Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Month and Halloween Core Word Ideas

22 Oct Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Month and Halloween Core Word Ideas

AAC Awareness Month and Halloween

Written by Sandra Kogan, CF-SLP

October is AAC awareness month, and the team at Functional Speech Therapy is excited to share resources and helpful tips for you to use all month long! We are also looking forward to celebrating Halloween and making sure friends and families are ready to celebrate too!   

Core Words of the Month: 

We are continuing to participate in core words of the month, where we select a set of core words to model and ideas for how to use them in activities and routines! If you want to learn more about what core words are and why we teach them, please review our blog post, Why do we teach core words in Speech Therapy?

The core words for the month of October include you/your, on, different, and like. Here are some ways you can teach or use these words with your children: 

• You/Your: 
  • Pick an activity where you can take turns playing with your child (e.g., a board game, throwing a ball, building a tower with blocks). Introduce the phrase, “your turn” to your child, using the word “your” each time you take turns, regardless of who is going. Once your child is familiar with the phrase, you can begin alternating “my/your turn.”
  • Encourage your child to participate in an activity or routine by using the phrase, “you do it!”
  • I Love You Because You’re You by Liza Bakeris a sweet story to read with your child, and it targets the word “you” in every line! You can also access the video read aloud here! 

• On: 
  • Play hide and seek with your child! Place different toys or items around the room and take turns finding them. Have some of the things hidden on top of something else. Model phrases like, “it was on the chair!”, “not on the table”, or “did you look on the carpet?”.
  • Use toys that can be stacked on top of each other, like blocks or legos, and model phrases, like “put on.” You can even incorporate other toys (e.g., “let’s put the dinosaur on top!”). 
  • Cause and effect toys! These are toys that require you or your child to initiate an action before it does something (e.g., wind-up toys, pull-back cars). You can use phrases like “turn on.”
  • Incorporate into daily routines. You can provide language models for your child anywhere, anytime! If it’s dark in a room, you can say “uh-oh we need to turn on lights!” Or during dressing routines, you can tell your child, “put on pajamas!” 
  • Get crafty! Use stickers, googly eyes, pompoms, pipe cleaners, or more to decorate something with your child. See an example craft here. Talk about where you are placing the different items, by saying phrases like “let’s put on paper!”, “stick on pumpkin”, “eyes on.”
  • BoomCards! Use this Monster Themed BoomCard deck to dress-up a monster with your child! Talk about which body parts to “put on.” 

• Different: 
  • Spot the difference. Use this Ghost Themed BoomCards set with your child to find which ghost is “different.” You can also print it out and have your child cross out, stamp, or put play doh on the item that does not belong. Talk about why the item doesn’t belong (e.g., “That ghost doesn’t have candy, it is different!”) 
  • Requesting! If you notice your child is not engaged or doesn’t want to participate in an activity, provide alternative options when available. You can model phrases like, “I want different toy”, “play a different song”, “I have different idea.”
  • Expand on your child’s play! Teach your child alternative ways they can play with or use a toy, and use a phrase like, “let’s play a different way!” For example, if your child enjoys playing with cars or trains, incorporate another toy (animals, people) to drive the vehicle, or build something to put the vehicle in (e.g., garage, car wash, train station). 

• Like: 
  • Talk about preferences! Based on your child’s interests (e.g., TV shows, toys, food), you can sort items into categories, “like” and “don’t like.”
  • Does your child LOVE to listen to songs and watch videos? Use that to model language! “Do You Like?” videos by Super Simple Songs on Youtube, like this one, include a variety of foods and silly food combinations. While watching the video with your child, pause after a question is asked, and model different questions/comments, such as “do you like broccoli ice cream?”, “I don’t like it, yucky!”, “Yum ice cream, I like it!” 
  • Help your child feel calm and regulated! For some children, that might include deep pressure sensory input. Support your child in expressing their preferences by modeling language, such as, “I like squeezes!”  

Trick-or-Treat with AAC! 

Halloween is an exciting time of year for many of our children and families! Along with the excitement might come a sense of stress, particularly for AAC users. We are here to help support your preparation for the holiday with these helpful tips and resources. 

• Use a social story to prepare your child for Halloween. Review the social story with your child as many times as needed before the holiday. Go over different scenarios that may occur and how you can respond (e.g., the child does not like the candy they receive). 
• Create a visual schedule with the steps for trick-or-treating. Talk to your child about all the steps included for trick-or-treating, and reference the visual for what comes first, next, etc.
• Make sure your child has the vocabulary on their device to actively participate in all the events for the holiday. Reach out to your speech therapist for help with programming vocabulary to a high tech device, if needed. You can also use lite tech AAC options, like these communication bracelets, switch and bucket labels
  

• Help spread the word about differences in communication by using these Trick or Treat Cards made by PrAACtical AAC. Hand them out while trick or treating. 

To find out more information about supporting AAC users or to inquire about other pediatric speech and language related services, please contact us by phone (224) 219-1924 or email: contact@functionalspeechtherapy.com.

Our office is located at: 916 IL-22, suite 216, Fox River Grove, IL,  60021.

FUNctional Speech Therapy

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