This week, we share our interview with Mercy Wolverton! Mercy is a student at George Mason University who learned how to use her 3D printer in high school during a senior project seeking to solve real world problems! Mercy shares some of the websites and resources that she used to learn how to print in 3D, and how you can get started as quickly and inexpensively as possible!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel briefly tease takeaways from their time at ATIA, and talk about a recent email from Brian Whitmer about a google form about the state of AAC in 2024.   Key Ideas this Week:   🔑 Mercy says, when you are learning 3D printing, don’t be afraid of mistakes! It can take several tries to figure out how to make something with a 3D printer, and approaching these mistakes with a growth mindset can help us think of it as a learning opportunity!   🔑 There are 3D printers that are available to use for free at universities, schools, and libraries. If there is someone there who knows how to use the printer, they may be really helpful troubleshooting problems using it.   🔑 Mercy created a website for the work she has done at mercywolverton.com. On her site, Mercy shares about her coding and 3D printing projects and some of her interests. Chris shares why he loves that idea, and why more people should create a website to showcase their interests and projects.   Links from the Episode   3D Printing Resources: Thingiverse (thingiverse.com), Tech Owl (techowlpa.org/3d-printing-at), & Makers Making Change (www.makersmakingchange.com)   Brian Whitmer on TWT discussing Open AAC: https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/brian-whitmer   Open AAC’s State of AAC survey, collecting feedback on the state of AAC over the last year

Trigger Warning: This week’s banter includes some descriptions of trauma. If you would prefer to only listen to this week’s interview, please skip ahead to 27:19.   This week, Chris interviews Aaron Marsters, an Assistive Technology Instructional Systems Specialist for Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)! Aaron shares about his role supporting the assistive technology needs of students on military bases across Europe, in his case, particularly in Germany. He shares ideas about AI and AAC, ways they collaborate to share implementation across Europe, and how they have adopted the Specific Language System First approach on bases across Europe!   Before the interview, Rachel tells a heartbreaking story about one of her clients who is currently in a child psychiatric ward. Her client is an AAC User, and Rachel shares about how the child has been mistreated despite the family’s best efforts to help. Chris and Rachel share their collective worry for Rachel’s client and their desire for his treatment to improve.   Key Ideas this Week:   🔑 We need to look at how we can better educate staff at medical facilities where people can be detained, like psychiatric wards, on how to work with people with complex communication needs and how to better support the needs of autistic people. We need to have an approach of curiosity instead of fear when someone is a multi-modal communicator, especially if they have a history of aggressive or self-injurious behavior.   🔑 When a complex communicator arrives within Europe’s DoDEA schools on military bases, Aaron makes sure that there are licenses of LAMP:WFL and multiple licenses of AAC Language Lab for each student. Then, the AT and school teams look at what stage learner the AAC user is and they go over activities and lessons the school can use to support that student’s AAC and language development.   🔑 If Aaron’s AT team tries something for one school, they take what worked and share it out with everyone else within the DoDEA European schools. There is a central website where best practices and implementation strategies are shared for every European DoDEA school!   Visit talkingwithtech.org to listen to previous episodes, find new resources, and more!   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

This week, we share TWT's 300th Episode/1 Million Downloads Celebration! The whole TWT team (Rachel, Chris, Luke Padgett, Michaela Ball, and Monica Halchishick) gathered virtually with some of the coolest people we know (i.e. listeners and previous guests) to chat with us about AAC as we celebrate our our recent 1 millionth download! The TWT team and listeners share memories of making the podcast, stories of how the podcast has influenced their life, favorite strategies, possible future episode topics, and more!

This week, we hear Chris’s interview with Meredith Hankins, Morgan Payne, and Susan Lee!  Morgan is the mother of an 11 year old girl, Sophie, with Cerebral Palsy who uses AAC. Susan has a daughter, Alyssa, with Rett Syndrome who also uses AAC. Meredith is an AAC Specialist with United Ability in Alabama who works with their daughters and helped to bring them together in new ways! These three share about how the idea for a “Girl Talk” group came up organically in community-based therapy and eventually grew to become a weekend camp at Dolphin Island Sea Lab organized by Susan!   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris answer a Patreon user’s question about creating a “best buddies” club for general education and special education peers at a high school site! They discuss the importance of setting up an authentic peer interaction, ideas for fun activities that all the students can enjoy, making the project student led, and more!   Key Ideas this week:   🔑 Students will often communicate differently with peers compared to staff and teachers. Family and therapists don’t always think about the impact a peer communication partner can have on an AAC User’s motivation to communicate and have fun!   🔑 Morgen and Susan say, if you want to find opportunities for your child like communication camps, check with therapists, doctors at children hospitals, and parents of children with similar needs to help expand your network and find new opportunities.   🔑 Susan took all she has learned as a teacher and mother and helped to create Camp Speak, www.campspeak.org, an overnight camp in Georgia for AAC users 5-18!   Visit talkingwithtech.org to listen to previous episodes, find new AAC resources, and more!   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

Kim Zajac is an SLP and audiologist is a Communication Specialist in Norton Public Schools in Massachusetts, working with grades 6-12. Kim is also an associated professor at Emerson and is a member of the board of MassCUE, the Massachusetts chapter of ISTE. Kim shares some of her strategies for making teaching and therapy sessions more inclusive, interactive, and engaging for all students!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss some takeaways from ASHA 2023, including increased discussions about  MTSS in school districts. Rachel shares about a session by Tiffanie Joseph (nigh.functioning.autism) that was a highlight, as well as some of her takeaways from that session!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Kim takes a student-driven approach that addresses the student’s goals, but in a more experiential way, such as creating a board game with a group to work on things like grammar and higher order thinking.   🔑 Students often are more motivated to work in class when they have an authentic problem to solve, and it often helps students to reflect on themselves and their future in ways they would not with a more abstract question.   🔑 Kim uses self assessment rubrics to help students keep track of the goals they are working on. Sometimes, when they have the skill mastered, Kim will add a group mate for the student to track as well. She will also use rubrics to grade the projects the students create.   Links from this week's episode:   MassCue - masscue.org   Vocaroo - https://vocaroo.com/   Adobe Firefly - https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly.html   MidJourney - https://www.midjourneyai.ai/   BlueWIllow - https://www.bluewillow.ai/   Dall-E 2: https://openai.com/dall-e-2   Gimkit - gimkit.com    Kahoot - kahoot.com   Innovator’s Compass - innovatorscompass.org   Mary Howard: ChatGPT Guide for Educators - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200832186-the-chatgpt-guide-for-educators   Donnie Pearce: Tips for Integrating AI in the Classroom - https://www.amazon.com/50-Strategies-Integrating-into-Classroom/dp/B0C5G74W4N

This week, Chris interviews Emma Fischer, a special education teacher in Culpepper County, Virginia who supports students in an adapted curriculum program. She enjoys supporting her student’s use of robust AAC, and she wanted to ask Chris about next steps in moving to a career in assistive technology, including possible Master’s Degree options and possible job roles!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel share an incredible Q&A session with a special guest who has a lot to say about on putting together a good presentation on coaching and AAC!   Key Ideas This Week:   🔑 If you want to transition into an assistive technology role, you may want to consider moving to another area of the country if a job opens up. Typically, there is limited turnover in most AT roles, and it is possible you could go get a Master’s Degree in Assistive Technology and not have a position open in your area.   🔑 Consider Educational Technology as an alternative to assistive technology. There are more Ed Tech jobs than assistive technology jobs overall, and as an educational technology coach you can support all students, including students who have learning needs but are not in special education.   🔑 School administrators can have a really big impact with students, especially if you come from a place of knowledge about AAC and inclusion. Many people say the issue with their admin is their admin’s mindset, not an issue related to mine. Having an admin that understands disability advocacy could be really good. Big trade off is you don’t get to work directly with students as much with.   🔑 There is an artificial line with assistive technology and educational technology where someone has to be in special education to get assistive technology in many cases. As an educational technology coach, you can work with all the students, including people in special education and students who have unidentified learning problems.   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!

On Wednesday, 12/13/23, the TWT Team would like to welcome you to a special episode of TWT Live to celebrate 1 million downloads of the TWT podcast! Wear your favorite holiday sweater, grab a mug of cocoa, and come hang out with our amazing community!    To sign up, go to bit.ly/twtmillion 

This week, Chris and Rachel interview Otto Lana (@otto_types), an autistic advocate who uses multiple modalities, including AAC, to communicate. Otto is also an intern at Kindred Communication (gokindred.com), which specializes in providing speech, language, and AAC coaching services. Otto shares about his AAC journey, why he believes literacy and typing skills need to be more emphasized for AAC users, his preference for positive instead of neutral or negative terms (i.e. nonspeaking) to refer to people with complex communication needs, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel banter (in the same room!) about how they try to keep an open mind when dealing with information that doesn’t agree with what they have heard before, and how that approach helps them stay current with many of the changes in the field over the years.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If a person requires a wheelchair, are they called non walking? If a person has prosthetics, are they called non legged? Otto prefers “individuals with complex communication needs” or “multi-modality communicators.” Otto says the prefix “non” is negative. He wants to focus on positive or neutral terms, because “using deficit terms is derogatory and degrading.”   🔑 Otto believes that AAC systems that do not include a keyboard are “electronic PECS” because they are typically used to request and the words are predetermined by the adults in the room.   🔑 Otto says “Communication is a basic human right, and freedom of expression is a First Amendment right, but teaching civil rights or constitutional rights to special ed students doesn’t happen. If it did, there would be a whole new level of protesting” about how these students are treated.   🔑 Otto says to AAC users everywhere, “Don’t give up, it is hard work. Find friends who also use AAC. Be patient, be positive, trust in the process - you can do it!”   Links from this week’s episode:   Otto’s website - ottosmottos.com   Kindred Communication - gokindred.com   Recent article about Otto: https://canvasrebel.com/meet-otto-lana/ 

This week, we share Chris and Rachel’s interview with Rémi Morin, father of a daughter who uses AAC user full time, a daughter who uses AAC part time, and a daughter who does not use AAC. He shares some of his many insights gained as the parent of an AAC user, including how he came across AAC as an option of this daughters, and, when he couldn’t find a Canadian French version of LAMP Words for Life, he created his own!   Before the interview, Chris shares about a recent experience he had as moderator for a panel of students to talk about their disabilities for the State Educational Technology Director’s Association, including the standing ovation at the end for the students!   Sometimes, Rémi’s daughter who uses AAC full time needs a lot of modeling of a word before she will use it, and she often needs to see it in multiple contexts. Rémi says he must be “tenacious” when teaching her words.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If you go out in the world looking for a language resource and you can’t find it, that is a sign that you could potentially make that resource to help yourself and, in the future, share it with everyone else who may need the same resource.   🔑 They will be rolling out Rémi’s French translation of LAMP to everyone in French Canada, with a possible rollout to other countries in the future!   🔑 Rémi’s perfect AAC software would be web based, and would work with all the Android and iOS devices they use in the home, including phones.   🔑 When we say someone’s “AAC system”, that should be the sum of the different means of communication for a person, not just one AAC app. A person’s system could include multiple high tech apps, low tech solutions like core boards, pen and paper, and more!   Link’s from this week’s episode:   CAST.org - the group that came up with universal design for learning and, more recently, worked with Chris to create his student-led panel.   PRC Article on Rémi’s Canadian French LAMP Words for Life   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!

This week, we share Chris’s interview with Emily Macklin, Neha Sharma, Amber Skerry, three SLPs working with the deafblind population at Perkins School for the Blind! They share a wealth of information about working with deafblind students, including how sensory impairment influences their incidental learning, the importance of trial and error in teaching language, the different ways deafblind students use AAC, and more!   Before the episode, Rachel shares about a client who uses Read & Write for Chrome. Some school team members felt assistive technology was a “crutch”. until Rachel and the client made a story together using the Read & Write that convinced them was an important tool!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Deafblindness doesn’t mean completely deaf and blind - it usually involves varying degrees of loss in both senses.   🔑 Teachers of deaf blind children design learning experiences to teach students about things on a deeper, more experiential level, such as teaching about apples by climbing an apple tree, cutting an apple, and planting the seeds.   🔑 You don’t want to be a “fairly godmother” for a deafblind student, where objects appear and disappear as you give them items and take them away. There needs to be a connection for the student between the object, where you get the item, and where you put it when done, e.g. a “finished” bucket.   🔑 Some deafblind students use a ProxTalker midtech device that allows a user to place any photo, symbol, or object on a sound tag card. Users place the sound tag card on any one of the buttons and push to trigger voice output!   Links from this episode:   Project Core - 3D Symbols https://www.project-core.com/3d-symbols/   Tactile Connections: Symbols for Communication https://www.aph.org/product/tactile-connections-symbols-for-communication/   Tactile Symbol Library: https://www.tsbvi.edu/campus-resources/accessibility/tactile-symbols-library   DeafBlind International: https://www.deafblindinternational.org/   Active Learning Space: https://activelearningspace.org/   Guest Email addresses: emily.macklin@perkins.org, amber.skerry@perkins.org, and neha.sharma@perkins.org 

This week, we share Part 2 of Chris’s interview with McKinzee Steve, Danielle (Dani) Welge, and Kendra Everette, three members of the AAC Team for a large school district in Texas! In the second half of this interview, they talk about interactive trainings they have created for their district; ideas for getting admin support for AAC programs, and their new project, a series of tier 2 supports for their self-contained early childhood special ed classrooms that includes AAC apps and iPads for every student and teacher!   Before the interview, Chris shares a fantastic AI tool that will determine what the overall consensus view on a particular research question - consensus.app. It’s an AI search engine for research that allows you to ask a question and it will provide the academic field’s consensus siting research on that topic. This can be great resource for AAC myth busting!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If you are creating an AAC newsletter, consider turning it into a blog post! This can make looking at previous newsletters more interesting, and is also a great way to catalog previous articles in a searchable way!   🔑 The Texas AAC team has “collaboration tickets” for their SLPs where they go out to campuses and help the SLPs there build their skills. Their focus is on empowering the SLP to implement while the AAC team acts in a supportive role.   🔑 Even though are AAC apps and iPads for every student in their self-contained early childhood classrooms, if a student looks like they are utilizing the AAC supports more often, that is a flag for the teacher and SLP to consider sending the student home with a dedicated device.   Links from this episode:   Consensus.app, an AI search engine for research that provides the academic research consensus on a question in understandable language.   Continuum of Language Expression (COLE), a systematic tool for educators to assess language development that Chris helped develop! bit.ly/colegooglesheets   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!

