Tag Archive: families
August 19, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
How can we help families cultivate well-being in these challenging times? In today’s featured video, Dr. Brenda Smith Myles shares tips for making space in our daily routines for structure, schedules, activities, mindfulness and patience, sleep routines, and other supportive strategies. Many thanks to Dr. Myles and the Kansas Technical Assistance System Network (TASN) for creating and sharing this video. Click on the image below to start watching. Direct Link to Video – https://vimeo.com/428624586
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking, Video of the Week
Tagged With: families, Health Hospital & Medical, home
November 2, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Unless you have a family member with a disability, it’s hard to really understand the toll that specialized services and equipment take on their financial well-being. We’re always on the look-out for sources of support that can help these families. This is the first in a periodic series of posts that list some of the AAC-friendly grant resources open to individual families and clients. The plan is to grow this list and update it with new information, so please comment or email me through the blog if you know of other opportunities. Help is particularly needed for those outside the US. Here are a handful of grants that are AAC-friendly to get us started. CASANA: The iPads for Apraxia program funds iPads for children with apraxia in the US and Canada Small Steps in Speech: Funds supplemental therapies and provides some support to nonprofit organizations who serve very young kids with... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: families, financial support, grants
October 21, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Each October, we like to share stories of people who use AAC throughout the day. to gain insight from those who have found a way to prioritize AAC despite their hectic and complicated lives. Today, Erin Compton shares some of the keys to making AAC a priority in her busy family. You can learn more about Erin and her family on their blog, Lotsacomptons and Room for More. In this post, Erin give us some tips on getting started in AAC and keeping up the momentum. Enjoy! Our journey into the world of AAC began last year with the adoption of our two sons from China. Philip and Arthur both have cerebral palsy and developmental delays from years in an orphanage. Just recently they began using communication devices so we have jumped in feet first to all things AAC. We are already having great success so I’m here to share some of the... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC implementation, families
November 18, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Several of you have reached out to express appreciation for the videos by Dr. Barry Prizant that were shared in recent months. In this one, he discusses effective strategies for building strong collaborative relationships with families. Thanks to Presence Learning for making this available.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: ASD, collaboration, Dr. Barry Prizant, families
July 30, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
When children arrive home from school, they are often asked some version of ‘the’ question: “What did you do in school today?” A few years ago we wrote about strategies families can use to help facilitate that conversation and were so pleased to hear from school staff who took this to heart and helped their students practice these conversational skills. As busy as life in the classroom can be, many teachers and SLPs make the time to communicate with families about the students’ day at school and we love seeing their work. There are many ways to give daily/weekly updates, of course, but many use the tried-and-true strategy of sending a note home. There are lots of examples on the wonderful sharing site for Boardmaker Online. Here are some of them. 1. Katie Crayons 2. Orange County PS1 3. TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports 4. Megan Little 5. Evet Bresseas 6. Kristen Schmidt (English... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Boardmaker Online, communication, families, home, resources
July 2, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
Hats off to Rachael Langley for taking time to develop and share another calendar with ideas for core word practice. As with previous calendars, she’s included lots of fun and easy ways to highlight and practice some of the July words from the first Year of Core Words list.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Calendar, core word, families, implementation ideas, Rachael Langley, Year of Core
September 11, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Here’s something we want our young clinicians to understand. Often families come to us for what we can share and teach them. Just as often, though, they’re the real teachers. Here are some lessons learned from some amazing families. Start where they are, not where you wish they were. Celebrate the tiniest of victories. Success breeds success. Small, sustainable changes are the best kind. When things have petered out, it’s okay to start over. It’s better than giving up. Muffins and fruit make those difficult meetings a little easier. (Thanks, Stephanie!) Happy fall semester!
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: families
September 10, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
What’s better than parents and professionals who are knowledgeable about beginning to use AAC with children? Connecting with them on Facebook. Here are some of the most active AAC-related groups out there. 1. Speak for Yourself Users Group (Despite it’s name, this one is not limited to families/professionals who use SFY.) 2. AAC: Alternative Awesome Communicators 3. Angelman, Literacy, and Education (Despite the name, the content is very applicable to a broad range of developmental disabilities.) 4. Apraxia-Kids (not AAC-specific but lots of good information) 5. PrAACtical AAC (Okay, we’re biased!)
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: beginning communicator, Facebook, families, parents
July 7, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
In this week’s video, we share the thoughts of Australian SLP Gail Bennell. In this video, Gail provides some interesting perspectives on helping families take charge of the AAC and other therapies in which their children participate. Gail offers professional online support to parents of nonverbal children and is on a mission to help nonverbal children everywhere learn how to communicate so they can reach their full potential. You can find her handouts and get more information at Gail’s website, www.RaisingNonverbalChildren.com . –
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: families, Gail Bennell, parents
March 28, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Tanna Neufeld hits another homerun with this post about co-treating children with multiple disabilities. Collaborating with our colleagues is both fun and challenging. Let’s take a look at the prAACtical ways that Tanna and her colleagues support kids with motor and visual impairments who are learning to use AAC. Fridays are my favorite. And not just for the obvious reasons (TGIF), but also because Fridays are one of the most challenging and exciting days of my work week. Every Friday, I am lucky enough to team with my favorite PTs for joint treatment sessions to support several children with multiple motor and communication challenges. Around our center, we lovingly refer to these kids as our “motor kids”. All of these little ones are nonverbal, and all have very complex motor challenges that significantly limit their ability to interact with traditional play and learning environments. Many of these kids also... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: co-treating, cultural diversity, CVI, families, interpreter, low vision, PT, Tanna Neufeld, vision impairment