567 Search Results for video core

AAC in the High School Classroom: Where Core Vocabulary Meets Life Skills

June 1, 2017 by - 20 Comments

AAC in the High School Classroom: Where Core Vocabulary Meets Life Skills

Today, guest blogger Sarah Mueller, a special education teacher in Rochester Michigan,  shares her thoughts on supporting core vocabulary learning while working on functional life skills. Sarah teaches high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and strives to embed language and communication throughout her students’ entire school experience. Sarah helps her students become strong self-advocates as they prepare for adult life. Marlene Cummings, Sarah’s colleague and mentor, introduces the post. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::           I (Marlene Cummings) had the pleasure of meeting Sarah 2 years ago as a new teacher in one of my districts. She immediately engaged in our county level professional learning opportunities in AAC and Literacy. The AAC focus presented strategies to support AAC and language learning including: core vocabulary, aided language input, vocabulary instruction and opportunities. The literacy focus was designed to create and implement a comprehensive literacy program taught by Drs. Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver. The outcome:... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: AACtual Advocacy

May 10, 2017 by - 1 Comment

Video of the Week: AACtual Advocacy

Better Hearing and Speech Month (#BHSM) is all about reaching out and advocating for access to communication supports. As professionals, advocacy is part of our core roles, though we generally struggle with finding the time to do as much as we’d like to. Few of us, however, have the opportunity to speak about behalf of AAC on the floor of the United States Senate. In today’s post, we share the recording of Rick Creech, lifelong user of AAC, speaking to the Special Committee on Aging. In the first part, we hear Rick’s prepared remarks to the Senate. Rick takes questions from the committee in the second video. Aging Without Community: The Consequences of Isolation and Loneliness Rick Answers Senators’ Questions

Video of the Week – Twin Powers Unite: Teaching AAC and Sight Words

April 19, 2017 by - 1 Comment

Video of the Week - Twin Powers Unite: Teaching AAC and Sight Words

Having trouble getting AAC integrated throughout the classroom day? Veteran SLP Maureen Castillo took a creative approach to this common problem in the classrooms she supports. In this video, she discusses a project she created to foster AAC learning and use in the context of literacy activities. Learn how she combines the teaching of core vocabulary and Dolch sight words using aided language input, peer modeling, anchor books, and more. The video was made possible by Saltillo and is part of their free webinar series. Many thanks to Maureen and to Saltillo for making this available. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epQ3QlBg0hs

PrAACtical Teaching in the Autism Classroom: Instructional Activities for Core Vocabulary

March 2, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #9: February 2017

“But I don’t have just one student who needs AAC in my class – I have a bunch! How can I work AAC teaching into an already hectic day?” Teachers Amy Devin and Lauren Pawlowski are back with real-world suggestions for situations like these. Last year, they introduced us to Big Core, gave us tips for implementing it in the classroom, and explained how they integrate it into shared reading lessons and predictable chart writing activities. Today, they’re back with prAACtical information on how they provide explicit instruction on core vocabulary words. Amy and Lauren are public school teachers in Michigan who began teaching in resource rooms and moved to self‐contained ASD elementary classrooms in 2009. There was not much talk about core language when they started teaching and even less about incorporating into classroom lessons. AAC devices have changed a bit over the years, too. Initially, they worked with a 32-location core board on... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Embedding AAC Throughout the Day

January 25, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Embedding AAC Throughout the Day

Looking for ways to help others use AAC more frequently throughout the day? Today, we return to The Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to view video on this topic. We love the clear explanations, solid rationales, and helpful tips in this video. For more information on the Universal Core Vocabulary they discuss, as well as downloadable communication materials, and professional development materials, explore the Project Core website. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhJ1B8h8Hd0&feature=youtu.be