This week, we share Part 1 of Chris’s interview with McKinzee Steve, Danielle (Dani) Welge, and Kendra Everette, three members of the AAC Team for a large school district in Texas! In this half of the interview,  McKinzee, Dani, and Kendra share about two projects they have been working on lately: 1:1 caregiver training sessions for parents and caregivers (with the help of grad students), and an "AAC Book Club" literacy enrichment program for AAC users!   Before the interview, Rachel shares with Chris about one of her recent success stories with a client! Rachel talks this student's profile, and how he started making significant gains once he moved to a “core word of the month”. In this strategy, it that starts with explicit instruction about that month’s word, followed by lots of modeling from communication partners throughout the month!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If an emergent AAC user is not making progress despite lots of high-quality modeling from communication partners, ask yourself - is there a need for more explicit instruction, (e.g., teaching what the words mean)? Sometimes a student immersed in AAC will pick up how to use a device right away, while other students may require exposure for longer periods combined with explicit instruction.   🔑 Part of the services that McKinzee, Dani, and Kendra provide to parents and caregivers includes 1:1 training sessions with the help of local grad students over Zoom. Caregivers get six weeks of training with the grad students (with supervision). Afterward, parents and caregivers reported feeling more confident and capable of supporting their student’s use of the AAC device.   🔑 Another service McKinzee, Dani, and Kendra provide is an AAC Book Club. They have created "bins" that can be checked out by SLPs for six weeks that correspond to a particular book and include a variety of materials and activities that are extensions of the book. These lessons are based on the PRC Literacy Planner series.   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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.   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!

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!

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!

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!

In this “Recast” episode of Talking with Tech, we share a remastered episode that was previously aired on the podcast. This episode, Chris Bugaj, Rachel Madel, and Lucas Stuber have a roundtable discussion about the key components of aided language stimulation, i.e. modeling. This means that the the communication partner uses the same communication system as the AAC user to model communication exchanges.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 AAC is a visual language, and we can’t expect an AAC user to understand when and how to use AAC if they can’t watch someone else use it first. As Rachel says, “You want to create an AAC world, and go live in it.”   🔑 Research indicates that aided-language stimulation helps an AAC user to increase the length of their utterances, improve their vocabulary, and increase their use of grammatical endings. Samuel C. Sennott, Janice C. Light, and David McNaughton -102 Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities 41(2)   🔑 Just like when we talk to babies without expecting them to talk back, we need to provide AAC users with a lot of modeling opportunities without expecting a response. Even if we think an AAC user isn’t listening to us, we should continue to model to them without expectation.   🔑 Descriptive teaching of AAC is a strategy where the communication partner teaches concepts behind context-specific fringe words using high frequency core words. For example, rather than teaching an AAC user about photosynthesis using lots of scientific words, you can use core words to teach the concept (e.g., “The sun goes on the plant and the plant makes food.”)   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!

In this “Recast” episode of Talking with Tech, we share a remastered episode that was previously aired on the podcast. This episode includes Chris Bugaj’s interview with Chris Klein, a full time AAC user, disability advocate, and mentor. They discuss Chris Klein’s presentation at ATIA about motor planning and the “external lexicon” of AAC users.    Before the interview, Chris Bugaj, Rachel Madel, and Lucas Steuber discuss some of their thoughts about motor planning and what they have seen in their practice that supports the need for motor planning in robust AAC systems.   Key ideas this episode:   🔑 Chris Klein advocates for the largest vocabulary possible at the start to begin developing a motor plan with their AAC as soon as possible. It is important to consider a user’s motor plan long term. If you give them 8 buttons to start, you will need to keep expanding the page, which changes the motor plan around. It’s better to start AAC users on a larger grid size at the start so we aren’t constantly changing the buttons around.   🔑 Chris Klein shares that people who use AAC have both an internal lexicon (words in their head) and an external lexicon (whatever AAC device a user has in front of them). An AAC user’s layout must be well thought out in advance, because if there is no motor plan and looking for a button takes too long, the aac user may forget what they wanted to say or will otherwise limit their utterances. This could potentially slow down language development overall.    🔑 For the most part, Chris Klein believes that goals for AAC users are set too low. The goal should be learning to use language spontaneously, not just communicating basic needs and wants.    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!

In this “Recast” episode of Talking with Tech, we share a remastered episode that was previously aired on the podcast. This episode includes Chris Bugaj’s interview with Shaun Pearson and Chris Chichoskikelly about the AAC Agreements, a set of “better” practices around AAC that were crowd sourced from stakeholders in the area of AAC at the ATIA conference in 2016 and 2018. You can learn more about the AAC Agreements here!   Before the interview, Chris Bugaj, Rachel Madel, and Lucas Steuber discuss some of the key beliefs that they have around AAC and how they try and follow these guidelines within their own practices.   During the interview, Chris, Chris, and Shaun discuss the following "AAC Agreements":   1. The student should have access to their communication system even while engaging in academic or leisure activities. 2. Everyone is a multi-modal communicator. A communication system should include multiple modalities. 3. There should always be a light tech option as part of an AAC system. 4. Motor planning is an important consideration of an organizational structure of an AAC system. 5. The communication system should allow for multiple pragmatic functions. 6. Core vocabulary should be taught. 7. Modeling (aided language stimulation) all day, every day is desired in AAC, with no requirement of a response. 8. Modeling should allow for growth in the individual's communication. 9. Modeling should be used to facilitate growth in communication. 10. Accept any mode of communication as valid, as long as your communication partner understands what it means. Don't require individuals to repeat themselves in another modality. Do model the response in the modality you are trying to teach. 11. The AAC system should always be immediately accessible to the user. 12. The AAC system should never be removed for disciplinary reasons.   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!

In this “Recast” episode of Talking with Tech, we share a remastered episode that was previously aired on the podcast. This episode is a “roundtable” discussion between previous co-host Lucas Steuber, Christopher Bugaj, and Rachel Madel. They discuss core words, a relatively small set of high-frequency words, often between 100-300, which make up 80% of what we say every day. Teaching core words to AAC users can give the biggest “bang for your buck” compared to teaching many nouns.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Core words are versatile and can be used to express a wide range of ideas, needs, and wants. Users can combine core words in different ways to create diverse sentences and convey complex messages.   🔑 By focusing on core words, AAC users have the opportunity to learn critical grammar and syntax, including prepositions and pronouns, which can help facilitate overall language development. Nouns are often heavily taught but only make up 20% of what we say.   🔑 Core words are not tied to specific contexts or activities, unlike fringe vocabulary, which includes more specialized or topic-specific words. As a result, core words are useful across different situations and environments, enhancing the user's ability to communicate effectively in various settings.   🔑 There are “personal” core words that are fringe words normally, but may be a core word for that user. For example, the name of the family dog might be a word that one particular AAC user would use frequently.   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!

This week, Chris and Rachel interview Jordyn Zimmerman, an autistic nonspeaking adult who was featured in the documentary “This is Not About Me.” This is Not About Me covers Jordyn’s journey trying to be included in school and to get access to robust AAC. Jordyn shares about the challenges with an education system that can segregate disabled students without giving them equal opportunities, the problems with “gatekeepers” withholding robust AAC from students, the impact of limiting beliefs, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel connect with Michaela Ball, the Audio Engineer of Talking with Tech. Michaela shares about how she got connected with the podcast and why she reached out to help several years ago. Chris, Rachel, and Michaela discuss some of their thoughts about Jordan Zimmerman’s documentary, This is Not About Me https://thisisnotaboutme.film/ and talk about the importance of giving AAC users the time they need to finish communicating.  Chris and Rachel challenge listeners to wait for Jordyn to respond in this episode rather than fast forwarding as a way to practice giving an AAC user the wait time they need.   Key Ideas this Week:   🔑 Jordyn shares that, in the education system, when students have disabilities, they are put on a path of segregation rather than being given the tools they need to communicate. This is especially true if the student does not use speech to communicate. Once segregated, the opportunities for students within the school and broader community are often limited.    🔑 There remains a big issue with with schools and professionals “gatekeeping,” i.e., requiring that a person meet certain criteria before being given robust AAC. Often, this includes a requirement that a person shows “communicative intent” before they are given robust AAC. Jordyn notes that, as a student, she was asked to demonstrate communicative intent without being given meaningful access to AAC or training on how to use it.  For Jordyn, her school believed she would never meaningfully communicate because she had “challenging” behaviors after years without access to communication.   🔑 Jordyn says that she learned a lot of language as a child from listening to her older brother, her parents, and Sesame Street, as well as living in a print-rich environment.  Jordyn was learning about language from her home environment long before she had access to robust AAC.   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!

This week, Rachel and Chris interview Rebecca Gettings, a parent of an AAC user in Arizona. Her son, Carter, has complex communication needs and uses eye tracking. Rachel shares about her journey from learning about AAC to supporting Carter’s literacy, as well as some of her AAC and inclusion advocacy in Yuma, Arizona.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss some ways that Rachel has used AI in her practice, including using the Canva AI image creator to create visuals and characters for an original story. Rachel also shares about a client family that has negative feelings about AI, and her realization that she may need to have more conversations with families before using AI in therapy. Chris notes that AI is not “binary” - its not all bad or all good.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 When Rachel is using Chat GPT in therapy and gets an answer that is difficult for her client to understand, Rachel will model writing “Can you simplify that” into to help them get an easier to understand response.   🔑 Turnover has been a big problem for Rebecca and Carter - she frequently teaches Carter’s teachers and SLPs to be good communication partners, only for them to be replaced. When an AAC user’s family learns how to use AAC and become good communication partners, it establishes a consistent source of knowledge and expertise that won’t change as often.   🔑 Rebecca says that the main advice she would give to parents is to “get started learning as soon as possible,” even if it seems overwhelming at first. “Once you understand AAC,” she says, “its super easy, but it’s about making that jump.”   🔑 If you are training parents, don’t worry about training them on things they can search on YouTube, like how to add or remove a button. Focus on getting them comfortable with modeling and identifying activities in their daily routine that are starting points for implementation.     Link from this week’s episode:   SSA’s Spotlight on ABLE Tax Free Savings Accounts for Disabled Individuals: https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-able.html    Inspire HI Project - https://www.facebook.com/InspireHIproject/    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!

This week, we share Chris’s interview with Sydney Elcan Birchfield, an OT Assistant working in the schools and a graduate student in Assistive Technology at George Mason University! Sydney interviews Chris about his career and approach to assistive technology, including what Chris’s focus on inclusive design, including more AT in the IEP, the need for AT considerations vs AT assessments, free AT professional learning resources, and more!    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss one of Rachel’s clients who, prior to working with Rachel, was not making much progress using his AAC device. Rachel shares that, when an AAC user comes to her who hasn’t made progress, their system is often not set up for success - too few buttons, scrolling home page, etc. Rachel recommended a new AAC layout for her client with more language, but everyone in this client’s family was worried about moving to the new layout. They started with progressive vocabulary masking some words, and after 7 months, he is using the full layout successfully!   Key Ideas This Week:   🔑 Considerations are better than “assessment” because the time it takes to do an assessment can become a barrier - a team approach can be faster and more thorough.   🔑 The word “trialing” can be misleading when it comes to AT/AAC, because it sounds like a scientific trial. However, scientific trials control for all the variables before measuring change, but we can’t control for a large number of variables when exposing a student to different AT/AAC options. Even the choice of which option to put in front of a student first can change the user’s responsiveness to each option.   🔑 Inviting students into the considerations/assessment process helps us know what is motivating for them and if there are any roadblocks to AT (e.g. the student thinks using word prediction makes them look different) that can be discussed ahead of time.   🔑 We should remove the word “assistive” from assistive technology and just say “inclusive technology” or even just “technology”. It should be something that isn’t just for people with disabilities and special education, but technology can be used to redesign the experience for every student.    Resources From This Episode:   QIAT Listserv - https://qiat.org/qiat-list/   #ATchat Wedesdays at 8pm Eastern on Twitter - To follow the discussion, search “#ATchat” on Twitter, and to participate, include #ATchat in your tweet.

