There is a new dangerous, propaganda movie about a cousin to the debunked and dangerous Facilitated Communication method going around. It’s called Spelling2Communicate and it is essentially the same thing as Rapid Prompting Method.  Facilitated Communication is holding the hand, arm or another part of the body of a non-speaking person and “helping” them communicate by pointing to letters. Rapid Prompting Method and Spelling2Communicate hold the letter board instead of the body of the non-speaking person. Evidence shows, overwhelmingly, that neither of these methods is safe because inevit ..read more

As AAC implementers there is a lot we have to know and think about and rolled into that is the hope we must have. We must believe that our students/clients/children will grow beyond where they are right now. This is what is meant by presume potential - have hope - not a static hope, but an active hope that adjusts and grows and changes. We believe that full, active, intrinsically rewarding communication is coming.  Today I taught an AAC skills class. The students and their learning coach, usually a parent, were picking an operational AAC goal to focus on for a few weeks. I mentioned in ..read more

​Symbol Supported Text, sometimes called Symbolated Text, is the practice of adding picture symbols above or below each word or phrase in text based materials meant to be read.  (It does not apply to symbols in AAC systems.) Here are some examples: As you can see symbols from a variety of companies are placed above or below the written text.  If you look at the symbols alone, as a non-reader would do, it is very difficult to know what is being said.  The first example might be read as “bird home bird cage give house” to an unfamiliar person.  The second might be read as ..read more

Picture Books AAC Rhyme Time by Amanda C Hartmann The Adventures of a Silly Cat by Elizabeth Garcia All About Communication: Todo Sobre La Comunicación by Rebecca Eisenberg All About Core: An Alphabet Book for Emerging Readers by Rebecca Eisenberg All About Feeling: An Alphabet Book for Emerging Readers by Rebecca Eisenberg Artie is Awesome by Deidre Darst  Dancing with Daddy by Anitra Rowe Schulte Do you talk the way I talk? by Tabitha Cabrera Eddie the Elephant has Something to Say by Alison Johns Eddyto’s Journey Ms Isabel Orellana Family Forever: A Julia Storybook Garban ..read more