Talking With Tech AAC Podcast

Emily Taylor: Using Social Media to Promote Your AAC Resources

This week, Rachel interviews Emily Taylor (@emily.the.speechie)! Emily is a speech-language pathologist who supports AAC users in New Zealand and Fiji. Emily shares about Fiji, a country that has limited access to AAC support, and why she was inspired to help AAC users there. Then, Rachel shares some great social media tips to help Emily promote her upcoming AAC resources!
 
Before the interview, Chris shares a heartwarming story about setting up an experience for a kindergarten class to use iPads and learn about AAC. In addition, Rachel shares about using an AI background tool (Skybox by Block Labs) to help create a story for one of her students!
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 Many of the families Emily worked with in Fiji had limited financial resources, and she found it more effective to primarily focus on light tech AAC. Light tech AAC won’t break, doesn’t need electricity, is inexpensive, and (relatively) easy to produce, which were often important considerations for the families Emily was supporting. 
 
🔑 Emily found that primary school in Fiji was very heavy on rote memorization. When students had difficulty with sitting and learning in that way, they were sent to the special school. Families of students at the special school were really excited when she told them that their child could grow up, work, and be a positive member of the village.
 
🔑 When evaluating your social media presence, understanding who your followers are (and who you want them to be) is really important, as well as being able to pivot if you find out that you have a different follower group than previously thought.
 
🔑 When you’re choosing which social media platform to post on most, choose the one that you know the best and already use, if possible.
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

April Wallace & Christina Stader - Specific Language System First Approach Q&A

Join Chris and Rachel for an Interactive Pre-Conference Session at ATIA 2024! 
 
This week, we share Chris’s interview with April Wallace & Christina Stader! They are school-based SLPs and AAC Specialists with Aiken County Public Schools who are considering moving their district to a Specific Language System First Approach (SLSFA). They discuss the merit of pilot programs, whether starting with just preschool, research that supports the principles of the SLFSA, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a listener question about a high school student only hovers over words and refuses to touch the device after using it to communicate for multiple years. Chris and Rachel share some strategies for teaching him it’s OK to touch the device, and how, in their experience, it may stem from a compliance-based element creating anxiety about choosing the “right” word.
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 If you want to roll out a new program like SLFSA in your district, consider starting in a few classrooms first as a pilot. Then, you can measure their improvement to demonstrate your success to the rest of the district.
 
🔑 In Chris’s district, they give teachers 6 coaching sessions that records teachers and measures how much modeling happens. Teachers watch the videos and reflect on how they could do better, and the AAC team uses this data to measure success.
 
🔑 If you are moving to a SLSFA, there will be some students who received good implementation on a different system; often, these students should remain on those systems. If there wasn’t much success and/or implementation on the previous AAC app, it might be worth trying out the new AAC app.
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Dr. Barry Prizant (Part 2): Is ”Spelling to Communicate” Authentic Communication?

This week, we share part 2 of Chris and Rachel’s interview with Dr. Barry Prizant! Dr. Prizant shares more about his thinking on the term "neurodivergent" and some of his experiences working on his podcast (uniquelyhuman.com) with an autistic adult co-host. Dr. Prizant also shares some of his perspectives on Spelling to Communicate, including why he believes it is an authentic communication method for some individuals.
 
Key Ideas this Week:
 
🔑 When considering whether the term “neurodivergent” is an accurate way to describe a person, we need to be cognizant of asking people how they identify with those terms. It is often better if we let people decide for themselves how we talk about them.
 
🔑 Some autistic people have said that the way an autistic person talks and acts is part of autistic culture, and should not be seen as a deficiency or rudeness.
 
