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This website is available in Vietnamese and has links to online resources and support from other Vietnamese parents with similar experiences.

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Parents Helping Parents San Jose cung cấp hỗ trợ và thông tin đa ngôn ngữ cho các gia đình chăm sóc trẻ em và người lớn khuyết tật.

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Rights in Obtaining Assistive Technology 

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Rights in Obtaining Assistive Technology 

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The article details how to obtain an AAC device for your child and discusses your rights in obtaining assistive technology. A version in Vietnamese is available.

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Obtaining Assistive Technology Through Your Child’s School | Disability Rights California

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Assistive technology is defined twice by Federal special education laws. It is specifically defined by the IDEA as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of children with disabilities.”

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Laws that Protect Children with Disabilities

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Laws that Protect Children with Disabilities

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

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Topic Areas: Assistive Technology

Summary

The Office of Educational Technology and the Office of Special Education Programs are pleased to share the below guidance in support of children with disabilities who need assistive technology (AT) devices and services for meaningful access and engagement in education.

Dear Colleague Letter

A Dear Colleague Letter on the provision of assistive technology devices and services for children with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Myths and Facts Surrounding Assistive Technology Devices and Services (PDF) is designed to increase understanding of the IDEA's AT requirements, dispel common misconceptions regarding AT, and provide examples of the use of AT devices and services for children with disabilities and to highlight the different requirements under Part C and Part B of IDEA.

Resumen

La Oficina de Tecnología Educativa y la Oficina de Programas de Educación Especial se complacen en compartir la guía de abajo para apoyar niños con discapacidades que necesitan aparatos y servicios de tecnología de asistencia (AT) con acceso significativo y participación en la educación.

Carta a los Colegas

Una carta a los colegas estimados sobre la provisión de dispositivos y servicios de tecnología de asistencia para niños con discapacidades bajo la Ley de Educación para Personas con Discapacidades (IDEA).

AT Mitos y Realidades

Mitos y Realidades sobre los dispositivos y servicios de la tecnología de asistencia está diseñado para comprender mejor los requisitos de la AT de la IDEA, disipar conceptos erróneos comunes con respecto a la AT, proporcionar ejemplos del uso de los dispositivos y servicios de la AT para niños con discapacidades y resaltar los diferentes requisitos bajo la Parte C y la Parte B de IDEA.

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Assistive Technology Devices and Services for Children With Disabilities Under the IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

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The Office of Educational Technology and the Office of Special Education Programs released guidance in support of children with disabilities who need assistive technology (AT) devices and services for meaningful access and engagement in education.

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As a parent, communication within an IEP process is crucial because it ensures your child's needs are understood and that it enables you to actively participate in decision making, creating a collaborative relationship with the professionals involved, and ultimately created the best framework plan for your child.

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5 Tips for Effective Communication with Your Child’s IEP Team

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Brighton Center shares tips on how to promote effective communication with your child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team.

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This resource provides ways in which parents of AAC users can effectively collaborate with their child’s AAC team and inappropriate requests that parents should stand their ground on saying no to. One example being if an AAC team member asks you to pretend you don’t understand what your child is telling you.

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AAC requires teamwork from everyone around the AAC user.

Your child will always be the center of the team and its most important member.

Could you do this alone? Yes. But it's hard to stay motivated alone. You may begin to doubt yourself and feel isolated in carrying the responsibility of teaching your child how to communicate using AAC.

For more than thirty years, my son Josh has used AAC. We have had different AAC teams and learned how to overcome challenges with educators, medical professionals, family, and friends. During this time, we have also met a few kindred spirits along the way. Those on the same page as Josh and me from day one. Several are friends of ours to this day.

For the past 12 years, I have been supporting families for AssistiveWare. I continue to learn from them and enjoy sharing what I have learned. During this time, I've seen similar situations happen to many families.
Are any of these scenarios familiar to you?

The child has started using AAC at school, but the family is unsure about using it at home.

The family bought an iPad and Proloquo and wants the school to help teach their child how to communicate with it.

