675 Search Results for communication book
March 19, 2012
by Robin Parker -
It has been a really long weekend. A very close relative had a significant medical emergency this week. The emergency involved intubation, an air ambulance (that is helicopter), and many many procedures. With the intubation, there was a temporary loss of speech which made communication difficult to say the least. This was a time that the patient (my relative) needed communication most, yet there were multiple barriers to effective communication (no speech sounds, tubes in the mouth obscuring lip movement, noise, etc..). Although the hospital staff was amazingly wonderful, communication was not their priority. Lucky, for us, I just happened to have some AAC apps on my iPhone. At one point, the AAC app was literally a lifesaver (thanks so much to Verbally for providing an easy way to communicate complex questions, reminders, and comments). As I was waiting around for many hours, texting Carole, we started thinking about... [Read More...]
March 17, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
No one likes to be tested, least of all people with communication difficulties who don’t have the tools to express their anxiety or discomfort in the ways they would like to. Some of the people we evaluated had real issues with this and so we’ve experimented with ways to make the testing less stressful and more productive. Here are some of the strategies that we found to be most successful. – 1. Work with the team to establish Fair Testing Practices for the person you’ll be evaluating. Our chapter on ‘Language Assessment for Students Who Use AAC’ describes this in more detail, but essentially it involves writing a ‘rule book’ for how to test this person. It might specify how long the test session can/should be, how to set up the situation so the person can respond, and what other supports are needed so that we are testing the person’s... [Read More...]
March 10, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Visual schedules come in all shapes and sizes. The process of deciding which one to use begins with two questions: What is the purpose of this particular visual schedule? How will it be used? Both of these drive the decisions you make about which format to use. If my primary purpose in making the visual schedule is to help a student become more independent in following the steps in a task, and I know the person is going to be seated at a desk while doing this, I may choose a horizontal layout that shows the sequence. Because it is a school-aged child and we are activity working on literacy skills, I consider a stationary format on the desk surface that has the student use a check-off system. Having the student cross out or check off the steps as they are completed, gives authentic practice with writing skills. On the... [Read More...]
March 7, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
1. National Technical Assistance Consortium for Children and Young Adults Who Are Deaf-Blind: Communication Fact Sheets. – 2. Early Interactions with Children Who are Deafblind by Deborah Gleason – 3. Learning to Communicate: Strategies for Developing Communication with Infants Whose Multiple Disabilities Include Visual Impairment and Hearing Loss by Dr. Deborah Chen, California State University, Northridge – 4. Communicating and Connecting with Learners Who Are Deafblind – Developing Communication Portfolios (Books and Videos) by New England Center Match Maker Project – 5. Tangible Symbol Systems: Making the Right to Communicate a Reality for Individuals with Severe Disabilities by Dr. Charity Rowland and Philip Schweigert –
March 3, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Here’s a riddle for you. Read the clues and guess what tool or strategy we’re talking about. Clue #1: It’s used in almost every classroom and therapy room serving students with ASD. Clue #2: The one for Johnny looks almost the same as the one for Jenny. Clue #3: It looks as nice in June as it did in September. If you guessed visual schedules, you’ve just named our March Strategy of the Month. Visual Schedules? But everybody already uses those. Why post about those? — Here’s why. – They’re ubiquitous. And yet when we talk with educators and SLPs about how the children are doing with their schedules, we get a look and a shrug. “Okay, I guess.” To be sure, okay is better than not okay. But visual schedules have so much potential to make lives better for clinicians, educators, and people with AAC needs that okay isn’t... [Read More...]
February 22, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
No feeling person could read Louise Kinross‘s post, My Child’s Dream: To Have Friends, without being moved. One of the most basic fervent wishes that all parents have is for their sons and daughters to make and keep friends. Disabled or not, parents fear loneliness for their kids, and rightfully so. Loneliness is a sharp and lasting pain. And, in many cases, completely unnecessary. Kinross’s post, brought to my attention by Ellen Seidman of (Love that Max), inspired me to generate this list of things that we SLP’s can and should be doing to support kids and families. is 1. Make friendship skills a priority: Are there friendship goals in the IEP? There could be. If you’re thinking about working on a social skill, take a step back and see if it makes sense to focus more specifically on communication skills in the context of making and keeping friends. Educationally relevant?... [Read More...]
February 20, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Recent research has strengthened this clinician’s belief that developing inner speech is an important strategy for many people who use AAC and are working to build their literacy skills. But how do we teach someone to develop that inner voice? Here are some ideas. – 1. Begin by using a ‘think aloud’ strategy to make your internal thought processes obvious to the person who uses AAC. Articulating your thoughts as you work through different communication and literacy learning processes gives the learner insight into what you are thinking. Once they are used to that, it is easier to introduce the concept of private/inner speech. – 2. Use explicit instruction. “Say it to yourself.” “Say it in your head.” Using natural gestures, like tapping your temple, can be helpful as well. We’ve found that this allows us to reduce the prompting over time. Fade the verbal prompt and continue the gestural one,... [Read More...]
February 18, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
One of the first things that many SLPs ponder when doing an AAC assessment is about how language will be stored on an SGD, no-tech communication tool, visual support or AAC app. The issue is this: What symbols are best for this person’s communication aid? This is never an easy question to answer, but the proliferation of symbols used in visual supports, communication aids, SGDs, and AAC apps has made the process even more challenging. – There are several ways in which we go about answering that question, but that’s a post for another day. In this post, we want to share some of the most comprehensive sources for identifying your symbolic options. Here are some sites you may want to bookmark. – 1. A Guide to Selecting Pictures and Symbol Sets for Communication by Sally Millar 2. Comparison chart of AAC symbol sets and systems by Spectronics 3.... [Read More...]
February 11, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Books, books, and more books! We love reading, personally and professionally. We found this e-book site and it just keeps getting better. It has many free e-books (some even have repeated story lines), Many, Many additional books for purchase at reasonable prices. Works on ALL technology platforms (web, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, android, google tv) and has Read -Along Technology (word highlighted while read) Bookshelf updates automatically and across platforms Has special accounts for schools and libraries- with access to over 70 free books. Has sharing options, you can use the ‘Like it’ to share with friends about books (great communication activity) — ... [Read More...]
February 10, 2012
by Robin Parker -
Magic Moments: AAC Intervention with Apps You Love- Toca Boca Doctor “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”… If it were only that simple. But it is not that easy and since we are right in the middle of cold and flu season, it reminds us about teaching AAC users to let us know when they are not feeling well. The more we can find ways to make the concepts of pain, injury, and distress more concrete and specific, the easier it is to learn. Telling others about your own discomfort is an important self-advocacy and self-determination skill. —- On a more PrAACtical note, telling about your symptoms... [Read More...]