Website Review #2

I selected YAACK: What is Augmentative and Alternative Communication's website as my second website review. The reason for this is because I had very little clue about this topic before I took this class. This website is very informative about what AAC is. Not only did it discuss the meaning of AAC, but the website provided education about when a child might need AAC.

I particularly liked the portion on the site that dealt with learned helplessness. I think this is an issue that is seriously impacted the lives of young children in our society and it was refreshing to see a website that is geared toward helping children with communication needs warning about the dangers of learned helplessness. That is definately something parents need to be aware of and avoid when raising any child, but particularly one with disabilities.

The website addressed the fear that AAC might replace normal communication. It points out the benefits of multimodal communication. This website takes a very common sense approach to such issues that do come up in the minds of parents and others. They simply point out that we all use multimodal communication and point out the benefits of having more than one means to express oneself. They dispel fears with common sense and evidence to the contrary.

This site is chock full of information, ranging from historical perspectives of AAC, to resources that provide help for those with communication disorders, to selecting the right AAC device for a students, to teaching students with AAC devices.

I think the site's table of contents are set up nicely and are clearly set up for different topics. It is an easy site to navigate and perhaps the only drawback is a benefit of the site as well, which is that it has TONS of information!