🔑 Dr. Prizant believes that Spelling to Communicate is authentic communication for some individuals and a real phenomenon. He shares why he believes ASHA’s position statement against Spelling to Communicate is incorrect, and why Spelling to Communicate should not be looped in with Rapid Prompting Method.
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Dr. Barry Prizant (Part 1): Echolalia and Gestalt Language Processing

This week, we share an amazing interview with Dr. Barry Prizant! Dr. Prizant is well-known for his work related to autism and echolalia, including research that was heavily cited by Marge Blanc and the Natural Language Acquisition framework behind gestalt language processing. Dr. Prizant discusses how he came to learn about echolalia and the confluence of research that suggested that echolalia had a communicative function (which he studied during his doctoral research). He also shares about the research behind gestalt language processing, how we can tell if someone has a gestalt or an analytical language learning bias, the true meaning of evidence-based practice, and more! 
 
Key Ideas this Week:
 
🔑 We can learn about someone’s gestalt vs analytic language learning bias by looking at their reaction to modeling - what are they picking up on? Good language modeling, in the context of every day activities, can include combining words into utterances as well as functional gestalt phrases - it doesn’t have to be just "gestalt" or "analytical". 
 
🔑 Some autistic people have not only intact, but exceptional memories. If you approach language from the perspective of “I have a great memory but don’t have the ability to construct generative language easily” then you would presumably learn to speak by listening to people and memorizing exactly what they are saying. 
 
🔑 Some people with echolalia faithfully reproduce foreign accents and sounds in their environment. It goes beyond verbal speech - some people are echolalic in sign language and some people with echopraxia copy people’s actions.
 
🔑 When we are trying something that is an emerging practice, we can try it with kids and see how it works (provided it doesn’t cause harm). Sources of evidence include clinical experience and expertise as well as research. In many cases, it is difficult to apply what we know from studying a small group of people (e.g. 30) to the larger population, especially when talking about something that is unique to each person, like autism.
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Kimberly Neely: The Trauma-Informed SLP

This week, we share Rachel’s interview with "The Trauma-Informed SLP", Kimberly Neely! Kim and Rachel have a fascinating discussion about some of the neurological and physiological changes caused by traumatic experiences. They also cover the difference between repeated vs chronic trauma, why some people with chronic trauma have trouble with interoception (i.e.. identifying how they feel), the importance of feeling safe, and more!
 
Before the interview, Rachel shares about deciding to create some new materials about self advocacy, including social stories that discuss body parts using core language. She also relates this week’s interview  to a previous episode with Chloe Rothschild about interoception and autism!
 
Key Ideas this Week:
 
🔑 Trauma is a physiological shift that occurs in someone that changes how they perceive the world and how they function. The things that heal trauma are the things that promote resiliency: a sense of safety; having a space to feel whatever emotions you are feeling; processing your emotions; and connecting those feelings back to your body.
 
🔑 Resilient people, communities, and families have a process they go through when there is loss, grief, or adversity - they usually gather to comfort each other and allow a safe place for everyone to feel what they feel.
 
🔑 Chronic trauma comes from being “saturated” in an unsafe, traumatic environment. This type of trauma wears down resiliency the most. 
 
🔑 Alexithymia is a general deficit of interception, i.e. the inability to recognize their own emotions and the emotions in others. People with alexithymia might be able to notice their body feels a certain way, but they typically relate those feelings to things like hunger or fatigue rather than being caused by an emotion. 
 
Links from this episode:
 
The Trauma Informed SLP Podcast
 
The Trauma-Informed SLP website
 
Chloe Rothschild TWT Episode
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Barbara Gruber & Ashley Grady: Supporting Accessibility and Inclusion at the Smithsonian Institution

This week, we share Chris’s interview with Barbara Gruber and Ashley Grady! Barb is the Assistant Director for Education for the National Air & Space Museum, and Ashley is the Senior Program Manager for Access Smithsonian (access.si.edu), the accessibility office for all 21 Smithsonian museums.  Barb and Ashley discuss their work in the area of inclusion, the ways the Smithsonian is incorporating feedback from the disability community, free leveled teacher resources from the National Air & Space Museum, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel finish up chatting about Chris’s recent visit to the International Society of Technology and Education (ISTE) conference. Chris talks about Jordyn Zimmerman’s presentation with Apple, shares the only AAC-focused vendor at ISTE 2023, and challenges everyone to learn about new resources and ideas by  attending conferences like ISTE and following Ed Tech specialists on social media.
 