Everyone agreed on the tool, and the school provided an iPad with the AAC app. But now it's a new school year, and new members are on the school team, including a new teacher with very little experience and knowledge.

The school Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) has written goals for requesting only. And they only want the AAC user to have access to 12 buttons.

Each member of the AAC team has different goals, which can sometimes lead to disagreements. When these disagreements happen, conflict arises.

Far too many families have experienced frustration and failure-mine included. I want to help identify points of conflict and provide information and ideas. This conflict can be harmful, and I want to help families avoid that.

Protect the parent/child bond

Your relationship is the most important thing. Do not let conflict with your AAC team disrupt the relationship between you and your child. Protect this bond. Do not try to be the therapist, the SLP, or the teacher. Do not sacrifice and stress this bond to "work" on therapy or academics. No one wins when that happens.

You need space to reflect on your family's capacity before agreeing to add therapy to your routines. We must be able to say, "Right now, that won't work for our family," and have that be accepted.

Share information about your child with the AAC team

School team members will share information about your child's day at school. You will need to share important information about your child outside of school. This will help the AAC team get to know your child better. Remember to protect privacy and only share those things that are helpful.

Two ideas are to share photos/videos and a communication document.
1. Take and share photos and videos
Make the time to start taking photos and videos of your child - of them communicating, of them, using AAC. Take videos of family members interacting with your child. Show how others use AAC with your child. Build an album of examples and moments of your child in action. Sharing these videos at the right moments can help. Perhaps a video shows something that works or doesn't work. Maybe a video shows your child's capacity to use their AAC. Perhaps a few photos to show the setup of how you keep AAC available at home.

Collaborating with the team in this way can offer insights and possible solutions to try at school.

Remember to ask permission from anyone in view when taking a photo or video. Also, ask your child's permission before sharing any images of them.
2. Create a "How I communicate" document and keep it updated
It is important to document and share all the ways your child communicates with your AAC team. Help them understand how your child communicates. Imagine if your child was in school and no one knew they were communicating. How frustrating would that be? Let's make sure everyone knows to recognize and attribute meaning to your child's actions.

Here are some examples of what I wrote in Josh's communication document:

Josh says yes by flicking his right hand up by the wrist. It can be very fleeting. Let him know when you see it.

When he taps the wrong button on his device, he shakes his head no. Ignore the message and continue to listen.

If Josh starts to feel anxious, he will put his hand or fingers in his mouth and vocalize. Ask him if he needs a break.

Keep this document updated and share updates at least quarterly with the school team.
Download "How I communicate" template
Communicate with your AAC team

Collaboration requires communication. You will need to decide how and when you will communicate with different team members. Consider face-to-face team meetings, online meetings, phone conversations, emails, and group messages. Put boundaries in place to protect your family and those team members. Decide when, where, and how frequently communication should happen for your family. No one likes receiving important messages at 10 pm!

I always felt ambushed on the blacktop when I was standing with all the other parents waiting for dismissal, and the teacher or aide came out with Josh in tow, telling me what happened that day. Josh and I just wanted to get home. Despite a communication notebook and an email system in place, this scenario replayed far too frequently.

Share your preferences with the school team. Ask each member of the team members when they prefer to communicate with you and how often. At school, when passing in the hall or at lunch, the school team members can engage with one another. You do not have these opportunities.

Everyone on the team needs to know when and how each member prefers to be contacted. Many conflicts can be avoided once this is understood and accepted.

Connect with your AAC team

As you build trust and rapport with the school team members, it is important to be open and honest -to share the good and the bad. There are times when things might be challenging. You want to have the space and time to be able to express concerns but also to celebrate successes. Be sure to contribute to meeting agendas and ask that time be set aside to celebrate what is working. Collaboration gets stronger when we take the time to recognize successes!

Successful collaborations happen once you trust the other person. You need to experience school team members making meaningful connections with your child. This is why it is so important for you to keep open communication. And help them get to know your child. Meet regularly and honestly, share what's working, and talk about what is not working.

