Tag Archive: literacy

Growing AAC Professionals: When Learning Meets Service

May 21, 2020 by - 2 Comments

Growing AAC Professionals: When Learning Meets Service

Teaching AAC to future SLPs is a longstanding passion of mine so when a fellow instructor, Vicki Haddix, reached out to talk about the AAC projects her graduate students had done, I knew that I wanted to share them with you. In today’s post, Vicki, a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis, tells us about her most recent students and their projects. The materials they created can be used by parents and professionals alike. Make sure to check out the link at the bottom to access the full array of materials that these talented students created. Enjoy! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: As a professor, it’s always exciting when you see the great work that graduate students are doing and think about the potential that they are bringing to the field. I’ve taught the AAC class at the University of Memphis’s SLP graduate program for 5 spring semesters, and I always learn... [Read More...]

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TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘The Lunch Box Surprise’!

May 11, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

TELL ME About It: AAC Learning with ‘The Lunch Box Surprise’!

Reading with preschoolers is a great way to build language and AAC skills. Today, we share another post in the TELL ME About It series on incorporating AAC, language, and literacy support with young learnes.. Maggie Judson and Jeanna Antrim are back with more great ideas for AAC intervention, this time focusing on the book, Come Out and Play, Little Mouse. Maggie and Jeanna are speech-language pathologists who work in the Assistive Technology Department for the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative (BASSC) in central Illinois. They are AT/AAC facilitators and provide evaluations, direct therapy, consultations, and trainings. To read more about how this team prepares for a TELL ME week, check out their previous posts in the TELL ME About It series. Come Out and Play, Little Mouse No, David Go Away Big Green Monster What Do You Like? Here Are My Hands From Head to Toe I Went Walking... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: Bridging Literacy and AAC for Adolescents

February 19, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Bridging Literacy and AAC for Adolescents

How can we help older learners who are still developing their language skills become readers and writers? Today, we feature an archived presentation on this topic by special educator Christy Palmquist and SLP Heather Prenovost. Listen in as they discuss strategies and resources for adolescent learners. Many thanks to PRC Saltillo and the presenters, Christy and Heather, for making this available. You can obtain the handout for this session here. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sAaJM9JesI

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Video of the Week: The Critical Nature of Literacy in AAC

November 20, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: The Critical Nature of Literacy in AAC

We’re really excited to share this wonderful video by Dr. Karen Erickson, Director of the Center for Literacy and Disabilities Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, on the critical role of literacy in AAC. This presentation was a keynote session at the International AAC Conference in Leeds (UK) earlier this fall. Many thanks to the International AAC Conference for making this session possible, to Dr. Erickson for this informative presentation, and to Tobii Dynavox for making it available. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2bOqen_J2Q

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Video of the Week: Fostering Emergent Writing in AAC Users

October 9, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Decorative image with text: Video of the Week: Fostering Emergent Writing in AAC Users

How can we support our AAC users in their journey to develop literacy skills? In today’s featured video, Cecilia Marietti shares some ideas for promoting the development of emergent writing. Many thanks to Cecilia and Saltillo for this helpful information. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l23gpkrVl6M Note: The handout was not available online at the time of publication. 

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How We Do It: AAC in the Special Education Classroom – Continuing the Journey

May 30, 2019 by - 1 Comment

How We Do It: AAC in the Special Education Classroom - Continuing the Journey

It’s such a pleasure to have Angi Pearce back on these pages to share her experiences and passion for teaching students with AAC needs. Angi is a teacher at Kowhai Special School in Hastings, New Zealand, and serves as the team leader for the Junior School classes (ages 5-11). Her initial post (see that here) introduced us to the ways that she embraced AAC and integrated it into her classroom. In today’s post, she talks about how things have evolved. Enjoy the journey! How We Do It: AAC in the Special Education Classroom – Continuing the Journey This is my fifth year teaching in a school for children with special needs. Five years ago, AAC was a new term for me. Core vocabulary boards were the first tools which were introduced to me, which I did not understand the benefit and purpose of until I observed the way it enhanced... [Read More...]

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Top AAC Posts of 2018

December 31, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Top AAC Posts of 2018

Before we say goodbye to 2018, let’s look back on the posts that were most popular among PrAACtical AAC readers. How I Do It: Writing IEP Goals for Students Who Use AAC with Lauren Enders How I Do It: Using PODD books and Aided Language Displays with Young Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder Core Samples PrAACtical AAC Goals 5 Great Resources for Pre-Made Communication Boards AAC Assessment Forms Teaching Core Vocabulary Make It Monday: Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Literacy for Everyone with Adapted Books How I Do It by Rachael Langley – PODD in the Classroom: Portable, Wearable, & Comfortable Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list? We’d love to hear about it.

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Video of the Week: Journal Writing & AAC

December 12, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Journal Writing & AAC

Today’s video features the work of Mary Louise Bertram (Australia) and Caroline Musselwhite (US), both of whom are well-known to PrAACtical AAC readers, and focuses on journal writing, a writing activity that takes places in homes and classrooms around the world. In this video, we learn ways to make it meaningful and successful for beginning communicators who use AAC. Many thanks to the presenters and to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation for making and sharing this helpful video. To learn more about literacy and communication for early communicators from Dr. Musselwhite and others, check out the AAC in the Desert Conference. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoHlga-xemU  

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Video of the Week: Alphabet Books and AAC Implementation

November 21, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Alphabet Books and AAC Implementation

Today, we continue to learn from the AAC in the Cloud conference, hosted by CoughDrop AAC which organizes and runs this wonderful professional development event each spring as a service to the AAC community. In this post, former teacher and veteran AT and Education Consultant veteran Kelly Fonner gives us a variety of suggestions for creating and using alphabet books to build language and literacy skills in AAC learners. We are grateful for CoughDrop’s generosity is organizing their annual AAC in the Cloud Conference and offering it for free so that so many parents and professionals can advance their knowledge. Kelly’s engaging style and top-notch content in this session are not to be missed. Enjoy! You can obtain the handout for this session here. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTAfiW-pMKw

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Letters from Camp, Part 2 (Working with Words)

November 15, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Letters from Camp, Part 2 (Working with Words)

The weather is nippy here in Boston where 12,000+ professionals are gathered for the annual ASHA Convention, and the blustery wind makes us think back longingly to the warmer days of summer. Today. Ohio-based SLP Tina Moreno helps us do just that as she returns to share more information on the reading and writing activities that AAC learners in Camp ALEC experienced. In today’s post, she shares some of the details about Working with Words. If you missed it the first time, you can visit Tina’s earlier post here. Many thank to AAC mom and SLP Tina Moreno for giving us a peek into the wonderful instruction provided to these AAC learners! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Working with Words at Camp ALEC At Camp ALEC in August, our literacy counselors planned fun, motivating activities that helped our campers learn to read and write new words.  In another setting, we might refer to these... [Read More...]

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