http://www.aacinstitute.org/AACInstituteInformation/CurrentHandoutDocuments/080104AACforBeginners_4pages.pdf Communication is one of the most important things in life, without this how can we get our need and wants met? This article which is presented by AAC Institute provides an easy to read introduction and overview of augmentative and alternative communication, which are ways for people who have issues with speech to still communicate with their surrounding world. It describes what AAC is used for as well as what types of populations would benefit from the use of it. This article also does a great job of illustrating how AAC is used and how it is looked at and reviewed to determine its effectiveness. This article would be useful to parents or teachers who have students with significant disabilities in the area of speech (this could include students with Cerebral Palsy).
http://www.dotolearn.com/ This is a wonderful resource by do2learn which is sponsored by The Selavy Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. It provides free resources; some examples of just a few of these include picture cards, year round holiday activities, songs, games, and art activities. Anyone is able to print out these resources and use them, which can be very useful to parents. I have found that the picture cards are particularly useful because they help you set up a visual schedule for your students that need it. This would be very useful for students with Autism or students who just need more structure and routine. There are also other areas of this website that you can subscribe to and access by paying a subscription fee.
http://www.bridgeschool.org/transition/multimodal/index.php This is a great website that allows you to explore more into the area of communication and the different forms that it can look like for students with disabilities who have trouble communicating in the traditional ways. This website is run by The Bridge School, which is a school that serves children with severe physical and speech impairments. This is an excellent reference for parents as well as teachers of students with severe disabilities who have no or limited forms of communication. This site lists and reviews many types of communication, some of which you many not even have heard of. This is a wonderful site, especially for parents and teachers of students with severe disabilities.
Another resource that is helpful is the Let’s Play Project’s manual on playing with switches. It can be found at http://letsplay.buffalo.edu/products/Switches.pdf. This is a very useful resource for students with more involved physical disabilities who have a hard time playing with toys in the traditional ways. This manual highlights the importance of play for children and provides ideas for alternate ways that they can play and interact with their environment thus learning valuable skills. It helps guide you through how to use switches, which switches to use, and different things to consider when trying to find the right switch for your student. This resource also provides actual picture examples of specific switches that can be purchased and used. This is the link to the Enabling Devices website where many of the switches scene in this manual can be purchased, http://www.enablingdevices.com/.