Consider asking your child's teacher to share photos or videos of your child using AAC in the classroom. This can help you better understand your child's relationships at school. Sharing these photos and videos can establish a point of connection between you and the teacher. Just remember to make sure everyone in the classroom's privacy is respected.

Know your limits

In order to collaborate, sometimes you have to meet in the middle, but other times you have to stand your ground and say no.

There could be inappropriate requests from the school team that you should decline immediately.
Examples of teacher/therapist tasks NOT to take on:

Your child is talking too much about Minecraft at school; school team members would like to remove the folder from his AAC and ask you to redirect him when he talks about Minecraft at home.

The school SLP would like you to offer your child something you know they don't like, so they have to protest.

A school therapist asks you to pretend you don't understand what your child is telling you. They will have plenty of real communication breakdowns. No one needs a fake one.

The teacher and aide ask you to put their favorite snack where they can see it but not reach it so they can ask you for it.

Sometimes the AAC team doesn't work. Some members may cling to bad practices, and others may not see any benefits to AAC. This has happened to Josh and me in the past.

When the classroom teacher wanted me to remove words from Josh's device, the team explained why it was not okay to do that. The words stayed. But the teacher lost any interest in AAC after that. There was no agreement to collaborate; the consequence was an unengaged teacher for the rest of the school year.

Some families face teachers who do not want AAC used in their classrooms. School SLPs with little AAC knowledge may insist on only having a few buttons for your child to use and refuse to add more. Administrators may not support inclusive education and deny your child access to academics. These scenarios can lead to harmful consequences, especially if parents and the school team develop an adversarial relationship.

You will have to be brave and make hard decisions. Will you stick it out? Ask for a new team? Homeschool for the rest of the school year? Change schools? File an administrative appeal or even a lawsuit?

Find community support

I bet you are a member of one or more Facebook groups with other AAC families. When a parent posts in the group and shares their troubling conflict about AAC with their child's school team, we all empathize because we can see ourselves in the same situation. We commiserate, shake our fists, and say, "You're right! It's an outrage."

I want to remind you of something: It's important to talk them off that ledge, get them back on solid ground, and help them find their balance again. And if it is you on the ledge; listen to them and let them help.

Learning to take your place on your child's AAC team at school is hard.

Putting the relationship between you and your child first is important.

Being clear about when and how the team members will communicate is an excellent way to avoid conflicts.

Sharing information about your child at home with school team members helps them to know your child better.

Remember, for most parents, there will be big challenges. Find a community for support and work to keep yourself and others focused on the big picture.

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To my fellow AAC parents - building collaborative relationships in your child's AAC team - AssistiveWare

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Pam Harris shares how to collaborate with your child's AAC team. Protect your bond with your child, share information, and communicate effectively for success.

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This resource explains LRE and that all kids should be in general education classrooms unless a strong reason is given.

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At a glance

Least restrictive environment (LRE) means kids who get special education should be in the same classrooms as other kids as much as possible.

LRE isn't a place - it's a principle that guides a child's education program.

The LRE for each child may look different because kids are unique.

When people think about special education, they sometimes think about separate classes or schools. But public schools are supposed to have kids who get special education services learn in the same classrooms as other kids as much as possible.

Unless there's a strong reason, kids should be in those general education classrooms. This principle is called LRE, or least restrictive environment. LRE is an important part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the U.S. special education law.

The word environment makes it sound like a place. But where a child learns is only part of the equation. LRE applies to a student's entire education program, including services.

A student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) describes their special education and related services. The IEP must also address LRE. And the IEP must explain if and why a student is being placed outside of a general education classroom.

Dive deeper

What the law says about LRE

How LRE works in practice

About the author

About the author

Amanda Morin is the author of "The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education" and the former director of thought leadership at Understood. As an expert and writer, she helped build Understood from its earliest days.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Andrew M.I. Lee, JD is an editor and attorney who strives to help people understand complex legal, education, and parenting issues.

