Phone:
Email:
Degrees and Certifications:
B.A. Speech & Hearing Sciences - Indiana University M.S. Speech-Language Pathology - University of South Florida
Mrs. Armenio
Hello and welcome to CHC's Speech/Language & Communication page!
My name is Whitney Armenio and I am your Speech-Language Pathologist at the Charlotte Harbor School. The 2020-2021 school year will be my eighth year working in public schools in the field of Speech-Language and Communication. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Speech & Hearing Sciences in 2013 from Indiana University. This year (2020), I earned a Master's of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from University of South Florida.
I have worked in a variety of school settings in areas with diverse cultures and socioeconomic situations and with students of all ages who have a multitude of disabilities and communication impairments. I am part of Charlotte County Public Schools' Assistive Technology Specialists team. One of my passions in the field is teaching and using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) modalities for students with complex communication needs. Charlotte Harbor has many students who require high-tech and low-tech AAC systems and our school-based educators are well-practiced in using those systems with all of our students, regardless of their verbal/nonverbal status.
In addition to improving your child's communication within the school setting, I look forward to working with all families to encourage carryover of skills for better communication at home, too! I appreciate all you do to support your student's learning and growth and I promise to do all I can to facilitate that from a Speech-Language and Communication standpoint.
Please join my Remind class page @SLPCHC for more updates and communication regarding your student's specific needs! You may also reach me by email anytime.
Communication Resources
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Project Core
Project Core is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) initiative created by a team of specialists with University of North Carolina. They have compiled a series of videos and free resources to introduce the idea of AAC and how to implement simple systems with your child for improving vocabulary and interactive skills in all communication environments. CHC students will be using Core boards from Project Core for their low-tech AAC needs (using a paper-based visual communication grid on paper). Using these items at home will improve generalization and carryover of skills so your student will become more effective and efficient in their communicative interactions.
The link above will take you to the area of the site that provides free, SHORT training videos (5-10 minutes each). Take a look at those and be sure to browse the rest of the site for more information and free resources. Please contact me for more information regarding the specific AAC system your child uses in their class.
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PrAACtical AAC
This website hosts a plethora of great videos, blogs, articles, free downloads, and activities for preverbal and minimally-verbal students of all ages. There are video tutorials for learning about and implementing Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) strategies and systems. This website is a one-stop-shop for all things AAC - great for families of our West Campus students who are on the Autism Spectrum (and require visual aids to support learning and communication) or need alternative means of communicating (other than spoken language).
Please contact me with questions regarding site content or for suggestions for activities/resources that would be most beneficial for your specific student's communication needs.