Tag: Speak for Yourself
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Authentic AAC: The First Week Round Up
In case you missed my blog post on Monday, I’m sharing Authentic AAC moments this month for #BHSM16 in an effort to expose my “behind the scenes,” less-than-ideal experiences. So, if you’re insecure about making mistakes or missing something, know you’re not alone. I strive to improve every day. We learn from our mistakes, and maybe by looking at…
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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: A Month of Authentic Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
A friend said that I’m photogenic based on my Facebook pictures, and I laughed (thinking of the many pictures I’ve deleted because my eyes were closed or I looked like I was 6 times my weight) and quickly said, “Well, I just don’t post the bad ones.” As I scroll through my newsfeed, I know I’m not…
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Let’s Talk About Appropriate Behavior
Trigger warning: This post will discuss applied behavior analysis (ABA) and low expectations of autistic individuals and people with complex communication needs (CCN). I stop at red lights. I avoid fast food. I wash my hands and use hand sanitizer…A LOT! I don’t do any of these things because I enjoy them. I would love…
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Learning to Speak AACtion Plan: Week 12
Well, friends, here we are…it’s the final week of the Learning to Speak AACtion Plan! For those of you who have been following along every week, you have a strong core vocabulary foundation to model for the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users in your lives. When I started this in January, my goal was…
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Learning to Speak AACtion Plan: Week 11
Can you believe it!? It’s Week 11 of the Learning to Speak AACtion Plan! For those of you who have been following along each week, thank you. Knowing that you’re interested has been motivating for me. This may be one of those resources that ends up being useful to parents and professionals who don’t even know the importance augmentative…
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Learning to Speak AACtion Plan: Week 10
The daffodils always surprise me. Even though I know they are the first flowers in my yard to bloom, I don’t notice that they’re green and growing until I see the first flower. The yellow gets my attention, and spring begins. Every year I wonder how I missed the leaves. It would be exciting to…
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Learning to Speak AACtion Plan: Week 9
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California was once called “the bridge that couldn’t be built.” It took ten years of planning because of the intense opposition and another four years to actually build it. Once…
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Learning to Speak AACtion Plan: Week 8
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~Arthur Ashe Welcome to Week 8 of the Learning to Speak AACtion Plan! If you’ve been following along each week and doing all of the practice lessons up to this point, you have learned 35 core vocabulary words in your child’s augmentative and…
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The Day You Raised Your Expectations
Have you heard about the rats? There’s a study that was done where Bob Rosenthal, a researcher, took a group of regular, every day, average rats. The rats were divided randomly into two groups. He put signs labeling one cage of rats as “maze bright” and the other as “maze dull.” Each group, with the signs…
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Learning to Speak AACtion Plan: Week 7
“Until you learn to play what you want to hear, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” ~ Billy Gibbons I’m reasonably sure musician Billy Gibbons wasn’t talking about augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and modeling when he said this, but it…