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Least restrictive environment, or LRE, means a child who gets special education should learn alongside general education peers as much as possible. Learn more.

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This is a great resource for materials written in Vietnamese for families to use when working with interpreters. Scroll down to the bottom and select the Vietnamese folder.

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National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages

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Self-advocacy is an essential skill that must be fostered in our bilingual/multilingual families. Professional interpreters/translators in education support

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This resource provides access to parent centers across the US.

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Finding the motivation to make positive lifestyle changes can be hard for anyone. For teenagers, it can be especially difficult when parents are the ones telling them to do it. But if they've fallen into unhealthy habits like vaping or alcohol abuse, change can be beneficial. Motivational interviewing is a form of therapy that creates a safe, non-judgmental environment for teens to establish their own goals and values and see how changing unhealthy behaviors can benefit them in the long run.

This series of articles comes from the Child Mind Institute, with most available in English and Spanish. Why might teens be resistant to therapy and how can parents and others to help them get the treatment they need? The articles explain how motivational interviewing can help teens gain the self-confidence to make important behavioral changes. To read more about motivational interviewing, and to connect with the articles in both English and Spanish, please visit CPIR's abstract.

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Center for Parent Information and Resources | Your Central Hub for Parent Centers Serving Families of Children With Disabilities

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Finding the motivation to make positive lifestyle changes can be hard for anyone. For teenagers, it can be especially difficult when parents are the ones telling them to do it. But if they've fallen into unhealthy habits like vaping or alcohol abuse, change can be beneficial.

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A guide for starting a discussion about needs and concerns with a school. Vietnamese version is available to download.

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Steps to Success: Communicating with Your Child’s School (Vietnamese)

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This website has a search function that allows you to look for parent support resources.

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Look No Further!

Need help with the schools? Looking for health information for your child? Unsure where to start? Search our resources for support.

SPAN is committed to engaging parents and professionals as partners in improving outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and youth in NJ. We offer programs that address parent involvement, child care, general and special education, dropout and bullying prevention, child welfare, health care, mental health, youth leadership, transition to adult life, incarcerated youth, military family support, violence prevention, and more!

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Need help with the schools? Looking for health information for your child? Unsure where to start? Search our resources for support. SPAN is committed to engaging parents and professionals as partners in improving outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and youth in NJ.

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Link Tree featuring information about the benefits of bilingual education and common misconceptions about AAC

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Summary of knowledge and parenting methods for parents.

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We are The Circle of Vietnamese Parents Family Resources About us THE CIRCLE OF VIETNAMESE PARENTS Founded in 2017, the Circle of Vietnamese Parents supports more than 400 Vietnamese-speaking parents of children and youth with disabilities and autism. Led by parents of children and youth with disabilities and autism, our organization provides emotional support and

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For a low-cost resource with symbols of various types of food, including traditional Vietnamese dishes, please visit the following link:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vietnamese-Food-Communication-Board-with-Real-Images-AAC-Speech-Therapy-11904673

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Modeling AAC during morning and night routines

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Modeling AAC during morning and night routines

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Additional resources for AAC in the water:

https://www.forbesaac.com/post/aac-in-the-water

https://blog.mycoughdrop.com/catch-the-wave-aac-in-the-water/

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With a Vietnamese core vocabulary board, a student can interact with family members or friends who speak Vietnamese. Many students who use AAC learn to communicate in two languages. Adults can model using the board to teach students to communicate in Vietnamese.

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What Hurts? Communication Board

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Vocabulary related to emergencies/crisis to add to devices. Words chosen due to collaboration between AAC users and first responders.

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College of Education and Human Development, Institute on Disabilities

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Emergency Preparedness Effective communication in times of man-made or natural disasters is key to effective emergency preparedness, response, and…

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Simple phrases that can be pre-programmed into AAC devices when handling emergencies.

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How to Help Your Child Understand and Label Emotions

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Teaching words to express feelings.

