Talking With Tech AAC Podcast

Key Takeaways from ATIA 2022 (Part 1)

This week, Chris and Rachel discuss their recent trip to ATIA 2022 and some of their favorite takeaways. Rachel shares about being a ATIA first timer and how much she enjoyed learning from sessions with previous podcast guests Chris Klein, India Ochs, and Lance McLemore. Chris shares about his session learning about preparing people for transitioning out of school and into the workforce using the VOISS virtual reality app, as well as the tribute to Joy Zabala. Rachel and Chris also talk about a topic that got a lot of buzz at ATIA this year, “gestalt language processing”. For more on this topic, check out the TWT episode with Alexandria Zachos!
 
Links this week:
 
Alexandria Zachos: Supporting Spontaneous Speech in People Who Script https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/alexandria-zachos
 
India Ochs Lawyer, Social Justice Advocate, Mother, and AAC User  https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/india-ochs
 
Chris Klein: Why Does Motor Planning Matter in AAC?  https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/chris-klein
 
Lance McLemore: Learning to Become a Proficient AAC User https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/lance-mclemore
 
Voissadvisor.org

Kris Brock: Using Animated Symbols to Improve AAC Instruction & Comprehension (Part 2)

This week, we present part 2 of Chris’s interview with Dr. Kris Brock, an Assistant Professor at Idaho State University who shares his experience researching using animated AAC symbols to teach and represent verbs and prepositions.
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel share some of the resources that are being shared each week on the Talking with Tech Patreon page, including www.wombo.ai, mytalkingpet.com, biteable.com and more! If you are a TWT listener and would like to support the podcast while getting access to bonus resources and content each week, join our patreon at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 If you are searching for GIFs to teach verbs & prepositions, use caution in choosing GIFs that don’t move too fast and represent the concept you want to represent exactly. 
 
🔑 Pairing the static symbol on an AAC user’s device with the animation they are watching can be more effective than trying to teach the meaning of the animation alone.
 
🔑 Pairing audio with animation can be a better choice than pairing text with animation because audio uses a different input modality. By using different channels, you can allow for more effective processing.
 
🔑 Studies have indicated that animated visual scene displays may help some AAC users (e.g. people with aphasia) to generate more complex communication than using a grid, which requires more internal processing to interpret. 
 
Links this week:
 
www.wombo.ai
mytalkingpet.com
biteable.com
S. Berney, Mireille Bétrancourt (2016)  Does Animation Enhance Learning? A Meta Analysis
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Kris Brock (Part 1): Using Animated Symbols to Improve AAC Instruction & Comprehension

This week, Chris interviews Dr. Kris Brock, an Assistant Professor at Idaho State University, and President-Elect of Idaho Speech Hearing Association. Dr. Brock shares about his fascinating research into using animated AAC symbols for verbs and prepositions to improve symbol comprehension and reduce the time it takes to teach abstract words. Dr. Brock shares why using animations can be so powerful, why verbs and prepositions are the most important to animate, and why teaching verbs can happen naturally by simply showing the animations. 
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about animated GIFs and how they can be used in therapy. Rachel likes to use them to build literacy and to work on verbs in a way that is fun and motivating. Rachel finds GIFs with her client that the client loves, and they work on core words and literacy using that favorite character. Rachel shares about collections of GIFs for sale at her site at rachelmadel.com/shop
 
Note - be careful searching for GIFs in real time with kids, as some content on sites like giphy.com are not appropriate for them. Choosing GIFs ahead of time may be a better choice in some circumstances.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Animated graphic line drawings are powerful tools, because they attract the kid’s attention, convey information about a process from beginning to end, and portray completion of a procedure.
 
🔑 Verbs and prepositions are the most important to animate, since they are more abstract and cannot be fully captured from beginning to end with only one static image.
 
🔑 If you target the verbs, you get the nouns for free. If you teach syntax and you teach verbs, then you don’t have to specifically target the nouns, that will happen naturally.
 
