A weekly half hour chat focused on improving access to education for PK-12 students through the use of Accessible Educational Materials (AEM), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Assistive Technology (AT).
Tonight is all about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Let's get ready to chat about why AAC is important for students in school! #PatinsIcam
A1: They certainly can, and "too many words" depends more on the needs of the students and how that user communicates best. Lots of AAC users just need one page (the alphabet) and communicate enough to get their PhD #PatinsIcam
A3: Just like their peers are learning vocabulary and it's use in different or more difficult settings so should AAC users. #Justlikeanyoneelse#PatinsIcam
A3: at any age, we can figure out inclusion. had a HS student tell me today she missed AAC users being in gen ed w/ her. #patinsicam#inclusion benefits ALL
Core vocabulary (those high frequency words that make up 80-85% of what we say every day) can be used to describe LOTS of fringe words that don't come up much (hypotenuse... biome...) Fringe is powerful too, don't overlook or skip teaching it! #PatinsIcam
A4: If I am an example, The Ts should be asking AAC questions so that they understand how to include in a seamless manner. Asking someone to talk is not a "special" event. #PatinsIcam
Core vocabulary (those high frequency words that make up 80-85% of what we say every day) can be used to describe LOTS of fringe words that don't come up much (hypotenuse... biome...) Fringe is powerful too, don't overlook or skip teaching it! #PatinsIcam
Core vocabulary (those high frequency words that make up 80-85% of what we say every day) can be used to describe LOTS of fringe words that don't come up much (hypotenuse... biome...) Fringe is powerful too, don't overlook or skip teaching it! #PatinsIcam
Seeing this a lot in some of our Early Childhood classrooms. Pretty amazing how it is benefiting everyone. Ts say behavior is down for all. #patinsicam
A6: Ts often forget as much (or more) how to do things on a student's system (let's be clear, not all AAC is a 'board') so get comfortable talking your problem solving out loud. Our students need to hear how we think to problem solve too! #PatinsIcam
great requote from #inaacsummitt from Carol Musselwhite: "Beware the flyswatter." Stop giving kid's flyswatter/hit the switch activities and call it communication #PatinsIcam
Which totally makes sense! EVERYONE needs to be able to communicate when the going gets tough...even a "verbal" student or a kiddo who is in crisis might use the boards when spoken words are too much. Love the behavior connection! #PatinsIcam
Absolutely!!! I'm very slow at using even a 50 core board myself. I did a lot of talking through things and pointing out my mistakes. This also allows students time to process the vocab. #PatinsIcam
A7: If we want our AAC users to be in the Gen Ed, we must make sure that ALL teachers are aware of AAC...how to use it and how to highlight it in EVERY class...universally...across the school. This is not just a special education "thing"! #PatinsIcam
A7: on going and personalized for Ts, paras, parents, peer buddies, classmates. At the beginning of the year, I start with a 5 minute mtg by telling them "Just model all day everyday". This takes any stress or view that they have to do something "extra" #PatinsIcam
A8: Success in a fully inclusive classroom looks like: you can't even tell the difference between students because their is so much peer involvement and interaction! #patinsicam
