Tag Archive: professional development

Video of the Week: Activities to Use in AAC Training

June 26, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Activities to Use in AAC Training

If you train people on AAC concepts and strategies and are looking for ways to get participants engaged with the material, this week’s video is not to be missed. SLP Vicki Haddix works as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis, where she shares the knowledge and skills she gained as an AAC SLP in various practice settings with graduate student SLPs. Her presentation at the 2019 AAC in the Cloud Conference, a free event hosted by CoughDrop, provides an overview of research supporting the use of hands-on activities in training sessions and gives detailed information on specific activities that you can embed into your AAC classes, parent trainings, and professional development. Head over to the AAC in the Cloud site to see her presentation and download the handout so that you have links to the videos and other resources that she discusses. Many thanks to Vicki for this... [Read More...]

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Fun Finds at ATIA 2019

February 4, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Fun Finds at ATIA 2019

As expected, the ATIA Conference in Orlando last week had a robust selection of AAC learning opportunities. Here are two of the fun finds we thought you’d like to explore. The AAC Strand Spotlight Session This panel asked four thought leaders in AAC to each identify two intervention challenges and discuss their ideas for addressing them. The speakers were from a variety of practice settings and addressed a range of implementation issues. Christopher Bugaj, AAC and AT Specialist at Loudoun County Public Schools Transitions & Turnovers:  Killers of Language Learning Progression Keeping Up With The Training Demand Vicki Clarke, SLP/CEO, Dynamic Therapy Associates, Inc. Addressing Opportunity Barriers to Participation Facilitator Attitude, Knowledge, & Skill Barriers Caroline Musselwhite, Literacy & AAC Specialist Facilitating Generalization Age-Respectful and Engaging Materials/Activities for Adolescents & Teens Gail VanTatenhove, SLP/CEO, AACell, Inc. Providing Person-Specific  AAC Design in an App/MAP Happy World The Aging of AAC Users... [Read More...]

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Building AAC Facilitation Skills with Tabi Jones-Wohleber: MASTER PAL Training, Module 7

October 4, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Building AAC Facilitation Skills with Tabi Jones-Wohleber: MASTER PAL Training, Module 7

Welcome back to our AAC partner training series, Model as a MASTER PAL, created by SLP Tabi Jones-Wohleber. Today, we continue with materials to help communication partners interact with AAC learners in a supportive fashion. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Model as a MASTER PAL Module 7: Engage Naturally Facilitator Guidelines This module covers a lot of territory. From the behaviors of communication partners that support the process of language development to creating communication opportunities, to the language we use with a child to talk about their device, to fostering communicative competence, naturalistic engagement is shaped in many ways.  The importance of this conversation lies in the fact that genuine engagement and mutual respect are where learning happens. It is also how meaningful social relationships are built. This module invites participants to reflect on factors that shape the quality of interactions in order to maximize the potential for communicating, learning and creating meaningful social,... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Alert: AAC Professional Development Options

March 12, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtical Alert: AAC Professional Development Options

Lauren Enders, an amazing AAC SLP from Pennsylvania, graciously shared this list of professional development opportunities that may be of interest. Lauren works as an Augmentative Communication/Assistive Technology Consultant for Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22. In the list below, she shares resources for AAC learning in both online and face-to-face formats. Enjoy! You can see more of Lauren’s guest posts here. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS FOR AAC IMPLEMENTATION            ONLINE SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING OPTIONS: Power AAC modules: a FREE training series developed by The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN)with Gail Van Tatenhove, CCC-SLP. This series of brief modules can be used for professional development by individuals or groups who are supporting students with complex communication needs and who need or use AAC. The POWER AAC modules are intended to build the capacity of school personnel to improve communication skills and provide flexible, generative vocabulary for students who need or use AAC. AAC Institute... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: Using Evidence to Improve our Professional Development

January 10, 2018 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Using Evidence to Improve our Professional Development

Are you involved in training others on AAC content? Today, we share a video developed by the Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development Center for their Early Intervention-Early Childhood Professional Development Community of Practice. The video discusses an approach to using research evidence to improve the way we design and deliver professional development. You can see the article on which this model is based (Dunst, 2015) by clicking on the reference below the video. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSnREyBWEEc ————————————————- Dunst, C. J. (2015). Improving the design and implementation of in-service professional development in early childhood intervention. Infants & Young Children: 258, 3, 210-219.      