This week, we share Chris’s coaching call with Sarah Seiger! Sarah is an SLP at a nonpublic/nonprofit school in Cleveland, OH that supports students with complex needs from multiple local school districts. Sarah is trying to develop more processes for her school’s efforts to get more students AAC, including questions about trialing, collaboration with teachers, modeling, and more!   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris have a lively chat about Rachel’s social media following, and why Rachel’s analytics indicate that posts  supporting literacy for AAC users often do not get as much engagement as posts that don’t talk about literacy. Chris notes that literacy may be something that not every SLP thinks of as “their job”, and maybe Rachel should consider combining literacy with other concepts to bring more people in.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 During AAC selection, we want to consider motor planning for every student we are assessing. There is no AAC user, regardless of their familiarity with AAC, that is going to perform better with the same word in different locations all across the device.    🔑 Selecting an AAC device for a student that matches what their peers are using in the same classroom/school is not something that should be avoided as a general rule - it’s OK to consider the environment that a device will be used in.  That shouldn’t be the only consideration, but it can be an important one.    🔑 While it may feel respectful to put different AAC devices in front of a potential user to finding out what they “gravitate” toward when we are “trialing” AAC systems. However, it is difficult to know why an AAC user appears more interested in one app than the others - it may be the first one they saw, might have a picture that caught their eye, might be impacted by how tired the student is, etc. Instead, we can figure out what system we believe will work, based on the available factors, and choose that to start implementing right away.   🔑 If you are trying to advocate for a position related to AAC within your organization, consider highlighting something measurable, like modeling, and advocating for an AAC coaching role to make those improvements. You can also look at descriptive teaching and least-to-most prompting for other measurables.    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!  

This week, we share another episode of Small Talks, where we share small interviews with previous guests. This week, we share Small Talks with Darla Ashton, Hank Poore, Sean Sweeney, Shelley Anderson, and Tami Altschuler!   Before the interviews, Chris and Rachel talk about the CRAAP test. This test provides a list of questions to ask yourself when deciding whether or not a source is reliable and credible enough. CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.   Small Talks this week:   First, Darla Ashton shares about creating visual schedules with resources like Lesson Pix and the Choiceworks App (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/choiceworks/id486210964). Chris notes that we can also consider “amorphous” visual schedules, a type of schedule where the pieces are dynamic and move around as necessary if there need to be changes to he schedule. These can help kids who are learning to be more flexible thinkers.   Second, Hank Poore and Chris discuss the pros and cons of turning off the feature where a word is played aloud when each button is touched. Chris talks about that Bruce Baker advising him to have the word read after each time a button is pressed; this can help keep communication partners engaged by giving them a auditory prompt to keep waiting for the message, but it likely comes down to personal preference.   Third, Sean Sweeney talks about JamBoard and a recent experience he had adapting a role playing game for play in et students to help participate in a shared space, more than google slides. Found a free RPG called Movie Night. Having the students design characters and use JamBoard for everyone’s character. Also uses slides on JamBoard to explain the game in a way that is easier to understand. Kind of like a virtual white board. Julia Dweck has links to a bunch of jam boards at https://linktr.ee/GiftedTawk   Fourth, Shelley Anderson shares her strategy of working with a student’s preferred toy/instrument to elicit more language production. Shelley takes a gathering drum and a wooden frog that makes a croaking sound  and teaches language and prepositions to a student who loves the frog (e.g. “The frog is under the drum”).   Finally, Tami Altschuler wishes that there could be more care and communication between school-based and hospital-based SLPs before surgeries occur. If an AAC user is going to stay in the hospital, Tami would love for SLPs to contact her for better transferring care between the hospital and the school setting.    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!

This week, we present Part 2 of Chris interview with Samantha Hagness and Becky Woolley, two AT/AAC Specialists from the Mesa Public Schools, as they continue to explore integrating Grid for Education into classrooms along with TouchChat. In this episode, Chris inquires more about Samantha and Becky’s plans for modeling on TouchChat while Grid for Education is being used, as well as ideas for integrating video into communication partner coaching, benefits of prerecording trainings, and more!    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris have another in-person chat about a client of Rachel’s that was making limited progress with his accuracy on his AAC device, even though the client used sign language. When an AAC user is making limited progress with accuracy despite using symbolic language, Rachel always considers the possibility that cortical visual impairment is impacting accuracy. Rachel notes that the client was recently diagnosed with CVI which she hopes will help the team utilize more CVI strategies. Chris wonders if we can make those high contrast symbols the default, and if that would potentially help AAC users with undiagnosed CVI have more success.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 The core boards that Samatha and Becky created for their district have a picture of TouchChat 60 on the front (with a couple of navigation buttons swapped out), an alphabet with numbers and academic vocabulary on the back, and a flippable personal fringe section!   🔑 One thing Chris found helpful when videotaping communication partners during modeling was having them count the total AAC models, then comparing that with the number of verbal instructions given. Giving communicatione partners evidence of their growing skills provides communication partners with a feeling of confidence.   🔑 One big benefit of creating asynchronous training materials (e.g. recorded videos) is you can have your paraprofessionals go over the training more easily. It is often difficult to get all paraprofessionals on a campus into a single training; giving paraprofessionals access to video training allows them to watch when it is a good time for their schedule.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Samantha Hagness and Becky Woolley, two AT/AAC Specialists from the Mesa Public Schools. They chat about some of their successes and setbacks with using TouchChat as their Tier 1 approach under the Specific Language System First approach and some ideas they had to integrate Grid 3 into their classrooms along with TouchChat.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel chat - in person again - about some recent webinars they did with school districts to help them improve their AAC implementation. They discuss some of the highlights, including helping staff change their mindset about how much they know about AAC and some of the second-guessing that people do when they are being coached - there may be some level of worry that they will be judged harshly by the coach or other staff. Rachel and Chris encourage coaches to reassure communication partners that they have the knowledge and skills they need to be successful!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Samantha and Becky believe that implementation is falling apart when teachers need to go to an extra step to add to what the teacher is doing, rather than having AAC already incorporated into a teacher’s instructional flow.    🔑 With Grid 3/Grid for Education, you can display Internet information on the main screen 2/3 of the screen while having core words surround the main screen everyone is looking at. Samantha and Becky want to give teachers the ability to project this int he classroom to make AAC modeling easier and more streamlined.   🔑 Chris likes coming up with new ways to model AAC in classrooms, but he suggests doing a pilot with a few schools rather than rolling it out to everyone right away. This allows time to build “champions” who can tell or show others about some of the successes in the classroom.   🔑 Chris wants to make sure that the motor plan that is on the AAC user’s device is supported - if the teacher can’t always model on the AAC user’s specific device during instruction, that is OK, but you might consider having paraprofessionals simultaneously modeling on that AAC user’s device within the classroom environment.   Links from this Week’s Episode:   Up Goer Six - free web tool where you an type in a sentence, it provides the sentence in color codes based on the frequency of the word. https://splasho.com/upgoer6/    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!  

This week, we present Rachel’s interview with Alyssa Hillary Zisk and Lily Konyn, two autistic part-time AAC users who are members of the AAC Research Team at AssistiveWare. Alyssa and Lily discuss Gestalt Language Processing, including research into using immediate and delayed echolalia for communicative purposes and why research suggests someone being a “gestalt language processor” may be more of a spectrum and less binary. They also share about things that make modeling less effective, including talking while modeling, doing “+1 modeling”, and doing “key word” modeling.    Before the interview, Chris does a banter with Rachel - in a car, in person! They talk about a co-worker of Chris who recently did a successful AAC awareness training for a Kindergarten class! Chris shares some of the positive feedback, and encourages educators to try and emulate the idea in their own school!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Programming in phrases that we think might be helpful is not “adding a gestalt” to the device, it’s just adding a useful phrase. Gestalts have an established emotional connection to the person who is learning language; a phrase doesn’t become a gestalt just because a therapist or parent thinks it would be useful.   🔑 Alyssa says that there is not a lot of research specifically referencing Gestalt Language Processing, but there is relevant research about delayed and immediate echolalia being used for communication purposes. Alyssa also mentions first hand accounts from autistic people who first used echolalia to communicate, as well as “remixed echolalia”, i.e., taking a script and moving or changing a part of it, which is very is similar to the idea of “mitigated gestalts” in gestalt language processing.   🔑 Alyssa and Lily are not supporters of “+1 modeling”, where the communication partner models one word longer than the AAC user uses. Alyssa and Lily think this may cause an AAC user to become stuck only using one button because they only see two word utterances modeled. We model full sentences to children, not just sentences one word longer than they are saying.   🔑 Similarly, Alyssa and Lily suggest that communication partners should refrain from saying words as they they are inputting them into the AAC device - it can create competing auditory channels, which is difficult for anyone with auditory processing challenges.   🔑 Alyssa and Lily are also not supporters of “key word modeling”, where the communication partner models one or two key words as they are talking. One word is faster to model than the entire sentence, but when the AAC user tries to communicate themselves, they are going to find out it is a lot more difficult than pressing one or two words. Alyssa and Lily believe this could cause the AAC user to stop trusting their communication partner or decide that they are inherently bad at AAC.   Links from this week's episode:   AAC for Speaking Autistic Adults by Alyssa Hillary Zisk: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/AUT.2018.0007   How to Talk about AAC Users (According to Them) by Alyssa Hillary Zisk and Lily Konyn: https://www.assistiveware.com/blog/how-to-talk-about-aac   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!  

This week, we share Chris’s interview with Darla Ashton, an Assistive technology Coordinator, Instructional Specialist, and BCBA with Carmel Clay Schools in Indiana! Darla and Chris discuss topics in AAC related to the question, “What do you know now that you didn’t know 10 years ago?” Darla discusses her district’s journey to determine what AAC program to use, Darla’s move away from the “expert model” of AAC assessment, creating an AAC professional learning group in her district, how more BCBAs should collaborate with the team to support AAC, and more!   Before the interview, Chris, Melissa, and Tucker Bugaj gather to discuss AAC use on the popular Star Wars series, “The Mandalorian”. They discuss how characters tried to say “Baby Yoda” wasn’t ready for AAC, and how Baby Yoda (aka Grogu) protested, pressing “no, no, no, no” and refusing to give up his AAC.   Key Ideas this Week:   🔑 One important shift over the last 10 years for Darla is shifting to giving the teacher a tool to teach language without putting pressure on the student to use the device - an AAC user doesn’t have to “prove” anything for us to provide them AAC.    🔑 Darla believes the most important thing for an AAC user’s success isn’t necessarily the app we choose, but the confidence level of the people who are going to be communicating with the student (e.g. staff, teachers, parents, SLPs).   🔑 In Darla’s district, some classes will have several AAC users who all use the same AAC app. Darla will frequently provide the same AAC app to a new AAC user joining that class. However, there are some circumstances where Darla will not provide the same AAC app to a student, such as when a sibling has a different AAC system at home and the parents would like to model using that 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!

This week, we share an amazing interview with Nanny Aut! Nanny Aut is an amazing autistic blogger and advocate who created Autistic Village, a group of blogs with contributions from autistic people around the world. Nanny Aut shares about their experience being diagnosed with autism as an adult, being told autistic people “can’t be teachers” (as they were training to be a teacher), how we can better support neurodiverse students in the schools, and so much more!   Before the interview, Sarah Gregory and Ashley Larisey join Rachel for a lively discussion of the meaning of phrases commonly used in education like “life skills” and “functional skills”. They note that, if a teacher says a student needs more “functional” skills/academics/language, is that just another way of saying they are giving up on academics? If not, what are they saying then? They discuss how terms like “functional” are often too vague, and ways we can be more specific when we share those ideas.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 When we say “life skills” or “functional skills”, are we really thinking about what skills we want for a person, or are we thinking about what is important to a person? We should always do our best to connect our goals for a person with their personal interests and desires. If something is not intrinsically motivating, a person is often less likely to learn the skill and/or generalize it.   🔑 Nanny Aut uses the Emergency Chat app when they get overwhelmed and verbal speech becomes difficult or impossible. They share about a time in the hospital when they needed their phone to communicate, and how frustrated it make them feel when their phone was taken away as punishment.   🔑 When your autistic child says “no” verbally or nonverbally, they are probably telling you “no” for a reason. They may not understand exactly why they feel a certain way, but that doesn’t mean their feelings are invalid.  Telling an autistic child “just ignore it”, “it’s not that bad”, or “no one else is having a problem,” can be frustrating and, in some cases, even traumatic.   Links this week:   Inside-Aut.com, Nanny Aut’s space for parents to learn about autism, including their 6 week SPEED for Needs course.   Autistic-Village.com  a group of blogs by autistic people from around the world   Nanny Aut's free online seminar : 5 Keys to Understanding 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!

This week, Chris and Rachel get the opportunity to interview the amazing LJ Seiff! LJ is a 14 year old boy with cerebral palsy and cortical visual impairment, which impact his ability to speak intelligibly. LJ shares about his AAC journey and some of the things that he wishes were done in the classroom more, like giving him more wait time to respond or asking multiple choice questions, since an AAC user can respond with a single press of “a” “b” or “c”.   Before the interview, Chris, Tucker, and Melissa Bugaj have a family discussion of Tucker’s recent playing in the pep band for the Special Olympics at a local school. Tucker chats about what interested him in being a part of the pep band, and shares a sweet story of helping a boy join into a group picture by giving him a chance to use a sousaphone.   Key ideas this week:   🔑One of LJ’s biggest frustrations in the classroom is when teachers don’t think about incorporating or using his device in the classroom setting. He also gets frustrated when staff and teachers do not give him the wait time that is written in his IEP.   🔑LJ doesn’t enjoy when people talk bout him right in front of him as if he wasn’t there. People will also touch his device without permission, which LJ says makes him feel powerless because he can’t say “no” when people don’t ask.   🔑A lot of times there’s focus on literacy, but not as much focus on the needs for students who can do more advanced math. LJ had a lot of words that he needed for his math classes that were not available on his device and that he had add himself.    Links from this week   Equatio - Digital equation editor that can work with speech to text or text to speech. https://www.texthelp.com/products/equatio/    Blog post by LJ about his AAC journey: https://lessonsfromthebigtoe.com/2021/06/24/lj-seiffs-aac-journey/   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!

