818 Search Results for core vocabulary
March 13, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
At the ATIA 2014 conference in January, it was exciting to hear about the updates on how core vocabulary is being addressed in the alternate assessment project for Dynamic Learning Maps. Allison Dennis, Dr. Karen Erickson, and Dr. Penny Hatch, of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, shared a lot of interesting information, as you can see from their handout. One of my favorite ‘take-aways,’ though, was a suggestion by Karen Erickson regarding the importance of aided language input for students with significant disabilities. We’ve written about aided language input so often that you may be tired of hearing it, but bear with us because her suggestion was pure genius. Ready? Here it is: List aided language input as an accommodation in the IEP. Why List Aided Language Input as an IEP Accommodation? It is a fundamental strategy for any beginning learner of AAC. It is rarely implemented... [Read More...]
February 6, 2014
by Robin Parker -
Strategy of the Month: PrAACtice Opportunities Building a PrAACtice Routine PrAACtical Communication Opportunities in SLP Sessions Using Aided Language To Build Communication Opportunities PrAACtical Excercise: Building Fluency with Decontextualized PrAACtice PrAACtical Thinking Ringing in the New Year with an AAC App Giveaway- acorn Another Year of Core Vocabulary Get Organized for the New Year- 5 Visual Schedule Apps A PrAACtical Week: 2014 #1 Watch it Wednesday- Pain in Children with Developmental Disabilities PrAActical Peek: Decorating Cookies 31 Posts You May Have Missed in December A PrAACtical Week 2014 #2 Does AAC Really Work with Infants & Toddlers Watch it Wednesdays- Using and Creating Routines to Promote Interactions Throwback Thursday: Visual Schedule Roundup A PrAACtical Note of Appreciation A PrAACtical Week 2014 #3 Watch It Wednesday: I Hear Them All A Totally Different Life A PrAACtical Week #4 SpeakAll! A Research-to-Practice Project Make It PrAACtical: Make Your Own Battery Interrupter (Without Soldering) ... [Read More...]
January 17, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
We usually don’t make a fuss over blog birthdays or anniversaries, but this milestone seemed like something worth celebrating. Yesterday, you helped us hit a milestone: Our prAACtical pages have been viewed well over 500,000 times. It’s fun to think of people reading our posts, but this is bigger than us. The ‘AAC message’ is being heard and the AAC community is growing. In every continent, there are SLPs, educators, parents, paraprofessionals, and organization leaders who are giving voice to people who struggle to express themselves. Today, we celebrate YOU! Thanks for the work you do, and for being part of a community that believes everyone has both the right and the ability to communicate. We so enjoy connecting with you and hearing about your prAACtical experiences. Please enjoy these downloadable resources that we’ve developed and shared over the past two years. Forms: Need to flesh out your resources for... [Read More...]
January 4, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Well, it’s a prAACtical New Year and we are ushering in a few new tweaks in 2014. Among them, a weekly wrap-up. Here’s a look at our prAACtical week. Sunday: 10 Tips for Using a Natural Aided Language Board by Gail Van Tatenhove Monday: Tracking Early Communication Skills – A PrAACtical Resource (free download) Tuesday: It’s PrAACtically a New Year Wednesday: Ringing in the New Year with an AAC App Giveaway Thursday: A(nother) Year of Core Vocabulary Friday: Get Organized! Visual Schedule Apps If you’re looking for our Strategy of the Month post, stay tuned – those will be published on Mondays.
December 27, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
It’s been a wonderfully prAACtical year. Here’s a look back at our top 10 most popular posts. Anyone see any patterns? 🙂 How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC by Lauren Enders Teaching Core Vocabulary 5 Great Resources for Pre-Made Communication Boards Core Samples A Year Of Core Vocabulary Words AAC ‘Must Haves’ the the Classroom and Therapy Room Pivotal Skills for AAC Intervention: Aided Language Input How I Do It: AAC in the IEP by Lauren Enders Getting Started with Core Vocabulary More on Teaching Core Vocabulary
December 20, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Teaching core vocabulary is the best way to pack a lot of power into an AAC system. As some of you know, we post things to the PrAACtical AAC Facebook Page a few times/day. Recently, we shared a link to a core word board from the I Can Newsletter folks that was posted on Boardmaker Achieve. We asked for suggestions for what you could say with those words. Here’s are some great ideas from our prAACtical friends: Come again: Love that this can be used in a literal sense, but also as a snarky comment Get help Go away: Language learning and self-advocacy – this one’s a two-fer! Your bad Stop it. Ready, go! Go get it. I like it. I want all done! I want more You do/did it. You stop it. You want it. What you want? We’ll take any opportunity to model questions and teach how to... [Read More...]
December 18, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Deanne Shoyer, from Small But Kinda Mighty, has been sharing some fantastic ideas for building language in kids who are learning AAC. In this video, she shows how she used a visual scene display on a mobile device, Scene Speak (Good Karma Apps) to facilitate literacy and core vocabulary. You can read Deanne’s post about it here. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoeo1Z9Fqno
December 5, 2013
by Robin Parker -
Strategy of the Month Thoughts on Teaching Core Vocabulary Teaching Core Vocabulary with Direct Instruction Strategies New Word Teaching: A Look Inside Some PrAACtical Therapy Sessions Core Words, Direct Vocabulary Instruction, & the Beginning Communicator PrAActical Thinking Fun Friday- 5 Tips for Talking About Halloween After it is Over 31 Posts You May Have Missed in October A PrAACtical Literacy Activity for Beginning Communicators Writing Goals for AAC Learners Fun Friday: Holiday Shopping with a Purpose 10 Apps to Gift to An SLP Hockey Lessons Watch it Wednesday: Using Routines to Promote Interactions by the Watson Institute Throwback Thursday: Say This, Not That to Reinforce Vocabulary Learning Fast FAACt Friday: AAC’s 1st Appearance in the Professional Literature How Do You Teach Others to Implement AAC Facilitation Skills? Watch it Wednesday: Time Timers At the Very Beginning: Working with Pre-Intentional Communicators Display Stand for Visual Supports or Books PrAACtical Thoughts on... [Read More...]
November 6, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve been having a great time supporting beginning communicators and gently modeling how they can be involved in literacy learning activities. In this post, we share a super simple activity to build alphabet knowledge and letter-sound correspondence. It has worked well (or fairly well) for beginning communicators who: Are just learning to establish cause-effect relationships Have little interest in existing classroom alphabet activities Are verbal, but reluctantly Are reluctant participants in group activities and seem to prefer being alone Have no formal AAC system, but would benefit from one Treat books and other printed materials as objects to spin, rip, or throw Have not been given the opportunity to participate in traditional literacy instruction. We love it because: It is is quick and easy. It requires almost no advance planning other than having a camera (or one on your phone/mobile device) Other people in the classroom notice us doing real... [Read More...]
October 31, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We are so pleased to have connected with Deanne Shoyer from Small But Kinda Mighty and even happier that she is our guest blogger today. Deanne is a mom of twin boys who both are on the autism spectrum. Deanne successfully fundraised to buy iPads for her boys and has been active for more than 3 years in social media and in the special needs app community. She has written about many things but often focuses on implementing AAC in a very PrAACtical way. Please feel free to share this very important post as she highlights AAC, what she has learned, and how it may help others. by Deanne Shoyer at Small But Kinda Mighty (original post at Small But Kinda Mighty) In the title of this post I’ve linked autism and AAC for a specific reason. A lot of the points here are equally applicable to people who have a... [Read More...]