Minspeak E-Newsletter, Issue 63

	Send to Friend December 14, 2012

Pixon Teaching Tip: Pixons can be used as teaching materials for picturing the metaphors behind Unity® icon sequences. The word for this week is “make.” Compare the Pixon to the icon sequence . Teach the meaning of the word “make” using cookie cutter props with raw cookie dough or bread. You can “make” cookies for the holidays or sandwiches for a party. Extend the meaning making holiday cards, making your bed, making an art project, making up after fighting, and making up a story, etc. Intervention Planning: Practice the word “make” in two-word phrases, such as “make some,” “to make more,” “making it,” and “made that.” Practice future, present and past tense in sequential activities (I will make it, I am making it, I made it). Check out the Language Lab: Core Words App from PRC to practice the word “make.” Teaching Materials Exchange: Read It is Christmas Time. The book is coded with Pixons and icon sequences from Unity®45, Unity®60, Unity®84, and Unity®144. Go to the Minspeak website for more Christmas materials! Register today for the ATIA 2013 Conference which includes presentations that support or feature people who use Minspeak or Pixons! Pittsburgh AAC Language Seminar Series: Register TODAY for an upcoming seminar series. Go to the Minspeak website for the schedule and registration materials.

PrAACtical AAC Re-Post: Mining Preschool Routines for AAC Opportunitiess

Link to the original entry on praacticalaac.org, HERE
Thanks to Terry Kappe, SLP, for forwarding this great blog entry.

Meet Jenna, a spirited little girl with developmental delays who is learning to communicate using multiple modalities. Follow her along this morning as she goes to her preschool and gets dozens of opportunities to practice the AAC skills she is learning. 101 opportunities to practice target skills before lunch? It’s a piece of cake with this well-oiled preschool team! Jenna’s communicative functions are noted in CAPS in the entry. The variety of them are summarized, below... LINK TO THE FULL STORY, HERE.
GREET
ANSWER
GOODBYE
ASK
HELP
THANK YOU
INVITE
REQUEST
NAMES
APOLOGIZE
COMMENT
PARTICIPATE
CHOOSE
REFUSE
RETELL
PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Thanks Carole Z.!

Update from the AAC Center at Univ. Nebraska Lincoln

 

Link to the Centers at UNL, HERE

Supporting Communication for People with Minimal Movement

YouTube video: 4 minutes

Webcast: 60 minutes

ASHA 2012 Handout

ASHA 2012 References

New Vocabulary Lists

Vocabulary Associated with Medical Procedures

Texting Vocabulary

New Books (4th edition)

Rick Hohn Autobiography: More Than A Watchmaker

From Rick: I am excited! My autobiography, More Than a Watchmaker, guaranteed to make you laugh and cry is released. The title of the book is from the prognosis of the pediatrician that diagnosed me with CP but told my parents that I would do everything except for making a watch. You can then order it from my website www.spiritwheelsministry.com And go to my new bookstore. The book is $16.99 and shipping is $4.95.Read more about Rick Hohn, Preacher, Artist, Author, Mentor, and Sales Consultant, HERE. 

AAC Assessment Resources from SIG 12

The ASHA Community for SIG 12 has done it again! Provided great resources for AAC-interested SLPs nationwide. If you don't already belong to SIG 12, it is something to consider ($35 annually). The Perspecitves in AAC journal even offers CE units for reading and taking a quiz on the contents ($5 per issue, I believe).

Megan in Oregon asked the Community:
Are there good, inexpensive AAC assessments for preschool and elementary school children that you enjoy using in your community clinic or private practice?
Does anyone have experience with the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Profile?  Is it user friendly, informative, and relevant to lite and high tech?

Nicole Dupre in Houston, TX wrote:

I use the TASP (Test of Aided-Communication Symbol Performance; more info in a previous post HERE), the AAC profile, the Protocol for Metaphoric Use of Pictures and the Communication Matrix. I love them all for different reasons but I think they are all easily administered and applicable to assessing different groups of users. The Protocol for Metaphoric Use of Pictures is on Gail Van Tatenhove's download page (Gail posted THIS DROPBOX LINK because that page of her website is down). The Communication Matrix is a free online tool, HERE (or use it offline - download the 26-page PDF handbook HERE).
 
The TASP and Gail's Protocol are both actual tests to administer student knowledge whereas the other two are inventories completed with the assistance of caregivers (Namita Maunder of Fremont, CA added that the TASP includes a report writing guide). And for students needing additional support I like Ever Move Counts and The Inventory of Functional Communication (LINK to it HERE).

Namita also referred to the AAC Assessment Genie app for the iPad ($9.99; more info in a previous post HERE). Susan Morgan (Lynchburg, VA) commented that some of her learners were distracted by the iPad and so she might have to use low tech assessment tools. 

Susan also added the Functional Communication Profile to the list of assessment options. She also mentioned a test specifically for TBI patients, from her days with an older population, that was available free online (great article on AAC in TBI from ASHA, HERE). She couldn't recall the name of it, but found it to be a helpful guide even with the younger kids.

AppyMall iPad Mini Giveaway!

If you love FREE apps and multitudes of useful app reviews and you don't already follow AppyMall, you should! (@appymall) If you want to enter to win an iPad Mini, you should visit the giveaway site and follow the prompts. You might even connect with some valuable companies and developers in the process. CLICK HERE to see rules, etc. 

H-app-y Birthday to You!

I happen to know an inordinate number of December babies, and want to share a couple FREE birthday apps that I love. (Both give you 'something to talk about', but, full disclosure, neither are communication apps)

 Sharing with Duckie Deck is FREE (at least at present) and has a birthday cake decorating activity in which you can drag decorations, candles and all sorts of do-dads onto a variety of cake styles. Listen to a lovely marimba version of happy birthday song as many times as you like after tapping the green check mark, then tap to cut, and serve to three plates, then do it all over again with a different style cake. Great FUN! The other 3 activities in the app are completely cute, as well. Enjoy.

Cake Day (also FREE, for now) invites you to blow out the on-screen candles, and it WORKS! Don't ask me how. Magic. Cake Day allows you to enjoy a Free Cake (ready to go, no prep required, ready to blow the candles and hear the song...my kind of cake!) or Personalize a cake with number of candles, card recipient's name, message, and signature. This cake/card combo can be sent via Facebook, Text, or Email. I can't promise that you can "blow out" the candles on your desktop, though...

Both apps contain zero calories and are fat-free.