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January 20, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome back to another installment of TELL ME About It, guest authored by Jeanna Antrim and Maggie Judson. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings with school teams. In this series, they discuss how they support preschool teachers who are implementing the TELL ME program with their young students. Today, they walk us through the ways that they facilitate AAC use while focusing on the book ‘What Do You Like?’ Don’t miss their Lesson Plan, video demonstrations, and other resources at the end of the post. TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘What Do You Like?’ TELL ME About Reading: The fifth book in the TELL ME program (Teaching Early Language and Literacy through Multimodal Expression) is “What Do You Like?”. ... [Read More...]
December 16, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Welcome to a new edition of TELL ME About It, with AAC Specialists Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrip. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in southern Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings. They’ve collaborated on a series to share their experiences in supporting preschool classrooms that implement the TELL ME program that Lori Wise and I created. If you missed the earlier posts in this series, you can get caught up using the links below. From Head to Toe I Went Walking Brown Bear, Brown Bear TELL ME AAC Literacy Kits TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘Here Are My Hands’! TELL ME About Reading: The fourth book in the TELL ME program (Teaching Early Language and Literacy through Multimodal Expression) is “Here Are My Hands.” A... [Read More...]
December 12, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
How can we reduce the negative impact of significant motor challenges on children who use AAC and are not independently mobile? Today, we conclude Christine Wright-Ott’s series on this topic. Christine is an Occupational Therapist and consultant at The Bridge School in Hillsborough California. She authored the chapter, Mobility, in several editions of the book, Occupational Therapy for Children. Christine lectures at universities and conferences including ATIA, Closing the Gap, ISAAC, ISS, and AAC by the Bay. If you missed the earlier posts in this series you can catch up via the links below. Part 1: From Wheelchair to Walker: The Cascading Benefit of Hands-Free Mobility Part 2: From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs Part 3: How We Do It: A Support Walker Mobility Program for Elementary Students with AAC Needs ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AAC Strategies, Adaptations for Students in Support Walkers, Assessment & Funding AAC Strategies and... [Read More...]
October 14, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
In therapy, Matthew made sentences with many of the vocabulary words he learned 4 months ago. He hasn’t generalized that skill to the classroom yet, largely because it is still quite effortful for him to find the new words and use them to build sentences. With more experience and a lot of practice, this is sure to improve. Teesha is learning how to use 2-switch step scanning with her speech-generating device to share her thoughts and make requests. Because she’s relatively new at this, it takes a lot of effort to express herself with the AAC system. Her team is confident that this will eventually become easier and faster for Teesha, but that will only come with a lot of practice. Mallory has a lot to say, and, at times, she can hardly contain her enthusiasm for sharing her thoughts and ideas. Often, though, she spends a minute or more... [Read More...]
May 16, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
If you’ve been planning to begin using switch-accessible iPad games in your AAC work but haven’t quite gotten it all figured out, this post is for you. We’re delighted to introduce PrAACtical AAC readers to Daniel Rigney, an SLP who with students who have complex communication needs at the Rosedale School in Austin, Texas. Daniel’s professional interests include the AT/AAC Maker Movement (see this post for info on that topic), language development for students with moderate to severe disabilities, and disability rights. He also maintains a YouTube channel, Assistive Technology ATX, with helpful AT content and tips. In this post, Daniel shares the process he uses for integrating iPad games into AAC therapy for students who use switches rather than direct selection. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Let’s Play! Using Switch-accessible iPad Games for AAC Learning iPad games can be a great teaching tool for core vocabulary. From having your angry birds “go” to... [Read More...]
October 25, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
The right types of prompts delivered at the right time in the right amount can be enormously powerful in supporting AAC learners. On the other hand, the wrong type of prompt or prompts that offer too much or too little help can impede learning, self-confidence, and cause other problems as well. In today’s continuation of the Model as a MASTER PAL Training Series, Tabi Jones-Wohleber addresses issues related to prompting. As with the other modules, she provides slides, handouts, video links, discussion points and more. This module should take about 30-40 minutes to present. Looking for the earlier modules in the MASTER PAL Series? Check them out here. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Model as a MASTER PAL Module 10: Appropriate Prompting Facilitator Guidelines What it comes to prompting, it’s important to get it right! Inappropriate prompting can result in decreased quality interactions characterized by prompt dependence, passive engagement, and of course poor use of... [Read More...]
December 4, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Dr. Kathy Howery is back with another helpful post an AAC research. Kathy is based in Alberta, Canada, and has worked in the field of AT and special education for over three decades. In the past year, she completed her doctoral studies where she used phenomenological methods to seek to understand the lived experience of speaking with/through a speech generating device. Kathy is currently working as a consultant to schools and school districts across Alberta focusing primarily on children and youth with complex communication needs. In this article, she discusses research on AAC interventions. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Almirall, D. , DiStefano, C., Chang, Y.-C., Shire, S., Kaiser, A., Lu X, Nahum-Shani, I., Landa, R., Mathy, P. & Kasari, C. (2016). Longitudinal Effects of Adaptive Interventions with a Speech-Generating Device in Minimally Verbal Children with ASD. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 45(4), 442-456. What this article is all about (the focus... [Read More...]
May 11, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Better Hearing and Speech Month is in full swing and we are excited to see SLPs talking about tools and strategies for supporting people with AAC needs. Many individuals with AAC needs have difficulty using language in expected ways, particularly in social interactions. In this post, we welcome back guest authors Jill Senner and Matthew Baud to discuss ways in which they target pragmatic language in their clinical work. They have a prAACtical approach to this subject and are generous in sharing AAC resources, including vocabulary/pagesets for some popular AAC apps/SGDs. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Chat with Me: Pragmatic Skill Intervention in AAC with Jill E Senner, PhD, CCC-SLP & Matthew R. Baud, MS, CCC-SLP Pragmatic skills, commonly referred to as social skills, play an important role in the successful integration of individuals with disabilities. People with disabilities need adequate social skills to live and be educated in the least restrictive environment, to be... [Read More...]
July 27, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Do you have a love-hate relationships with formal testing? Are you required to use normed tests with your minimally verbal clients? Looking for recommendations on which tests to use? AAC specialist Vicki Clarke has you covered! Like many of you, I’ve had mixed feeling when it comes to using normed assessment instruments with my AAC learners, particularly when we needed to modify the test materials or administration procedures in order for them to be able to participate and respond. If the client can’t point to pictures, give a verbal response, or sit through an entire test, we have no choice but to adapt how the test is administered. As we all know, when we adapt test materials (e.g., putting the test items on an eye gaze board) or procedures (e.g., partner-assisted scanning), we lose the ability to use the normative data. We can, though, compare our learners to themselves at... [Read More...]
June 28, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Marlene Cummings is back to share some thoughts on creating communication-friendly environments. As an AAC consultant to the Oakland Schools, Marlene gets to support AAC implementation in a variety of classrooms with all types of learners. You can read her earlier posts here and here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 5 Things to Consider in the “Communication Environment” The first thing we want to ask: Is language being represented visibly? We in AAC are often known by our “stuff”. Because we need to represent language visibly and love technology, we typically have a lot of “stuff”. I, for one, currently have a large storage unit holding 30+ years of “stuff” waiting to be distributed to all my new teams since I am no longer in the classroom. Let’s start by looking around our instructional environment. It is our intention to model the use of language being represented visibly and to provide the vocabulary and opportunities for... [Read More...]