Blog — Kim Rankin

Jul 6

Jul 6 July Core Word Activities: Week 1

We are using PrACCtical AAC's list of core words for our July augmentative and alternative communication work with Nathaniel. My goal is do one fifteen to twenty minute activity per day that allows me to model the words and motivate Nathaniel to use his device and learn new language skills. There are twelve words in the list; that is a lot to take on all at once. I've found success with focusing on four words per week for three weeks and then having the last week of the month to mix it all up and revisit some of our favorite activities. The words we are worked on this week were FIND, COLOR, AND, and LOVE. Nathaniel loves to speak in one word utterances and let his communication partner do the work, but he more than capable of two to three word utterances; longer utterances are emerging. I tend to model between three and five word phrases and sentences. He is becoming aware of pronoun use, present progressive verb endings, and adding a plural s.

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.

Jun 7

Jun 7 Stop Working So You Can Talk To Me: A Lesson For Mom On Modeling AAC

Kim Rankin

AAC, Parenting

Nathaniel pinched play dough bits off the ball I held out to him. He poked each piece into the Fun Factory press. Diligently and silently, he worked at the task. Once the press was full, he pushed down on the lever. He watched the play dough ooze through the three holes moving blue snakes across the table. For the twenty minutes that he worked, I modeled language on his communication device.

Jun 4

Jun 4 See Me? See My AAC

Kim Rankin

AAC, Disabilities

I know it has been a long time since I posted on the blog when I can not remember my log in password. I have many topics for blog posts floating around in my head; I haven't made writing a priority this last month.

I am going to ease back into blogging. Nathaniel and I participated in a week long challenge to share photos that represent the hash tag #seemeseemyaac. The goal of the Facebook campaign was to bring awareness of alternative and augmented communication. People participated from all over the world. Pretty cool. Here are our photos and the snippets of information I shared with each photo about our AAC efforts.

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 27

Oct 27 Trick or Treat for Nonverbal Children

Kim Rankin

AAC

Original Post: October 2014. Updated: October 2015, October 2016

I think a lot about how to help Nathaniel understand and engage with the world and how to help the world understand Nathaniel. In this light, Halloween has been troubling me.

How does a child who can not speak and does not eat participate in Halloween?

We could skip it. There are many Christian homeschool families who avoid the holiday all together. We did at one point in our child rearing. In recent years Halloween has provided an excuse to spend time with our friends, Dan and Kelly and their seven children. October 31, 2013, Nathaniel's first Halloween, was a cold and rainy week night. After enjoying soup with our friends, we brought him home and missed the door to door part of the evening. In 2014, we celebrated Halloween with Nathaniel's foster family. We visited a few homes and went home early again.

Hi.