a TELL ME week, check out their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series. Come Out and Play, Little Mouse No, David Go Away Big Green Monster What Do You Like? Here Are My Hands From Head to Toe I Went Walking... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #18: May 2020

May 3, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #18: May 2020

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts from our prAACtical week. Monday – PrAACtically May – AAC Resources for A Year of Core Words: The Learn-at-Home Edition Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Environmental Communication Training – Strategies for Implementation Thursday – Connecting Intubated Patients with Loved Ones: Co-VidSpeak :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you leave, here are a few more posts that may be of interest. Aided AAC & the IEP How I Do It: AAC in the IEP AAC & the IEP: 5 Resources to Explore 5 Reasons to Put AAC Training for Staff and Parents into the IEP How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders One last thing…check out the updates to this interactive flyer by using the slider at the right or visiting the full-sized version here. Scroll to the bottom for the latest additions.

AAC at a Distance: 5 Ways to Use Video Chat & Videoconferencing to Boost Engagement

April 23, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC at a Distance: 5 Ways to Use Video Chat and Videoconferencing to Boost Engagement

Like many of you, I have a love-hate relationship with video chat and videoconferencing these days. On one hand, we are immensely grateful for the technology that allows us to teach classes and hold meetings remotely so that we can continue with some semblance of our daily obligations. On the other hand, there is just no substitute for being in the same physical space as our co-workers, students, friends, and relatives. We are all adapting to this new reality of social distancing and experimenting with new ways of teaching, learning, and working. Across the globe, people are using video chat and videoconference technology, like FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Zoom, in creative ways. If you’re looking for some ways to support AAC learners using these technologies, here are a few ideas. Hold a virtual Friendship Friday meeting: Invite a few classmates or friends to join an online meeting space to do... [Read More...]

PrAACtically Earth Day: Celebrating the Planet with AAC

April 20, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtically Earth Day: Celebrating the Planet with AAC

It’s almost Earth Day, and whether you are sheltering in place or still able to be out in the community, there are ways we can all celebrate Earth Day.  Here are some suggestions for incorporating AAC as you do. Getting to the Core of Earth Day Let’s Read Let’s Create Let’s Go Outside! Create a language experience survey. Here are some possible questions for your survey What are your favorite outdoor activities? Tell me about a time when you had an outdoor adventure. What are some ways that you reuse and recycle? Tour the Grand Canyon with Elmo & friends. Pay a virtual visit to a national park. Explore some of the Junior Ranger virtual activities. Plan to take some mindfulness moments with trees as suggested by the Heritage Conservancy Build a backyard fairy house. Play backyard conservation Bingo. Go on a nature scavenger hunt using this form from the Delaware... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #16: April 2020

April 19, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #16: April 2020

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Come Out and Play, Little Mouse’ Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Telepractice in AAC – Working with What You’ve Got Thursday – PrAACtical Conversations About Hand Washing Friday – A Coronavirus ‘Must-Do’ for AAC Users —————————————————————— And while you’re here, check out some of these past posts. 5 Ways to Promote Consistent AAC Use Twin Powers Unite: Teaching AAC and Sight Words Pragmatic Skill Instruction and AAC with Matthew Baud and Dr. Jill Senner Parent Collaboration in AAC Therapies PrAACtical Questions with Vicki Clarke: What’s the Role of Core Vocabulary?

PrAACtical Conversations About Hand Washing

April 16, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtical Conversations About Hand Washing

The other day, a friend posted something on social media that many of us can relate to. “Between all the hand sanitizer and cleaning solution that my skin absorbs,” she said, “I’m probably disinfecting the toilet with every trip to the bathroom!” While that’s a bit of a stretch, it is true that most of us are washing our hands more often now than ever before. And for good reason. But some of our AAC learners don’t really like hand washing and it can be a struggle to have them do that several times a day. In today’s post, we share some ideas that can help keep those hands clean. Not everyone will need every strategy, but we included several ideas so that you can select those that are most beneficial for the AAC learners in your life. Teach the skill and use a visual schedule to illustrate the steps.... [Read More...]

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Come Out and Play, Little Mouse’

April 13, 2020 by - 1 Comment

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with 'Come Out and Play, Little Mouse'

It’s time for another edition of the TELL ME About It series which focuses on AAC, language, and literacy learning with preschool children. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim are back with more great ideas for AAC intervention, this time focusing on the book, Come Out and Play, Little Mouse. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in central Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings. You can check out the earlier posts in this series below. No, David Go Away Big Green Monster What Do You Like? Here Are My Hands From Head to Toe I Went Walking Brown Bear, Brown Bear TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits Be sure to see their videos modeling book reading with two AAC systems toward the end of this post. TELL ME About It:... [Read More...]

Finding My Words: Considerations in Language Displays and Organization

April 9, 2020 by - 9 Comments

Considerations in Language Displays and Organization

How do you decide which AAC app or software best meets the needs of an individual with complex communication needs? We’re so pleased that longtime contributor Vicki Clarke is back with us to address this topic in a very prAACtical way. Vicki is a Georgia-based SLP who has been specializing in AAC for over 25 years. Her practice, Dynamic Therapy Associates, serves children and adults with significant communication challenges in clinical and educational settings. You can read previous posts by Vicki here. In this post, Vicki dives deep into an important aspect of AAC displays: vocabulary organization. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Finding My Words: Considerations in Language Displays and Organization In previous articles we’ve talked about how easy it is to buy into the very first communication system you learn to use with your students. Maybe you started with LAMP and you have fully embraced a core word strategy.  Perhaps you were a... [Read More...]

PrAACtical Perspectives: Normalizing AAC

April 6, 2020 by - 1 Comment

PrAACtical Perspectives: Normalizing AAC

How do we help people with complex communication needs become fluent in using AAC throughout the day? There are lots of factors to consider in working toward that goal, and our guest author for today encourages us to think of one of them. Special educator Amy Campbell believes that one thing we can do to support AAC learners is to normalize the use of AAC tools and strategies. Amy is the 2020 Washington State Teacher of the Year and has been a Special Education teacher for 12 years. Over that time, she has focused on how to increase student independence and improve the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education settings and the greater community. Like many of you, she has now pivoted to supporting her students from a distance. Don’t miss the videos Amy creates for her students and their families so learning can continue from afar.  ... [Read More...]

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #14: April 2020

April 5, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #14: April 2020

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Hope you are adjusting as best you can to this new reality of ours. If you need to catch up on some AAC reading, take a look at what we published this past week. Monday – PrAACtically April – AAC Resources for A Year of Core Words: The Learn-at-Home Edition Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Enhancing Communication for Individuals with Autism  Thursday – AAC Learning at a Distance ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have time for a little more reading? Here are some additional posts for you to explore. Beyond Requesting: Thoughts on Teaching Information Transfer How I Do It: Encouraging AAC Implementation (Lauren Enders) PrAACtical Ways to Make Decisions About Thematic Therapy Materials In the Treasure Bag: Using Sharing Time to Focus on Vocabulary AAC in Motion: Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk with Tanna Neufeld