Talking With Tech AAC Podcast

Mary Van Donsel & Anne Kuhlmeier: Creating a Successful AAC Camp

This week, we hear from Chris's interview with Mary Van Donsel & Anne Kuhlmeier, Speech-Language Pathologists and educators who have put on a successful AAC camp for many years.  Mary and Anne talk about how they got started with AAC camps, how they train families and campers, the specialists they get involved, and how they train the counselors to support the campers during the week.  Mary and Anne also discuss what keeps everyone focused and moving along,  how they avoid camper burn out, and how they have pivoted to a virtual model during the pandemic.
 
Before the interview, Chris shares how teaching his son to drive reminded him of AAC implementation - you have to learn a motor plan, you have to establish good habits early, and you need coaching from another driver. Rachel discusses how she has moved to providing families with a “package” of services with an emphasis on implementation and ongoing coaching. Her client’s families often need periodic coaching sessions to use the system in a way that is more motivating and will better translate to autonomous communication.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Educating families during the camp is extremely important - you don’t want it to just be a fun week for campers, you want improvements in AAC use to continue after the camp is over. 
 
🔑 To get started planning a new camp, you need to think about where you are going to hold the camp - a school, university, or a private space. You need someone on the team who is involved with the location (e.g. a university faculty member). 
 
🔑  If you want to start a camp, find benefactors and partners who will help support your dream. You can enlist people from state AT projects, contact AT lending libraries to provide devices, have non-profit organizations to provide funding, etc. 
 
🔑  When planning an AAC camp, consider possible medical issues, feeding difficulties, and similar needs of the campers. You can get someone who is trained to help manage toileting, feeding, medication, etc, such as a nurse practitioner. 
 
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Coaching Call w/ Nikki Stempien (Part 2): AAC Coaching Strategies

This week’s interview is part 2 of the coaching call with Nikki Stempien! Nikki is an SLP in the schools who was looking for guidance on AAC implementation for a student with autism and complex communication needs, including how to increase buy-in for high-tech AAC and strategies for coaching communication partners!
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about the concept of “education before restriction” where people suggest locking students out of areas of their AAC device rather than teaching AAC users not to do the undesired behavior. There are a lot of teaching opportunities that are squandered if we jump to the “quick fix” of locking the student in or out rather than teaching why they shouldn’t do it. We can lead with strategies like social stories, explaining how it makes others feel, reinforce positive behaviors, and more before moving to restricting. 
 
Key ideas this week: 
 
🔑 Record your work with the student (programming, modeling, etc) and share brief clips to train parents and staff. Then you can save the clips and use them to train SLPs, staff, and more when there is change to personnel. You can ask partners to share videos with you as well so you can all collaborate together. 
 
🔑 If there is a plateau in progress with the device, look at the implementation and at the communication partners - don’t just try and replace the AAC app with a different one.  Follow the motivation - are they motivated to use the device? 
 
🔑 Involve the paraprofessionals as much as possible in implementation, meetings, and more. For example, even if aides can’t attend the IEP meeting, you can solicit input to share with parents. 
 
🔑 If you are interested in connecting with other AAC specialists, you can reach out to device reps to help you find people in your area who also work with AAC. You can also reach out on social media (like the TWT Facebook group) to set up a regular meet up on Zoom to do a book/podcast study, etc. 
 
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Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Coaching Call w/ Nikki Stempien (Part 1): Increasing High-Tech AAC Buy In

This week, Chris and Rachel have a coaching call with Nikki Stempien, an SLP in the schools who is looking for help supporting AAC for a student with autism and complex communication needs. This child previously had high-tech AAC but there wasn’t much implementation and the device was abandoned. Her primary form of communication now currently gestures and a basic picture-based system. Nikki is looking for guidance on with how to create buy-in for the high tech AAC device, how to go about selection, how to motivate the student and the family to use the device, and more! 
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss attributing ideas that are not our own in presentations, on social media, etc. They discuss why it is so important to give credit to a person when you use a specific idea of theirs. In particular, citing gives people a place to learn more about a topic and spreads good research. They talk about some of the  attribution “grey areas”, like sharing ideas that are commonly talked about by a lot of people (e.g. “coaching”) and why that isn’t the same as using a specific idea from a specific person. They discuss how attribution can be more difficult on social media, because people don’t always think about citing sources like they would if they were presenting. 
 
