August 16, 2013
by Robin Parker -
These are some ‘non-traditional’ but really fun apps and activities that can be used to help improve writing, choice making, & AAC skills for all levels of writers. These apps allow you to create meaningful language experiences through the process of creating the written documents, by talking about & printing out the finished product, as well as by using writing specific reinforcement so that the learner knows they are really a writer (“wow, you are an author”, “great writing”, “awesome using many different words”, “excellent poetry”, etc.). Have fun and write. Type Drawing– TypeDrawing allows you to enter text or choose from a text word bank to draw lines or pictures. The text is repeated each time you begin drawing or touch and drag on the screen with your finger. We used this to make text pictures and then sent the pictures as notes to friends, birthday cards to a... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: activities, Apps, resources, writing
January 31, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We couldn’t be happier that one of our first AACtual Therapists is Tanna Neufeld, a south Floridian on loan to the Pacific Northwest. Tanna was with us as a graduate student many years ago, and went on to build a fantastic reputation in our community for her excellent clinical skills. It was South Florida’s loss when she left last year and moved across the continent. (I know at least a few people scheming of ways to get her back.) Tanna is now working at the Children’s Therapy Center in Seattle. Tanna blogs at SNEAK Outside the Box and My Blind Side. You can read more about her at the end of this post, in which Tanna talks about using bubbles in her AAC therapy sessions. AAC Breakthroughs with Bubbles! When I first started using core vocabulary boards with my kids, I didn’t really know where to start. It was really... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AACtual therapy, activities, download, goals
January 29, 2013
by Robin Parker -
It’s almost February and and we were thinking about ways to encourage communication in a fun and meaningful way for the whole month. The best way we know is to build a visual language environment by providing lots of AAC modeling (Aided Language Input-ALI) and by using lots of visual supports. Here are some ideas to expand opportunities and/or to get started. We would love to know what works, what doesn’t, and any other ways you build visual language into everyday experiences. Use Aided Language Input (ALI) to say ‘I Love You’ . Make it part of a routine Offer learners a book choice board/choice book when deciding what book to read in speech-language therapy/classroom/home Use Aided Language Input (ALI) to tell how you feel when something is hard or difficult for you Use a ‘stop sign’ symbol to indicate an off limit area Use Aided Language Input (ALI) to... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: activities, aided language input