This week, we share Part 2 of Chris’s conversation with Kristina Edie (SLP), Erica Sauer (Director of Special Programs), Joy Mockbee (OT), and Bernadette Wiley (PT/AAC) with Hancock County Schools in West Virginia. They continue to talk with Chris about the Specific Language System First approach and how it might work for their district, including how to choose the “tier 1/2” device that you give every AAC user.   Before the interview, Rachel shares about working with a new client who has had some difficulty with implementation over the last 5 years with other therapists. Her client’s school-based SLP recently recommended that the AAC User should go to a paper based book to communicate. The SLP said Rachel’s client wasn’t using the device “functionally” because he sometimes hit different buttons and treated the device like a “toy”. When Rachel got a chance to work with the student, she was blown away by all of the ways that this AAC User can communicate, and Rachel was frustrated that he was being denied robust AAC when the problem is poor implementation.   Key Ideas This Week:   🔑 The Hancock team asks Chris about choosing an AAC device for the district that uses Symbol Stix, like TouchChat or Proloquo2Go, because they often use those symbols in class as part of Unique Learning Systems. Chris notes that, in his experience, if we are good at modeling and descriptive teaching, then we can teach any robust system to AAC Users, regardless of how familiar they already are with the pictures.   🔑 One benefit of learning how to model really well on one AAC system is you are able to learn your next AAC system faster, because you already understand the key functions of AAC software in general.   🔑 Chris shares that, with AAC, you need to hit the “sweet spot” that includes an appropriate AAC tool, training for the circle of support on modeling/descriptive teaching, and hands on coaching on how to model effectively.   Links from this Episode:   Continuum of Language Expression (http://bit.ly/colegooglesheets & http://bit.ly/lcpscolepiktochart)    Chris and Rachel discuss the Continuum of Language Expression (COLE) during the banter of this episode of Talking with Tech: https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/julie-freed

This week, we share Part 1 of Chris’s conversation with Kristina Edie (SLP), Erica Sauer (Director of Special Programs), Joy Mockbee (OT), and Bernadette Wiley (PT/AAC) with Hancock County Schools in West Virginia. They talk about the AAC journey their district has gone on that led them to asking Chris to help them understand the Specific Language System First approach and how it might work for them.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about an email that Rachel sent to her email list about using slang with AAC that was offensive to a reader for cultural reasons. Rachel shares about that learning moment, and how it has informed her approach to slang, including being more mindful about taking with families and peers about the slang she wants to add onto a device.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 There is a rationale and reasoning behind the pictures on LAMP Words for Life, and often the picture relates to teaching the concept, like a picture of a dog for “come” or a bridge with a cloud over it for prepositions. It may not always make sense at first, but there is always a thought out reason for the picture, and at the end of the day the student will learn the motor plan regardless of the picture.   🔑 Chris has seen a trend of students wanting to move from LAMP Words for Life to TouchChat in secondary school because they want something that is more text based. Chris shares some have said more text based AAC looks "more mature." Chris points out that adults use images like emojis and gifs all the time, and there should be nothing inherently more “adult” about using text vs using images.   🔑 Slang isn’t as simple as the popular words or phrases that we hear being used on TikTok. These are words that have history and uses that are cultural, regional, and generational in nature. As therapists, we need to be seeking information by initiating conversations with families and peers about the kinds of slang we’re programming into devices.   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!

In this episode of Talking with Tech, Chris interviews Bruce Alter, a pediatric Physical Therapist and AT Consultant with the Tigard-Tualatin School District in Oregon. Bruce has a long history working with technology, including as a user; he was an early adopter of assistive technology in school to support his challenges with dyslexia. Bruce and Chris’s discussion focuses on artificial intelligince (AI) like Open AI's Chat GPT, including some of the uses it can have in the schools and some applications for AAC users in general.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel get together with Rachel's twin Matt Madel to talk about Rachel and his connection as twins and some of the ways that he uses Chat GPT in his own work, including quickly creating code in Python.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI that is designed to generate human-like text responses to natural language inputs. It can do more than just answer informational questions - it can write unique code, create formulas for Excel, respond at a particular Lexile level or grade, and more!   🔑 Bruce emphasizes that ChatGPT does not answer questions the same way that a human being does. ChatGPT is known to have "hallucinations" that sound convincing but are factually incorrect. We should teach students that they need to fact check what ChatGPT says to ensure it is correct!   🔑 Should school districts block or ban something that will be available to society, like chat GPT, or do they have a duty to help students figure out how to help students use it? You have to balance students getting their own skills at writing while also teaching them how to utilize tools like GPT to improve their learning.   Links from this week’s episode:   Cult of Pedagogy Podcast: How to Use ChatGPT as an Example Machine https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/chatgpt-example-machine/   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!

This week, Rachel and Chris interview Noah Callan, a 25-year-old disability and inclusion advocate who is a full-time AAC user. Noah is also the AAC & Technology Coordinator at Kids+ in Australia. Noah shares about his AAC journey, including some of the changes he has made over the years, such as going from switch access scanning to using an eye gaze camera with Gridpad 12 . Noah also shares some challenging and rewarding experiences he recently had with able-bodied people, including a worker at a bank who refused to talk to him and assumed that he was not intelligent because he is nonspeaking.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel reflect on how much gestalt language processing (GLP) was a topic of discussion at this year’s ATIA. They note that it continues to be important to ask the right questions and keep an open mind about something you are learning about, while also noting that we need to maintain appropriate skepticism. They also note that the strategy of adding a script to a device could be considered “key vocabulary”.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If you are a family member, friend, or therapist of an AAC user, try and set a time with the AAC user to have a chat with the device each day. That way, the AAC user feels more comfortable starting their own conversations down the road.   🔑 Noah really likes his current AAC setup on a Gridpad 12 by SmartBox with an eye gaze camera. He likes the Gridpad because: it has a long battery life (10 hours with eye gaze), he likes that the design is not too big or small, and it has an option for a 2nd screen to display what he types. One good feature of the 2nd screen is, while Noah is writing his message, three dots display to help others wait while Noah composes his message.     🔑 Noah says: “Don’t underestimate what an AAC user can do. Give them all the time to deliver their message, because, what is the rush? There is absolutely no rush. Sometimes, people assume that, because I have a physical disability and am nonverbal, I can’t do things like ordinary people do. Before you judge a disabled person, you might want to take the time to get to know them and see what they are able to do. You might be surprised and also find a new friend!”   Links this week:   Noah’s Linktree has links to the programs he is involved in and work he has done, including Kids+ and Get Skilled Access: https://linktr.ee/noahcallan   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!

This week on Talking with Tech, Chris and Rachel discuss some of their takeaways from the Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference 2023. For those not familiar, ATIA holds a conference in Florida each year that focuses on assistive technology. Chris has attended and presented at ATIA for years, and Rachel has presented each of the last two years. Chris and Rachel touch on many of the topics they talked about with AAC users, including compensation for AAC Ambassadors, the need for more AAC users in AAC companies, ways that artificial intelligence can impact AAC, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑  We wouldn’t have a women’s rights group run by men, but most, if not all, AAC companies do not have an AAC user in an executive-type position in the company. The position that AAC users often fill is an “Ambassador” at conferences, which often pays very little. Chris and Rachel wonder if we can’t do a better job of compensating AAC users equitably for their involvement.   🔑 An AAC user at ATIA brought up that there aren’t always voice options for men, women, teens, children, and people who speak different dialects (e.g. African-American). Chris will start weighting voice options more when considering which AAC app to recommend.   🔑  When we are sharing or presenting, it is important to attribute ideas and images to the person who created them. Attribution allows people to find out about other content creators within the community. If you aren't sure who created something you want to share or use, try to a bit of research into who created it.   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!   Links from this Episode:   Futurepedia.io - Contains a large database of AI tools that is updated daily   SLPs as AAC Gatekeepers by Jordyn Zimmerman

This week, Rachel interviews Marcella, the mother of an autistic boy, about the journey Marcella went through to give her son access to high-tech AAC. Marcella previously reached out to Rachel for a coaching call because she was not getting a positive response about AAC when meeting with local SLPs. Marcella decided to take Rachel’s AAC Ally course and started supporting her son’s language development on her own! Marcella shares about some of the benefits of high-tech AAC for her son, including his increased vocalizations and more spontaneous communication about things like feelings.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel chat about making their own GIF using unscreen.com. They go over how to make a GIF, how you can make a library of GIFs, and ways that GIFs can be used to support AAC users.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 When a child says a word on their device that we think wasn’t what they meant (e.g. “I want pasta” for breakfast), we don’t want to say “no, try again”. Hearing “no” constantly can be frustrating and demotivating. Instead, you can recognize the communication attempt and respond to it with something like “Oh, OK, you can have pasta later for dinner, but what should we eat for breakfast?”.    🔑 We need to presume potential for everyone, not just complex communicators! We should presume that we can all become better communication partners for AAC users with enough practice and effort.   🔑 Marcella’s son says a lot more words now to communicate than he did before using AAC, including saying “up” when he wants to be picked up. This is just another example that AAC helps, rather than hurts, language production.   You can find out more about Marcella and her son on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/smilethru_   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!

This week, Rachel interviews Dr. Theresa Bartolotta, an SLP who is a parent to Lisa, a young girl with Rett syndrome. Dr. Bartolotta  is co-author of the recently published Rett Syndrome Communication Guidelines and serves as consultant on communication to the International Rett Syndrome Foundation (ISRF). Dr. Bartolotta shares about putting together the Rett Syndrome Communication Guidelines, her journey as a parent of a child with Rett, and the IRSF’s mission to spread the word about Rett to more SLPs, teachers, and families.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris chat about Chris’s GIPHY.com channel, using GIFs to do a deep dive into a client’s specific interests, putting together your own collection of GIFs to use in therapy, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Rett Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by an X-linked genetic mutation that affects multiple systems. Communication is usually affected, and people with Rett are typically nonspeaking.   🔑 People with Rhett syndrome often have difficulty regulating their bodies, and go in and out of being overstimulated and understimulated. The Rett Syndrome Communication Guide includes information on how to recognize when someone with Rett is overstimulated (or understimulated), and how to get them back to a regulated state.   🔑 It was important for Dr. Bartolotta to put together the Rett Communication Guidelines, because Rett is such a low-incidence disorder. An SLP working in the schools, for example, might only come across Rett once or twice in an entire career. By providing more information in one place, it can help bridge the knowledge gap for people new to treating Rett.    Links this week: Chris’s GIF channel on GIPHY: https://giphy.com/channel/christopherbugaj    Rett Syndrome Communication Guidelines https://www.rettsyndrome.org/communication-guidelines/   International Rett Syndrome Foundation rettsyndrome.org.   Free professional development webinar series about Rett by the IRSF: https://www.rettsyndrome.org/for-communication-professionals/    Safe Harbor: A Podcast for Parents of Children with Disabilities: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1909282    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!

This week, Rachel has a coaching call with Sarah Lockhart, an SLP and host of the SLP Happy Hour podcast! They discuss a case study of a 5 year old nonspeaking boy who uses an AAC device to communicate. Sarah and Rachel discuss concerns that he is “stuck at requesting”, since he typically only makes requests during therapy. Rachel shares how we can lean into those requests and elicit communication using those high-interest topics.    Before the interview, Chris shares with Rachel about his recent trip to Disneyland and some of the thoughts he had during the trip, including: the fact that he didn’t see any people using AAC in 5 days at a busy park; seeing a knit cap someone wore that said “I have autism, please be patient”; and the need to program phrases an AAC user might want to say in public, like “Go Bills”, into their devices.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If you are trying to introduce commenting, you can set up a carrier phrase like “Its a train!” “Its a train!” “Its a _______” to help set up the expectation rather than just showing a picture of a train. The emphasis and routine can help students become more spontaneous and independent.   🔑 Some people with autism can get really anxious and want to know what is coming next. It can create peaks and valleys in their emotional experience - a visual schedule can help with that. To follow their lead during therapy and not be too rigid, you can include more general things on the schedule, like “read a book or new game”, to allow for adjustments during the session.   🔑 There is a lot of work to be done with coaching communication partners, and it can feel overwhelming. Instead of thinking about everything that needs to be try, try and focus teaching a communication partner to do one thing, and do it well. That can sometimes feel more doable for the both the clinician and the communication partner.   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!

This week, Chris and Rachel forgo the normal interview format to discuss some of the many thoughts that Chris put together during his recent trip to Disney World, including the need for training Disney Castmembers about ablest language, the need for sensory safe experiences on loud rides, using google images to translate foreign languages, and more!    🔑 Chris discusses the “spoon theory” from a blog post by Christine Miserandino, including the idea that some people don’t have unlimited energy for medical reasons and have to make choices about what they do next. For some of our students, timing matters when it comes to therapy; Rachel wishes that she didn’t have to wait until after school when students are tired to do her therapy.   🔑 When Chris got a tour of Disney World, he asked the tour guide if she had training about language to use related to people with disabilities. The tour guide said they were trained about gender and cultural differences, but they were not trained in how to speak about people with disabilities.    🔑 Chris noticed that there were not always closed captions on videos when standing in line at Disney, and he wonders if it would be helpful for Disney to put together an accessibility team to evaluate how to make the park more fully inclusive.    Links from this Episode   Dan Pink’s book, When - https://www.danpink.com/books/when/   Christine Miserandino’s Spoon Theory blog - https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/   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!