Key ideas this week: 
 
🔑 We can only anticipate so much of what a student wants to say. If we don’t give a system that supports literacy, we don’t give them the tools that support independent, autonomous communication. 
 
🔑 In some cases, approaching a stakeholder who is already working with a low-tech AAC approach (e.g. pictures) and suggesting high-tech AAC can cause some hesitancy. Adopting a patient attitude that seeks to “add on” to their approach rather than “replacing” it can be helpful in getting their buy in. 
 
🔑 If you have successful engagement using an activity or toy in the therapy room, consider how to transition that success to the classroom (e.g. use the same preferred toy to elicit “go” in class as well as in the therapy room) to help demonstrate success to the classroom team.
 
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!

Jennifer Edge Savage - Using AAC with Alexa & Other Voice Assistants

This week, Chris interviews Jennifer Edge Savage about using AAC with Alexa and other voice assistants! Jennifer is an occupational therapist by training who is currently a consultant with Saltillo and teacher in the area of assistive technology and AAC. She covers some of the many ways that voice assistants can be used by AAC users independently using their AAC device, including purchasing items, playing TV/music, making calls, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel ask the question “What do attendees really want when they go to a video or in-person conference?” They explore whether people want to just listen to someone talk for an hour passively, or whether they want to be more engaged. When so much information can be found on Google, YouTube, podcasts, etc, shouldn’t we make being together in person something different? Chris and Rachel talk about ways that they engage participants in their webinars, like asking questions, getting feedback, and doing “hands on” activities when possible. 
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Putting programmed phrases and specific words to engage in activities on a voice assistant (e.g. a person’s favorite music or TV show) can make using the device more effective and efficient.
 
🔑 Some words need to be pronounced correctly for the voice assistant to work - the AAC device will need to be adjusted to pronounce these correctly (e.g., Al Pacino).
 
🔑 You can help students learn language with a voice assistant using Amazon Skill Blueprints to create your own customized “skills”. This lets anyone set up what Alexa will say if particular inputs are received. You could work on core words, social dialogue, etc with less pressure on the AAC user to perform.
 
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!

Alissa DeSousa: Using Video to Support Cortical Visual Impairment

This week, Rachel interviews Alissa DeSousa, a mom of a child with Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) who started a YouTube channel for kids like her son. Alissa shares about her journey getting a diagnosis for her son, how they came to better understand CVI, why she started a YouTube channel for people with CVI, and discusses resources that support literacy and visual discrimination for people with CVI, like the book “Little Bear Sees”. 
 
Before the interview, Rachel talks about her “Takeover” of Andi Putt’s (@mrsspeechiep) Instagram page. Andi was talking a lot about AAC and doing an entire series on AAC and autism. During the takeover, Rachel got a ton of questions about requiring prerequisite skills before giving AAC. There were a lot people on Instragram who told Rachel there should be prerequisites for AAC, e.g., AAC users must have to have joint attention, visual discrimination skills, early language, etc before getting a device. Rachel disagrees with this mindset, and Rachel wonders where it come from. She proposes that it may come from an expectation an child will use a device immediately upon being introduced to it. She notes that taking longer to learn a device doesn’t mean they have the “wrong” AAC system. We need to provide support to communication partners and encourage modeling, not blame the student’s lack of skills. 
 
Key ideas this week include: 
 
🔑 Alissa shares the analogy of CVI being somewhat like looking though a kaleidoscope - you can “see” the image, but it is jumbled and the brain has a difficult time putting it together.
 
🔑 It can be very isolating having a child with special needs - there are so many appointments and things that you need to do, you end up missing out on a lot of things. Connecting with other parents of kids with special needs can really help parents feel more connected.
 
🔑 Alissa found out that kids with CVI do better with reduced visual clutter, technology with backlights (like an iPad or a TV), and black backgrounds. These preferences gave Alissa the idea that videos especially for kids with CVI could be very helpful.
 
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Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

Julia James - Improving Special Ed Online Instruction

This week, Chris sits down with Julia James to talk about ideas for improving online instruction for students in special education. Julia supports online students as part of a special ed support team for her school district, and she called Chris to ask his thoughts on improving online education with technology.
 
