AAC Tools — Blog — Kim Rankin

Mar 17

Mar 17 New Literacy Practices In My Classroom

I mentioned in my last blog post that I wanted to be honest about some changes I am making after hearing Drs. Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver’s teaching at the workshop: Comprehensive Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities and Complex Communication Needs. Before I jump into another week, I do want to mention modifications that I am implementing immediately. If you have followed our journey and emulated any of my practices, I want to be up front about what we are going to do differently now.

Feb 23

Feb 23 Planning Worksheet for Literature and AAC Core Words of the Week

Kim Rankin

AAC, Homeschooling

Jul 28

Jul 28 July Backyard Visitor: Fireflies

Kim Rankin

AAC, Homeschooling

When we decided to homeschool this year, I did not want every piece of our day to be remedial and fixing weaknesses. I wanted to do something that built on Nathaniel's strengths and things we enjoy. His receptive language skills are fantastic. He loves stories. He loves being outside. This intersection is where I am building some fun learning into our day.

"Backyard Visitors" is the name I am giving to our nature study. We are learning about one animal a month through children's literature, crafts, and time outdoors. We are working on core AAC vocabulary. The first critter that we learned about was the firefly.

Apr 22

Apr 22 Tell Me - AAC in the Preschool Classroom: A New Direction for Our Homeschool

Kim Rankin

AAC

I made a new AAC friend last month. Dr. Carole Zangari, who blogs at PrACCtical AAC, and I spent a few hours on the phone getting to know each other and discussing her recently published book, Tell Me AAC in the Preschool Classroom. I have been desperate for direction for Nathaniel's education, and the program developed by Dr. Zangari and Lori Wise seemed promising. I have been studying the material daily since that conversation, and recently watched her webinar given through Saltillo. Dr. Zangari and I had a second phone meeting yesterday morning. At one point in our hour and a half conversation, I had to get up from the table and pace the living room floor; the excitement brewing inside needed a physical release.

Oct 24

Oct 24 Some Big "Little" Exciting News - Speak for Yourself on iPhone

Kim Rankin

AAC

In the middle of setting up our camping trip on Saturday, I received an email that rocked our world - Nathaniel's communication app was released for iPhone and we were invited to be beta testers.

In the time it takes to brown hamburger and open cans of beans to make chili, the app downloaded and I synced Nathaniel's vocabulary from a recent Dropbox backup. On the next trip carrying things outside, I sat down next to Nathaniel on the retaining wall from where he was watching his brothers cut wood. I handed him my phone with Speak for Yourself open. Inquisitively, he grabbed it, stared at the home screen for a minute, and then said "CHAINSAW."

Aug 1

Aug 1 Printing and Using Low Tech Versions of Talker Symbols

Kim Rankin

AAC

Vani, a speech therapist from Australia, emailed to ask how I print high quality low tech versions of Nathaniel's talker symbols. Hope this helps explain how I create and use them. Bonus! A free printable of some Speak for Yourself transportation symbols that fit in the Cariboo game, is included at the bottom.

Nathaniel uses the app Speak For Yourself (SFY). The symbol set for Speak for Yourself is Smarty Symbols. We use low tech versions of these symbols to drill our five weekly words, to offer a visual of word combinations, and for Nathaniel's visual schedules. The photo below shows a variety of these uses. This week's words on the the left, the other photos show some visual schedules.

Hi.