1056 Search Results for Core
April 25, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We’re so happy to welcome Lauren Enders back to share some more thoughts on AAC and the IEP. In her first post on this topic, Lauren addressed some frequently asked questions. Today, she provides a very valuable perspective on writing IEP goals for students who use or need AAC and some wonderful resources. Very often, I receive requests for support from teachers and speech therapists that are writing IEP goals for their students who use AAC. When we sit down to discuss their questions, the first thing I remind them is that AAC goals are no different from any other IEP goal. I recall a workshop I attended years ago presented by Gail VanTatenhove that helps put IEP goals for AAC into perspective. Gail said that AAC therapy is just language therapy. Isn’t that true? Aren’t we just teaching language? For this student, language is simply being expressed in a... [Read More...]
April 16, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Although we are deeply invested in AAC systems that have a robust set of core language, that doesn’t mean we insist that our clients generate sentences word-by-word all the time. There are lots of good reasons for pre-storing longer messages. Here are some of them. Emergency messages: When we’re communicating about things like spasms, seizures, pain, medication, fear, and danger, time is of the essence. The quicker, the better. Examples: “My asthma is kicking up. Get my puffer, please.” “I’m having a back spasm. Take me out of my chair.” “I think my sugar is off. Can you do a finger prick to check my levels?” “I’m scared. Can you help me?” Partner instructions and communication transaction messages: Sometimes we communicate about communicating. In AAC, it’s not uncommon for someone to set the stage for how the interaction will proceed or provide their partner with specific directions. When communicating to... [Read More...]
April 11, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we’re happy to introduce you to another AACtual Therapist, Jamie Cooley, the SLP for Belpre City Schools (belpre.k12.oh.us), located in Belpre, OH. She is a graduate of Ohio University (B.S. ’09, M.A. ’11) and currently resides in Athens, OH. Jamie did work at Ohio University focusing on AAC and children with autism under the instruction of Dr. John McCarthy and Dr. Joann Benigno. She has worked for Belpre City Schools for two years with students in grades K-12. In this post, Jamie uses a case study approach to share a lesson using Play Dough. Background Emma is a third grade student. She was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and her cognitive and communication skills are significantly below age-norms. She receives most of her academic instruction in a resource room. Communicatively, Emma repeats many words and phrases, and combines up to two words on her own. This is... [Read More...]
April 10, 2013
by Robin Parker -
On-line education has been a huge part of our professional development. With shrinking travel budgets and various time constraints, we love to make use of a variety of on-line learning formats. We recently were lucky enough to come across myInfinitec. Infinitec stands for infinite potential through technology. Infinitec’s goal is to advance independence and promote inclusive opportunities for children and adults through technology. Through myinfinitec, We found a free webinar that we just had to attend. That webinar was: Communication Circles: With A Little Help From My Friends by Dr. Caroline Musselwhite. A huge thanks to Jennifer T. Skalitzky from myinfinitec for facilitating the webinar and the information in this post. Dr. Musselwhite has generously taken the time and effort to summarize the key features of Communication Circles and to make the handouts available. So if you have interest in helping AAC users to communicate naturally, in a variety of... [Read More...]
April 1, 2013
by Robin Parker -
There are a lot of celebrations this month. It is officially Autism Awareness Month. A new name for this that has popped up & taken hold is Autism Acceptance Month. Awareness and/or Acceptance seems to mean different things to different people but hopefully the intent is similar. We hope that this month is filled with great ideas to support ALL people with autism and their families. We hope that educators, clinicians, and whole communities are inclusive, that they presume competence, and that they support communication and language using best prAACtice information and research. We do know that there is more to hope for than just this, like better employment outcomes, more appropriate accommodations, and more individualized support but if focus stays on the former, it seems then that the latter would improve. Plus we have more control (if there is such a thing) on facilitating inclusivity, presuming competence, and of course... [Read More...]
March 26, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We love getting EVERYONE involved in Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month. We like to take a goal focused approach to our autism activities by choosing projects that facilitate autism awareness & acceptance, positive attitudes, and autism & communication learning. We pass out materials, have contests, go to events, do extra talks, and try and engage EVERYONE we know and even some we do not know. We do a lot of shopping (with small amount of money, but we have to EAT and accessorize). Our families, pets, friends, and students all participate. It is a month filled with purposeful fun. Here are some of the things we will be doing. Please share any activities or projects that you know about. Read & share 5 references that support the use of AAC & Autism (evidence based research) Check out the Online Autistic Carnival which is currently accepting submission of various video documentaries (music, art, writing,... [Read More...]
March 13, 2013
by Robin Parker -
Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up. We love focusing on holidays in our sessions because it is a chance to teach new vocabulary and as importantly (if not more for some learners) it is a chance to teach social conversation about what many people in the community are talking about. Holiday’s also give us fun ways to focus on many other goals as well. The theme (in this case – a holiday) can serve as the platform for any goal that is appropriate. We just always ask ourselves (and our graduate students)- ‘What is the point’ or ‘What is the Goal’ when we have a great new themed activity. This is a time to work on core and fringe vocabulary, social conversation and interaction, play skills, and more. These are some fun activities matched to goals that we use to get ready for Saint Patrick’s Day. Surveys & or Questions–... [Read More...]
March 12, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
I had such a blast using this great (free) app that I couldn’t wait to get some time to blog about it. ‘It’s Cool to be Clever’ is about being different and uses the story of Edson Hendricks, an innovator who grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and went on to develop an early design for what we now know as the world wide web. The app is based on a book by a former teacher, Leanne Jones, and contains compelling video and some lovely original music. It was created by Agio Studios. In his own voice, Hendricks tells his personal experiences of growing up feeling different from his peers, family, and community. There are four segments to the app. The Story: Narrated version of Hendrick’s biography, written by Leanne Jones, can be viewed so that you can read on your own, or have it read to you... [Read More...]
March 9, 2013
by Robin Parker -
Personal narratives are the first story skills that develop. They tell about ourselves and our connection to activities, places, and events. They tell about how we feel about people and experiences. Personal narratives help us structure and organize the events of our lives and even become a way of thinking about ourselves and our identities. We know many AAC users have significant difficulty with narratives. We always wonder though, is it a function of language difficulty or of access, exposure, and PrAACtice or more likely a combination. There are key intervention strategies that help AAC learners be able to tell personal narratives. You probably won’t be surprised by what strategies work but the research from Gloria Soto and colleagues has shown us that when applied to personal narratives, AAC users can be competent story tellers. Some Thoughts on Personal Narrative Assessment Even before assessment of the AAC learner, in all fairness,... [Read More...]
March 8, 2013
by Robin Parker -
We have been out and about in our community these past couple of weeks. We have worked with speech-language pathologists, teachers, resource specialists, paraprofessionals, and families. We love doing AAC facilitator training because the impact is so important for not only our current AAC learners but for future AAC learners as well. There are really great professionals who want to provide the best AAC support possible. They want and need AAC information that will help them integrate AAC facilitation strategies into their already very busy days. Here are 5 AAC facilitation strategies that have made the most impact: Using Aided Language Input (ALI)– Talk AAC to the learner. This strategy is not only a very powerful teaching tool, but when discussed with new AAC facilitators, seems to make perfect sense (many have never heard of it). One key for learning ALI is to practice it in a variety of activities... [Read More...]