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How to Help Your Child Stop Hitting and Pushing

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How to Help Your Child Stop Hitting and Pushing

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Clusive: An Accessible, Digital Reading Platform

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Clusive: An Accessible, Digital Reading Platform

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Clusive is an adaptive and accessible web-based reading and learning environment designed to engage students in independent reading. Based on the inclusive principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Clusive scaffolds the development of reading skills for students in grades 5 through 12. You can change the level of difficulty of a variety of texts to fit the changing needs of your child.

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k - Keyboard shortcut list (this dialog) + t - Show Table of Contents + h - Show Highlights and Notes dialog + - Show Display settings + - Show Reading tools settings + a - Start/stop Read-aloud space - Pause Read-aloud (while reading) + f - Focus search input

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Integrating literacy with AAC instruction

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Integrating literacy with AAC instruction

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This article emphasizes the importance of integrating literacy instruction with AAC to empower AAC users with comprehensive reading, writing, and communication skills. It outlines key strategies tailored to both emergent and conventional literacy learners, including

Shared reading

Guided reading

Independent reading

Shared writing

Independent writing

Letter and sound awareness,

Spelling

The approach is based on modeling and providing real-world opportunities for learning.

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This article will give a brief summary of each of the teaching techniques listed in the figure above.

More detailed information can be found here:

7 Key Literacy Strategies

1. Shared Reading (Emergent)

Shared Reading is used to introduce emergent readers to reading. In shared reading, the focus is on interaction, as we model language, conversation, and how books "work". In the process, we help AAC users learn how to engage with books in an enjoyable and more conventional way.

Ideas for shared reading with emergent learners:

Comment about the story and pictures as you read.

Ask open-ended questions or pause to invite a comment in return.

Model key words using AAC.

Pay attention to the text as well as the pictures. Point to key words in the text while reading, and use your finger to show how you read from left to right.

Find books with repetition, with topics that are high interest.

2. Guided Reading (Conventional)

Guided Reading teaches AAC users to focus on getting particular information from a text. It sets a purpose for the reading, before the reading begins.

Ideas for guided reading with conventional readers:

Picture walk: talk about the pictures before reading the text. Make guesses about what the story is about, who the characters are, etc.

Always read for a purpose. For example: Choose your favorite page. Make predictions about the stories.

Read the same story multiple times, for a different purpose each time.

Find interesting words in the text - What does the word mean? What are some different words that mean the same thing? What is the first sound, the last sound?

After reading the text use sticky labels to cover particular words e.g. core words/ describing words/ verbs. Work with students to figure out the missing words.

Find Tar Heel readers to share with the class, print/share on iPads/interactive whiteboard.

Predictive or inferential questions that can be discussed with each repeated reading include:

What will happen if ____?

What will happen next?

What happened before the story?

How did the characters feel?

What do the characters think?

What other things could the character say?

Why will ____ happen?

Why wouldn't ___ happen?

How do you think ____ happened?

How did that happen?

Think of a different way the story could end

3. Independent Reading (Emergent and Conventional)

All literacy learners need time to select their own books and read independently. For some learners, this may mean flipping through a book to look at the pictures. For others, it may be books on computer or in an iPad app. Learners should have a wide range of books to choose from, and should be allowed to pick their own reading material.

4. Shared Writing (Emergent)

Shared writing is a scaffolded group activity for emergent writers, where we can select the structure of what will be written and then we "think aloud" to model the writing process. Each AAC user contributes a line, using their AAC system.

Predictable chart writing is the most common form of shared writing.

For more information, see Jane Farrall's blog post on Predictable Chart Writing and The Center for Literacy and Disability Studies handout on Predictable Chart Writing.

5. Independent Writing (Emergent and Conventional)

All AAC users should have frequent opportunities every day to write using the alphabet for real purposes. This means not just tracing letters or practicing writing their name on a worksheet, but writing to accomplish a real purpose. Some examples may include: signing into a activity, writing a story, a letter, a poem, a schedule, rewriting or adding to a favorite book. Most students who use AAC have difficulty forming letters with a pencil, and will need some form of alternative pencil to access the alphabet. This can be a keyboard page that is part of their AAC system, or some other alphabet display. For more information on different alternative keyboards visit the instructional resources section of the DLM website.