This week, Rachel interviews the artist behind the Instagram account @drawntoaac, Jennifer Hyles! Along with being an amazing artist, Jennifer is also an SLP who specializes in supporting AAC users! Jennifer and Rachel talk all about Jennifer’s journey getting started creating Drawn to AAC, why Jennifer was motivated to create clip art that depicts diverse AAC users in a variety of settings, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss using our client/student’s highly specific interests to create more motivating activities and materials. Rachel shares about one of her clients who is very interested in ceiling fans, and all the ways that she has effectively incorporated ceiling fans into that client’s therapy! They also talk about moving clients beyond those restrictive interests by exposing them gradually to new things that may be of interest (e.g. clips of a new show they haven’t seen before).   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Drawn to AAC’s art is a great way to incorporate images of AAC users from different cultures and backgrounds into our own therapy. Being able to depict a diverse array of AAC users allows therapists and practitioners to better reflect the users themselves when we create materials.   🔑 Based on feedback that Jennifer has received from SLPs and others, she has created art that was designed to be less cartoonish and more age-respectful for middle and high school students.   🔑 One benefit of working with Jennifer’s art is she is an SLP who understands AAC assessment and implementation. Her free resources are based on better AAC practices, and, if you ever decide that you want to commission some art from her related to AAC, she doesn’t need a lot of extra information to understand exactly what you need.   Links from this week’s episode:   Drawn to AAC on Instagram   Drawn to AAC on TPT and Ko-Fi   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!

This week, Rachel interviews Dr. Laura Clarke, a special educator, teacher, and parent of a person with complex communication needs. Dr. Clarke who has created her own free website, Reading & Writing 4 All, that provides a variety of free resources to support literacy for emerging readers. Dr. Clarke shares about her journey as the parent of Dan, an emerging reader, and why she was motivated to provide  literacy resources to special education teachers and parents of emerging readers.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss ChatGPT (chat.openai.com), a free chat artificial intelligence that can create some of the most human-like responses to questions ever. They ask the ChatGPT some AAC related questions, and Chris notes some of the national discussion about students using ChatGPT to do their homework for them. Chris points out that we should probably be figuring out how to help students use AI rather than trying to ban it, since these kinds of AI resources are probably not going away.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Relationships and connection are essential to supporting emerging readers. Before we start coming up with content, we should have a knowledge of who the emerging reader is as a person and where their interests lie.  This can lead to creating higher-interest content that is more engaging!   🔑 It is common to want emerging readers to show us they understand what we are showing them and that they are paying attention by asking them lots of "wh-" questions, etc. This can unknowingly put a lot of demands on our students and take away from our connection with them.    🔑 For emerging readers that may not want to look at text, find something they really love and put a picture of that thing on one side of a screen (e.g. a picture of Mario) and on the other side, you can put the text you want them to look at. Then, over time, you can make the picture of the preferred item smaller and smaller.   Links from this weeks episode:   Dr. Laura Clarke’s free website Reading & Writing 4 All: https://sites.google.com/view/emergingreaders/home    Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Resources has over 100 free online professional learning modules at https://sites.google.com/nkces.org/nkces-online-trainings/home    You can reach Dr. Clarke by email at emergingreaderresources@gmail.com    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!

This week, Rachel interviews Chloe Rothschild, an autistic advocate, author, teacher, and speaker who uses AAC to communicate part-time. Chloe currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Arc, a disability advocacy group, as well as working with the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence. Chloe joins the podcast to share her amazing insights into using different communication modalities depending upon the demands of the situation, as well as a discussion of using her Apple Watch for AAC, working with nonspeaking children in an autistic classroom, why she like to use symbols to communicate even though she is a fast typer, and more!    Key ideas this week:   🔑 There are many reasons why someone may not speak in some situations, such as their anxiety level or the demands of the situation. We should not assume that every person who uses verbal speech can use it all the time.   🔑 Chloe uses pre-programmed “quick fire” messages via Proloquo4Text on her Apple Watch to communicate in some situations, such as when she needs a break out in the community.    🔑 Chloe prefers to use her symbol-based AAC system, Proloquo2Go, instead of her text-based AAC system, Proloquo4Text. Chloe says she “thinks in pictures”, so when she looks at her grid of symbols, she instantly knows what the symbols mean. When there are no symbols, she has to read every word every time, which her takes longer.   Links:   Chloe’s website: chloerothschildasd.com    My Interception Workbook: A Guide for Teens, Adolescents, and Adults by Kelly Mahler, Chloe Rothschild, and Jarvis Alma.    Chloe is a Board Member of The Arc for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: thearc.org     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!

This week, Chris and Rachel host a lively session of Talking with Tech Live with members of Colorado’s State Wide Assistive Technology, Augmentative &  Alternative Communication (SWAAAC) group! SWAAAC teams are interdisciplinary groups (e.g. SLPs, OTs, PTs) that provide Assistive Technology services in Colorado schools. As with previous episodes of Talking with Tech Live, Chris and Rachel facilitated a collaborative discussion with the audience based on questions submitted by the audience.    Key questions this week include:   ❓How do we keep up with AAC software and the features that are coming out?   ❓What should we do if the AAC Specialist in our district is using the candidacy model and doesn’t believe that a student is “ready” for a robust language system?   ❓What is the best way to help educators embrace a functional communication system in a classroom?     ❓How can we convince SLPs and Behavior Interventionists we work with that a student needs a robust vocabulary and not just a few nouns for requesting?   ❓What is the best way to support English Language Learners who use AAC when we don’t speak their primary language?    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!

This week, we present Chris’s interview with Brian Schobel, a District Resource Teacher for Transition in Albuquerque, NM. Brian has worked for years supporting transition and employment for people with special needs. Brian reached out to interview Chris about inclusion and how technology can help students of different abilities gain meaningful employment. During the interview, Brian and Chris discuss assistive technology tools that can be used to support students as they transition to employment, as well as areas where we can improve in our support. Brian also shares about using Read & Write by TextHelp himself at work, and why being an assistive technology user inspires Brian to support others who use assistive technology.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris have an actual in-person banter session at an airport in Minnesota! Rachel and Chris were recently presenting at the PATINS Access to Education conference in Indiana, and they jumped at the opportunity to record a podcast banter while waiting for their next flight. Rachel had two presentations at the PATINS conference. The first presentation was with Elisa Wern and covered using screen recording tools to support students. Elisa compared the tools Screencastify, Screencast-o-matic , and Loom, while Rachel discussed how she uses screen recording for asynchronous learning and coaching. Rachel’s second presentation was about on taking a team-based approach to AAC assessment through an abbreviated version of her AAC Ally course (https://rachelmadelslp.thinkific.com/courses/AAC-ally). Chris presented four time at PATINS, including presentations on inclusive coding for robots, ways to enhance AAC implementation, and combining core words with morphemes (e.g. “corephemes”). Chris also did a Wonderfully Inclusive Scavenger Hunt and ran a session where they played Cards against Exclusivity at the conference.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 Locking students into a particular browser for testing that doesn’t allow extensions related to assistive technology can be a significant issue. Even if we include voice to text and text to voice software on the test, if it isn’t the same buttons and voices that the student is used to, which can put them at a disadvantage.   🔑 You can provide both a traditional and more accessible option when assigning work in the classroom. For example, you can give a traditional paper-and-pencil worksheet to some students while also providing a digital copy to students who need it for text-to-speech. Even better, you can avoid giving a worksheet at all and provide something more interesting and meaningful while also being inclusive.   🔑 Saying “laptops closed and phones away” in a classroom can be ableist, because not everyone who is using technology is using it as a distraction. Everyone loses attention at times, even if you are looking at someone, your mind can wander. We want to give students the chance to make mistakes and to deal with distractions appropriately rather than taking all technology away from them.   🔑 How can we help places of employment adopt the same inclusive tools we are encouraging in the classroom? Companies are becoming more flexible with working remotely - we should help companies see the benefits of also being flexible supporting technological accommodations.    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!  

This week, Chris and Rachel have asked the amazing Chris Klein and Lance McLemore to “take over” the Talking with Tech podcast! Chris and Lance are experienced AAC users and board members of the nonprofit, ImpAACt Voices (https://www.impaactvoices.org/). Lance and Chris share some of the goals and objectives for ImpAACt Voices, and also relate some of their takeaways from the recent First Annual ImpAACt Voices conference, which focused on helping adult AAC users finding employment and educating the business world at large about AAC!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 ImpAACt Voices helps combat social isolation by doing virtual hangouts with AAC users of different skills and abilities across the country. Lance didn’t meet another AAC user until he was an adult - Lance and Chris want to help to help other AAC Users connect at a younger age.   🔑  ImpAACt Voices is creating a program, ImpAACtful Hiring, that aims to help achieve AAC Users gain meaningful employment. Over the next 3-5 years, ImpAACtful Hiring plans to partner with businesses for provide paid internship opportunities for AAC Users!   🔑 The unemployment rate for AAC users is very high, and at their recent conference, the ImpAACt Voices team focused on helping adult AAC users find employment to help meet this important need. Lance and Chris both believe that employment is critical to how we feel about ourselves, and too often, employment is an afterthought for AAC users.   To donate to ImpAACt Voices for free (with purchase) via Amazon Smile, go to https://smile.amazon.com/ch/85-3947506    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!

This week, we present Part 2 of Chris and Rachel's interview with Marge Blanc and Alexandria Zachos, two SLPs who have written and presented about the Natural Language Acquisition framework (NLA) and Gestalt Language Processing. The NLA framework looks at the different ways that people, especially people with autism, develop language. One important aspect of this is “gestalts”which are strings of language that can be long or short, and are often tied to an emotional, meaningful, or dramatic experience. This portion of the interview focuses on Stage 2, 3, and 4 of the NLA framework and how these stages can inform our practices with AAC. To learn more about Stage 1, listen to Part 1 of this episode here.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a listener question about putting “too many” symbols on a device versus not having enough symbols on the grid. They also discuss the reaction from some teachers when a student is “playing” with a device, and why it’s not a realistic expectation for a child learning language to completely avoid exploring and playing with their device.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Stage 2 of the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) framework is “Mitigated Gestalts”, where the person takes a chunk from one gestalt and a chunk from another gestalt and puts them together. They might also trim down a gestalt to be shorter, for example reducing “Don’t worry, I’ll help you find your Mama” to “Don’t worry”.   🔑 Stage 3 of the NLA framework, “Isolation of the Single Word,” a person who is gestalt language processing is able to recognize words as units and pull the words out of their slots. They also become referential and will begin to reference or point to things.    🔑 According to Marge, there is an impulse when a student gets to Stage Three of the NLA framework to jump to teaching all different kinds of grammar, but at this stage it’s really more about combining words together.  If we go too fast and jump ahead, the student may gain splinter skills while failing to develop the foundational skills necessary to move to Stage 4.   🔑 Stage 4 of the NLA framework is “Beginning Grammar”, which is when we begin to start to see more of the novel utterances and combinations of two to three words together. Stages Five and Six involve complex to advanced grammar.   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

This week, we present Part 1 of Chris and Rachel’s interview with Marge Blanc and Alexandria Zachos. Alexandria and Marge are two SLPs who have written and presented nationally on the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) framework and Gestalt Language Processing. The NLA framework looks at the different ways that people, especially people with autism, develop language. One important aspect of this is “gestalts”which are strings of language that can be long or short, and are often tied to an emotional, meaningful, or dramatic experience. This episode's half of the interview focuses primarily on "delayed echolalia," which is stage one of the Natural Language Acquisition framework.   Before the interview, Chris shares about a previous experience being taught about “learning styles” in grad school (e.g. visual learner, auditory learner) and how "learning styles" were contradicted by later evidence. Chris discusses ASHA’s triangle of evidence-based practice (e.g. what research says, what clients who got the intervention say, and what experts in that area say about the concept) and how he uses it to engage with new ideas and concepts with a balance of skepticism and openness to new ideas.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Gestalts involve episodic memory as opposed to semantic memory. A person who is gestalt language processing assigns meaning to a whole chunk of sound - it’s the soundtrack from an experience.  For example, a child may pick up the script “To infinity and beyond” watching a movie they really enjoy. Later, when they do another activity they enjoy, they might say “To infinity and beyond!” again.   🔑 According to Marge and Alexandria, we shouldn’t jump stages and start teaching individual words and morphemes to someone in stage one of the NLAF. Because the NLA framework is a developmental process, we wouldn’t want to jump ahead to teaching Step 4 before going to Step 2 and 3. If we do, they may develop splinter skills in some areas without developing important foundational skills and understanding.   🔑 When older children and adults say a shortcut phrase or idiom (e.g. “Autobots roll out” to leave the house), it is probably not a “gestalt”. Gestalts are primarily used by younger children in Stage 1 of the Natural Language Acquisition framework, and are usually tied to emotional, meaningful, or dramatic experiences.   To listen to the previous episode with Alexandria Zachos, go to https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/alexandria-zachos    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!

