January 13, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Like you, we are always looking at ways to take communication and language to the next level. We’re never really satisfied. Although we may be thrilled with things that our AAC friends are doing now, we can’t stop thinking about the next step. And often that involves helping communication partners facilitate the language learning process. When multimodal communicators interact, we try to react to solidify the language learning. Here’s are some of the things that have helped communication partners we’ve worked with. We’re learning to REACT by responding, expanding, acting, commenting, and turn-taking. 1. Respond to the Intent. What is the communicator trying to tell you? If you know what, then start doing it. If you’re not sure, take your best guess and start doing it. For the emerging communicator, respond quickly. For the more established communicator, begin to respond quickly so they know that you ‘got’ the message,... [Read More...]
January 8, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
A colleague and I taught a workshop awhile back where there was an interesting sidebar conversation. A special educator was trying to convince an administrator that even though her student used a high tech speech generating device (SGD), she still needed the software to create other communication tools, like language boards and visual schedules. Having spent a great deal of money on AAC technology, the administrator was reluctant to commit additional funds for that authoring software. “She has a $5,000 device,” Sally Supervisor said. “Now you’re telling me you need special software to make things you can print out on paper?”The teacher’s point, of course, was a valid one. Children with AAC needs, like the rest of us, communicate in a variety of ways. In most cases, they need access to a variety of tools and the training to use them effectively. Just like we do.We gesture. We write with... [Read More...]
January 4, 2012
by Robin Parker -
PrAACtical AAC was started by two professors of speech-language pathology, Robin Parker and Carole Zangari, both passionate about AAC. Our blog is a virtual space where we can muse aloud about the state of the field, share information about implementing AAC strategies, provide resources, and discuss news of interest to the AAC community. Robin passed away in July 2014. Carole continues to blog on a variety of AAC topics. You can read more about our blogging journey here and here. PrAACtical AAC’s Mission: To improve the level of AAC services available to individuals with significant communication challenges by supporting speech-language pathologists and other interested stakeholders Disclosure: This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. While we write for our own purposes, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation, and/or experiences. We occasionally accept products for giveaways or review. We try to avoid... [Read More...]