The Southern California Augmentative and Alternative Communication Network...

...is a support group for professional development, problem solving, leadership, mentoring, and training in the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to develop communication in non-speaking and minimally verbal individuals in the Southern California Region.

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Friday, September 13, 2013

JOBS! LeRoy Haynes (La Verne, CA)




LeRoyHaynes Center is seeking a Licensed Speech & Language Pathologist (SLP) to work with both severely emotionally disturbed students and students along the Autism Spectrum attending their non-public school.  The SLP’s primary responsibilities are to assess and meet the individual needs of the students through evaluation and diagnosis of speech, language and cognitive-communication.

LeRoy Haynes was established in 1946, and has grown from a small operation serving just a handful of children into one of the largest and most comprehensive non-profit organization of its kind, dedicated to helping children with special needs relating to emotional development, Autism, Asperger’s Disorder, learning disabilities, abuse, neglect and abandonment.  Nestled against the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains, LeRoy Haynes Center's lush 21-acre campus is located in the city of La Verne at the east end of Los Angeles County.

Responsibilities & Duties:

·         Provides speech and language therapy for the students.
·        Assesses speech and language needs of students eligible for services, as well as yearly progress towards goals.
·   Evaluates student performance and progress and documents the student’s Progress Report.
·         Attends IEP meetings and student/parent conferences, as necessary.
·       Prepares present level of performance section for IEP’s, as well as proposes new goals/objectives.
·       Maintains and completes weekly billing summary indicating exact students seen, exact time and dates of sessions and duration of sessions and submits to the NPS/NPA accounting staff daily.
·       Maintains a valid California Speech and Language License or Credential.
·       Participates in committees, programs, and activities as requested.
·       Attends weekly core and team meetings and other meetings, as directed.

Monday, September 9, 2013

AutisMate app FREE Webinar 9/24


Live Webinar Sponsored By Autismate

Don't Just Customize, Personalize: Innovative iPad App Implementation

Participate FREE OF CHARGE
Participants must register to receive confirmation and login instructions. CLICK HERE

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm 
Central Daylight Time
(11:00-12:00 Pacific)

This webinar will focus on advancing clinical outcomes through customization and personalization in implementing AAC and behavior learning technology through the use of the AutisMate app. Topics including: 
  • Visual instructional, expressive and organizational tools customized and personalized to meet the needs and abilities of individual learners
  • Programming that can increase joint attention, turn taking and language acquisition
  • Behavior and communication outcomes in home, school, community and vocational environments
  • Examples at a variety of developmental levels and ages, including preschoolers, adolescents and adults
  • Read more HERE

By: KELLY FONNER, Educational / AT Consultant, Lake Geneva, WI.

Participants must register to receive confirmation and login instructions. CLICK HERE

News-2-You iPad App

Great news for News-2-You subscribers. Together with AssistiveWare, News-2-You is now available in an interactive format on the iPad. The classic, picture-supported weekly newspaper is now a talking periodical! Install the app and try the free edition on for size. 

CLICK HERE for more (plus a video tour) from AssistiveWare.

Play button at the bottom to have the entire page read to you while highlighting each word, or touch lines one-by-one and the app will read just that sentence. 

"Review" and answer review questions by choosing a picture icon from a field of three. 

Or play a "game" after you've read the main story and Check your work (right).

Complete a crossword puzzle using an on-screen keyboard or sudoku game using key symbols from the story using on-screen picture choices.

Or type a response to question prompts and touch the arrow to hear your answer read back to you! (below)

Currently there are 28 issues available for download to your tablet with your N2Y subscription include titles from January 2013 to the present like: 
  • Cool for School
  • Summer Adventure
  • Turbo Movie
  • Monsters University
Editions are $1.99 each. An annual subscription is available as an in-app purchase for $49.99.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

FREE Fall QIAT Webinars from AbleNet Univ

AbleNet 
9/18/13 - Wednesday
QIAT Session 1: Overview of QIAT

      • Time: 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM CST

      • Diana Carl & Joy Zabala of QIAT.org

      • Level: Beginner/Intermediate

      • Cost: FREE

10/16/13 - Wednesday
QIAT Session 2: Consideration of AT Needs

      • Time: 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM CST

      • Presenter: Kathy Lalk & Penny Reed of QIAT.org

      • Level: Beginner/Intermediate

      • Cost: FREE

11/20/13 - Wednesday
QIAT Session 3: Assessment of AT Needs

      • Time: 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM CST

      • Presenter: Joan Breslin-Larson & Penny Reed of QIAT.org

      • Level: Beginner/Intermediate

      • Cost: FREE

12/11/13 - Wednesday
QIAT Session 4: Including Assistive Technology in the IEP

      • Time: 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM CST

      • Presenter: Sue McCloskey & Terry Foss of QIAT.org

      • Level: Beginner/Intermediate

      • Cost: FREE

Friday, September 6, 2013

Free Self-Study from PRC Language Lab


Self Study Courses

Self-Study Courses
More Self-Study opportunities are coming soon. "Like" us on Facebook to be the first to know when new courses become available. Do you have a special self-study training request? Submit your idea to info@prentrom.com today.

