144 Search Results for isaac

Kicking Off AAC Awareness Month with Hands-on Activities

September 30, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Kicking Off AAC Awareness Month with Hands-on Activities

Tonight we’ll be turning the page on the calendar and preparing to celebrate AAC Awareness Month! For the past decade, October has given us some extra opportunities 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.... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Bridging Research to Practice with Visual Scene Displays

August 4, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Bridging Research to Practice with Visual Scene Displays

Visual scene displays are an underutilized resource in AAC systems. In today’s featured video, six researchers discuss their work and apply it to clinical practice.  Many thanks to ISAAC for hosting this panel presentation and the researchers, Michelle Therrien, Christine Holyfield, Emily Laubscher, Nimisha Muttiah, Jessica Caron, and Salena Babb, for sharing their work in this panel format. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2uE6R7yKOE&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29 

Video of the Week: Diversity in AAC Apps

May 26, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Diversity in AAC Apps

Communication is personal. There’s no way to overstate the importance of having AAC apps and SGDs represent various races, ethnicities, and languages so that AAC users have appropriate options from which to choose. Today, we feature the work of Jill D’Braunstein, Christina Royster, Alma Partida, and Yoosun Chung. In this archived webinar, they address topics related to diverse representation, such as personalizing the voice, language, and dialect. Many thanks to USSAAC, ISAAC, and the presenters for making this important information available to all. You can download the handouts for this webinar here and here.  Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzevyTe4Nec&t=20s&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29 

Video of the Week: Data Privacy and Security for AAC

April 28, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Data Privacy and Security for AAC

The ability to gather and store data from SGDs and AAC apps raises important issues for AAC stakeholders around issues of privacy, confidentiality, and data security. In today’s video, we turn to a webinar, moderated by ISAAC’s President-Elect Tracy Shepherd, featuring several AAC experts who discuss these issues from the perspectives of user, researcher, clinician, developer, and manufacturer. Panelists include: Russell Cross, Speech-Language Therapist (PRC-Saltillo) Melanie Fried-Oken, Ph.D. and Professor of Neurology, Biomedical Engineering and Otolaryngology (Oregon Health & Science University) Dave Hershberger, CEO (PRC-Saltillo ) Fil McIntyre, Manager and Assistive Technology Lead (TechAbility) Dr. David Niemeijer, CEO and Founder (AssistiveWare) Alyssa Hillary Zisk, Doctoral Candidate in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience (University of Rhode Island) Many thanks to all the presenters and to ISAAC for hosting this valuable session and making it widely available. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6HVP3S0r1A&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29 

Video of the Week: Ethical Issues in AAC

March 31, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Ethical Issues in AAC

Today’s topic, AAC & ethics, is one that should be of great interest to all AAC stakeholders, especially those of us who teach AAC classes to future special educators and therapists. The presenters – Tracey Rackensperger, Judith Schoonover, and Nicole Tripp – cover important issues and suggest possible solutions to several ethical dilemmas.  Many thanks to USSAAC, ISAAC,  and the presenters for making this important information available to all. You can download the handout for this webinar here. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N1nTzM9clA&t=30s&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29 

Video of the Week: Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in AAC

February 24, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in AAC

How can we support AAC learners in developing their reading and writing skills? In today’s featured video, we hear from Dr. Karen Erickson and Dr. Lori Geist, from the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Many thanks to Drs. Erickson and Geist for this presentation and to ISAAC for hosting it. You can obtain the handout for this webinar here. Enjoy! Direct Link to Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ZqS43H6Fc&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29

Video of the Week: Empowering Autonomy and Self in Individuals with AAC Needs

October 28, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Empowering Autonomy and Self in Individuals with AAC Needs

How can we best empower people with AAC needs to achieve their goals, become autonomous, and fully develop their sense of self? Today, we learn from Stephanie Faso, a graduate student in Communication Studies at San Francisco State University, who discusses this topic and ways in which ableism impacts our perception of individuals with AAC needs.  This presentation was hosted by USSAAC with the support of ISAAC. We are grateful to those organizations and to Stephanie for this important webinar. You can download the handout for this session here.   Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCjY9e2mUxc&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=InternationalSocietyforAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication%28ISAAC%29

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #41: October 2020

October 11, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #41: October 2020

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. We have some AAC posts that you may be interested in. Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Learning with Photo Albums Thursday – How I Do It: Building & Using Language Kits :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you’re in the mood to browse around the AAC universe a bit more, here are some posts to explore. They each link to handouts from AAC-related presentations by various researchers and practitioners. Core Vocabulary Implementation AAC and Literacy The World’s AAC Conference AAC Implementation AAC in the Classroom

Growing AAC Professionals: AAC-friendly Books

September 3, 2020 by - 1 Comment

Growing AAC Professionals: AAC-friendly Books

Today, we welcome back Vicki Haddix to these pages. Vicki is an AAC SLP who has had a variety of experiences and is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis. She joins us periodically to share some of the fine work that her graduate students. In today’s post, Vicki shares the work of students who created AAC-friendly books and other resources on important topics, like water safety.  You can learn more from Vicki and her students here. Make sure to check out the link at the bottom to access the full array of materials that these talented students created. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: As a professor, it’s always exciting when you see the great work that graduate students are doing and think about the potential that they are bringing to the field. I’ve taught the AAC class at the University of Memphis’s SLP graduate program for 5 spring semesters.... [Read More...]