Tag: AAC app
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Comparing Bluetooth Speakers for AAC Use
In the beginning of this school year, I purchased some iON Clipster portable Bluetooth speakers. Over the months, I’ve left them with students who do not have amplified cases. When you’re working so hard to learn to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), your voice has to be loud enough to be heard, even in…
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Using Aided Language Input to Elicit Verbal Speech
This post is combining two important concepts in the world of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): Aided Language Input (which may also be referred to as Aided Language Stimulation or Modeling) and the relationship between verbal speech and AAC. Sometimes I hear people say that they’re afraid to use AAC because they are worried that…
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ATIA 2015: Products and Professionals We Enjoyed
Speak for Yourself ATIA15 booth – busy like this for most of the conference! As you may know, if you follow our Facebook page, we just got back from the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Conference. I started to share this as a post in our Speak for Yourself Users group, but it got too long and difficult to…
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A Speak for Yourself Scrapbook: Everything Begins With an Idea
“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” ~Mahatma Gandhi Everything that is created starts with an idea. A thought enters the mind and sometimes that thought passes like a vehicle on the…
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Because of AAC…He First Learned to Communicate and Then He Learned to Talk
There is a myth that those of us who support and advocate for people with complex communication needs (CCN), find ourselves dispelling repeatedly, sometimes daily. The myth is that Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) will somehow inhibit or prevent verbal speech. It takes several forms when heard or read on various Facebook groups and pages. One of the issues…
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Independence Begins With Communication: Five Ways to Focus on AAC in less than 30 minutes a day!
I love the summer. I love the warm air and the hazy morning fog that dissipates as the sun burns through to begin a new day. I look forward to late nights outside, long beach days, coffee on my porch, a less intense work schedule, fireflies, reading novels, flip flops, barbecues, al fresco patios opening at…
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What Would Language Be Without Core Vocabulary?
My typical fifth-grade daughter climbed into the backseat the other day after school. I asked her about her day and she said, “Mrs. K. Baby. Grumpy. Jarrod Jarrod. Hunt. (Sigh)” Then she said: “Jamie. Mrs. J. Math reading. Questions dividing fractions multiplying fractions. Reading vocab. Responsible smart.” Crystal clear, right? Oh…hold on a second. I…
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Simon Says: Model One More Word
One of the more common, and important, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) implementation strategies is Aided Language Input or modeling. It would be overwhelming to use your child’s/client’s device to model EVERY word you are saying verbally…for you and the child! Here’s the good news, you can successfully use Aided Language Input without overwhelming anyone! This blog topic was prompted by a discussion in the Speak…
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The History Feature in the Speak for Yourself AAC app
“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” – Michael Crichton I don’t usually write a blog post when we release a Speak for Yourself update, but this 1.5 version update is special. Over the years, as we’ve worked with…
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AAC Implementation: Where Do I Start?
You have a nonverbal child who is depending on you to find him/her a way to communicate. Whether you are a parent or a speech-language pathologist (SLP), that’s a lot of pressure, and the stakes are high. You take the responsibility seriously. You have an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app or device. If you’ve…