Tag Archive: vocabulary

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #47: November 2020

November 22, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #47: November 2020

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed. Monday – Building Vocabulary Knowledge: 5 Activities to Try Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: AAC & Book Creator Thursday – How I Do It: Video Read-Alouds with Aided Language Input ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Looking for a few more places to browse? Here are some selected posts on making and using visual supports. Free Resources for Making AAC and Visual Supports How I Do It – Using an App to Make AAC Materials and Visual Supports AAC Teaching Tips on Scaffolding and Visual Supports Designing and Using Visual Supports for Older Students 5 Visual Supports for the AAC Classroom Wishing a meaningful week to all who celebrate Thanksgiving!

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AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #3: January 2020

January 19, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC Posts from PrAACtical Week #3: January 2020

Happy Sunday, AAC friends. Here are some posts you may have missed in your busy week. Monday – PrAACtically Martin Luther King Jr Day: AAC Learning Suggestions Tuesday – AAC Link Up Wednesday – Video of the Week: Exploring the Complexity of CVI and CCN Thursday – AAC AACtivity Round-up ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Before you go, here are a couple of other suggestions for posts to explore. Transitioning to the Workplace: Resources for AAC Learners with Significant Disabilities Working with Multiple Symbol Sets Faces of AAC: Making It Work in A Busy Family Supporting AAC Learners in Working with Words Vocabulary Instruction: When Definitions Don’t Work

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Throwback Thursday: AAC Posts from the Past

December 19, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Throwback Thursday: AAC Posts from the Past

It’s another Throwback Thursday, and we’re visiting the vaults to share these posts. Teaching Core Vocabulary The First 12: Getting Started with Core Words 5+ Ways to Make Page Fluffers and Spacers AAC Vocabulary Lists Make It Monday: Manual Communication Boards with Core Vocabulary Communication Boards: Colorful Considerations  

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How I Do It: Pocket Flipbooks for Adults & Teens, Part 2

June 17, 2019 by - 1 Comment

How I Do It: Pocket Flipbooks for Adults & Teens, Part 2

Grilling, wine tasting, horse racing…What did you talk about this weekend? The vocabulary and messaging needs of adults who have significant communication difficulties are often quite different than those of children and youth. Today, we welcome back SLP Katherine Dally who continues to share her experiences in creating and using small flipbooks for adults with complex communication needs. The flipbooks in this post (which can be downloaded via a link later in the article) focus on leisure activities that are perfect for summer. You can see Part 1 and download the template here. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: How To – Pocket Flip Book For Adults and Teens Have you worked with a client who was given a generic, low-tech paper communication board at the hospital? These are the boards that include pain, yes/no, and bathroom, among other basic needs and wants. With these boards, personalization is limited. The topics can be important, but... [Read More...]

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Word Count: Looking at AAC Language Samples

April 22, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Word Count: Looking at AAC Language Samples

Have you worked with students like these? 19-year-old Jaclyn has used a number of SGDs over the years with a moderate degree of success. Her language is very predictable and the team is concerned that Jaclyn’s progress has stalled. Judging by his progress on IEP goals, 9-year-old Mason has made wonderful strides in learning to use his AAC app. Of the hundreds of words that are available to him, Mason has only ever used about 50 and uses far fewer than that in day-to-day life. Sloan is fairly proficient with her AAC device and can easily answer questions, relay information, and share her thoughts and ideas. Her language is much less sophisticated than her middle school peers, though. While they often integrate some of the academic vocabulary words that they learn in science, language arts, math, and other classes into their conversation and writing, Sloan tends to stick to the... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: AAC (Re)Boot Camp-It’s Not About the Technology

March 20, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC (Re)Boot Camp

Our video for today helps us think about some of the linguistic underpinnings of AAC systems. Hosted by Liberator Australia, AAC (Re)Boot Camp: It’s Not About the Technology, is presented by Russell Cross, who always seems to find a way clear and engaging way to discuss complex language concepts as they relate to AAC.   Many thanks to Russell and Liberator Australia for making this presentation available. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKTP9w69zXs

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Using Metaphors to Support Vocabulary Teaching

March 20, 2017 by - Leave your thoughts

Using Metaphors to Support Vocabulary Teaching

One of the really fun things about writing posts about vocabulary is that it gives us a great excuse to browse some teacher and SLP blogs. Sometimes their creativity blows me away, not to mention how incredibly engaging and cute they are! I especially love the creative themes that they use to go way beyond the ‘Vivid Verbs’ concept. Metaphors and visual imagery are both research-backed strategies for retaining new information. That’s important, especially as we move beyond core vocabulary and expose our AAC learners to a richer lexicon. Both can be used in a variety of games and activities and go a long way toward build engagement about new word learning. In the hands of an enthusiastic instructor, a metaphor can be developed into a theme that boosts the ‘fun factor,’ which is important when we’re trying to build the buzz around new word learning.  Here are some of... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Questions: “What Should I Program on the AAC Device?”

March 17, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtical Questions: “What Should I Program on the AAC Device?”

“My client has a new SGD and will begin bringing it to school. What words should I program on it?” We are so fortunate to be practicing at a time when the high tech SGDs and robust AAC apps come pre-loaded with lots of vocabulary. Still, when you sit down to prepare the device for an actual client, it can be hard to determine what needs to be there right away and what can wait. You’ll find lots of forms and checklists floating around, some for children and some for adults. There are lots of right ways to do this. In making these decisions, I typically run through a mental checklist of a few categories, thinking both about single words and longer messages. Single Words Core Vocabulary: In most cases, we’ve selected an AAC tool that has ample core words to choose from. Use what you know about normal language development... [Read More...]

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Vocabulary Instruction: When Definitions Don’t Work

March 9, 2015 by - 3 Comments

Vocabulary Instruction: When Definitions Don’t Work

Vocabulary instruction and definitions generally go hand-in-hand. We’re used to creating learner-friendly definitions for the new words we teach, then using those definitions to introduce the word with focused language stimulation. In some situations, though, working with definitions is not the way to go. Here are some examples. Limited receptive skills: When we’re working with learners whose receptive vocabularies are very small, it can be impossible to define a new vocabulary term using only words that the learner already understands. Simone is a beginning communicator who is just starting to get the hang of symbolic communication. On a good day, she can pick out symbols for things that she wants to do (like play and eat) without any help at all, but following single step directions, identifying symbols, and matching them is more of a challenge. Giving her a definition for our new words, (open and big), isn’t likely to... [Read More...]

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Strengthening the Core: Modeling January Words

January 6, 2015 by - 7 Comments

Looking for some ways to help your AAC learners become more competent in using core words? Here’s an approach you may want to try: Keep it manageable by choosing only a dozen or two core words to focus on each month. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that. 2013: A Year of Core  (12 words/month) 2014: A(nother) Year of Core (16 words/month; Note: These are different than the core words covered in 2013) Those posts have links to downloadable grids with the core words for each month that can be used as a focal point for lesson planning. Rather than introducing new words at this point, let’s take some time to strengthen our core by modeling the words in everyday interactions. Here are some suggested phrases, sentences, and questions for each of the core words from our 2013 list. Click on the... [Read More...]

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