Page Navigation Practice
Practice navigating between pages on AAC device.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Time some of them. Speed is the whole issue — a word that takes forty seconds to find will not be used in a conversation, however well the student knows where it is, and the race card makes that explicit and fun rather than pressuring. Work up from one-step to two-step tasks; the final card, building a message across two pages, is the real target and everything before it is preparation.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentSet up the moment, then wait with an expectant look for 10 seconds.Log as correct
- GesturePoint toward the device or the right area of the page.Log as cued
- ModelTouch the symbols on the device yourself while you say the message.Log as cued
- Partial physicalOnly if the team agrees and the student accepts touch: a light touch at the elbow toward the page. Never press the symbol for them.Log as cued
Adjust it
Fewer symbols on the page, and model the message several times before you expect it.
Wait longer before prompting, or expect one more symbol in the message.
Matching IEP goal
During structured activities, Student will use their AAC system to navigate to the page that holds the word they need in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a gestural prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve navigation tasks for an AAC user learning their device's structure: find more on the home page; go to the FOOD page and find apple; go to ACTIONS, find go, then come back home; two steps — home to SCHOOL to pencil; race, find all done in under ten seconds; build a message that needs two pages, I want juice. Navigation is the skill between having a vocabulary and using it.
What to listen for
Watch the return trip. Getting to the FOOD page is usually learned first, and getting back to home is what students forget, which strands them mid-message. Notice which categories are guessed correctly — a student who looks for bathroom on the PEOPLE page has a reasonable model that does not match this device, and that is worth knowing before assuming the vocabulary is missing.
Carrying it home
Families can help by not navigating for the student. Taking the device and finding the word is faster and removes the practice; waiting through the search is what builds it.
What's in this activity
- Find 'more' on the home page.
- Go to the FOOD page. Find 'apple'.
- Go back to the home page.
- Go to the PEOPLE page. Find 'mom'.
- Find 'help' — it is on the home page.
- Go to the FEELINGS page. Find 'happy'.
- Go to ACTIONS, find 'go', then come back home.
- Find 'bathroom' — which page is it on?
- Two steps: home → SCHOOL → 'pencil'.
- Two steps: home → PLAY → 'my turn'.
- Race: find 'all done' in under 10 seconds.
- Build a message that needs two pages: 'I want juice'.
Questions
- Does this practise my student's own device?
- It practises the skill rather than a specific layout. The categories here are common ones, but the motor path on the student's own system still has to be learned on that system.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all twelve tasks are free to use here.
- Why time the searches?
- Because conversation is timed by other people. A word the student can find eventually is not available in a real exchange, and speed is what turns known vocabulary into usable vocabulary.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.