functional project: AAC AWARENESS MONTH
a little about this project
October is AAC awareness month, a month dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This month, students put together “goodie bags” for each classroom in the school. The goal was to share more information about the value of AAC and the importance of accepting all modes of communication.
Some of the skills you can work on with this project include:
- fine motor skills (opening and closing the bags)
- bilateral skills-using both hands to get all of the materials into the bag
- following a visual
- sorting/organizing the supplies into the correct bins
- communication/social skills when delivering the bags
- navigating the building
Part 1: 3D printed communication device
The star of this activity was the 3D printed communication device. One of my favorite people to follow on IG, Mary Katherine Dally (AACforall) shared a small aac 3D print file last year. It has inspired many projects since. For this project, we wanted a larger device, so my husband created a modified version. If you have access to a 3D printer, you can access the FREE file to 3D print your own here. You can find the image we added to the device in this FREEBIE. I used double sided tape to attach them to one another.
part 2: aac info tag
A big focus of this project was to increase understanding of what AAC is, why it’s important , and some clarifying information about why “non-verbal” is sometimes used incorrectly. You can download an editable FREE version of this tag here that allows you to add your own QR codes. Our info tags included 4 QR codes: a video of our students using their communication devices (get parent permission!), a link to an ambassador video from our PRC rep, a link to a couple different stories related to AAC, and a link to some coloring pages (see part 3 below).
If you’re looking for a couple books that do a great job explaining or highlighting AAC, check out Inside Words, Outside Words by Caitlana Vrana (an AAC user!), Something to Say About My Communication Device , A Day With No Words, and Lucas the Lion Loves the Tiny Talker.
Part 3: AAC awareness coloring pages
One of the QR codes included on our info tags linked to these AAC awareness coloring pages. I created a few additional options using our school mascot. We loved seeing teachers hang these in the hall or classroom after students had colored them!
part 4: communication bill of rights
The last item included in our bags is a printed copy of the Communication Bill of Rights. When a version of this was shared with me many years ago, I knew this was something I wanted hanging in my classroom. It’s a great reminder to every staff member that supports our students.
part 5: bag assembly
Life skills is a very broad term and we often forget all of the smaller benchmark skills that need to be mastered before reaching more long-term functional skills. Projects like this allow us to generalize discrete skills outside of task boxes and work on them in a fun, natural context.
I labeled individual bins and had students sort the supplies into the appropriate one, working on matching, sorting, and organizational skills. After the supplies were sorted, we implemented the visual below to help students sequence and match supplies as they put them into the bag.
Opening the bag and then holding it while putting in each of the items is a great way to work on bilateral tasks (using both hands) and problem solving if things don’t fit or if the paper gets stuck on the device (which happened a lot!). There are so many other skills packed into this activity and it is a great way to incorporate the importance of AAC awareness month!
I hope this project inspires you to participate in AAC awareness month! If you incorporate aspects of this project, I’d love to see it! Tag me on IG @includedinSPED!