Tag Archive: school

School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 10 (May) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle

April 26, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 10 (May) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle

It’s almost May so we’re back with another post in the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words Series by guest authors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle. This series focuses on a selected set of words to highlight for the month along with a suggested order in which to teach them. Therapists and teachers will appreciate the Activity Packets, containing suggestions for highlighting these words in a variety of activities. Their Data Collection Forms and tips on using shared reading in our AAC teaching are appropriate for AAC learners of various ages. If you are new to this series, you may want to review the introduction that our series and check out the first 9 months of the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words using the links below. You can find posts for previous months in the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words below. Introduction to the School Year... [Read More...]

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AAC in Secondary School: Defining Age Respectful

February 8, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC in Secondary School: Defining Age Respectful

Today, we welcome back AAC SLP Ashley Larisey to these pages for another post in the AAC in Secondary School series. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. In today’s post, she shares thoughts on being age-respectful in choosing content, activities, and materials for high school students who are learning to use AAC. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Defining Age-Respectful The terms “age-appropriate” and “functional” are terms that come up frequently when working with older learners with complex communication needs and/or significant cognitive impairments. These students are entitled to receive an education that is aligned with the grade level standards in their state. Instruction should respect that these learners are no longer children, but in fact teenagers or young adults. But what do the terms “age-appropriate” and “functional” really mean? How are those terms... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: Calendar Time & Weather Report, AAC Style

February 3, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Calendar Time & Weather Report, AAC Style

Many special education programs have a daily routine of discussing the weather and reviewing the calendar. In today’s featured video, we take a look at how special educator Amy Campbell integrates no tech and high tech AAC into this activity. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsAQ4ol-ETU&ab_channel=AmyCampbell  You can read a post by Amy on normalizing AAC here and see another of her videos, Cooking with AAC, here.  

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AAC in Secondary School: Research Project AACtivity

January 4, 2021 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC in Secondary School: Research Project AACtivity

We’re excited to start off 2021 with a new series focusing on supporting students who use AAC during their high school years. AAC SLP Ashley Larisey is the guest author for the AAC in Secondary School series which will have ideas for specific activities in some months and articles on issues pertinent to secondary school AAC in others. Ashley is an SLP at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is also an Adjunct Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at Saint Xavier University. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Introduction to the Series: AAC for Secondary Students Some of the most common questions that I hear from my SLP colleagues are specific to AAC treatment planning and implementation. As a high school AAC SLP, I am privileged to have the opportunity to work with students as they prepare and transition into adulthood. I often find that many SLPs are looking to provide their students... [Read More...]

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School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 6 (January) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle

December 31, 2020 by - 3 Comments

School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 6 (January) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle

As we turn the page on the calendar, we’re also thinking ahead to getting back to school after the holiday season. Today, we share the latest post in the School Year of Core Vocabulary Words series, guest authored by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle. This series focuses on a selected set of words to highlight for the month along with a suggested order in which to teach them. Therapists and teachers will appreciate the Activity Packets, containing sheets on highlighting these words in a variety of activities, and Data Collection Forms. For January, they’re discussing an important intervention strategy, descriptive teaching. If you are new to this series, you may want to review the introduction that our series authors created before delving into this month’s target words. You can see the guest authors’ overview here. You can also review the first 5 months of School Year of Core... [Read More...]

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AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #49: December 2020

December 6, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #49: December 2020

Happy Sunday, AAC friends! Here are some posts that may be of interest. Monday – School Year of Core Vocabulary Words: AAC Resources for Month 5 (December) by Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, & Beth Lytle Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Personal Narrative Writing & AAC Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC Assessment Practices     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!

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PrAACtical Perspectives: Normalizing AAC

April 6, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtical Perspectives: Normalizing AAC

How do we help people with complex communication needs become fluent in using AAC throughout the day? There are lots of factors to consider in working toward that goal, and our guest author for today encourages us to think of one of them. Special educator Amy Campbell believes that one thing we can do to support AAC learners is to normalize the use of AAC tools and strategies. Amy is the 2020 Washington State Teacher of the Year and has been a Special Education teacher for 12 years. Over that time, she has focused on how to increase student independence and improve the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education settings and the greater community. Like many of you, she has now pivoted to supporting her students from a distance. Don’t miss the videos Amy creates for her students and their families so learning can continue from afar.  ... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Resources: Online AAC Support for Families During School Closures

March 19, 2020 by - 13 Comments

PrAACtical Resources: Online AAC Support for Families During School Closures

The AAC field is peppered with amazingly dedicated professionals who come up with creative solutions to the day’s latest challenges. In this guest post, SLP Laura Boates, a graduate of McGill University, shares some web-based materials that were created when her school system, Edmonton Catholic School District in Alberta Canada, announced school closures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Laura is incredibly passionate about helping every student find their voice through AAC. She is currently part of a multidisciplinary AAC team for assessment, trial, implementation, and funding of communication devices as well as supporting teachers and families using AAC. On Sunday, March 15th, the government of Alberta Canada announced the cancellation of all classes from Kindergarten to Grade 12, as well as the closure of all preschool and licensed childcare centres. However, it’s business as usual for staff, so teachers and therapists are working on creatively delivering curriculum and supports.... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: Supporting Students Who Use AAC with School-wide Implementation

February 12, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

Video of the Week: Supporting Students Who Use AAC with School-wide Implementation

How can  AAC be used to support academic learning and social skill development? In today’s featured video, SLP and AT Specialist Elisa Parker teams up with Tara Wineinger, also an AT Specialist, to share their experiences with this in the Park Hill School District.  Many thanks to the presenters for this wonderful webinar and to Saltillo for hosting it. You can download the handout for this session here. Enjoy! Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEdGP_SwqZc&feature=youtu.be

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AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #5: February 2020

February 2, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #5: February 2020

Good morning, AAC friends! It was a busy week of AAC at ATIA 2020. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – PrAACtically February: More AAC Resources for a Year of Core Words Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Helping Others Model AAC Thursday – Throwback Thursday: AAC with Beginning Communicators :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a few more posts to sample before you go. PrAACtical Questions with Vicki Clarke: What’s the Role of Core Vocabulary? AAC Goes to High School: Community-based Instruction Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations Language Development Across the School Day

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