Before the interview, Chris talks with Rachel about the film Crip Camp. Campers who went to this camp after Woodstock went on to be leaders in the civil rights movement for people with disabilities. Chris talks about how he was inspired by what people did for others in this film, and how it motivates him to continue to support people with disabilities. Rachel talks about Camp ALEC, a camp where they teach literacy and AAC. After filming at Camp ALEC, Rachel’s friend Chris Stout was inspired to pursue a feature length film about AAC.  Films like this can showcase how AAC is successful in helping people, which can then get more people on board with AAC. A lot of people don’t know what AAC is and haven’t seen it implemented successfully. 
 
Key ideas this week include: 
 
🔑 Making technological supports, like text to speech, available to everyone and not just one group of students allows students to help each other and allows special ed students to “fit in” with everyone else when they are using those tools.
 
🔑 Make sure that special education has a voice at the table in the selection phase for technology tools. Not every tool has the same level of accessibility options (e.g. some “locked” textbooks can’t be read by text-to-speech). Grackle is an accessibility checker that checks to make sure accessibility tools work with a particular file or document.
 
🔑 We really need to be educating parents and not just providing direct minutes to the students. If we can help parents become better at supporting the students, the students can have more learning opportunities  overall and better accountability from parents. 
 
🔑 Choice, engagement, and variety are really important with online learning. For example, engaging kids with different games and using a variety of activities. We want to provide structure - let students know what to expect when they show up to your virtual classroom with schedules, timers, etc. Give students choices and then reflect on that, even when things don’t work out like you planned or the students pick the wrong thing. 
 
🔑 Kids missed social connections the most during online learning. Providing that virtually can be really rewarding for students. For example, you can let kids have some time to talk in a breakout room as a reward for getting through a lesson. Connections with others can be just as important for learning as the content itself.
 
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!
 

Chris Sawka: AAC User & USSAAC Committee Member

This week, we interview AAC user, USSAAC Membership Committee member, artist, and TWT superfan Chris Sawka! Chris provides great insights into some of the challenges and victories he has had as a full-time AAC user, how he socializes with other AAC users, playing sports on a paraolympic team, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris talks about the ATIA presentation by Kevin Williams, who won the Prentke AAC Distinguished Lecturer award. Chris notes that Kevin said he continues to use multiple AAC tools to communicate depending upon what is right for that moment. Chris and Rachel discuss how the communication “system” for most people today, whether or not they use verbal speech, is made up of a complex web of tools (e.g. text, video, email) that evolve over time.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Communication partners need to make AAC fun and not give up if the user doesn’t like AAC at first. Talk to them with the device, use it during activities like dinner, and pass the device around to have everyone use it.
 
🔑 People in public often don’t realize how smart Chris Sawka is. People talk with Chris in a loud voice even though Chris can hear perfectly well, and they talk to him like a child, even though he is an adult.
 
🔑 Chris Sawka doesn’t like it when people talk to his parents or his aide rather than him directly. Chris wants to reply himself and doesn’t appreciate when people talk about him like he isn’t there.
 
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!

Lydia Dawley: AAC User, CEO, and Co-Creator of the NadPen Stylus

This week, TWT presents Rachel’s interview with Lydia Dawley, the CEO of the Click, Speak, Connect, and co-creator of the NadPen, an amazing stylus device that is easy to grip and use, especially for people with motor challenges. Lydia has mixed cerebral palsy and is a fantastic AAC user - you won’t want to miss her perspective on involving AAC users in decisions, choosing AAC vocabulary, incorporating peers as communication partners, and more! 
 
Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss Rachel’s recent “intensive” 2-week coaching & therapy experience with an AAC user and his circle of support. Rachel shares why this intensive approach can be so effective, and some techniques she uses, including using video to document pogress, coaching every other service provider possible, and keeping the excitement and energy that is created during the 2 weeks going into the future. Chris and Rachel also reflect on how aspects of this intensive approach could be applied to working in the schools. 
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Involve the AAC users as much as possible with the decision making process, including vocabulary selection.  AAC users may want to use slang their peers are using and not just use adult-like vocabulary.
 
🔑 The most frustrating thing for Lydia is when people don’t wait long enough for her to communicate herself effectively in conversations.
 
🔑 Incorporate siblings and peers as much as possible to make using the device more fun. 
 
