Tag Archive: Books

Let’s Read! Online Books for the Holiday Season

December 6, 2018 by - 1 Comment

Let’s Read! Online Books for the Holiday Season

Want to give a long-lasting gift to the colleagues and families with whom you work? Here’s one prAACtical idea: Connect them with free resources that they can easily access and use. Our top pick for the holiday season is Tar Heel Reader. Here are some books that you can use in your AAC instruction then share with families so that they can enjoy them at home. The Snowman Cookie How to Make Potato Latkes How to Catch a Polar Bear (Fun but not suitable for all readers) I Love Christmas Holidays Throughout the Year The Gift of the Magi

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Video of the Week: Alphabet Books and AAC Implementation

November 21, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Alphabet Books and AAC Implementation

Today, we continue to learn from the AAC in the Cloud conference, hosted by CoughDrop AAC which organizes and runs this wonderful professional development event each spring as a service to the AAC community. In this post, former teacher and veteran AT and Education Consultant veteran Kelly Fonner gives us a variety of suggestions for creating and using alphabet books to build language and literacy skills in AAC learners. We are grateful for CoughDrop’s generosity is organizing their annual AAC in the Cloud Conference and offering it for free so that so many parents and professionals can advance their knowledge. Kelly’s engaging style and top-notch content in this session are not to be missed. Enjoy! You can obtain the handout for this session here. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTAfiW-pMKw

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PrAACtically September: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Vocabulary

August 27, 2018 by - 4 Comments

PrAACtically September: AAC Resources for a Year of Core Vocabulary

Are you supporting AAC learners who have SGDs or communication boards/books with high-frequency words? If so, join us as we work to model, practice, and teach these words throughout the day. It can feel overwhelming, so we tend to focus on a subset of words each month. The Year of Core Vocabulary approach isn’t a developmental list of words to be introduced in a specific order, but rather a way of gradually exposing learners to more and more words over time. We do that by modeling them on their device or communication aid when we talk, and plan specific instructional activities to teach word meanings, play games to help them better recognize and understand the symbols for those words, and, elicit them frequently from those who are just learning their AAC systems. Our AAC friends need practice, practice, and more practice. Over time, they will gain more fluency and automaticity with the words in their AAC... [Read More...]

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5 Ways to Use Books to Build Interaction with AAC Learners

June 18, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

5 Ways to Use Books to Build Interaction with AAC Learners

Looking for more ways to build AAC skills? Book reading can be incorporated into therapy sessions and instructional lessons, as well as part of the daily routine at home. Here are some ideas for using books to support AAC and language learning. Choosing a book: In most cases, we want the AAC learner to have the autonomy to choose a book. However, we can make this part of the AAC learning process by teaching the skill of choosing something to read and talking about it before the learner makes his/her choice. Goal Areas: We can use this time to build basic turn-taking skills, requesting, sentence-building, and new vocabulary, among other things. It’s also a great opportunity to develop more advanced syntax using words like ‘since’ and ‘because’ (e.g., “I want to read about sport because it is World Cup time.”) and various sentence structures (e.g., “First, let’s read a sports... [Read More...]

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“But He Doesn’t Like It!” 5 Things to Try with AAC Learners Who Don’t Like Shared Reading

November 20, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

“But He Doesn’t Like It!” 5 Things to Try with AAC Learners Who Don’t Like Shared Reading

Have you had an experience like Stacy’s? Stacy SLP knows the importance of building literacy skills in her students who use AAC and was happy to have found an age respectful book that aligns with the curriculum. She downloaded it onto her iPad and practiced reading it so that the push-in session would go smoothly.  Stacy reviewed the students’ SGDs and came up with a plan for targeting specific language or AAC skills. She was determined to infuse more literacy activities into her therapy and began the reading activity with equal measures of excitement and nervousness.  It was both frustrating and disheartening when her students didn’t like the activity, were hard to engage, and even tried to escape. Within the first few minutes, her enthusiasm had turned to fear (’What do I do NOW?’) and dread (‘How am I going to get through this session?!’). Many of us have had... [Read More...]

