Ready/Not Ready: 5 Visual Supports for AAC Learners

Some of us aren’t feeling quite ready to go back to work after the holidays. Like use, many AAC learners need help to get their minds and bodies prepared for activities and experiences. Here are some ready/not ready resources that can help us prepare them to cope with things to come.

1. This simple version, by Amanda Sajac, can be a good starting point for introducing the concept through modeling. 
2. Kelli Proulx’s visual support has full messages that can be used as a manual communication board or made into an overlay for a low tech SGD.
3. We can’t assume that AAC learners share our idea of what it means to be ready, so teaching this in an explicit way makes a lot of sense. AAC Lab created several visual supports to show what ready looks like and what behaviors indicate that we are NOT ready. 
4. Sometimes it can be helpful to create a short routine to help students get their minds and bodies ready for a lesson or experience. Janet Conklin used that approach with this 5-step sequence. 
5. Tara Paquette created a suite of visual supports for this purpose including an interactive story about the concept, a Ready Poster, Ready to Learn strips, a visual explanation of what it means to get ready for a specific activity (Morning Meeting and Circle Time), and a story that students can help author.