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ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TRAINING LIBRARY

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Executive Functions and AAC Connections

Paige Buckingham

Executive Function skills are necessary to become independent in life and Language is necessary for a person to be able to develop Executive Function Skills. Individuals who use Augmentative Alternative Communication systems often don’t have the same exposure to experiences as their neurotypical peers. Explicit teaching is often needed to learn something new and putting an executive function focus on vocabulary and daily activities will support the development of these skills.

We will do a crosswalk by looking at executive function checklists and various communication and language development checklists to see how these areas fit together. Strategies to support emotional control, sustained attention, and response inhibition will be shared and participants will practice picking vocabulary to support their student to develop a plan for implementation.

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Effective Teaching Strategies: Working with Complex Communicators

Lindsay Hendricks

This webinar will start by reviewing a few key terms and concepts such as core/fringe vocabulary, robust AAC systems, presuming competence, and functional communication. These ideas are essential in providing the most effective teaching strategies to those with complex communication needs, and will be integrated into the discussion as they apply.

Participants will learn to improve their communication partner skills and a variety of strategies that support the development of communication skills in others. Discussion will focus on communication partner skills and passive teaching techniques. These ideas will then be applied to day to day activities that can be used at home, in therapy, or at school!

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Adapt, Play Connect

Teresa Giardina and Courtney Grimes

Students with Complex Needs are often unable to participate or access games/activities during school events. Students with Complex Needs are often placed to observe play. A few key purchases and an imagination can change the role from observer to participant!

This interactive workshop will both outline the importance of accessing assistive technology in play for all individuals and discuss techniques for how to put this into practice. Presenters will demonstrate the effectiveness of including assistive technology that can be utilized for play, along with specific examples. Examples will include students/clients with complex needs evidenced by physical/motor impairments, intellectual disabilities, and extraneous factors such as cortical visual impairment.

Presenters will identify key strategies used within a holistic setting to implement these strategies within school, home, and community settings. Discussion will include specific information related to training new team members, family members, etc. for populations outlined. The presenters will open the topic for participants to discuss their own experiences with various populations in AT-based intervention.

 

Speak Unique assistive technology presenters

Google’s Hidden Gems for Diverse Learners and Beyond

Anne Truger

This fast paced session will focus on “hidden” accessibility and productivity features that are built into all of the main Google tools: Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail, Gcal, Chrome, Extensions, Search, and Keep. These features and “gems” will be tools that an individual with diverse learning needs may use themselves or tools that will be helpful to a teacher/therapist that is using inclusive practices to share materials with a class that includes both neurotypical and diverse learners.

As a general rule, Google makes several hundred changes a year to their tool suite, and they are tough to keep up with. This session will introduce all known new features and hidden features that can support individuals with diverse learning needs, including those with Executive Functioning and access issues. The 8 defined areas of functioning that this session will focus on primarily are impulse control, emotional control, flexible thinking, working memory, self-monitoring, planning and prioritizing, task initiation, and organization. This session will also give you tools to help with alternate access and productivity. You will learn how to work smarter not harder. These “buried” gems will become your discovered treasures!

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Ready, Set, Grow Preschool AAC

Mary Katherine Dally

Preschool is one of the first school experiences for some of our young Augmentative and Alternative Communication ( AAC ) learners. Knowing how to best support and serve our early learners with complex communication needs can be an overwhelming task in the classroom – especially when starting from scratch! Whether you are new to AAC, the preschool population or are seeking novel, innovative ideas, this course will cover all of the above. Create a plan to begin AAC implementation in the classroom using a child-led approach. We will review basic myths and research for early AAC learners, discuss language approaches, assessment and goal writing ideas and vocabulary systems to increase your AAC knowledge.

This webinar will allow you to brainstorm and experience innovative, original ways to implement AAC throughout the preschool day utilizing natural, autonomous communication- even during fire drills! The best part? Free resources and materials will be provided to share with your team and implement with students tomorrow!

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The iPad and Support for Struggling Readers & Writers: Middle School through Higher Ed

Mark Coppin

This webinar explores how the iPad can be used as a powerful tool to support struggling readers and writers in middle school through higher education. The webinar covers a range of built-in literacy supports available on the iPad, including text-to-speech, word prediction, and highlighting tools, and demonstrates how these features can benefit students with different learning needs.

Additionally, the webinar highlights third-party apps that can enhance the iPad’s capabilities even further, including apps that provide advanced text-to-speech functionality, convert text to sign language, and provide writing supports. Participants will learn best practices for integrating the iPad and its literacy supports into their instruction, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools in improving students’ literacy outcomes!

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2024 RESOURCE DIRECTORY

A Guide to Over 1,500 Assistive Technology Products for Children and Adults with Disabilities

 

The ultimate guide for exploring the latest advancements in assistive technology products for children & adults with disabilities. It encompasses everything, from cutting-edge software to innovative hardware. This guide has been carefully curated to facilitate your discovery, research & comparison of the latest assistive technology products on the market today. Check it out today!

FRONT PAGE REPORT

The latest developments and product releases in the assistive technology industry.

Front Page Report

CLOSING THE GAP ALLIANCE PARTNERS

Closing The Gap Alliance Partner Program highlights strategic partners, association, organizations and other non-profits who are committed to serving children and adults with disabilities and their families.

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Our mission is to help you grow your assistive technology (AT) knowledge, enhance your instruction and build capacity using today’s best practices and implementation strategies.

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