The PrAACtical Side of Giving: Random AACts of Kindness

The best thing about the holiday season, in our humble opinion, is the heightened sense of caring that people have toward one another. No matter what our religious belief systems may be, December seems to be the month when we are inspired to extend more kindness to each other. We got to thinking about this the other day, particularly about the old adage that “It is better to give, than to receive.”

The act of giving really is some worth talking about, and not just because it is the holiday season. Here’s why: For many people, self-worth is related to our ability to contribute. Simply put, we feel better about ourselves and about the world when we give to others.

Because of the competing demands on AAC learners and the many challenges in the daily lives, people with significant communication difficulties often get left behind in the experience of giving. Many aren’t afforded the opportunity to do the community service hours that are commonplace in many of our high schools, not out of malice or oversight, but because it may not be deemed as a priority. That’s a shame, really, because there is so much to be gained by giving back. And as we SLPs know, communication and language skills can be taught in practically any context.

So when we came across posts like this one on low-cost Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) and this free kit for the classroom, it made us think about the possibilities. How fun and prAACtical would it be to do some of these things with our AAC friends? Lots of prAACtical possibilities for language learning in these simple activities! Free downloads of her cute RAK cards make it even more enticing.

Random Acts of Kindness isn’t just about giving things, and that’s nice. But it’s also nice to give things to others when we can. And this is one of those times. Thanks to a generous offer by Toys for Special Children/Enabling Devices, we have a 4-Compartment Scanning Communicator to share with one of our prAACtical friends. Tomoko Burke Yokooji, thanks for being active on our Facebook page and a prAACtical supporter of kids with AAC needs.

Friends, please consider showing your appreciation of Enabling Devices by visiting and liking their Facebook page. And if you end up doing any prAACtical RAKs of your own, we’d love to hear about them.