For more information, see Jane Farrall's blog post on Writing, and Writing Strategies used at Willans Hill School.

Another important strategy for beginning writers, is to give informative feedback for AAC users who are not yet conventional spellers. First, we set the topic for the writing assignment. Let the AAC user access his or her alternative pencil to write about the topic. Then give informative feedback to help the AAC user make connections between the letters he has chosen and the content of the picture. See this video for more information about informative feedback.

In addition to writing with the alphabet, AAC users also need experience writing using the vocabulary in their AAC system. This can allow AAC learners to work on higher-level literacy and language skills such as syntax and verb tenses and using language for communication. Not all writing needs to be done with the alphabet.

Ideas for Independent Writing:

Use Pictello to write your own books using text, photos and videos

Sentence expansion - add describing words in front of nouns in sentences

Text innovation - Make vocabulary changes to the text to make variations to the text, eg. Baa Baa Green sheep

Write text, with the purpose of sending a letter, email, invitation

Write books, with the purpose of sharing with family, friends, other classes at school, etc.

Write lists, to organize class activities, e.g. shopping lists, list of people to invite, books to read, activities for free time, favorite things, etc.

Write treasure hunts

Write riddles; describe items and people have to guess

Change one word in a written sentence - make the sentence have the same meaning, OR an opposite meaning

Write Acrostic poems

Write cartoons - with speech bubbles - write what characters would say to each other

Share writing attempts on class whiteboard to give immediate feedback about the writing

Use graphic organizers to talk about and plan what you want to write before starting

Make word clouds (www.wordclouds.com)

Use word webs to write brainstorming ideas about topics

6. Letter and Sound Awareness

All AAC users benefit from increasing their knowledge of letters and letter sounds. Emergent learners need to develop their knowledge of individual letter names and sounds, and conventional learners need to develop knowledge of syllables, separating words into sounds, and onset and rime.

For more information, see Jane Farrall's blog posts on teaching and learning the alphabet, and working with letters and sounds.

Ideas for Letter and Sound Awareness:

Read and write alphabet books

Vote or make choices with letters - when offering a choice between two options, use Post-It notes with the initial letter of each choice (e.g. "c for cookie or d for donut?")

Play with letters in a variety of fonts and forms (puzzles, cookie cutters, magnets, light up drawing boards...)

Sort pictures or objects according to what sound they start with

Play "I Spy, something starting with __" (use sound or letter name).

Identify different length words from the text/activity, and break the words into syllables. Clap and/or count the "beats" or syllables in each word.

Break words into their sounds. Count the number of sounds in the words.

Find words that rhyme within the text/activity.

7. Spelling - Working with Words

As students become able to identify letters and the sounds they make, it's time to start putting those letters together to spell words.

For more information, see Jane Farrall's blog post on working with letters and sounds.
Ideas for Working with Words:

Word walls and Making words

Choose key words in the text (e.g. characters, high frequency words, core words), and have students identify first and/or last sounds in words

Pick top 5 core words and focus on spelling and letters in these words

Spell sets of word families (rhyming words), see Jane Farrall's blog post on word families.

Take key words from the text/activity and make up as many rhyming words as possible

Build literacy skills

Developing literacy skills is crucial for all learners. AAC users, given time, the right tools and teaching strategies, can also acquire these essential literacy skills. It is important that comprehensive literacy instruction is integrated alongside AAC learning. Together these will build language for the AAC user, to give them powerful and independent communication.

Follow the links below for more strategies to build language and communication:

Go to the AssistiveWare Core Word Classroom. All Core word planners contain a section on how to integrate some literacy instruction within different activities.

