Tag Archive: home
October 6, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
It’s time for another AT Recipe for Success with SLP Sara Barnhill and the AT Team at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Today, we’re learning how they use extension activities based on the book, Pete the Cat Rockin’ in My School Shoes, to help families have fun and build AAC skills at the same time. Sara and her colleagues have been incredibly generous in sharing their work over the past several months. If you missed them over the the past few months, you can view previous posts here. Each one has parent handouts for you to download. As a member of the AT Core team, Sara is involved in AAC evaluations and therapy in the hospital’s clinics, out-patient program and Transitional Care Unit. CHoR’s AT Program is one of few comprehensive AT programs in Central Virginia. The program provides AT evaluations, equipment and training to people of all ages, enabling children and adults with disabilities to... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: download, family, home, parent
April 6, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
How can AAC be incorporated in daily life at home and in the community? Follow along with the Owens family, of We Speak PODD, who graciously let us peek into their lives as the work to make AAC a part of their everyday lives. Take a look at their PODD conversations to see how they incorporate AAC they live, learn, work, and play over the past six months. November Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM9tRTUaWLs December Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-AyfMLVkFs January Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0AtASkmiRw February Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK5yZjEZINc and Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyUZfEEwuP8 March Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRVB5Ry8gNc April Direct Link to Video: https://youtu.be/3iPm2Jripso
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: family, home, PODD
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
August 27, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
As readers of this blog know, we are sometimes awed and inspired by families of people with AAC needs. There are many who seem to know just what to do and make it a priority to implement AAC in their homes. It isn’t always smooth sailing, though, and we often rack our brains to find ways to support famiies who are struggling. Here are some prAACtical ideas of things to say when a family member is feeling unsuccessful. 1. “Take small bites: You don’t have to revolutionize your household to help your child/parent. Do what you can do, when you can do it. Small changes are more sustainable, anyway.” 2. “Starting over is better than giving up: Yes, you may have tried XYZ before but things are different now. Let’s give it another shot.” 3. “I won’t judge you. ” Say it and mean it. 4. “You’re not alone.”... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: encourage, family, home, inspire, support
July 25, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Practicing skills outside of therapy is a good way to extend the learning process and generalize skills to functional environments. It isn’t appropriate for every situation, but when it is, here are some things we try to think about. 1. It should focus on skills they have, not ones they need to learn. Why? Because when we’re learning new things, we get it wrong fairly often. And we don’t want to give them practice getting it wrong. Instead, the home practice should be on things they know and can do, but don’t do consistently. Home practice is a great way to build fluency and automaticity. 2. Tie it into the client’s interests. Use materials or topics that they enjoy. 3. Teach it. Resist the temptation to quickly go over the home practice in the last 60 seconds of therapy or in the waiting room. We’ve all done it, but strive... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: 5, family, generalization, home, homework
July 2, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
Yes. Although this question was settled definitively in 1991 by US Special Education Programs former director Judith Schrag, there are still some misinformed professionals saying otherwise. In most cases, administrators cannot limit AAC device use to school grounds only. As long as the team agrees that the student needs to be able to communicate throughout the day, then the AAC device can go home in the afternoon, on weekends, on holiday breaks, and during the summer. The “Schrag Letter” (OSEP, November 27, 1991) asserted that “if the IEP team determines that a particular assistive technology item is required for home use in order for a particular child to be provided Free Appropriate Public Education, the technology must be provided to implement the IEP.” There may be an IEP team out there somewhere who feels that a student only needs to communicate during the 6-hour school day, but we haven’t met... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: education, home, law, OSEP, Schrag letter
November 25, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
We communicate whenever we’re awake, but sometimes it takes some creativity to find ways to provide AAC access when communicators are not in their main seating systems. It’s always a challenge to figure out mounting strategies so that communication options, whether they are no tech, low tech, or high tech, are always available. This video from the INDATA Project demonstrates an iPad/tablet mount from Charger City that can be used in bed. How cool would it be to use the iPad or Tablet for: Interacting while reading bedtime stories Having a little conversation about the day using the picture schedule app Saying prayers or talking about dreams Watching and listening to some meditation music/images Going over the schedule for the next day Independently reading a book before bed Pleading for ‘just one more’ story, kiss, song, or drink of water We’d love to hear your ideas on other ways to... [Read More...]
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: home, INDATA, iPad, mount, tablet
November 9, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
No matter where they work, SLPs supporting people who use AAC generally do what they can to improve communication across environments. In an earlier Simple Start post, we talked about using photos of places within a school to support language comprehension. By showing a picture of the cafeteria or gym as we say those words, we can help both students with language processing difficulties and those with behavior regulation issues. — In this post, we extend the same concept to travels in and around the community. Here are directions for making visual supports that can be used with students who have community-based instruction or by families as they go about their weekly errands and routines. Simple Start: Visual Support for Places in the Community Take photo of locations in the community that the AAC user is likely to visit. Insert them into a document and add labels for each one... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: community, families, free download, home, photograph, picture ring, resources, visual supports
October 14, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Just when we think we’ve ‘seen it all,’ along comes another set of ideas for how to use technology to support kids with limited communication skills. In this week’s video, we peek in at what’s going on at the Special School District of Saint Louis County. Hats off to this team of creative professionals for getting the most out of their iPods! We love how their ideas save time for the teacher, enhance student learning, and extend communication to the home. Looks like a win-win-win situation for the classroom, family, and student.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: AT, communication, families, home, iPod, schools, teachers
September 3, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
Last week I was talking to a bright, young professional who is starting her second year as a school-based SLP. She has a caseload of 60+ students, including a class of students who have significant communication impairments. When the conversation turned to building a support system for her students who use AAC, we talked about strategies for keeping all of the stakeholders in the loop. Here are some of the the things we touched on.
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: communication, families, home, schools, therapy, tips