There is a wealth of information and materials for you on our website, so you may be asking yourself, "Where in the world do I start?" No worries, we've got you! This is the first stop in your training! In this unit we will be answering some primary questions to get you started!
Our specialized training hub dedicated to supporting communication success in Early Intervention in the home and our preschool classrooms
AAC Partner Strategy Kits are engaging posters/handouts, descriptions and short videos explaining and modeling techniques for you to use to help your student be willing, and able to communicate using their AAC system!
5 steps to move from training to talking, give you a clear path for you and your student learner. Learning to communicate is a shared journey between the learner and their partners, and that makes sense! Communication is a shared activity between two people. It is the means for us to make connections, meet our needs, engage socially, participate in shared experiences, and bridge the gap between our experiences and sharing these their partners.
Ms. Cuddyer is one of our stellar AAC focused teachers, creating a model AAC classroom. This video is one of her first introductions to Predictable Chart Writing with her students! Great first session!!
Another of our amazing AAC focused teachers, Mrs. Radford graciously made us these videos in 2020 sharing her process for integrating her students AAC devices into their typical morning meeting. You’ll notice in the videos Miss Radford students use a variety of speech generating devices, including iPads, with TD Snap and NovaChats.Video permission has been granted by all adults and students and their families prior to sharing.
Ms Gardner uses her AAC Flipbook to model AAC use during Morning Meeting, Seasons of the Year song. She's modeling "go" and "Spring" in this video with all of her students who are AAC users. Jessica is an extraordinary AAC focused teacher who ensures that EVERY student in her classroom has a robust communication system. Many students begin using AAC with our DTA AAC Flipbook while waiting for their AAC assessment and access to a robust speech generating device or iPad with an AAC application.
Mrs. Janssen, Ms. Carney and Ms. Carlson began planning to integrate AAC into their instructional routines a few weeks ago. Using our Routine AAC Target Planner, they wrote down their schedule, chose their target words/messages, made sure they had multiple ways of modeling (posters, desk boards, AAC devices) and got started modeling these words and symbols during a typical instructional routine. Mrs. Janssen reports, "That chart and knowing what to focus on in a practical well thought out way makes it so doable. In ONE, UNO, 1 day I had students touching the words on table charts and pressing buttons UNPROMPTED due to frequent and intentional modeling!"