Links & References

AssistiveWare Core Word Classroom. (2016). Core Word Planners. [Literacy suggestions within each Core word planner]

Center for Literacy and Disability Studies. [Website]

Center of Literacy and Disability Studies. Dynamic Learning Maps. [Website]

Center of Literacy and Disability Studies. Dynamic Learning Maps Professional Development modules. [Learning modules]

Center of Literacy and Disability Studies. Project Core. [Website]

Center of Literacy and Disability Studies. Tar Heel Reader. [Website]

Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. (2016). Literacy Instruction for students with significant disabilities. [Website]

Erickson, K. (2017). Comprehensive literacy instruction, interprofessional collaborative practice, and students with severe disabilities. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26, 193-205. doi: 10.1044/2017_AJSLP-15-0067

Erickson, K. & Koppenhaver, D. (2020) Comprehensive Literacy for All: Teaching Children with Significant Disabilities to Read and Write. Baltimore, MD: Brookes

Farrall, Jane. Literacy, AAC and Assistive Technology. [Website]

Farrall, Jane.(2015). Shared Reading: Focus on Interaction. [Blogpost]

Farrall, Jane. Guided Reading. [Blogpost]

Farrall, Jane. (2015). Self-selected reading for every learner. [Blogpost]

Farrall, Jane. Comprehensive Literacy. [Website]

Koppenhaver & Erickson.(2007). Children with Disabilities: Reading and Writing the Four-Blocks® Way.

Musselwhite, Caroline & Sheldon, Erin. [2015]. Reading as Communication: Selecting books, Angelman Syndrome Foundation. [Video]

Willans Hill Literacy. [YouTube channel]

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Our products support literacy development. This article gives advice and strategies on how to integrate communication alongside literacy for AAC users.

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Literacy Instruction for individuals with CCN

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Literacy Instruction for individuals with CCN

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The website provides guidelines for teaching literacy to individuals with complex communication needs (CCN), such as autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. It covers essential literacy skills, teaching methods, and includes video examples of instructional strategies. It highlights success stories, such as Krista, a student who overcame significant challenges to read independently. On this website you will find information on

Sound Blending

Phoneme Segmentation

Letter-Sound Correspondences

Shared Reading

Sight Word Recognition

Reading Sentences and Simple Stories

Reading Comprehension

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What is the purpose of this website?

This website provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs, especially learners with complex communication needs (CCN) such as:

Autism spectrum disorders

Cerebral palsy

Down syndrome

Developmental apraxia

Multiple disabilities

This website provides information on:

What skills to teach

How to teach these skills

Videotaped examples of instruction with learners with special needs

Meet one of our students
Krista

Krista has multiple challenges, including a hearing impairment, a visual impairment, and a motor impairment. She also has a tracheostomy.

Krista has a dynamic personality. She makes everyone smile.

Like many of her peers, she loves Zac Efron from High School Musical and Zack and Cody from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

She uses sign approximations and a computer with speech output (a Mercury with Speaking Dynamically Pro software). Because of her hearing impairment, she does best when others sign as they talk.

We started to work with Krista when she was 8 years old. At that time, she was in a special education class at school and was not receiving literacy instruction.

Watch this video of Krista at 9 years of age. She is independently reading a personalized book about a summer adventure with Zac Efron.

She is so excited to be a reader!

Visit the rest of the website to learn more about how Krista learned to read stories independently.

Krista reading about Zac Efron from AAC Learning Center - Penn State on Vimeo.

Last Updated: December 21, 2018

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This website provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs, especially learners with complex communication needs (CCN) such as: Autism spectrum disorders Cerebral palsy Down syndrome Developmental apraxia Multiple disabilities This website provides information on: What skills to teach How to teach these skills Videotaped examples of instruction with learners with special needs Krista Krista has multiple challenges, including a hearing impairment, a visual impairment, and a motor impairment.

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Book Creator is a free online platform that allows you to create a book from scratch, start from a template book, or copy pre-made books.

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Book Creator - Love Learning - Book Creator app

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Teachers love it. Students love it. Book Creator is the simplest, most inclusive way to create content in the classroom.

