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AAC and Rett Syndome

Those of you who may not yet know of Carole Zangari's AMAZING blog, PrAACtical AAC, you are in for a fantastic treat. For any parent or teacher supporting a non-verbal child, Carole's blog is such a wealth of information!!! She has so much information there, it will take months for you to go through all of it.

Today, PrAACtical AAC is featuring an excellent guest post by Dr. Theresa Bartalotta. In this post, Dr. Bartalotta gives a concise, helpful overview of Rett syndrome and ways to support communication in children and adults with the disorder.

I appreciate how Dr. Bartalotta addresses the challenges our kids with Rett face as they relate to communication:
  • physical limitations
  • response time
  • non-standard communications that can become highly meaningful
She also talks about particular AAC interventions that can be useful, including techniques, partner training, and low- and high-tech solutions that have been shown to be successful with some kids with Rett syndrome.

Those of you who know me well know that I take exception to the description of the Rett syndrome that assumes "most individuals are severely cognitively challenged" because we simply don't possess the tools to measure that. If you can't prove it, you can't presume it, right? Better to give the benefit of the doubt and provide rich opportunities, letting kids bloom to the greatest of their potential. That's my soapbox and I'm not stepping off, sorry.

For an introductory article on AAC and Rett syndrome, Dr. Bartalotta covers a lot of ground! If your child has Rett syndrome, it's worth passing on to your child's speech therapist.

Then, once you do that, go back and browse the PrAACtical AAC site. You'll be glad you did! Seriously, go check it out!




5 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing this with your readers. I asked Theresa to write it because I think many of us SLPs graduated without learning much about Rett. These kids have so much potential! I appreciate the kind words about PrAACtical AAC and want to give a shout out to my amazing friend and co-owner of the blog, Dr. Robin Parker. She has taught me SO much over the years and I still learn things from her posts.

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  2. Hi! I'm your newest follower. I love your blog. I'm so glad I came across this today :)

    The Adventures of Room 83

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  3. Carole, thanks for chiming in! Kudos to Dr. Parker too. I hope everyone will stop by your blog--it's just too great to miss.

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  4. Welcome, Room 83! It's great to have you! I just took a peek at your blog and it's filled with some super ideas. I love the one about Velcro...and might have added an extra tip in your comments to save you time. Enjoy!

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  5. Your blog was just recommended to me, it's great!! I love this post! Practical AAC is one of my fav blogs that was just introduced to me a few months ago. I have an 11 yr old who is nonverbal, with autism. I will be sure to share your blog, it's a wealth of information! I blog about how we help our daughter communicate with Proloquo2Go and about all of the exciting things she shows us that she knows at www.abbeysvoice.com. Come and check us out when you get a chance. Thanks...and thanks again for all the great info!!

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Thanks for joining in the conversation!