🔑 Dr. Brock’s research, which studied typically developing children, showed there was a 20 - 30% increase in successful interpretation of a 5 symbol sequence when the verb and preposition were animated.
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Jenifer Eaton & Marya Haff (Part 2): Collaborating Effectively with ABA Providers

This week, we present Part 2 of Rachel’s interview Jenifer Eaton & Marya Hoff, two BCBAs who own Rooted in Play (rootedinplay.co), an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) practice in Orange County, California. This week, Rachel, Jenifer, and Marya discuss dealing with rigid ABA therapists, why Jenifer and Marya’s ABA practice is different than some older methods, their thoughts on anti-ABA sentiments from some Autistic adults, and more! 
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss the recent release of the Matrix Revolutions movie, and some of the things from the movie that reminded Chris of AAC implementation. This includes the idea that we don’t need to “ask permission” to pursue better practices around AAC, (e.g., providing robust language systems), in many cases we can start putting them into our own practice right away.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Response effort - the harder something is, the more response effort it requires. The easier it is, the less response effort required. Once we have learned a skill, it takes less response effort. When teaching something new to a child, you want to minimize the response effort. If we put too much response effort into a task, the person won’t want to continue doing the task.
 
🔑 While there are rigid ABA practitioners out there, there is a newer, more naturalistic, and more collaborative approach for ABA. Under the old approach, there is less room for generalization and  socialization. We aren’t teaching kids just to respond, we need them to be more spontaneous. 
 
 
🔑 If you are dealing with a less collaborative BCBA who has a much different perspective on how to approach working with a student, you can always say “Lets do it your way for 2 weeks and then my way for 2 weeks and then look at the numbers.” You can also approach the parent for help - show them different approaches for ABA, they may not know the different approaches out there. BCBAs should be able to figure out how to make their program BA in nature while also accommodating the needs of speech and OT.
 
🔑 If you experience a BCBA engaging in unethical practices, you can report them to their governing board. Find out more at https://www.bacb.com/ethics-information/reporting-to-ethics-department/
 
Links this week:
 
Sign up for 7-day free trial from Vooks: www.vooks.com
Vooks on Apple App Store 
Vooks on Google Play Store
 
Vooks Mentioned by Rachel & Chris:
Stop & Go - https://watch.vooks.com/videos/stop-and-go
Benji, the Bad Day, and Me: https://watch.vooks.com/videos/benji-the-bad-day-and-me
 
Rachel Dorsey Podcast: https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/rachel-dorsey-2

Jenifer Eaton & Marya Haff (Part 1): Collaborating Effectively with ABA Providers

This week, Rachel interviews Jenifer Eaton & Marya Hoff, two BCBAs who own Rooted in Play, an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) practice in Orange County, California. Rachel shares about her experiences working with Jenifer and Marya to support one of her students, and why Rachel felt Jenifer and Marya were great examples of ABA and and SLP working together effectively to support language development and spontaneous utterance generation.
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about their upcoming pre-conference at ATIA (find out more at) and some of the things that Chris is excited for at this year’s ATIA conference, including a discussion of the recent merger between Don Johnson, maker of Co-Writer, and Texthelp, maker if Read & Write. Learn more here.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Rachel will often work with Behavior Interventionists who say “I’m just following the program I was given. I was told to target this in a specific way.” Rachel encourages these BIs to look at some less structured moments where there is not a program going that can be used for language development. Jenifer notes that BCBAs should ask their BIs to collaborate  with the SLP as much as possible. This can help the BI feel more comfortable collaborating with the SLP.
 
🔑 In Jenifer and Marya’s opinion, the “least-to-most” hierarchy of prompting is compatible with ABA therapy. If we over prompt, the student will just wait for us to tell them what to say. You want to meet the learner where they are at - certain students may need more prompting at first -  but you want to fade those prompts as soon as possible. 
 
🔑 When you give kids more wait time and they are doing something engaging, often you will get lots of spontaneous and silly language without any prompting at all. You don’t have to require, demand, or expect a particular response. We can just be present.
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Kara Cotter: Creating Self-Paced Training for Communication Partners (Part 2)

This week, we present Part 2 of Chris’s interview with Kara Cotter, a school-based AAC/AT Specialist who contacted Chris to ask about improving buy in, moving to the coaching model, making AAC more inclusive, and more! 
 