Course Listing

ASHA CEUs are not currently available for our self-study courses. For a list of PRC e-trainings and regional trainings that offer ASHA CEUs, visithttp://www.prentrom.com/training/asha.

ASHA Leader: More Than Words, Multimodal Communication in Aphasia


Just a teaser...read the entire article HERE.


The whole communication picture

In our research, we hypothesize that some people with aphasia may struggle to use alternative communication modalities because of their inability to switch among them. That is, when talking doesn't work, the person with aphasia is not able to switch to using gestures, despite being able to use gestures in structured situations. To help clients overcome this, we've developed Multimodal Communication Treatment,* an instructional technique designed to boost alternative modality use.

MCT's goal is to make verbal and nonverbal representations of a concept more automatic, facilitating switching among modalities. The technique promotes integration of nonverbal and verbal communication through simultaneous instruction: We instruct clients in speaking, gesturing, pointing, drawing or writing of a single concept before moving on to another one. We take care to preserve instruction in spoken expression to ease potential anxiety about it being sacrificed for instruction in alternative modalities...


Steps to moving beyond words

Clearly, studies of MCT's principles, elements and benefits are preliminary and we need further research. But we believe its basic tenets can benefit people with aphasia when incorporated into practice. In short, these are:
  1. Assessment should guide intervention.Before beginning treatment, we assess clients to target the most effective modalities and involve clients and family members in their selection. For example, one person we worked with was a painter before his stroke, so we incorporated drawing into his intervention program. In assessing patients, we also consider limb apraxia and handedness, which could affect writing, drawing and gesturing. If a person can't functionally model a gesture,he or she will certainly never try using it outside of treatment. For example, gesturing the words "writing" or "pencil" may be difficult for some people who struggle with fine-motor movements. When a patient can use only one hand, we sometimes emphasize using one-handed gestures rather than two-handed gestures.We also suggest assessing clients' semantic abilities—using, for example, the Pyramids and Palm Trees and subtests of the Psycholinguistic Assessment of Language Processing in Aphasia—because intervention combining both semantic and multimodal treatment may best help some clients.
  2. Treatment should aid integration of verbal and nonverbal representations.Instead of instructing clients in, say, using gesture for a number of concepts before moving on to instruction in writing or drawing, clinicians instruct clients to integrate multiple modalities for a single concept. For example, when providing instruction on the word "cat," a clinician would encourage the person with aphasia to practice gesturing, drawing, writing and saying the word before providing instruction in another concept. Including spoken expression in this instruction increases the likelihood that clients will use other modalities when words fail. It also helps assure clients and families that spoken expression is not forgotten.
  3. Treatment should support comprehension.Many patients with aphasia benefit from augmented input or the simultaneous presentation of other modalities with spoken expression. Augmented input can help them understand instructions and perform treatment tasks. For example, we found that using photographs, written keywords and gestures helped a client understand directions and effectively perform a role-playing activity.
  4. Treatment should integrate existing evidence.Whenever possible, we incorporate evidence about how best to instruct people to learn particular modalities. For example, instruction in written expression may follow steps similar to those in Pélagie Beeson and colleagues' Copy and Recall Treatment protocol for providing instruction in written expression. The CART protocol provides structured modeling and opportunities for imitation.

FREE AT Reuse Webinar 9/25/13

FREE Assistive Technology Reuse Best Practice Webinar Session!

Training Type: Webinar
Location: Blackboard Collaborate Webinar Platform. Registration for the session is required. Registered Attendees will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to access the webinar.
Presenter: Tyler Garrett, General Manager at Everything Medical
Facilitated by: Shannon Coe, Program Coordinator
Often times, reuse programs receive devices that need repairs before they can distribute them to other individuals. Learn about the ins and outs of proper maintenance and repair for power mobility devices and how to seek out repair services from insurance with the new Medicare and Medi-Cal requirements. We'll explore the dynamics of working with an AT vendor in making repairs for reuse equipment. This session provides a space for individuals and organizations that have or want to start a reuse center to discuss challenges and benefits of repairing the equipment in house or using an AT vendor. This webinar is an AT Reuse Best Practice Session: AT Reuse is the business of reclaiming and redistributing previously owned Assistive Technology and Durable Medical Equipment to ensure that the equipment is being used for the full value of its lifecycle.
Click to Register


If you need additional accommodation(s) to participate in an AT Network training or event, requests must be made no later than two weeks prior to the training or event by contacting Rosemarie Punzalan, Program Coordinator Technical Assistance Emphasis, at rosemarie@cfilc.org or 916-325-1690 ext 343.