Tag Archive: language therapy
March 11, 2021
by Carole Zangari -
It’s not unusual for people who are learning to use AAC to repeat themselves, something we’ve written about before. While it’s not usually a problem, there are times when this is less than desirable. Here are a few things to think about as you determine how to proceed. Look for the meaning. There’s almost always a reason why people repeat things in their AAC systems. We have to do some sleuthing to figure it out, but it’s worth the effort. One memorable example of this was from Candace, who kept navigating away from what I had planned for us to talk about and repeating things about camp. Initially, I didn’t think much of it, but when she persisted, I did some digging and eventually found out that something pretty scary happened to her there. Those repetitions were probably the best way she could think of to engage me in a... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language therapy
October 18, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts that might be of interest. Monday – TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘I Know a Lot!’! Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Team Leadership Thursday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 3 (October) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Is there room for a bit more AAC in your day? If so, take a look at these past posts. Support for Beginning AAC Communicators Narrative Skills in People with ASD Helping People with AAC Needs Develop Personal Narratives Using Animated Shorts in AAC Language Therapy Building Linguistic Competence in AAC Learner: 3 Areas to Consider Targeting
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language therapy, TELL ME
September 2, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
AAC SLP Amanda Samperi is back with another post in her series about the prAACtical aspects of AAC therapy. In this post, Amanda shares her views and experiences on helping students with AAC needs build their language skills. You can see her previous posts in this series here. Putting the FUN Back in FUNctional Working with Multiple Symbol Sets ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How I Do It: AAC Therapy is Language Therapy I’ve traveled between several states and many different schools over the past few years. Because of this, I’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing SLPs! They’re talented, strong, creative, and love their kiddos more than anything. And just like any other team, each of us has different strengths and weaknesses. When I’m joining a Speech team, there’s usually at least one other SLP with specialties that are outside of my wheelhouse. However, she isn’t very comfortable with AAC. It... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC activities, language therapy
March 11, 2019
by Carole Zangari -
Visual schedules are powerful tools for supporting comprehension, reducing anxiety, and helping learners with AAC needs become more independent. They can also be used to build receptive and expressive language. To do that, though, the use of daily or mini/task schedules has to be part of an interactive experience, not an independent activity. If you’re willing to use schedules for language building, here are some ideas to consider incorporating. Sentence Building: This is an easy one. If you are working with an AAC learner who communicates primarily with one word/symbol at a time, slow down and take time to model short sentences every time you check the schedule together by adding a verb (e.g., GO to LifeSkills; EAT lunch, PUT AWAY your backpack). Once you’ve established that routine, you can pause to elicit those same sorts of sentences from the AAC learner. Verb Tense: As you use the schedule... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language therapy, visual schedules
December 16, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – AAC Goes to High School: Community-based Instruction Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Journal Writing & AAC Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC for Young Children ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Have a few minutes for some more AAC content? Here are a few more for you to browse through. From Conversation to Skill-building AAC Mythology v2.0: A Few Misconceptions About AAC Intervention Increasing Core Vocabulary Use at Home, Therapy, and In School Building AAC Intervention Skills: Skillful Use of Time Delay Supporting Language Growth in AAC Learners: Part 1
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language therapy, summary post
December 2, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy December, AAC friends! If you are as busy as we think you are, you probably missed some of last week’s posts. Here’s a recap. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: Teachers’ Toolkit For Students With Little Or No Speech Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Transitioning Students Using AAC: Strategies to Promote Full Inclusion Thursday – PrAACtically December: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Still have time for a little more AAC? Here are some of our suggestions. 10 Apps to Gift an AAC SLP Helping Beginning Communicators Expand Their Sentence Length 5 Ways to Make Semantic Maps More Effective in AAC Therapy PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book How I Do It: A Year of Core Words in Action Have a great week, everyone!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language therapy, sentence length, summary post
November 11, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here is a handful of AAC posts that you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – PrAACtical Resources: CandLE Literacy for All Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Faces of AAC – Zainab Omar Thursday – MASTER PAL AAC Training Series: Lessons Learned ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: If you’re still in the mood for browsing, check out the selections below. PrAACtical Thoughts on Mastery 5 Things to Do When AAC Learners are Inconsistent PrAACtical Teaching in the Autism Classroom: Instructional Activities for Core Vocabulary Core Values: Suggestions for Language Building with AAC Learners More Words, Please! Expanding Our Manual Communication Boards
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: language therapy, MASTER PAL, summary post
October 28, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
And just like that, it’s prAACtically time to turn out the lights on another AAC Awareness Month. Before we do, here are some AAC posts that might be of interest. Monday – How We Do It: AAC Training for Educational Assistants Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Realizing the Power of Data Logging Thursday – Building AAC Facilitation Skills with Tabi Jones-Wohleber: MASTER PAL Training, Module 10 (Appropriate Prompting) Friday – AAC Awareness Month 2018: Going Out with a Bang! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Ready for a little more AAC exploring? Here are a handful of suggestions. Core Values: Suggestions for Language Building with AAC Learners Video of the Week: Supporting AAC Learning Through Non-Directive Language Supporting Language Growth in AAC Learners, Part 1 Supporting Language Growth in AAC Learners, Part 2 Supporting Language Growth in AAC Learners, Part 3 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, please help us spread the word in to help... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: #AACaware18, disaster relief, language therapy, summary post, USSAAC
October 15, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Supporting language development through well-planned intervention is a favorite topic here, and it is with pleasure that we feature Indiana-based SLP and ATP, Beth Waite-Lafever. Beth is a speech-language pathologist and has RESNA certification in Assistive Technology. She has worked in the field of AAC over the past 30 years in outpatient rehab, private practice, and public schools. Beth is a frequent presenter at national conferences, including ATIA and Closing The Gap, and teaches monthly online courses in implementation and use of speech generating devices. Currently, she is an SLP and Assistive Technology Coach for MSD Martinsville, a school district 30 miles south of Indianapolis and maintains a private practice. In this post, Beth shares her experiences in using the Expanding Expression Tool in language therapy with students who use AAC. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: EET + AAC = OMG! You may have heard of EET; Expanding Expression Tool, a multi-sensory strategy designed by speech-language... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Beth Waite, language therapy, narrative language
August 6, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Children who grow up hearing Mandarin generally learn to speak Mandarin. Deaf children who grow up with parents and teachers who use sign language, generally learn to communicate in that sign language. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why children with AAC needs are likely to do best when they are able to see and hear competent communicators use AAC throughout the week. There is a growing body of evidence for the use of aided language input to support AAC learners at the beginning stages of language development and a great many more teachers, therapists, and families are employing these practices. That’s a very good thing. But is aided language input alone sufficient? Research studies have not yet addressed this question, but it is doubtful. Many AAC learners are not able to use observation and incidental opportunities to their advantage. For example, some are challenged with sensory issues that... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: explicit instruction, language therapy