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
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...]
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...]
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...]
How can SLPs support students who use AAC and help them communicate more frequently in the classroom? Collaboration with the teacher is, of course, central to making this work. If you’re paired with an educator who knows, loves, and supports the AAC needs of her students, then you are in for a real treat. Collaborating with someone like that is fun and energizing. But what if your partner is new to AAC or one who doesn’t really know (or care to know) much about it? What if there is a bit of resistance to change or a passive-aggressive style? No match for a committed clinician! Ah. The ART of being an SLP. Take equal measures of creative problem-solving, wonderful pragmatics, and tenacity, and solutions will be found. In really sticky situations, we’ve seen colleagues make breakthroughs on the strength of brownies and iced coffee. You know how to make this... [Read More...]
Strategy of the Month Infusing Literacy Learning Opportunities into AAC Therapies AAC & Literacy: Setting the Stage Literacy Lessons for Beginning AAC Learners Literacy for Everyone with Adapted Books PrAACtical Thinking PrAACtical Resources: A Look at the NJC The PrAACtical Power of Contrast 31 Posts You May Have Missed in August Literacy: Cookies & Core 5 Things to Love About the SETT Framework 10 Tips to Encourage Love of Literacy 5 Easy Ways to Add Authentic Writing Experiences to Your AAC Therapy AAC & Dinosaur Apps for Literacy & Language 5 AAC Strategies and the Use It of Loose It Philosophy 10 AAC Intervention Apps We Can’t Live Without 5 Things to Consider About Prompts in Teaching AAC Loving Literacy in AAC Keep Calm & Write ON.. fro All Writers Thoughts on Involving Our Clients in AAC Vocabulary Selection Presuming Competence & Teaching AAC 5 reasons We Don’t (Typically) Use... [Read More...]
School has begun for almost everyone. Some classes have been in session for a while and routines have been formed, learning is taking place, behaviors have settled down. Now comes what can seem like the hard part: Keeping up with and expanding the strategies that helped students become successful. Instead of trying to fade AAC displays/devices and visual supports, stick with the basics and expand how they can be used. Because if you don’t use it, you may lose it. So: Keep up with: Visual Schedules– monthly, daily, and mini. Even if students know the schedule, continue to use it. Most of us would not like ‘losing’ our day planner or ‘to do’ lists even though we know our schedules. Aided Language Input First- Then Visual Support Visual Boundaries Access to a AAC Display/Device– And the display or device is with the student All the time, everywhere, charged, working, and... [Read More...]
We are so excited to start off the new school year with a wonderfully prAACtical post by Lauren Enders. Lauren’s “How I Do It” posts have been very popular and this one is no different. Today, she shares ways to incorporate key AAC principles in engaging intervention activities and models that with high school students. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: LEARNING TARGETS (Samples: can be changed to meet student goals) Using core vocabulary, the student will: control the actions of others (beginning with core words like “more”, “stop”, “go”, “again”, and “different”) express his or her opinions through commenting (beginning with core words such as “like”, “don’t like”, “good”, “bad”, and “silly”) TARGET POPULATION: all ages (I have used variations of this activity successfully with students from age 3 through age 21.) TYPE OF AAC: ALL types!! What’s crucial here is the availability of core vocabulary, not the system used. Systems used can vary from... [Read More...]
Like many of you, we are always racking our brains trying to help students who use AAC be successful academically. Because we serve these students in a clinical setting, we could easily pass on the opportunity to align our AAC goals with academic standards but what would be the fun in that? Here are some things we try to think about with school-aged kids who have AAC needs. SLP to SLP If it takes a village to raise a child, how many people does it take to help a kids with AAC needs to develop communicative competence and succeed academically? It boggles the mind. As SLPs, message is this: We have to work together. Many kids who use AAC have private therapies in addition to their school services, and yet, we rarely connect. We have to find a way to do a better job at this so that kids with... [Read More...]
PrAACtical Thinking Free Text-based AAC Apps for the iPad PrAACtical Questions: Can Students Take Their AAC Device Home? PrAACtical AAC Learning & July 4th: Get Ready Get Set Go 4 Free July 4th Apps to SPARK Commenting 30 Posts You May Have Missed in June 4+AAC Tips for Talking About July 4th AFTER the Festivities PrAACtically Ready to Read Did You Know: AADMD Offers Specialty Webinars Visual Schedule Myths Live On..& On Getting to Yes Working with Worksheets Apps to Prepare, Learn, & Talk About Summer Vacations Modify a Battery-Operated Toy To Make It Accessible By Switches 5 Great Ways To Help People with AAC Needs Develop Inner Speech What’s the Connection: Core Vocabulary and Visual Schedules Random App of Kindness Giveaway: Talk About Food Create Your Own Style PECS Book 5 Things to Consider About Assigning ‘Homework’ to Your AAC Clients 8Friday Fun: 8 AAC Activities that are Fast... [Read More...]