PrAACtically Pinteresting with Lauren Enders: Engaging Apps for Implementation

Today, we welcome back an old friend, Lauren Enders. Many of you are already familiar with Lauren through the posts she has shared on AAC in the IEP, encouraging AAC implementation, and writing AAC goals, and also the wonderful work she does in curating resources on Pinterest. We’re thrilled that she will be joining us each month to highlight a different Pinterest board that has AAC-related content.  Lauren identifies interesting and helpful resources and adds relevant commentaries to all of the items she includes. In this first post, she shares a collection of resources on apps that can be used to engage AAC learners in therapy, instruction, play, and leisure time.

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For the past few years, I have been building a Pinterest site with the goal of providing visual, categorized, and easily accessible resources that relate to AAC as well as Assistive Technology, Speech and Language Therapy, Special Education, iPads, and Educational Technology.  I created the site after realizing there was a tremendous need for these types of resources locally, nationally, and internationally
Several weeks ago, while perusing AAC-related Facebook groups, I came upon a great post from SLP Kristy Davies in the group AAC for the SLP.  Kristy posted, “What are your favorite non-AAC apps to help support AAC? (e.g. Pogg)”.  The rich discussion that followed provided names of numerous apps that could be used to support teaching language to individuals using AAC.  Thinking that Kristy was surely not the only person seeking this information, I created a new Pinterest board named AAC: Engaging Apps for Implementation.

Taking a look at this new board, you will notice a couple types of pins.  The first type of pin shares specific app titles that others have been found to be successful when working with individuals learning to use their AAC systems.  On each pin, there is a short description of the app. If I have received comments on how to use the app with students/clients, I placed that information in the summary or in the comments below the pin.  If you have ideas on how to use an app that I’ve pinned, please add to the comments below the pin! We have so much to learn from one another!

The second type of pin offers links to blogs or other sources that are helpful in identifying engaging apps and how to use them. For example, one pin provides information on mobile lesson plans from aaclanguagelab.com (an excellent subscription-based site from the Prentke Romich Corporation).  These mobile lesson plans (a few of which are free) center around a particular app and provide target vocabulary, language skill, objectives, plus activities for speaking, reading, writing, and generalization.  Another pin highlights a fabulous PrAACtical AAC post by Nerissa Hall and Hillary Jellison called Magic Moments with Toca Train.

I hope you find this new board helpful! Keep supporting language development in your AAC users and I’ll keep pinning!