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Using Adapted Books with AAC Learners: 3 Important Questions to Ask

April 24, 2017 by - 5 Comments

Using Adapted Books with AAC Learners: 3 Important Questions to Ask

We’re seeing a big increase in the number of families and professionals who are prioritizing literacy instruction for people with AAC needs, and that makes us VERY happy. In some cases, families, teachers, and therapists are using adapted books in their shared reading activities and making them available for self-selected reading, too. There are lots of ways to adapt books, though, and not every adaptation is appropriate for an individual who uses or is learning AAC. In this post, we talk about some of the things to consider when making decisions about adapted books. The term ‘adapted book’ refers to a book that was altered in some fashion to make it more accessible to people with disabilities. There are different ways of modifying books including: Simplifying or revising the text, Adding AAC symbols to the text, Changing the format (e.g., cutting it apart, binding it at the top, and reassembling,... [Read More...]

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PrAACtically November: Resources for A Year of Core Words

October 26, 2016 by - 1 Comment

PrAACtically November: Resources for A Year of Core Words

And just like that, we’re ready to say goodbye to October. It’s been a great month of AAC Awareness events and activities (whew!), and now we are prepping for November. Looking for some ways to help your AAC learners become more competent in using core words? Need to get staff on board with modeling core vocabulary? Trying to get familiar with where core words are stored in a particular SGD or AAC app? Here’s an approach you may want to try: Choose a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that.  2013: A Year of Core (12 words/month) 2014: A(nother) Year of Core  (16 words/month; Note: These are different than the core words covered in 2013) Those posts have links to downloadable grids with the core words for each month that can be used... [Read More...]

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PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: Hello Baby

June 28, 2016 by - 1 Comment

Karen Natoci is back with some wonderful suggestions for reading and building AAC skills with young children. Although her focus is on little ones with visual impairment, these books and the implementation suggestions, would be useful for a wide range babies, toddlers, and preschoolers who are developing their language skills. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Books Hello Baby Words (high contrast board books) by Roger Priddy, illustrated by Holly Jackman (Published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, NY 10010) Hello Baby Words: On The Go Hello Baby Words: Faces Hello Baby: Animals Hello Baby: Faces Core Vocabulary Focus: GO, GET, WHO, THAT, SEE, IT Fringe Vocabulary Transportation: digger, balloon, train, roller skates, helicopter, truck, car, submarine, rocket, dump truck, fire truck, boat, race car, tractor, car carrier, plane Animals: cat, turtle, fish, pig, butterfly, cow, mouse, bird, bear, zebra, rabbit, panda, penguin, dog, sheep, snake Faces:  boy, girl, woman, man, grandfather, grandmother... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Resources: Book-related Communication Boards

June 6, 2016 by - 7 Comments

PrAACtical Resources: Book-related Communication Boards

Looking for book-specific vocabulary that you can highlight, teach, and/or elicit when reading? The Assistive Technology Team at Baltimore City Public Schools has a site with materials that you may find helpful. They’ve created topical communication boards for over 800 books, both fiction and non-fiction, that can be accessed by anyone with the Boardmaker program. Their resources include activity-based communication boards with 9, 20, and 56 locations for the books, and a set of comprehension questions. You can access their Adapted Books site here.  

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PrAACtically Reading: The Cat in the Hat with Karen Natoci

May 7, 2015 by - 1 Comment

PrAACtically Reading: The Cat in the Hat with Karen Natoci

Who doesn’t love reading books by Theodor Seuss Guisel? Michigan-based SLP Karen Natoci is back to show us how she is using one of his most beloved books to integrate language and literacy instruction with the AAC learners in some of the classrooms she serves. Be sure to download her lesson plan and watch the video clip of Karen in AACtion. Enjoy! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: CLASSIC Book: The CAT in the HAT, by Dr. Seuss Core Vocabulary focus: LOOK, NOT, LIKE, NOT LIKE, NO, GO, DO, UH-OH or OOPS. COMMUNICATION Matrix Level: I-VII Four Block focus: Shared Reading and Working with Words (at the alphabet/rhyme level) ————————————————————————————————————————————- It is Spirit Week at our school and Monday is Hat DAY!!  What better excuse to read, The Cat in the Hat!! The rhythm of the reading along with the site of all of our wacky hats made for a fun morning in room 8!... [Read More...]

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