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PrAACtical Ideas: AAC Core Vocabulary Practice for Workshops and Inservices

January 19, 2016 by - 4 Comments

PrAACtical Ideas: AAC Core Vocabulary Practice for Workshops and Inservices

Doing a training or workshop on core vocabulary? Looking to help a team get more fluent in AAC modeling? Teaching an AAC course to graduate students? There are lots of you out there spreading the word about AAC, core vocabulary, and aided language input. Whether you are doing an informal training, presenting a workshop or teaching a class, you may be interested in giving the participants some hands-on practice with core words. If so, here’s a fun activity to help get them engaged. Get ready for…Battleship, AAC Edition! Battleship is a barrier game in which two players cannot see each other’s game boards. The game boards consist of identical grids, labeled with players placing their battleships somewhere on the board. They take turns calling out coordinates to find and sink one another’s battleship. You can learn more about how to play the game and see the game boards here. Teachers have... [Read More...]

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5 Suggestions for Punching Up the AAC in the New Year

January 4, 2016 by - Leave your thoughts

5 Suggestions for Punching Up the AAC in the New Year

Novice or expert Parent or professional Generalist or specialist No matter what our differences, we share a common goal of helping AAC learners move forward on the path to better language and literacy. We can all do a little more to help people with AAC needs achieve their potential. Here are some things ideas to get us moving. Find a new use for a retired, abandoned, or under-utilized tool. Lots of us are cleaning out closets and drawers at this time of year, and we’re bound to find something that has AAC potential. It could be an old magnetic card reader (great for phonological awareness and other literacy activities), a talking switch (adds flavor to ‘word of the day activities;’ great for telling jokes, getting attention and more), or even some random picture cards (add some spice to the sensory table or hide them around to read the room). Someone’s... [Read More...]

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How I Do it: AAC Inservices by Tabi Jones-Wohleber

August 6, 2015 by - 9 Comments

How I Do it: AAC Inservices by Tabi Jones-Wohleber

Many SLPs involved in AAC service provision are called upon to provide inservice training on implementation strategies. In this post, we are very fortunate to have Tabi Jones-Wohleber back to share both her thoughts and training materials. Tabi, an SLP on the AT Team for Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland, wrote two previous posts for us. In those posts, Tabi shared her All-in-One Visual Support Tool and Classroom CORE Tool. Today, we hear about her experiences with professional development for teachers, aides, and therapists who serve students with AAC needs. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::   Implementing AAC:  A Picture…AND…A Purpose   As I work with staff and students to support implementation of AAC, I’ve learned 2 important things about making it work: 1) Folks need to know what it looks like “in their classroom/life” AND 2) effective implementation does not emerge from directives, but rather evolves from understanding, engagement and ownership of the WHAT... [Read More...]

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How We Do It: Stirring Up Some Fun! Professional Development Our Way with the LCPS AT Team

February 9, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

How We Do It: Stirring Up Some Fun! Professional Development Our Way with the LCPS AT Team

How does the AT team at Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) set out to influence their colleagues to learn more about AAC? With digital technologies, of course, along with a heaping dose of fun. In this post, OT Judith Schoonover and SLP Sally Norton Darr share some of the team’s favorite strategies for professional development. Judie has practiced in schools since 1975, working as an OT, elementary school teacher, and an AT trainer in that time. She is a strand advisor for ATIA, and has authored chapters and presented nationally on topics including UDL, adapting books, the relationship between OT and AT, and low tech supports for students. Sally is an SLP and AT trainer for LCPS.   She enjoys her work in the public schools and has fun presenting internationally, regionally, and virtually to diverse audiences on a wide range of low to high-tech strategies, interventions, and solutions. Sally is the... [Read More...]

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Learn by Listening with Chris Bugaj

August 7, 2014 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC professionals seem to love professional development. Unfortunately, there just never seems to be enough time to indulge our love for learning about new technologies and strategies. Sound familiar? Well, Chris Bugaj has been a solution worth listening to. Chris is an SLP and a founding member the Assistive Technology Team for Loudoun County Public Schools. He hosts The A.T.TIPSCAST , a multi‐award winning podcast featuring strategies useful in differentiating the learning experience. Chris is the co‐author of The Practical (and Fun) Guide to Assistive Technology in Public Schools and  ATEval2Go, and has two chapters in Technology Tools for Students with Autism. Chris co‐produces and co‐authors the popular Night Light Stories podcast which features original stories for children of all ages. Today, we share his wonderful presentation (complete with hyperlinks) that will help us to learn how to use podcasts to learn while we’re driving, exercising, or just hanging out. If you’ve thought about maximizing your learning opportunities by listening... [Read More...]

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