Before the interview, Chris shares a Patreon subscriber’s questions about: 1) feeling “imposter syndrome” as a new AAC Specialist; 2) discussing the features of different AAC apps in a resource consideration meeting; and 3) how long to “trial” AAC systems to determine what system is best for the student.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 When you get a new AAC referral, you can provide a self-paced training module (e.g. google drive folder) and then jump into coaching with them after they have completed the initial training materials. This may help break up the coaching on your schedule, as some will finish faster than others.
 
🔑 How long should we trial AAC apps to determine best fit? There are a lot of factors-  if we go through a good SETT based process and the team decides on a tool, it is probably a good choice long term. It is unclear about the benefit (other than for insurance paperwork) of trialing multiple different systems with the student, as we have little control over many variables, and the best software long term may not be what the student is able to learn the fastest in a couple of weeks.
 
🔑 During a resource consideration guide meeting, using an outside AAC feature “wheel” or chart can be very helpful. Call Scotland has a feature matching wheel that can give an overview of different AAC features. https://www.callscotland.org.uk/blog/updated-aac-ipad-app-wheel-available-now/ Angela Moorad also has a “Free and Affordable Symbol-Based AAC apps” resource that has lots of feature matching information.  https://bit.ly/free-aac-apps-for-ios
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Kara Cotter: Improving AAC Training Opportunities for Teachers and Families (Part 1)

This week, Chris has a discussion with AT Specialist Kara Cotter! Kara asked Chris about her current efforts to get greater buy-in from teachers, ideas for moving to a coaching model in her district, and strategies for training teachers and students.
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel kick off the new year with a discussion a group they are thankful for in the new year - the Talking with Tech fans! The support of the community has been huge to helping our podcast continue! Chris also talks about a few specific fans who approached him at presentations and why he appreciated those interactions, and how he was recently reminded that not everyone is in the “AAC bubble” and knows what AAC is.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 When teachers and/or staff ask for help with AAC, consider providing them with a professional development experience (e.g. email with short videos explaining key concepts, how-to’s, etc) to empower them before getting involved. 
 
🔑 If you have a folder on a shared drive with videos or documents for AAC training, try and make it as easy  as possible to follow, e.g. have a “Read Me” file at the top with a guide on how to go through the training.
 
🔑 In some states, it is possible to submit teacher trainings for professional development credit - consider this as an option, if applicable, to help motivate teachers to attend the trainings.
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Ashley Larisey: Effective and Respectful Therapy Materials for Older Students

This week, Rachel interviews Ashley Larisey, a school-based SLP working in the high school setting and an adjunct faculty member at St. Xavier University. Ashley describes some of her strategies for motivating older students in therapy, why she prefers “age-respectful” instead of “age-appropriate” materials, considerations for older students who are just being introduced to AAC, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel chat about Rachel’s recent experience diving with sharks in Hawaii with One Ocean (oneoceandiving.com), as well as a fun discussion of 2021’s top episodes and why those episodes might be the most popular.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 it’s not too late to start AAC when a student is in high school. There is no age limit to starting AAC - we’ve never “missed the boat”. Let’s also make sure they have robust systems and are developing literacy.
 
🔑 Activities using sites like Canva that let you design an image can be very age-respectful. It has lots of stock pictures of teenagers. You can have students describe the pictures they like and help them create one big image with the pictures they chose embedded in it.
 
🔑 When choosing books with with repetitive lines, you are not going to read “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,” but you can make your own book on sites like Tarheelreader.org  . You can embed more personal interests into the books to make them very personalized. We can make it respectful and also meaningful.
 
🔑 If you need to tell someone else that their materials are not age-respectful, you can do so in a more respectful way by asking questions like, “do you think he would respond better to materials with teens?” rather than something like “that’s not age-appropriate."
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes

Tools, Strategies, and Takeaways from ASHA 2021

This week, Rachel and Chris discuss their recent trip to ASHA 2021 and some of their favorite takeaways that they will be using in their own practice, including why its better to present on a fewer number of tools with more information on how to use them, why you have to be both interesting and informative when presenting, how to make sessions more engaging so people will show up, and more!
 