To learn more about Lydia, go clickspeakconnect.com. Also, check out Lydia's Kickstarter (bit.ly/nadpenkickstarter) campaign to help get the NadPen into production! Lydia came up with the NAD Pen because it is thicker and easier for for her to hold, her hand is more secure, it has a wrist strap, and the tip won’t break off like other styluses when she uses it.
 
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!

AAC After Work: Digital Storytelling to Foster Communication Partner Skills - Part 2

In part II of their AAC After Work presentation, Rachel and Chris do a deeper dive into storytelling with digital tools, aka digital storytelling. They go over all the different ways that digital tools can support storytelling and how we can use storytelling as a way to stimulate communication, support literacy, and teach core words! They also discuss “pre-story brainstorming” where you discuss the setting, characters, and problem/solution with an AAC user before you begin to create the story. 
 
Before part 2, Chris shares about an eye gaze user who he was asked to help support as part of a school team.  Previously, the parent was programming a unique page of vocabulary for every story the AAC user was going to read so the user could participate by answering questions. There was also a limited number of icons on each page of the user's screen. Chris shares about how he worked with the family to increase the number of symbols/vocabulary on the screen after they discovered the student was able to target icons really well. He then discusses changes they made to the implantation strategy (e.g. descriptive teaching) so the student didn’t need a newly programmed vocabulary page all the time .
 
Key digital tools discussed this week:
 
🔑 http://www.mystoryapp.org - allows students to create stories with pictures, stickers, describing words, and more. 
 
🔑 Character generators (heroforge.com, peanutizeme.com, bitmoji.com) let you make a visual representation of a character, including things like what the character looks like, their emotions, outfit, pose, etc. You can then take a screenshot of the character and put that into a storytelling app. 
 
🔑 storyboardthat.com - allows you to create comic-like storyboards.
 
🔑 picmonkey.com - drag words, icons, and more on top of digital images.
 
🔑 thinglink.com - create a story around a single image by adding hyperlinks to the image.
 
🔑 Edpuzzle.com - search for any youtube video and it allows you to add prompts/questions. Send videos to families for carry over practice - you can tell the family what to model as they are watching the video. 
 
🔑 Loom.com - screen record or take a video of yourself that you can share with others, including ideas and feedback for communication partners.
 
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!

AAC After Work: Digital Storytelling to Foster Communication Partner Skills - Part 1

This week, we present the first half of Chris and Rachel’s previous webinar from the AAC after Work conference that focused on digital storytelling. This week’s portion provides an overview of AAC strategies, including expansion, core/fringe/personal core words, “stimming” on devices, using apps to support language, and more!
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about how to deal with the awkwardness of taking a coaching approach with fellow clinicians who need help with AAC. Often, people expect a consulting approach where the “expert” solves their problem, but we know that a coaching approach utilizing reflective questions can help people come to conclusions on their own and they can have their own revelations. When other clinicians are asking for help, that can be really vulnerable and being asked questions might not be what they expect. We all need to remember to have a growth mindset - its more important to be able to learn new information and to know how to go and get it than it is to know every answer already. 
 
Key ideas this week: 
 
🔑 Expansion is all about taking language an AAC user has communicated and going up one more step. When teaching a child how to walk up the stairs, you don’t yell down at them from the top, you are next to them and showing them what is coming next. Similarly, with language, we want to meet an AAC user where they are at and go to the next level. For example, if they say “on” we can expand that and say “turn on” back to them.
 
🔑 Treat multiple button presses on a device ( aka “stimming”) with a “yes, and” approach like actors do in an improv comedy act. Interpret the button presses as something they meant to say on the device and expand upon that with them whenever possible. 
 
🔑 When using apps to support language, co-view the app together rather than just putting the app in front of the AAC user. Have them communicate what they want to see happen in the app to promote more communication, e.g., “what clothes do you want me to put on this character?”. 
 
ATIA - AT Connected will take place this year Jan 25-28th and Feb 1-4th. There will be more than 150 courses covering AAC, Assistive Technology, Education, and more. Registrations options include full conference, single strand, one day, and even a free option! Go to atia.org/talkingwithtech and enter registration code ATIAVISION21 for 20% off of the full registration! Also, don’t forget to check out Rachel & Chris virtual seminar at ATIA on Jan 30th and Feb 6th at bit.ly/TWTATIA21  
 
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!