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How-To Training Video

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The complete user guide for navigating LAMP in its entirety.

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Here is a 1-hour long course that will help you become a certified LAMP user learning the ins and outs of what this application has to offer.

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An issue has been identified that is preventing Empower software from loading on Accent devices. Read more for detailed instructions for how to fix your device. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

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A blog post explaining how to create new symbols for new vocabulary on Proloquo2Go.

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New to Proloquo2Go 6: Symbols and expanded search - AssistiveWare

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An app like Proloquo2Go depends on symbols that are clear, identifiable, and relevant. This is important in getting an AAC learner engaged and interested in the system. It’s also necessary to provide all of our users with vocabulary that recognizes their daily life.

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Video tutorial on how to set up and use the features on Proloquo2Go

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Practical tips for setting up Proloquo2Go

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The Project Core Professional Development Modules provide a self-directed learning resource aimed at equipping individuals with skills to implement Universal Core vocabulary for students. The modules focus on evidence-based communication strategies such as modeling, prompting, and providing wait time, integrated into daily academic routines.

Here you will find educational modules on:

Universal Core Vocabulary

Teaching Communication During Daily Routines and Activities

Shared Reading

Predictable Chart Writing

Alphabet Knowledge and Phonological Awareness

Independent Reading

Independent Writing

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An overview of the multi-year, iterative development project to create the Project Core implementation model for teachers and classroom staff.

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English/Vietnamese Bilingual Reading Children's Books. Đọc sách thiếu nhi song ngữ Anh-Việt

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English/Vietnamese Bilingual Reading Children's Books. Đọc sách thiếu nhi song ngữ Anh-Việt.

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Provides a community and resources specifically for AAC users, offering advice on navigating adult life with AAC, including social opportunities and events.

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Communication Matters | More than just talking...

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Communication Matters aims to increase understanding, awareness and knowledge of the needs of people with complex communication needs.

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Stories from people of all backgrounds and beliefs

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Offers a range of resources for AAC users of all ages, including information on finding social opportunities and resources specifically for adult users.

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Readtopia is a literacy program for students with moderate to severe disabilities. It offers multisensory tools like digital books and activities to build reading comprehension and vocabulary, focusing on real-life topics to make learning engaging and practical.

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An online special education curriculum that teaches phonics and early reading to students in elementary, middle, and high school with complex learning barriers. REQUEST A QUOTE TRY FREE Readtopia® Features Integrated Lessons Comprehensive reading curriculum across English Language Arts, Science, Lif…

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Provides audio books and related resources for students with reading disabilities (dyslexia, etc.), offering professional narration for improved comprehension.

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Audiobooks for Dyslexia & Learning Disabilities | Learning Ally

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Learning Ally solutions help struggling readers through audiobooks & support services for educators, parents, and students dealing with dyslexia. Reading accommodations

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The Arc advocates for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including access to AAC. They provide resources for advocacy in education, employment, and healthcare.

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Advocate with us! Join The Arc’s National Council of Self-Advocates and resources that will help you become a better self-advocate.

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Online social community for adults using AAC. These hangouts encourage interaction and social connections in a virtual environment.

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AAC | ImpAACt Voices | Non-Profit | United States

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ImpAACt Voices - As a Non-Profit Organization, we connect, support, and empower Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users.

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Mommy & Me Vietnamese - Learn with The He Tre TV

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Mommy & Me Vietnamese - Learn with The He Tre TV

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Vietnamese Language and Culture Learning Videos for Babies and Kids. Bilingual Learning Through Music, Games, and Fun activities! Nhạc Thiếu Nhi Vui Nhộn Thế Hệ Trẻ (Young Generation) is a family-owned video production company with the mission of preserving the Vietnamese culture in every household. It creates engaging videos where children can learn both Vietnamese and English. Created 30 years ago, Thế Hệ Trẻ is now a household name and can claim to have taught thousands of children about their heritage. We believe in promoting the Vietnamese Language and Culture.

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Playlist of 21 videos of children's stories being read in Vietnamese.

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