Loving Literacy Resources

For AAC Awareness Month, we would be remiss if we did not think about literacy.  It is a form of communication and language that supports AAC use.  Sometimes literacy is difficult for our students, other times it is actually easier and it helps conversational communication and even natural speech. Either way, reading, writing, talking, and listening (understanding) are all modalities of language.  There are so many great resource lists  for supporting literacy: Jane Farrall’s Letter of the Week: Resources for Older Students, Spectronics Apps for Literacy Support, Melissa Taylor’s 24 Educational iPad Apps for Kids in Reading and Writing, and 25 Great Children’s Apps to Stimulate Literacy, Learning, & Creativity just to name a few.  

We wanted to share a few additional resources for literacy with general education apps that approach reading through fun with words.  And any literacy discussion could not be complete without some seriously great literacy information, theory, and supports for learners with special needs.  Take a look and feel free to add your favorite fun literacy resource or some seriously great literacy resources. 

Playing with Literacy

   iF Poems– Read classic poems, write your own, many letter and word search options, and much more. Some people may not consider classic poetry fun, but we have recently been reminded that repeated interaction with a variety of complex literature can bring about amazing outcomes (Thanks so much E.D. & WD)

   Word Foto– Fun with pictures and images. Can begin some ‘reading’ and ‘writing’ of association literacy pieces that begin to help students enjoy the process. Our original concept for PrAACtical AAC  was created using Word Foto–

   Mad Libs– Technology added to the old mad libs ‘pads’ (if you are old enough you will know these). Love the hints, the visual cue for how many will be needed to be finished, and LOVE that the end stories are not quite as absurd as they used to be.  Oh yeah and there are a few free versions.
    ABC Spy– Fun with photography, literacy, and winning trophies. 

   Toontastic– Really fun with reading and writing but had to add it because it is our friend, Lori Wise’s favorite (and she is an exceptional AAC & Literacy educator)
Literacy Information
TalkSense– 101 ideas for literacy and AAC.  Also, provides access to many picture symbols and litSymbols

  Tar Heel Reader – books for beginning readers of all ages.

Bookshare– accessible books and journals for readers with print disabilities

     Center for Literacy and Disabilities Studies– resources for learning about teaching literacy to individuals of all ages and any disability

Literacy Instruction for Indivudals Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome and Other Disabilities– guidelines for literacy Instruction for  individuals with complex     communication needs (CCN).