Children with complex and severe communication impairments often cannot meet their communication needs with their natural voices. In some cases, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems may be recommended to compensate for or replace natural communication. AAC systems can take many forms and may look quite different depending on the skills and needs of any particular communicator. In general, AAC systems rely on unaided (e.g., manual signs or gestures) or aided (e.g., pictures or orthographic words) symbols incorporated within electronic or nonelectronic devices that are used to deliver and receive messages (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005).Although there are many communication and learning challenges facing children who use AAC, challenges in using AAC for social communication purposes are especially difficult to overcome. Specifically, children who use AAC often experience feelings of isolation, problems forming and maintaining friendships, difficulty initiating and maintaining conversations, negative self-perceptions, and negative Targeting Social Skills Through Peer MediationA variety of evidence-based techniques and strategies exist that target social skills and social competence in children with impaired communication 42 COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

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This article presents some simple mathematics accommodations that general education teachers can implement without extensive preparation time. The accommodations are appropriate for all students in the classroom regardless of whether they have identified disabilities. The accommodations are intended as supplemental or supportive strategies used in conjunction with regular planning and instruction for students who need minimal or intermittent instructional adaptations.

Writing can be a powerful tool for thinking and learning. Journaling is one form of writing that is a commonly used learning tool in many classrooms. Children use journals to record personal experiences, explore reactions and interpretations to reading and videos, or record, analyze, or enhance information about literature or other subject areas. This article examines how to scaffold journal writing instruction for students with learning disabilities within a diagnostic teaching cycle by establishing learning outcomes, planning assessment, planning instruction, implementing instruction, and analyzing individual student learning. Example lessons, differentiation strategies, scoring guides, and student samples are provided.

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