52 Search Results for flipbook

How I Do It: Marlene Cummings on Strengthening the Communication Environment

June 28, 2013 by - 1 Comment

How I Do It: Marlene Cummings on Strenthening the Communication Environment

Marlene Cummings is back to share some thoughts on creating communication-friendly environments. As an AAC consultant to the Oakland Schools, Marlene gets to support AAC implementation in a variety of classrooms with all types of learners. You can read her earlier posts here and here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 5 Things to Consider in the “Communication Environment” The first thing we want to ask: Is language being represented visibly? We in AAC are often known by our “stuff”.  Because we need to represent language visibly and love technology, we typically have a lot of “stuff”. I, for one, currently have a large storage unit holding 30+ years of “stuff” waiting to be distributed to all my new teams since I am no longer in the classroom. Let’s start by looking around our instructional environment. It is our intention to model the use of language being represented visibly and to provide the vocabulary and opportunities for... [Read More...]

Communication Books: Making Decisions About Format

December 15, 2012 by - 3 Comments

Four-year-old Josiah had a tiny one that was clipped to his belt loop so it was handy all throughout his day in preschool. Mr. Allan, who was hemiplegic and used a manual wheelchair, liked to keep one underneath his right thigh so he could grab it quickly whenever he wanted to talk. Dougie’s was big, really big, and he carried it under his arm wherever he went. Marla’s was a permanent fixture on her wheelchair laptray, and if she came without it because a caregiver forgot to put it on, it was likely to be a very l-o-n-g day. Geena’s looked like a DayPlanner and had it’s own special compartment in her purse. What are we talking about? Communication books, of course. And despite the fact that they all served the same general purpose, the communication books referenced in these examples couldn’t have looked more distinct. In this week’s post,... [Read More...]