Key Ideas This Week:
 
🔑 Twenty-one percent of people with disabilities have employment. This is an increase from 2008, but not enough - we need to continue to support more pathways to employment for people with disabilities!
 
🔑 Access Smithsonian brings in “user experts” who are members of different communities, including communities in the disability space, who are paid to share their feedback about current, and future, exhibits and learning materials.
 
🔑 The My Flight, My Space portal can be used to access content from the National Air & Space Museum that can be filtered and adjusted for things like reading level, length, and topics. This helps to make their digital experience more accessible and interesting to visitors.  https://nasm.infiniteach.com/ 
 
🔑 The National Air & Space museum has a Learning Resource page for teachers that is aligned to standards and put into categories to search things like grade level and age. https://airandspace.si.edu/learn/learning-resources
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Tiffanie Zaugg: Creating an AAC Facilitator’s Guide for a School District

This week, Chris interviews Tiffanie Zaugg, a PhD Graduate student and former AAC Coordinator for a school district in Iowa. Tiffanie shares about the “AAC Facilitator’s Guide” that she created in her former school district, a staff resource they could go to with descriptions of many of the concepts she was frequently describing to SLPs and teachers on a regular basis, e.g. core vocabulary, modeling, importance of having a light backup. Tiffanie shares about making this handbook, the SMART Partner strategy, her current work teaching pre-service teachers, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris shares some ISTE takeaways with Rachel, including seeing more sessions where inclusion was embedded in the learning, going to an AI “Demo Slam” (i.e. demonstrations of tools), and a session about using role playing games (e.g., Dungeons & Dragons) to develop story telling skills! 
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 In a table top role playing game, the players must describe what they want to do, and the Dungeon Master has to describe what happens as a result. This activity works on a student’s narrative skills, imagination, descriptive skills, and problem solving - all in a format that is highly motivating for learners!
 
🔑  In her AAC Facilitators Guide, Tiffanie included the “SMART Partner Strategy,” which stands for: Stop interruptions; Model; Avoid asking excessive questions; be Responsive; & wait Time. 
 
🔑 When teaching descriptive teaching, consider having students describe a common object (e.g. strawberries) in an AI text-to-picture generator and seeing if the AI makes a picture of that item!
 
🔑 Tiffanie’s AAC Facilitator’s Guide includes a Communication Partner Work book with a gesture dictionary. This gesture dictionary is a space to note the meaning of any gestures that are unique to that student that will travel with them as they progress in their education.
 
Links from this Episode:
 
D&D In Schools: Communal Storytelling in Classrooms by Matthew Winters and Dan Ryder - https://www.teacherwinters.net/istelive-2023/dndinclassrooms
 
Rewordify.com - Simplifies difficult English and more.
 
TextCompactor.com - Free online automatic text summarization.
 
Skybox by Blockade Labs: Free background/scene generator.
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Ashley Waterman: Supporting Language as a Parent of an AAC User

This week, we share Rachel’s interview with one of her clients, Ashley Waterman! Ashley is the parent of three boys, including her youngest, Liam, an AAC user who has a rare genetic disorder, Cohen syndrome.  Ashley is passionate about connecting families with children with special needs to essential resources, and is a board member of the Cohen Syndrome Association. Ashley shares about the struggle to get Liam diagnosed, Liam’s amazing progress using AAC, ways they have incorporated modeling into the home routine, and more!
 
Before the interview, Rachel and Chris connect with Rachel's Office & Digital Media Manager, Monica Halschishick! Rachel and Monica discuss how they came to work together, how Monica decided to go to grad school for Speech-Language Pathology, and some tips and tricks for improving digital marketing!
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 There are times where Liam requests things he can’t have, and Ashley makes sure to communicate to Liam that what he wants isn’t available. We can’t always give a child what they want, but it goes a long way for us to hear them and acknowledge what they are saying, even if the answer is “no”. 
 