This week on TWT, Rachel interviews SLP and AAC Specialist Becca Eisenberg about her work with older AAC users, including why she created her own YouTube Channel for video modeling called Life Skills to Learn! Becca shares ideas for motivating AAC users, including giving AAC users the freedom to direct therapy in new, more directions that are more interesting to the AAC user.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about one of Rachel’s older students who is still frequently using the word “potty” to ask to use the bathroom. The AAC user’s therapist asked Rachel about using more “mature” words, like “bathroom”, and she wondered if they should change the word on the device from “potty” to “bathroom”. Chris shares why he wouldn’t change the word “potty” to “bathroom” or anything else, and strategies we can use instead to encourage an AAC users to use a new word. Rachel shares her ideas for helping the student, including adding a bathroom “quick fire” pre-stored phrase that uses “bathroom”.  Key ideas this week:   Chris wondered about using the Frayer model to teach new words to AAC users. The Frayer Model is typically a graphical organizer divided into four quadrants. In the first quadrant, students list the definition of a word, the second contains examples (or pictures of examples) of the word, the third quadrant contains non-examples of the word, and the fourth contains characteristics of the word.    If we want an AAC user to use a new synonym to ask for something we need to explicitly teach the word we would like them to use and, when talking with the AAC user, we should change to use the same word ourselves.    We can use video modeling of functional tasks, like those on Becca’s YouTube channel Life Skills to Learn (https://www.youtube.com/@Lifeskills2learnwithBecca), to teach language concepts and functional skills at the same time.   We can better facilitate communication for AAC users when we give them choices during therapy and build trust.  In Becca’s experience, when AAC users realize they have the freedom to direct where therapy goes next, they often communicate more. Becca sometimes has activities planned that she doesn’t get to on because the student wanted to communicate about something else.   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!

This week, we share Chris’s interview with Dr. Cheri Dodge Chin, an AAC researcher, blogger, and professor who recently has done research into the effectiveness of caregiver AAC training via online video chat. She shares valuable strategies for Her results showed that many caregivers were able to learn modeling strategies for shared reading during online video chat in as little as an hour!   Before the interview, Chris shares with Rachel about his trip to the about the ImpAACt Voices Conference (https://www.impaactvoices.org/)! Chris touches on creating opportunities for adult AAC users to gain employment through community training, the need to evaluate how we can better prepare AAC users for employment, and the value in bringing the community and AAC users together to learn from each other.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Being a good shared reader and communication partner is something that takes practice; it’s not a talent that people are just born with.   🔑 Some parents need to be taught not to turn reading into an interrogation. We want the AAC user to relax and have fun, not just answer a series of questions.   🔑 Dr. Dodge Chin taught the “WISE” strategy parents to use when modeling AAC, which stands for: Wait five (or more) seconds, Invite (don’t quiz), Show (i.e., model), and Expand.   🔑 Dr. Dodge Chin used the “Read Ask Answer Prompt” strategy for building communication skill during storybook reading by Drs. Cathy Binger and Jennifer Kent Walsh. You can learn more from Carole Zangari here https://praacticalaac.org/praactical/building-communication-skills-during-storybook-reading/   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!

This week, we present Part 2 of Chris and Rachels’ discussion with Joanna Holmes (@mummyvsaac), the mother of Lucy, an AAC user with Emanuel Syndrome. Emanuel Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that disrupts normal development and affects many parts of the body, including the speech mechanism. In Part 2, Chris, Rachel, and Joanna share ideas surrounding the Open AAC movement (openaac.org), including making symbols that are free for everyone to use and allowing “open exports” of vocabulary sets between different AAC software applications.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss Chris’s frustration with some presenters doing things in a way that are not very accessible to people with special needs. He wants to connect with these presenters to share strategies for making their presentations better, but he is afraid that doing so would make him “that guy” who seems like he is overly critical.   🔑 The words Joanna’s daughter Lucy knows best are the ones that have been modeled for her and repeated many times over the years. Many of these are words she started out with on her earliest layouts. Even if Joanna isn’t sure if her daughter will use a word sometime soon, it’s important we continue to repeatedly expose AAC users to a variety of vocabulary words.    🔑 Sometimes, people in society will look at tools like AAC as a magical way to make someone more “normal.” Instead of looking at AAC as a way to make AAC users more like a speaking person, we should look at AAC as a way for people with complex communication needs to be themselves and speak their truth in their own way, even if it requires us to be patient and supportive of their communication attempts.   🔑 One thing that would be nice for AAC systems would be the opportunity to take a vocabulary set that you are using on one device and move it to a new one. This would allow AAC users more freedom to update their systems while not interfering with the symbols and motor plan they already have. Now, if you want to upgrade your system, you are often forced to learn an entirely new symbol set, which can be a big factor in choosing whether or not to upgrade.   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!   Links:   Mummy vs AAC Blog: mummyvsaac.blog     Hannah Foley, Sarah Gregory, & Joanna Holmes: Home Grown- Planting Seed for AAC Growth

This week, Chris and Rachel interview Joanna Holmes (@mummyvsaac on Instagram), the parent of an AAC user with Emanuel Syndrome. Emanuel Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that disrupts normal development and affects many parts of the body, including the speech mechanism. Joanna has lots to share about her experience as the parent of an AAC user, including the journey to find the right access method, and having to work with team members who had limiting beliefs about her daughter.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris ask the question: how often are we asking “wh-“ questions to students who are still emerging in their ability to answer “wh-“ questions? If they aren’t answering “wh-“ questions yet, then try and find another way to ask the student the same thing e.g., providing choices. For example, instead of asking the student “where do you want to go?”, you can ask them a series of more concrete questions, like, “Do you want to go to the park? Do you want to go to Target?” and so on.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 When writing goals, remember that not all “wh-“ questions are the same level of difficulty. Often, students will have an easier time learning “what”, “where,” “when”, and “who” then they will “why” or “how”. Being specific with the “wh-“ words you want to target in a goal is typically a better practice so everyone will know which ones to teach.   🔑 It doesn’t make sense to gather data for a goal week after week if you are not first teaching the underlying skill the goal is measuring. According to the “80/20” rule, we should be teaching 80% of the time and assessing 20% of the time. For example, if you write a goal that a student will answer “where” questions, we should be teaching  how to answer “where” questions 80% of the time and measuring how they are doing on the goal only 20% of the time.   🔑 One idea for teaching how to answer “wh-“ questions  is to have a sorting activity where they student places different objects in the correct “wh-“ question folder, depending on if it is a person, place, or thing.    🔑 As a parent, you should feel you’re on good ground if you’re basing your statements on information about AAC from high-quality sources like https://praacticalaac.org. If you’re getting pushback from members of your child’s team and you have good information, you can share that information with them to help them understand your perspective.  As a parent, you shouldn’t be afraid to be firm about what the next steps should be when you have good clinical evidence that supports your beliefs.   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!

This week, we share the recording of Chris and Rachel’s recent webinar with aaccessible.org in which they answer questions related to AAC assessment, the benefits of a team-based approach to assessment, selecting motivating assessment materials, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss Chris’s recent discovery that a student he worked with who was very important for him professionally had passed away. They share about some of the challenges anyone can face working with people who have complex medical needs, including people passing sooner than we expect. They also highlight the importance of teaching students about their bodies and how to say they feel sick or pain and where things hurt. It can also be a difficult balance with encouraging communication when the family is struggling just to keep the child healthy.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 There is little logic to the traditional “three trials” AAC assessment - if you choose only a low tech option, it is potentially wasting everyone’s time. If you choose to trial three robust AAC systems, how to you pick which one is first? How do you determine that the trial is long enough to make a justified decision? A team based considerations approach to assessment that bypasses the three trials can be much more effective.    🔑 When we are feature matching to determine if an AAC device is a good choice, a major consideration should be what AAC apps the team is already comfortable with. While we can always choose a different option, people are more likely to support a device they are already comfortable with.   🔑 A team-based approach to assessment is really helpful for building capacity with your team. If we have an expert model and don’t meet with the team to choose the device, then they will often not take ownership of implementation. If they are involved, often the team will be more likely to embrace the AAC tool and the implementation strategies.   🔑 When you find that a robust AAC system is not working for a student, it is most likely that you chose the correct device and the problem is related to issues related to modeling, training, and implementation.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Daniel Parker, Kathy White, and Stacy Duffy, individuals behind the creation of Assistive Technology Forward, a group that created a statewide “community of practice” to support Wisconsin assistive technology. ATF has recently begun a free program that provides “microcredentials” that are focused on a particular area of practice within assistive technology.  Learn more here. These modules can be completed in a few hours and many can be taken by parents, administrators, and others who are not as familiar with assistive technology. Chris chats with Daniel, Kathy, and Stacy about Assistive Technology Forward, how they came to create microcredentials, some of the benefits of microcredentials, and a discussion of the virtual “community of practice” that ATF has created for assistive technology!    Before the interview, Rachel shares some thoughts about an upcoming assessment report that she has been asked to write. Chris and Rachel discuss preparing for a student who has aggressive behaviors, dealing with the pressure to have standardized assessments as part of a report, and some of the questions that Rachels asks when she begins an AAC assessment.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Many people are frustrated with their jobs in education, and one reason is because they don’t feel supported or comfortable with what they are asked to do every day. Microcredentials can help people feel more confident in their jobs, which may increase overall job satisfaction.   🔑 It can be costly and very time prohibitive to go through a full, formal AAC certification program. While that may be a good choice for some people, micro transactions offer another way to learn about the technology thatAT specialists, educators, and others can use to become more effective in support assistive technology.    🔑 ATF created an virtual, assistive-technology-focused “community of practice” i.e. a group of people who interact regularly to develop their skills. They often have meetings where a subject-matter expert facilitates a cooperative discussion with the group on topics related to assistive technology, which they record and save for other members of the community of practice. Some of these sessions can be viewed on You Tube here   🔑 Assistive Technology Forward has a number of online free learning modules that provide lots of free information about assistive technology, including training for people who are not as familiar with AAC.   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!

This week, we have the privilege of interviewing Hank Poore, an AAC user and Tobi Dynavox ambassador who has his own foundation, hankpoorefoundation.org. Hank shares about becoming a proficient AAC communicator, the AAC journey Hank took to come to his current eye gaze system, advice for looking for a job as an AAC user, work Hank does with his foundation, and more!    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss a breakthrough that Rachel had with one of her coaching clients. Her client’s Mom and Dad have been sending in videos of them working with their child, after which they watch the videos with Rachel and talk through how they can become more effective communication partners. Recently, when watching a video of a session, they noticed how anxious the AAC user was getting when asked a question that he doesn’t know the answer to. The family discussed with Rachel how they can switch from questions that have a “right” and “wrong” answer to questions that are more open ended to help their child feel less anxiety when asked a question. The family would never have noticed if it wasn’t recorded, so in this case, video was an excellent resource.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 There is evidence to suggest that people with disabilities are asked more questions than people without disabilities - make sure that you are not turning a communication exchange into an interrogation.    🔑 When we are selecting an AAC device for a user, sometimes we can get caught up in picking the one “best” tool. We shouldn’t focus exclusively on selecting the one tool or the primary tool that they will use - in some cases, like Hank’s, it may be that a combination of tools will be successful for a user.   🔑 Technology is changing and growing at such a fast rate, in some cases a tool that didn’t work years ago may have been improved. For Hank, he tried eye gaze years ago, but it was too difficult to use. However, when he tried it again more recently,  the technology had improved and it was much more effective for him.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Ken Hackbarth, Christine Baudin, and Micheal Dicpinigaitis about 3D printing custom items related to assistive technology, including keyguards! Ken, Christine, and Michael share about discuss Ken’s website volksswitch.org, which has resources for how to create files for 3D printers that tell it to build a keyguard that fits an iPad with AAC apps perfectly.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about environmental core boards (e.g. “playground boards”) and some considerations to make before you install one, including making sure that the board is at the correct height for the students who will be using it.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Keyguards are applicable in many instances where you wouldn’t initially recommend them.  They can help individuals with moderate motor control take advantage of larger language sets by helping them effectively select smaller buttons on an AAC device.  Volksswitch provides free, ready-to-print keyguard designs for a collection of popular AAC apps and popular iPad cases!   🔑 One great thing about volksswitch.org is that they provide an app that lets you customize your keyguard based on several common combinations of iPads, cases, and the most common AAC apps (e.g. LAMP WFL, Proloquo2go, TouchChat). This allows someone with limited coding and engineering experience to create and print a keyguard effectively.    🔑 Michael sells 3D printed keyguards on his Etsy website, https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdaptedCreations. In addition to selling keyguards, he also sells cases that match the keyguards, switch adapted toys, and switch mounts.   🔑 One reason that keyguards were an obvious choice for 3D printing is the high cost of getting a keyguard professionally laser cut (approximately $80-$150). As as long as you have access to a 3D printer, you can make many keyguards for the price of one laser-cut keyguard.   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   To listen to this episode, search "Talking with Tech" in your podcast player of choice or go to www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/print-keyguards  

This week, Rachel invites Gemma White back to TWT to talk about personal safety awareness and self advocacy for AAC users. Gemma recently gave a presentation at AAC in the Cloud, “Where is the Penis?: Equipping AAC Users to Discuss Personal Safety Awareness with Personal Safety Curriculum”. Gemma talks about this presentation, why words like “penis” and “vagina” should be in AAC users devices, ways that we can collaborate to support personal safety awareness, and other ways that we can empower AAC users to protect themselves from neglect and abuse.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss some comments made by an SLP who works with one of Rachel’s clients and focuses only on verbal speech. This client has Childhood Apraxia of Speech and is highly unintelligible. He has been making good progress with his AAC and is now choosing to use it more often. Recently, the other SLP commented that “AAC is holding back verbal speech” because the client chose to use his AAC more than verbal speech to communicate. Rachel shares how she responded, the reasons why the other SLP may have believed this, and why following the student’s lead is so important when accepting communication modalities.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If your school or practice has a curriculum developed to teach children about personal safety awareness, then you can collaborate with the whole team to add language to AAC user’s devices that support what they’re learning about their bodies and safety.   🔑 A person’s gender does not always match the body parts they were born with - It’s important to separate words related to gender and labels for private parts to foster a more inclusive environment.   🔑 We need to focus on self-advocacy from the beginning, e.g. "no," "stop," and "all done." Often refusal and negation can be motivating, especially if we are asking a student to do something they don’t want to do.   Links from this Episode:   Gail van Tatenhove: The Power of Core: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqfVAPuGzpI   Gemma White, AAC in the Cloud: “Where is the Penis?: Equipping AAC Users to Discuss Personal Safety Awareness with Personal Safety Curriculum” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-kw4_HH6FI   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!

