Tag Archive: literacy
November 5, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for literacy resources to help in your teaching of individuals with AAC needs? Today, we travel to the UK to learn from the team at Communication and Learning Enterprises (CandLE). Their Literacy for All program has been in development for over 15 years and is broken down into 6 elements: Communication Emergent literacy Literacy needs assessment Conventional literacy Thinking skills Mainstream curriculum support On the site, they detail their process for each of these elements and give implementation tips and examples. For those who are interested, they also link to a companion site where their literacy resources are sold. You can explore their site here.
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: CandLE, literacy
August 20, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Mosquitos and sunscreen Swimming, canoeing, and fishing Frogs, grasshoppers, and lightning bugs Campfires, s’mores, and ghost stories AAC devices and alternative pencils?? It’s hard to believe that 3 years have gone by since guest author Tina Moreno first shared her experiences at Camp ALEC with our PrAACtical AAC readers. (You can read that article here.) This year, Tina is back to share some of the activities that the staff and volunteers are using to help AAC learners strengthen their skills in reading and writing. Take a peek at the Day 1 Literacy Activities. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Camp ALEC is underway at beautiful Indian Trails Camp in Grand Rapids, MI this week. Twenty-one campers arrived on Sunday evening to spend the week on their own while engaged in motivating reading and writing activities, plus typical summer camp experiences. Sixteen educators and speech-language pathologists traveled from as far away as New Zealand to obtain... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: camp, Camp ALEC, literacy
June 6, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Many of our AAC learners struggle with writing. Often, their teams can effectively support them through the emergent and early conventional stages of literacy learning so that they get a decent foundation for expressing themselves with traditional orthography. But what happens when they need to move beyond the basics? In this video, Paul Sanft and Tina Hanson, from the PACER Simon Technology Center, cover a variety of tools that can help our learners continue to develop their skills in written language. If you”re keen on raising the bar on expectations for literacy development. this session has some wonderful tips and tools for you. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvZ4PALBUOs
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: literacy, Pacer Center, writing
May 20, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Hello, Sunday! As AAC service providers, the work we do often keeps us too busy to do much reading. And so, we often use the weekends to catch up. If you’re in that mode today, check out our posts from last week. Monday: PrAACtical Resources: Lockdown, Code Red, & Other School Safety Drills Tuesday: AAC Link Up Wednesday: Video of the Week: AAC in Acute Care Thursday: Throwback Thursday: Extension Activities for AAC Practice Still have an appetite for some more AAC? Here are a few past posts to sink your teeth into. 3 Ways to Use AAC Goals to Strengthen AAC Intervention Using Visual Supports for Goal Setting Conversations PrAACtically Pinteresting with Lauren Enders: Writing AAC Goals Building Linguistic Competence in AAC Learners: 3 Areas to Consider Targeting Writing AAC Goals for Students Who Use AAC If you’re local, take a look at this opportunity to learn from Dr. Caroline Musselwhite on teaching early... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Caroline Musselwhite, goals, literacy, summary post
May 15, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Hello, AAC friends! Once a week, we invite you to share your own AAC-related content so that others may learn from you and benefit from your efforts. It may be a recent post you’ve written, a slide deck from your AAC presentation, a handout, video, or meme that you’ve posted online, an AAC product you’ve created, an announcement for an AAC camp or conference, or any other prAACtical content you developed and want to share with the AAC community. To post your own link, scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post and complete the form. The AAC Link Up is moderated to keep us from being spammed, so it may take a little while for your link to show up. Note: If you receive this post in your email inbox, you are probably getting it before anyone has had a chance to add their links. Check back later in... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC Link Up, literacy
May 13, 2018
by Carole Zangari -
Happy Mother’s Day! Monday – Evidence-based Practice in AAC Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC Partner Instruction Thursday – Using Visual Sidekicks to Support Language Intervention :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Still have an appetite for AAC? Here are a handful of past posts to browse. Faces of AAC: Making It Work in a Busy Family PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: The Family Book Family Collaboration by Dr. Barry Prizant PrAACtical Families: 5 Grants That Support AAC From Presence to Contribution: A Family’s Journey Toward and Inclusive Life Before you go, we’d like to invite all our local friends to this FREE wonderful 2-day workshop on literacy hosted by UM-NSU CARD. Explore the online poster below or click here for a larger version. Hope to see some of you there!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC family, family, literacy, summary post
June 28, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
What do students with cognitive impairments who use AAC need in order to learn to read and write? Comprehensive literacy instruction, for one thing. In today’s featured videos, we travel to Iowa to peek into some classroom activities where students with cognitive disabilities who use AAC are working on their spelling and decoding skills. Direct Links to Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti8IOEICJQc&list=PLocplddh5SSRBGRsR0tOFXIJd5wh6i89k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BUXpKlLISs&list=PLocplddh5SSRBGRsR0tOFXIJd5wh6i89k&index=7 Many thanks to the Iowa Department of Education, teachers, and students for these helpful videos.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: literacy, reading, spelling, video
April 24, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
We’re seeing a big increase in the number of families and professionals who are prioritizing literacy instruction for people with AAC needs, and that makes us VERY happy. In some cases, families, teachers, and therapists are using adapted books in their shared reading activities and making them available for self-selected reading, too. There are lots of ways to adapt books, though, and not every adaptation is appropriate for an individual who uses or is learning AAC. In this post, we talk about some of the things to consider when making decisions about adapted books. The term ‘adapted book’ refers to a book that was altered in some fashion to make it more accessible to people with disabilities. There are different ways of modifying books including: Simplifying or revising the text, Adding AAC symbols to the text, Changing the format (e.g., cutting it apart, binding it at the top, and reassembling,... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: adapted books, Books, literacy, reading
April 19, 2017
by Carole Zangari -
Having trouble getting AAC integrated throughout the classroom day? Veteran SLP Maureen Castillo took a creative approach to this common problem in the classrooms she supports. In this video, she discusses a project she created to foster AAC learning and use in the context of literacy activities. Learn how she combines the teaching of core vocabulary and Dolch sight words using aided language input, peer modeling, anchor books, and more. The video was made possible by Saltillo and is part of their free webinar series. Many thanks to Maureen and to Saltillo for making this available. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epQ3QlBg0hs
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: core vocabulary, intervention, literacy, reading, sight words, video
December 8, 2016
by Carole Zangari -
Looking for ways to help AAC learners of any age develop meaningful writing skills? These helpful resources may be of interest. “There is No Can’t” by Jane Farrall and Sally Clendon Emerging Writers and AAC by Jane Odom Alternative Pencils: What Does the Research Say? Emergent Literacy Beginnings and Goals for Children with Angelman Syndrome by David Koppenhaver and Susan Norwell (information applicable to a broader range of people who use AAC) Can Low-incidence Students Become First-time Writers? By Janet Sturm Happy exploring!
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: literacy, writing