Tag Archive: young children

From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs

October 10, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Decorative image with text: From Wheelchair to Hands-free Walker for Preschool Children with AAC Needs

We are excited to share the second post in Christine Wright-Ott’s series on promoting hands-free independent mobility in young AAC learners. Christine is an Occupational Therapist and consultant at The Bridge School in Hillsborough California. She authored the chapter “Mobility” in the 4-7th editions of the book, Occupational Therapy for Children. She lectures at universities and conferences including ATIA, Closing the Gap, ISAAC, ISS, and AAC by the Bay. Enjoy! Support Walker Mobility at the Bridge School I would like to share with you an innovative hands-free Support Walker Mobility Program developed at The Bridge School, which is a private school for preschool and elementary children with complex communication and physical disabilities located on the district’s public elementary school campus.  It is dedicated to ensuring that students achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC), mobility and assistive technology (AT) applications. ... [Read More...]

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From Wheelchair to Walker: The Cascading Benefit of Hands-Free Mobility

September 12, 2019 by - Leave your thoughts

Decorative image reading From Wheelchair to Walker: The Cascading Benefit of Hands-Free Mobility

When young children with significant motor challenges are unable to move freely around the environment, it impacts many things. Today, we introduce a limited series on why hands-free mobility is so crucial during the early years, and what we can do to promote independent mobility. We are extremely fortunate to have Christine Wright-Ott authoring this series. Christine is an Occupational Therapist and consultant at The Bridge School in Hillsborough California. She authored the chapter, Mobility, in several editions of the book, Occupational Therapy for Children. Christine lectures at universities and conferences including ATIA, Closing the Gap, ISAAC, ISS, and AAC by the Bay. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Why Hands-free Mobility Matters for Children with AAC Needs Speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists have long been aware of the many ways that mobility and communication go hand-in-hand.  Without a way to move around, a child’s opportunities for incidental learning and motivation to communicate are severely... [Read More...]

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Video of the Week: Parent-Implemented AAC Intervention for Young Children

March 13, 2019 by - 1 Comment

Video of the Week: Parent-Implemented AAC Intervention for Young Children

Over 100 young children with AAC needs and their parents participated in research to look at the ways that their communication changed when families were trained to provide support. For today’s featured video, we turn to the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium (ERLC) and the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia (ARPDC) to learn more about what research teams led by Drs. Maryann Romski and Rose Sevick found out. Learn about the methods and strategies they used in this archived webinar. Many thanks to the ERLC. the ARPDC, and Drs. Romski and Sevcik for making Parent-Coached Augmented Language Intervention for Toddlers available. Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=373&v=rnILKJu_ai0

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Watch It Wednesday: AAC in Early Childhood

March 4, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

AAC in Early Childhood

Want to learn more about using AAC with young children? That is the topic for today’s video, presented by Dr. Rae Sonnenmeier of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. She discusses key issues and reviews a 5-step process for helping the little ones develop communication through AAC. https://vimeo.com/91725812  

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Does AAC Really Work with Infants and Toddlers?

January 14, 2014 by - 7 Comments

Does AAC Really Work with Infants and Toddlers?

We are occasionally asked how old children have to be before you can begin teaching AAC. Our answer: There is no set minimum age. Nor is there any research evidence that one has to use an oral-language only approach for a set period of time before beginning AAC. Today, we’re delighted to be able to share an article on this topic with you. This article describes a research review in which Branson and Demchak identified a dozen research studies looking specifically at the use of various AAC tools and strategies with infants and toddlers. Data from 190 children up to 36 months of age were examined. Of the 12 studies reviewed, 7 met criteria for having conclusive findings. In 97% of all cases, the children’s communication skills improved. Looking only at the 7 most rigorous studies is even more encouraging: All 135 babies/toddlers demonstrated improved communication skills following AAC intervention.... [Read More...]

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