This week, Chris interviews Tami Altschuler, a medical-based SLP and graduate instructor who focuses on supporting AAC and communication in the hospital setting. She shares about her journey helping the doctors and nurses understand that communication is a medical necessity, and the patient and employee satisfaction improvements that have come from better supporting communication and AAC access for every patient that needs it.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss one of Rachel’s clients who has optical nerve damage that makes visual processing difficult. The family is concerned that he is not able to access his coursework and reading materials due to his visual difficulties.  Rachel shares some of the assistive technology strategies she suggested, including voice typing in Google Docs, using Read & Write for Google Chrome, using text-to-voice using a camera, making text high contrast, and more!    Key ideas this week:      🔑 It was difficult to get initial buy in from physicians at her hospital to order SLP services for AAC and communication.Tami needs a doctor’s order to work with the patients - she can’t just work with a patient on her own initative. When Tami started at her hospital, the doctors didn’t know an SLP could help with a patient who can’t communicate (e.g. they are intubated).    🔑 SLPs in the medical setting often focus more on feeding and swallowing than on AAC and communication. It took a lot of working through “barriers to participation” (Beukelman & Mirenda (2013)) - i.e. resources, attitude, skill, and knowledge. Had to break through those barriers to help the other medical SLPs understand the need to support AAC.    🔑 The “Great Resignation” impacted the medical field in several ways, including the amount of knowledge nurses in Tami’s hospital have about AAC and communication. There was a mass exodus of pediatric nurses who had a lot of communication training, and the newer nurses were not as familiar. Tami’s hospital now has a process that trains nurses right away during new hire orientation about communication and AAC.   🔑 Writing a patient’s communication tools and strategies on the door outside the patient’s room can help the nurses know how a patient communicates before the enter the room.    You can reach Tami on Twitter @tami_altschuler   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!

  This week, we share Part 2 of TWT Live from Oregon! This week, Rachel and Chris talk with their audience about a range of topics, including getting buy in from teachers and staff and choosing which core words to start teaching!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a listener question, “Is putting a big poster with AAC symbols on the wall a good idea?” They point out the benefits of putting up AAC light-tech boards, and Chris describes why it is better to put up a poster of the kid’s core board than changing the symbols or moving them around.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If an emergent communicator is struggling to learn how to use light-tech AAC, even with lots of modeling, you may want to try high-tech AAC. In some cases, using high-tech AAC can help him or her understand why and how we use AAC.   🔑 When dealing with a teacher or staff member who doesn’t want to use AAC, a “top down” approach that gets their administrator involved may cause push back in the long run and/or damage rapport. Try a “bottom up” approach first - ask probing questions to find out about that teacher’s challenges and point out where AAC can help (e.g. reducing difficult behaviors).   🔑 Celebrate the small wins for AAC users - if an emergent communicator make any progress towards independent communication, however small, make sure to celebrate and let everyone know! When someone makes a difference that impacts the life of another person, they are often inspired to do more!   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!

This week, we share Part 1 of a previously recorded Talking with Tech Live show with listeners from Oregon. This week, the listeners ask several questions related to conducting language and AAC assessments virtually, including how to make them more effective.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel have a lively discussion about Gestalt Language Processing and how we can support AAC users who script. Rachel shares several ideas, including putting the student’s preferred scripts on their device as a way to make the device more interesting and motivating.   🔑 One tool that listeners suggested for virtual assessment is the Communication Matrix. https://communicationmatrix.org/ This assessment allows you to get input from caregivers through an online for. One benefit is it doesn’t require the chid to have to sit in front of a screen.    🔑 When we are trying to observe a person’s communication skills virtually, it may be better to have the caregivers video the student at hoome communicating in the ways they normally communicate. It can be difficult to truely observe a child during Zoom sessions - the child may not communicate the same way on Zoom because there is greater pressure to “perform.”    🔑 If we are considering a virtual assessment, it is important to consider training communication partners on how to optimize the virtual assessment. Is the student seated in their chair? What is the background noise situation? Preparing in this way can help the assessment go more smoothy.   Emily Quinn’s webinar on the Communication Matrix from Echo Voices https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-S-rVgOrozwa36mGxaW0ZQcNob2brWTx/view   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!

This week, we present Part 2 of Chris and Rachel’s interview with Sean Sweeney! Sean is a Speech-Language Pathologist and founder of SpeechTechie.com, a website that focuses on the intersection of speech therapy and technology. This week, he discusses his “FIVES” pneumonic to help evaluate if a resource (e.g. an app) is a worthwhile investment of time and money.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel share about their recent trip to Montana to do a presentation, and some of the highlights of the trip. They also answer an excellent listener question that asks “Regarding the least-to-most prompting hierarchy, if the student is new to the board/device and we jump to the last step and model without expectation, how long do we stay at that level?”   Key ideas this week:   🔑 The least-to-most prompting hierarchy is related more to an individual words than to a particular student student. The amount of prompting that a student needs will depend on the word, so a student isn’t ever at a certain “level” of the hierarchy  for every word.   🔑 The symbols or pictures on an AAC system give users way to recognize the word(s) they want to say. Without the visual, it can be harder for students to construct an effective spontaneous utterance.    🔑 Sean came up who the pneumonic “FIVES” to help evaluate resources that he is considering using for therapy. FIVES stands for Fairly priced, Interactive (decision making, create narrative), Visual, Educationally relevant, and “Speechie” (i.e., the app can be used to target specific clinical objectives)   🔑 Sean likes to take materials and items from a student’s hobbies and use them to target his clinical objectives. For example, he has a student who loves Pokemon, so he pulls story grammar and vocabulary from a Pokemon comic to make the lesson more engaging and interactive.   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!

This week, we present Part 1 of Chris’s interview with Sean Sweeney! Sean is a Speech-Language Pathologist and founder of SpeechTechie.com, a website that focuses on the intersection of speech therapy and technology.  In Part 1 of this interview, Sean discusses his recent appearance on the game show Jeopardy and some of the insider information he got as a contestant!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel make some connections between Sean’s appearance on Jeopardy, including the similarities between the Jeopardy committee that decides if a question was answered correctly and the need for a team based approach to assessment. Chris and Rachel also chat about the difference between an “AAC app” and an “AAC system”.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Giving a quiz that is put up on the board in front of a group of people (e.g. kahoot.com, baamboozle.com, quizizz.com) is as much a measure of reading ability and fluency as it is a measure of knowledge. Just like Jeopardy, you can read the question out loud to the contestants before giving them a chance to answer, giving slower readers a chance to succeed.    🔑 An “AAC system” is more than a particular app or tool. It is the combination of all the ways that a person communicates (e.g. low tech board, robust AAC app, and gestures) and often does not mean just one tool. There are circumstances (e.g. bath time) where a different tool, like a laminated core board, could be more effective than their primary app or tool.   🔑 It is common for people to not remember situations that required a lot of thinking, stress, and language analysis, such as going on a game show or giving a speech in public. This is, in part, because the brain is so focused on the immediate task that it isn’t committing things to memory in the way it normally would.   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!

This week, we present Part 2 of Chris’s conversation with Kim Hurley and Jessica Conrad about the Specific Language System First Approach! Kim Hurley is an SLP and AAC Specialist who is considering moving her district to the Specific Language System First Approach. Jessica Conrad is an SLP and AAC Specialist who works for the Indiana PATINS project supporting AAC users and their circle of support. In Part 2, Chris, Kim, and Jessica continue to breakdown some of Kim and Jessica’s concerns with implementing the Specific Language System Approach, including failing to notice when a student needs a more individualized AAC system (i.e. a “Tier 3” AAC student), as well as and the need to include families in the process of selecting the “Tier 1/2” AAC system.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel chat about Rachel’s recent visit to a Jack Johnson concert in Hawaii and the importance of Jack’s music to Rachel when she was battling seasonal depression (i.e., Seasonal Affective Disorder) as a young woman.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 One concern Kim had was that the “best” AAC system for younger students might not be as useful for middle or high school students. Chris pointed out that there are robust language systems, like TouchChat, that are appropriate for children all the way through adulthood, and that is something we can consider when selecting our Tier 1 system.   🔑 The earlier you can involve parents in the process of selecting AAC for their student, the better. This can mean involvement with overall selection of the Tier 1 AAC system, as well as involvement with the considerations meeting you hold to determine if the student should be given AAC.   🔑 If you make sure administrators, teachers, aides, and families are involved with the selection of your Tier 1 AAC system, then there will be better buy-in overall. Plus, it will help retain knowledge about the process and the Tier 1 AAC decision, even if the AAC Specialist (or another trained team member) leaves the district.   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!

This week, we present Part 1 of Chris’s conversation with Kim Hurley and Jessica Conrad about the Specific Language System First Approach! Kim Hurley is an SLP and AAC Specialist who is considering moving her district to the Specific Language System First Approach. Jessica Conrad is an SLP and AAC Specialist who works for the Indiana PATINS project supporting AAC users and their circle of support. Chris, Kim, and Jessica explore some of Kim and Jessica’s concerns with moving towards a Specific Language System First Approach, and how those problems can be minimized or avoided.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel chat about a recent visit to Arizona to teach a course on AAC and some of Chris’s previous encounters with Indiana’s PATINS project.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 One way to think about the Specific Language System First Approach is through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. A Tier 1 support (i.e., support for almost everyone) would be the Specific Language System you give to almost everyone (e.g. a particular AAC app), while Tier 3 (individual support) would be for students that need a greater level of individual consideration for AAC (e.g. a student with CVI).    🔑 If you use the Specific Language System First Approach, it is important to remember that there will always be students who need individualized consideration (e.g. students with access issues). One idea is to train team members on the kinds of students that may not be well suited for Tier 1 and what to do if you think a Tier 3 support is needed.   🔑 When choosing the system that will become the Tier 1 support for most students, you can invite admins, teachers, and parents to participate in the discussion about the needs of students and some of the features that would be needed for students to be successful, as well as how those needs are met by particular AAC systems. This can help increase buy-in and lead to better understanding of the needs of teachers and students.   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!

This week, we share Part 2 of Rachel's interview with Vicki Haddix and Janine Peca! Vicki Haddix is an AAC Specialist and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Memphis who teaches their course on AAC for the Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Janine Peca is an autistic adult who recently went through Memphis’s CSD program and is now an SLP. Janice shares about a recent presentation she made about neuroaffirming practices, including a fascinating portion on what it feels like to be overstimulated. Vicki shares about how she improved her class design by giving choices to students whenever possible.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about Rachel’s recent two-week vacation to Spain and France and Chris’s Roadtrip to ISTE! Rachel and Chris discuss using Google Translate to translate between languages in real time, scanning pictures for text translation and text to speech, the Wonderfully Inclusive Scavenger Hunt at ISTE, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Supporting sensory needs can be very motivating for AAC users, but are not always considered when deciding on motivating language for emergent communicators. Janine shares about the sensory strategy communication board she made for herself for when she feels overstimulated and has difficulty formulating language.   🔑 Labeling certain behaviors as a “meltdown” or “tantrum” carry the implicit meaning that it is done for attention. When an autistic person reacts to overstimulation with a particular behavior, we should consider that this behavior may be physically necessary for them at that moment.   🔑 During a period of overstimulation, we can connect with an autistic person in a neuroaffirming way to find out if there is something we can do to help, such as saying, “I notice you are doing a lot of hand flapping, and I wonder if you are feeling a lot of stimulation. Is there anything I can do to help?”    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!

This week, we share Rachel's interview with Vicki Haddix and Janine Peca! Vicki Haddix is an AAC Specialist and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Memphis who teaches their course on AAC for the Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Janine Peca is an autistic adult who recently went through Memphis’s CSD program and is now an SLP. Vicki shares about making pre-service education more interesting and engaging, and the need for increasing mentorship for recent graduates. Janine shares some of her experiences as an autistic adult, including some of the ways neurodiversity was and was not supported during her undergraduate and graduate experience.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Even with with the best AAC pre-service prep for students, we will need mentors after graduate school for new SLPs to lean on, especially for initial AAC device selection and implementation.   🔑 One part of a being a good mentor is leading others to where the good resources are (e.g., podcasts, webinars, articles). One way we can do that is giving them a “curated” list of resources to review before you meet together. Once they have gone through those resources, you can discuss them in-person. This can reduce the time spent going over basic information and increase the value of your discussion together.   🔑 New SLPs may also feel lost on how to evaluate and treat non-symbolic communicators who may only have emergent intentionality.  They may write goals and use materials for more advanced communicators that are not appropriate yet. We can direct them to focus instead on establishing foundational communication skills, including initiation and understanding symbolic representation.   🔑 When someone asks Vicki to explain AAC to them, she will point them to praacticalaac.com, AAC in the Cloud (aacconference.com), and the Talking with Tech podcast (talkingwithtech.org - thanks Vicki ☺️). This gives people something to read, something to watch, and something to listen to, depending upon how they learn best.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Shelley Anderson! Shelley is a music therapist who works for a private practice in Ft Wayne, IN and runs a business, Notes 2 Live By, that teaches basic communication through sign language and, more recently, through assistive technology. Shelley shares about the ways that music can be used to teach language to everyone, including AAC users, including how music can be used in unique ways to teach core language concepts.    Before the interview, Chris chats with his son Tucker and daughter Maggie about current slang that you may want to consider adding to AAC devices. They talk about slang such as “slay”, “queen”, “give me the tea”, “fit”, “choogie”, and more!    Key ideas this week:   🔑 It can be very motivating to start singing a song and to then stop it at a point that makes the listener want to keep singing. An AAC user can add a word from their device to the song you are singing in the same way, such as us singing “Because I’m” and having them say “happy” to the tune of “Happy” by Pharrell.   🔑 When using music to teach language, it is better if you sing acapella or play an instrument. That way, we can slow down the pace to meet their needs, which  is more effective than pausing the music on a pre-recorded track.    🔑 We can use music to teach a particular core word, such as playing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by WHAM! to teach “Go”. You can also contrast the different meanings of a core word using different songs (e.g. “Can’t Stop This Feeling” by Justin Timberlake and “This Train Don't Stop There Anymore” by Elton John).   🔑 If you are using music in therapy, make sure not to overuse a particular song (e.g. play the same song they like every week for months), as this can effect how motivating it is.   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!