Core Values: Suggestions for Language Building with AAC Learners

January 16, 2017 by - 1 Comment

Core Values: Suggestions for Language Building with AAC Learners

Here in the US, we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr  on the third Monday of January. It presents, among other things, a wonderful opportunity to talk and teach about concepts like tolerance, fairness, dignity, respect, and peaceful protest. Many of our AAC learners have a deeper understanding of these concepts than we will ever realize but they lack the language skills to discuss them in the same ways as their speaking peers do. Today, we share some ideas for continuing the conversation about these issues to help our AAC learners continue to develop their language skills. You may already have books, videos, and other resources that are useful in teaching about the life of Dr. King and the values he fought for, but here are some previous posts with a few more suggestions. Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday: 5 Resources for AAC Learners AAC and Anti-bullying... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: AAC Access for Individuals with Significant Motor Limitations Through Partner Assisted Scanning

November 2, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: AAC Access for Individuals with Significant Motor Limitations Through Partner Assisted Scanning

Developing effective communication systems for individuals with significant motor challenges is a challenging process. Ultimately, the goal is to provide them with tools and strategies that allow them to communicate independently and help them develop the skills needed to say what they wish to throughout their daily life experiences. As we all know, this can be a long journey.  And while we work toward systems that allow them to communicate independently, they need access to language and communication now despite their motor limitations. Partner assisted scanning (PAS) is one option that works for many AAC learners.  In this post, we feature a video overview of this strategy presented by SLP Maureen Nevers as part of the Communication Training Series by the Angelman Syndrome Foundation and the Foster Family Charitable Foundation, and a video of PAS in action by the Dynamic Learning Maps Professional Development (DLM PD) group under the direction... [Read More...]

How We Do It: A Collaborative Approach to Implementing Core Language within a School-Based Setting, Part 1

October 27, 2016 by - 7 Comments

How We Do It: A Collaborative Approach to Implementing Core Language within a School-Based Setting, Part 1

Nothing makes us smile like seeing teams in which professionals serving students with AAC needs work together to ensure that those students can use and grow their language skills. In this guest post, we learn about an approach that has worked for one such team, Lori Sanzeri and Chelsea Collins. Lori Sanzeri, MA CCC-SLP, TSHH, received her B.S. in Speech Language Pathology from SUNY Cortland in 2003 and M.A. from St. John’s University in 2009.  She has worked for the NYC Department of Education since 2003 and teaches AAC and phonetics at St. John’s University. Chelsea Collins, MS CCC-SLP, TSSLD, received her B.S. in Special Education from Seton Hall University in 2009 and M.S. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from New York University in 2012.  She has worked for the NYC DOE since 2012 and specializes in AAC and early intervention. They are on Instagram as @thelanguageladies and have a Facebook page as... [Read More...]

Site of the Month: Core Word Classroom

October 10, 2016 by - 1 Comment

Looking for materials that you can use to support AAC in educational settings? AssistiveWare’s newest venture, The Core Word Classroom, may be just what you are looking for.  While the materials align with their AAC app Proloquo2Go, the concepts, activity ideas, and planning tools have broad applicability. Jennifer Marden and Amanda Hartmann, who created most of the content for this new venture, introduce us to the site. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The AssistiveWare Core Word Classroom is a resource for anyone who is implementing a core word-based AAC system. The materials focus on teaching using core words, as well as expanding communication beyond requesting to all the reasons we communicate, and helping AAC users use the full grammatical possibilities of language. The classroom materials are built around a framework called the 3W’s:   WORDS – the core words that could be used for an activity   WHYS – the many different reasons why we communicate... [Read More...]

Video of the Week: Shared Writing and AAC

September 28, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Shared Writing and AAC

Looking to round out your literacy supports with writing activities? Shared writing using a predictable chart is a great strategy to utilize with students who use AAC because there are so many rich opportunities for learning about print while practicing communication. In this video, SLP and AAC specialist Deanna Wagner describes the process of using core word sentence starters and covers essential elements of implementation. If you are not doing formal writing instruction with AAC learners, this is a great place to start. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll90gwo5rQQ