November 14, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve all worked with beginning communicators who are just starting to get the hang of this interaction thing. For some, making requests and choicemaking, something we’ve written about before, is an early goal. Judit is a student like that. At 19 years old, she is just beginning to be able to attend to picture symbols and use them to express herself in a few situations. When we have kids like that, here are some of the things we think about. Autonomy is related to happiness. The more opportunities we have to give input into what happens during our day, the more content we tend to be. It’s not just for snack and mealtimes. If you are working on making choices and only providing options when Suzie is eating, you’re doing her a disservice. There are opportunities for choices everywhere. Even when it is snack/mealtime, the choices should not be limited... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: choice board, choicemaking, requesting
August 12, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to engage older learners with age appropriate materials? Searching for fresh ideas for AAC and language practice? Tellagami (“tell-uh-gah-mee”) is a free iOS app that allows you to create short animations, save them to your device, post to Facebook, and share them by email, SMS text, or Twitter. Best part about it, in this busy SLP’s opinion? Super easy to learn and use! The animations are called ‘Gami’s’ and are short and fun to make. The app has a good amount of flexibility and you are only limited by your imagination. Here are some ideas for putting it to use in your AAC work. 1. Choice making: The AAC learner can work collaboratively with a peer to create a Gami. In doing so, he/she can make selections of things like the gender of the character, hair, clothes, and the background. 2. Peer interactions: Many of our AAC... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, choicemaking, family, Magic Moments, narratives, Tellagami
January 26, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
This month we’ve been talking about requesting and choicemaking, specifically how to teach it. Today, we’ll put it into a clinical context by talking about a hypothetical session that targets this skill, but also highlights other strategies. As you read about the materials, preparation, and script, look for how they incorporate strategies such as building specific communication opportunities {CO}, aided language input {ALI}, and expansions {EX}. The clinician also builds in repetition with variety so that there is sufficient opportunities for teaching and practice using multiple modes of communication. In this scenario, you’ll meet Jenna, a 5 year old with significant language difficulties secondary to Cri du Chat syndrome. Jenna’s communication system includes about a dozen manual signs (SIGN), 20-25 word approximations (SPEECH), a few gestures (GEST), some manual communication boards (COMM BD), and an iPad with a full-featured AAC app (iPAD). She also uses movement (MOVEMT), vocalizations (VOC), and... [Read More...]
Filed under: Strategy of the Month
Tagged With: choicemaking, requesting, therapy session
January 12, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Choicemaking and requesting may be the most frequently targeted areas for beginning communicators who are starting out with their AAC systems. That makes sense for some learners because making choices is a very concrete focus for interaction and is loaded with motivational power. It seems pretty straightforward but, like anything else we do clinically, there are lots of decisions and choices to be made as we delve deeper into the process. How can we craft an AAC system that targets requesting for now, but also supports core language learning? For communicators who are at the earliest stages of making requests with AAC symbols, the strategy we discussed earlier this month or simple choice boards are a good starting point. But unless we quickly address where this is all going, the client will be strictly limited in their language learning. There are many ways to do this. Here is one approach.... [Read More...]
Filed under: Strategy of the Month
Tagged With: beginning communicator, choice, choicemaking, core vocabulary, requesting