September 7, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
We’ve all been there. An AAC user enters a new situation where the team is open to AAC but not very skilled. They are full of good intentions but their AAC knowledge and skills aren’t quite there yet. To be honest, they probably are somewhat wary of what we’re expecting them to do as it all seems so overwhelming. And in many cases, they’re also fearful of our judgment and worry about looking less than competent in front of others. We’re eager to help them get up to speed so that they can provide the AAC supports that our communicators need in order to flourish. Our own AAC skills are strong but we may have constraints of a different type that threaten to undermine the success of this budding AAC team. For example, we often feel the pressure of time and hear the tick-tock of the clock as each second... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: Teaming & Collaboration
August 13, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Here in the US, millions of teachers, therapists, families, and students are planning to return to school, whether virtually, in person, or with some combination of the two. No matter what the format for instruction, one of the most important things for students who use AAC is having their SLPs, teachers, and families on the same page. They each have a different but very intense relationship with the student’s AAC system. Today, we reprise a popular post with some prAACtical thoughts on getting everyone pointed in the same direction. 1. Develop a communication profile of the student: In the initial weeks, try to get a baseline of how the student is communicating at the start of the year. For beginning communicators, we track things like their communicative intents (WHY they are communicating), modalities (HOW they are communicating), and the frequency of their communication. We’ve written about one of our favorite... [Read More...]
Filed under: Featured Posts, PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: & Tools, back to school, Checklists, Education & Schools, forms, Teaming & Collaboration
July 22, 2020
by Carole Zangari -
Are you taking advantage of the supports that related service providers can offer? In today’s featured video, OT and AT Specialist Elisa Wern helps us understand the ways in which these professionals can facilitate the development of communicative competence, You can obtain the handout for this session here. This presentation was part of the 2020 AAC in the Cloud Conference hosted by CoughDrop. We are grateful both to Elisa and to the wonderful team at CoughDrop for making this available. Direct Link to Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVkg6vZUjkU&feature=youtu.be
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: Teaming & Collaboration