Sessions Discussed this Week:
 
Shaun Sweeney - Play on Words: Thoughtful Uses of “Game-Based” Apps and Resources in Language-Based Interventions. Sean discussed excellent tools and strategies related to technology and shared engaging stories about his clinical practice. Often, it’s better to present on fewer tools but do a deeper dive into how to use the tools you presented on than to have a list of tools you touch on for a few minutes.
 
Chris Wenger, AKA The Speech Dude. Accelerate Progress for Students on IEPs with Cutting-Edge Tech Tools to Support Social Learning Challenges. Lean into things that are difficult. When there is a difficult IEP, don’t shy away from that. Take a growth mindset. How are we delivering content in an engaging way?
 
Rachel Dorsey, Hillary Crow, and Carolyn Gaddy - Neurodiversity as a Cultural Competency: Three Autistic SLPs Walk into an ASHA Convention. Super powerful session that really got Rachel thinking about what she is doing her own practice to embrace neurodiversity, including the language she uses when writing goals and when talking about Autism. 
 
Jesse Ginsburg and Jake Greenspan - Effective Floortime Strategies for Increasing Attention & Engagement in ASD. One question to ask yourself when giving a task to a student -  Who is doing the thinking - are they doing the thinking or are you? When you are directing the experience, it’s probably you.
 
Christina Royster, Jill D’Braunstein, Alma Partida - Integrating Diverse and Inclusive AAC. While they have added more diverse options for AAC systems, companies need to be making it easier for us to change symbols and dialects for the whole system at once.
 
Meredith Gohsman and Rachel Johnson - AAC Camp for Linguistic & Social Competencies: Child, Caregiver, and Student Outcomes. Research showed that after 9 sessions of AAC Camp, there was no change in the students receiving language instruction or the parents participating in sessions. The only change they saw was int he growth of the students who put the camp together. They thought they needed more time - either do the activities all year round, or hold multiple camps year after year. 
 
Links:
 
Rachel and Chris have an upcoming pre-conference session at ATIA 2022 on Jan 26th from 8 am to 4 pm! Designing and Delivering Empowering Experiences to Teach language Using AAC!
ATIA Pre Conference - Jan 26 from 8 to 4. Learn more at https://www.atia.org/atia-2022-pre-conference-seminars/#AAC2
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Rachel Dorsey: Taking a Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach to Therapy

This week, Rachel interviews Rachel Dorsey, the amazing "Autistic SLP" who runs a private practice and teaches courses on Neurodiversity and Goal Writing. Rachel shares her perspective on neurodiversity, how to help shift the perspectives of others to better affirm neurodiversity, the importance of co-regulation for Autistic people, and more!
 
Before the interview, Rachel and Chris sit down with Melissa Bugaj and Sara Gregory to have a quick roundtable banter about gestalt language processing (e.g. scripting) vs analytical language processing, and ways that all people may use both methods to learn language.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 A “neurodiversty affirming approach to Autism” involves respecting everyones differences and seeing people through their strengths and not just their deficits. It Includes listening to people from that community to learn from them how to improve your affirming practices. 
 
🔑 What can we do to help shift people’s perspective to better support neurodiversity? Rachel Dorsey says help these people to ask “why”. Why is this happening? Why are they being disruptive? Why did they go from not being able to do a skill to doing it? Is it environment? Then, shift what you do next time in response to what you learn. 
 
🔑 "Co-regulating" can happen in therapy when both therapist and the student (or client) help each other regulate. This will look different for different people. Does the Autistic person like to be left alone to do their own thing? Do they enjoy physical presence, or do they want space? Co-regulation helps to build trust and rapport and may help improve progress in therapy down the road.  
 
Use the code MADEL30 to get $30 off Rachel Dorsey’s course on Goal Writing for Autistic Students at Dorseyslp.com/courses