December 27, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
It’s been a wonderfully prAACtical year. Here’s a look back at our top 10 most popular posts. Anyone see any patterns? š How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC by Lauren EndersĀ Teaching Core Vocabulary 5 Great Resources for Pre-Made Communication Boards Core Samples A Year Of Core Vocabulary Words AAC āMust Havesā the the Classroom and Therapy Room Pivotal Skills for AAC Intervention: Aided Language Input How I Do It: AAC in the IEP by Lauren Enders Getting Started with Core Vocabulary More on Teaching Core Vocabulary
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: aided language input, communication boards, core vocabulary, IEP, Lauren Enders
April 25, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We’re so happy to welcome Lauren Enders back to share some more thoughts on AAC and the IEP. In her first post on this topic, Lauren addressed some frequently asked questions. Today, she provides a very valuable perspective on writing IEP goals for students who use or need AAC and some wonderful resources. Very often, I receive requests for support from teachers and speech therapists that are writing IEP goals for their students who use AAC. Ā When we sit down to discuss their questions, the first thing I remind them is that AAC goals are no different from any other IEP goal.Ā I recall a workshop I attended years ago presented by Gail VanTatenhove that helps put IEP goals for AAC into perspective.Ā Gail said that AAC therapy is just language therapy.Ā Isnāt that true? Arenāt we just teaching language?Ā For this student, language is simply being expressed in a... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: classroom, goal setting, goals, How I Do It, IEP, Lauren Enders, schools
March 7, 2013
by Carole Zangari -
We’re happy to welcome back, Lauren Enders, an AAC specialist from Pennsylvania. You can read her earlier post here. This month, Lauren shares some of ways she addresses AAC learning in the IEP. Frequently, SLPs and teachers contact me in a complete panic because they need to generate an IEP and write IEP goals for a student who is using (or beginning to use) Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).Ā These folks have lots of questions and most often, have no idea where to begin.Ā There are a number of questions that come up repeatedly in these panicked requests.Ā When approached by PrAACtical AAC to write a post about IEPs and AAC, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the most common questions I hear along with the answers I provide.Ā I will structure the post in a Question & Answer format in the hopes that the post... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: education, How I Do It, IEP, Lauren Enders, schools
February 17, 2012
by Carole Zangari -
The thought of an IEP meeting fills many parents we know with dread and anxiety, particularly if they are in a district where inclusive education is not running very smoothly. Jillian, a very passionateĀ and competent mom of a youngster who uses high tech AAC, was pretty blunt about it. āIād ratherĀ have root canal,ā she said, and the parents within earshot gave her a round of applause. — So when we came across an app that provides support to families in this process, we had to check it. Developed at the Syracuse University School of Education, iAdvocateĀ is an app designed to share information that parents can use to support their request for inclusive education. It lists some of the common roadblocks that families sometimes encounter, such as: āYour child needs small group instruction with few distractions and that can only be provided in a separate classroom.ā āMeeting your chidās needs is... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Apps, IEP, schools