🔑 Liam likes to explore his devices sometimes, like pushing “g” and “o” because he likes circles. Sometimes people will say that an AAC user is “stimming” when a child explores a device and will try and stop it, but allowing AAC users to explore their device honors their communication and supports the visual lexicon. 
 
🔑 Asking permission before we take a device away from an AAC user is really important, even when modeling. While it isn’t always possible to do, having a second device for modeling in the home for the family gives the AAC user more personal autonomy over their AAC device. 
 
🔑 Many children have anxiety in some speaking situations - for kids with disabilities, a lack of communication may be misunderstood as a lack of ability, when in fact they are just nervous. 
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Judith Schoonover (Part 2): The Role of OTs in AAC Assessment

This week, we present part 2 of Chris’s interview with Judith Schoonover, an occupational therapist who, along with Chris, was a founding member of the Louden County School District AT Team. This week, Judith talks about the role of the occupational therapist (OT) in the AAC device selection process, the importance of collaboration between team members during that process, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris shares about doing an AAC training for bus drivers in his school district, and how the word “salad” created an “aha” moment for the group! Chris also discusses doing teacher trainings during the extended school year, including some teachers who thought they knew AAC better than they actually did.  
 
Key ideas this week:
 
🔑 OT’s can be helpful with the assessment process by helping figure out things like motor access, as well as the ability of the student to directly select icons comfortably and successfully. 
 
🔑 Some OTs want to jump directly from “this student has difficulty with direct selection of icons on an AAC device” to “this student needs an eye gaze device” without taking the time to understand what is causing the problems with direct selection. 
 
🔑 Standardized testing doesn’t give the whole picture for OTs or SLPs. There are uses for standardized testing, but it is more important that we presume potential and take the time to better understand a student’s strengths and weaknesses. 
 
Links:
 
WATI Assistive Technology Consideration to Assessment - https://www.wati.org/free-publications/assistive-technology-consideration-to-assessment/ 
 
Communication Bill of Rights - https://www.asha.org/njc/communication-bill-of-rights/
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Judith Schoonover (Part 1): Quickly Create AT Solutions From Common Objects

This week, Chris interviews Judith Schoonover, an occupational therapist who, along with Chris, was a founding member of the Loudoun County School District Assistive Technology Team. She shares about the importance of focusing on the specific needs of a student during assessment, not just their label; the consistent move of technology from special education to general education, her history as an AT “maker”, ideas for supporting maker groups in your area, and more!
 
Before the interview, Chris and Rachel catch up about Rachel’s work during the summer with clients doing “intensives.”! Intensives in Rachel’s practice involve having the entire communication parter team, along with the AAC user, attend three 90 minute sessions per week for two weeks. This is followed by three more sessions with just communication partners to train them further on how to be an effective communication partner using the information learned the previous two weeks. Rachel also discusses her new literacy intensive, and the positive results she has been getting from them as well.
 
Key Ideas This Week:
 
🔑 When people request assistive technology using broad terms (“What app is good for Down Syndrome?”), we should guide them towards figuring out the task that needs to be done and then help them feature match for those specific needs.
 
🔑 There is always a move for assistive technology to become more widely adopted in general education; for example, computers were initially only given to students in special education, while now many districts  have 1:1 computer initiatives. When supporting kids in special education who use a particular AT tool, try and consider if the tool is something that would be of benefit to kids in general education as well.
 
🔑 Judith likes quick AT solutions using Therese Willkomm’s “make in a minute” strategy, which capitalizes on the momentum we feel when we first start a project. She advocates for using notepads, squeeze balls, pool noodles, and more to quickly create helpful AT solutions. That way, the maker builds confidence in their skills and the district builds capacity. Watch more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNpOeH4jnC4 
 
🔑  Judith works part time on the Assistive Technology Outcomes & Benefits journal, ATIA’s open-access, online, annual publication of peer-reviewed papers. Sign up for this free journal at https://www.atia.org/home/at-resources/atob/
 
 
Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
 
Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!