This week, we present Part 2 of Rachel’s interview with Alma Partida (@aacforyouandme on Insta), Sarah Lee (@aac_together), Melissa Tapia (@hablame_de_language), and Maria De Leon (@code.switch.slp) about Bilingüe AAC, a platform that supports evidence-based, culturally affirming Spanish AAC. In this segment of the interview, the Bilingüe AAC team provides lots of useful information, including research that supporst bilingualism for AAC users, some of the myths of bilingual AAC, and information you can share with families who are hesitant to teach an AAC user two languages. To listen to Part 1 of this interview, click here.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris answer a question posed by Patreon member Anna, who has a 15-year-old autistic son who is a complex communicator and AAC user. He has a verbal vocabulary of around 200 words, and a more limited AAC vocabulary. Her son went to a well-regarded ABA school, where they they used AAC to only teach only fringe words and as a backup to verbal speech when they couldn’t understand him. His mother learned more about AAC implementation and moved him to a new school. Now, the new SLP wants her son to use a different vocabulary template (in his case, Crescendo for Proloquo2go) that better supports core language, and Anna wanted to know how best to transition her son from his old vocabulary template to his new one.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 When teaching AAC to a student in two different languages, we can take a “Cross Linguistic” or a Bilingual approach. The Cross-Linguistic approach has the SLP or teacher doing one day of AAC implementation/language therapy in Spanish and another in English. The Bilingual approach, which is recommended for monolingual therapists, teaches both languages at the same time (e.g. teaching “water” and "agua" at the same time).   🔑 Monolingual (e.g. English-speaking only) therapists and teachers should try to teach vocabulary to bilingual students in both their languages. This sends the message “Your culture is OK,” even if we can only teach one word at a time.  If you aren’t as strong in their first language, tell the student “Let’s learn this together,” or “You can teach me”. It goes a long way to build trust and rapport with the student and their family.   🔑 If you are hearing that a student is “not motivated by anything,” it is better to say “they aren’t motivated by anything yet.” One idea is to consider their sensory needs and interests. If we are able to do a deep dive into those interests, we may find something to help a student regulate their sensory needs, or find something that they simply enjoy (e.g. touching shaving cream) that will motivate them to communicate.    Links this week:   King, M., Lim, R., Romski, M. (2021). Language experience, cognitive skills, and English and Spanish semantic abilities in bilingual children with typical development and language impairments.   McNamara, E. (2018). Bilingualism, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, and Equity: Making a Case for People With Complex Communication Needs    Bilingüe AAC has pages with freebies in both English and Spanish, including a “Common Bilingualism Myths” visual.    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!

This week, Rachel interviews Alma Partida (@aacforyouandme on Insta), Sarah Lee (@aac_together), Melissa Tapia (@hablame_de_language), and Maria De Leon (@code.switch.slp) about Bilingüe AAC (www.bilingueaac.com), a platform that supports evidence-based, culturally affirming Spanish AAC. They discuss many aspects of bilingualism and AAC, including core word considerations and strategies for family-based AAC assessment.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about the difference between “progress” and “success” when we are talking about an AAC user’s communication journey. For some, making progress with using AAC demonstrates success. However, if we are not making progress fast enough or are using a tool that doesn’t promote language development (e.g. a 4 icon core board) then we aren’t really working towards true success, which includes independent, spontaneous communication.   🔑 When assessing a bilingual student for AAC, take a family centered approach to assessment.  Try and get an interpreter involved (if necessary) and talk to the family about how they communicate in the home. If we get a bilingual word inventory of the student and discuss vocabulary with the family, we can get a better picture of what words will be most useful for that student.   🔑 Generally, we don’t want to directly translate core word lists between two languages. Depending on the languages in question, the core words may be somewhat different (e.g. English and Spanish) or completely different (e.g. English and Chinese). In either case, shouldn’t assume that the core words are exactly the same.   🔑 When assessing a bilingual student, do a home language survey that includes the amount the family uses each language. In some cases, they may speak 90% english with only little bit of Spanish, or vice versa.    Links this week:   Diverse AAC YouTube channel    AAC App Crosswalk- table with different AAC app features, including languages offered   Soto and Cooper (2021): An early Spanish vocabulary for children who use AAC: Developmental and linguistic considerations.    AAC in the Cloud Presentation on diverse AAC implementation   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!

This week, Chris interviews Ceci Fetterolf, a high school senior who created core word videos and linked them using QR codes for her school capstone project. Ceci shares about how she came up with her project and decided on the core words to make videos about, and also how she created books for students that simplified math concepts, like shapes.    Before the interview, Chris gathers with Karen Janowski, Mike Marotta, and Beth Poss to discuss their upcoming “Inclusive Road Trip to ISTE”! This road trip starts at TextHelp headquarters in Massachusetts and ends at the ISTE conference in New Orleans, LA. During the road trip, Chris, Karen, Beth, and Mike will pull out their favorite inclusive tools and use them to enhance their roadtrip experience! Follow them on social media with #inclusiveroadtoISTE.    Key Ideas this Week:   🔑Learn more about the Inclusive Road Trip at inclusive365.com/inclusiveroadtoISTE, including the Wonderfully Inclusive Scavenger Hunt (WISH), an event which you can join at home!   🔑You can add to the playlist Chris, Karen, Mike, and Beth’s will listen to on their trip by going to their Spotify #InclusiveRoadToISTE Playlist   🔑 If you want to learn more about the Road Trip and WISH live, you can Register for the June 22nd #ATchat #InclusiveRoadToISTE Kick off Event   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!

This week, Chris has an amazing interview with Benjamin Bennett, an AAC Specialist for the Escondido Union School District near San Diego, CA. Benjamin has a wealth of information to share, including his school’s move from doing traditional AAC evaluations to a model that is more focused on the considerations of the whole team. Benjamin has lots of questions about the strengths and drawbacks of the Specific Language System First Approach (SLSFA) - his district is strongly considering moving more towards the SLSFA and he wanted to think through possible issues before rolling it out. To learn more about about the SLSFA from Chris, click here.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel have a great discussion about writing effective goals for AAC users, including tracking spontaneous language and independent initiation. According to Rachel, independent initiation has to be a foundational skill if we want everything else, because “we see a lot of kids who can do a lot with support, and not a lot without it.” She thinks that we need to be open to all the ways students are communicating with us - if they aren’t using the word we are working on but they are communicating, that is still growth and should be recognized.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Students in school should not be required to respond - they aren’t getting paid to be there and it isn’t their choice. We shouldn’t put all of the communication responsibility on the student - instead, let’s ask, what can we do to make communication more tempting?   🔑 Benjamin shares about a school site that has a variety of students who are nonspeaking, minimally verbal, and verbal all using the same systems in the moderate/severe classrooms. This helps get everyone involved with AAC and no longer isolates the nonspeaking students. It just becomes “how we teach” instead of a tier 3 support that only a few students have access to.   🔑 One thing to consider if someone comes in with an AAC system that is different than what is typically used at a new school site - are they independently using the device to communicate? If the device is being used effectively, there is a very strong argument for keeping them on that system and not disrupting their motor plan by moving them to a different one.   🔑 People often think about putting everyone on the same tool, but what about strategies? Is there consistency of communication partners between sites? Do people focus on the same things and model the same way across the district? That is often a bigger concern than the particular system.    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!

This week, we present Rachel’s interview with Laura Taylor, a Special Education Teacher and AAC Specialist with a years of experience teaching language and literacy to people with complex communication needs. Laura has done amazing work utilizing the Pragmatic Organization of Dynamic Displays (PODD), a form of AAC that, at least in the early stages, focuses on teaching communication functions along with vocabulary.   Before the interview, Rachel shares about a client of hers with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. This client was strongly averse to AAC - he would even protest against looking at an iPad with AAC on it. Rachel describes how she got him to start using AAC by giving him a “Please don’t take off my sweater” button! Rachel and Chris then discuss the value in teaching students to protest and to direct the actions of others.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 PODD is a low-tech or high-tech AAC solution that allows for direct access or partner-assisted scanning. PODD starts out organized by communication function and moves on to organization by category later. It also focuses more on suffixes/morphology as time goes on.   🔑 One advantage of PODD is its organization by pragmatic function. Having vocabulary organized this way may help demonstrate to the student what they can communicate about more frequently than other organization methods. Many students are used to the pragmatic functions of answering questions or requesting but not much else. Using PODD may give these students a head start with extra exposure to these other communication functions.   🔑 If you are trying to figure out how to get started with teaching literacy and communication, Laura recommends to “just start.” Do what you can manage. Start small and it can build to big things - modeling, communication opportunities, etc. Get strategic with yourself on one thing that will make an impact - then you can get good at that and build off that!     You can find out more about Laura and PODD at Tayloreducationalconsultants.com and can reach Laura via email at Tayloredconsultants@gmail.com   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!

This week, we hear Part 2 of Dr. Meredith Gohsman's interview with Chris and Rachel! Meredith, Chris, and Rachel reflect on the meeting they attended at the last ASHA convention about ASHA AAC Certification. While previous meetings they attended were more concerned regarding ASHA AAC certification, at ASHA the crowd was more in favor of the certification. Meredith, Chris, and Rachel remain concerned about ASHA AAC certification and discuss some possible negative consequences, including possible impacts on device funding and reducing personal ownership of AAC for some communication partners.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Parents should always be the most important “expert” on their child. The leader of the AAC team should be the caregiver or the AAC user themselves. AAC Certification may lead people to think that the AAC Specialist needs to be leading the AAC team in decision making.   🔑 An ASHA AAC Certification could potentially make communication partners feel more intimidated by AAC. It could be a reason that caregivers and communication partners to say “I don’t do AAC, I’m not an expert” We don’t need anything to take away from the idea that AAC is for all, and it’s everyone’s responsibility.    🔑 It is possible that insurance companies may make it harder for non-AAC Specialists to get funding for a device. Insurance companies might even require someone to be a certified AAC Specialist before they will fund a device.   🔑 One of the most important aspects of supporting AAC users is coaching their communication partners. It isn’t clear if the AAC Certification process will focus on coaching as much as it should; they may focus more on individual expertise in areas like AAC devices or 1:1 treatment.    Links:   stopaaccertification.org - website with resources and information about the effort to stop ASHA AAC certification. If you are interested in advocating for a stop or pause in the AAC Certification process, there are links on this site to templates and contacts where you can send your letter.    aacspecialist.org - home of the American Board of Augmentative and Alternative Communication; the website includes information in support of the potential ASHA AAC certification.   Committee on Specialty Certification: specialtycertification@asha.org   Feedback for ASHA Executive Board: https://www.asha.org/Form/Board-of-Directors-Feedback/   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!

This week, Chris and Rachel interview Dr. Meredith Gohsman about her research into how much progress using their device AAC users made during a 4 week AAC camp. Each AAC user received aided language stimulation and was prompted using the least-to-most prompting hierarchy. Meredith’s results indicate 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 growth in therapy skills of the student clinicians who engaged in the interventions. Meredith says this may indicate that we need to be looking at a longer period than 4 weeks for making progress with AAC users. It may also suggest that we can make greater progress with graduate clinicians by giving them more hands-on experiences.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss Chris’s recent experience as a substitute teacher (due to staffing shortages in his district) in a co-taught general & special education class. Chris talks about some of the things he learned in that role, including the need for more flexible seating options and the general slow speed that public education can move - even when we know something is a better choice for the students.  Chris also shares about how the students were all required to write in a composition book, and he wonders if there would be a way to honor other modalities for writing in a journal (e.g. Chromebook, speech to text, etc).    Key ideas this week:   🔑 When we are thinking about family-centered therapy, we should think about giving the families more hands-on training. In this study, the families didn’t get hands on opportunities, and they made little progress.    🔑 We have a responsibility to provide models and scaffolding for AAC users for a really long time. Some AAC stakeholders may approach modeling saying “A few weeks of modeling s is enough to see if they can use the device,” but in this case, nothing changed in 4 weeks.   🔑 Caregiver perceptions relate to both the child and the caregiver themselves - after training, the communication partner reports they feel more confident with using the device. When caregivers feel more confident, that will pave the way for better downstream outcomes for AAC users.   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!

This week, we present Small Talks VI! “Small Talks” are short clips recorded with a previous guest that highlights one strategy or one idea in seven minutes or less. In this episode of Small Talks, we hear from Andy Smidt, India Ochs, Lory Chrane, Mark Nichols, and Tali Kellerstein!    Before the interviews, Chris and Rachel discuss Chris’s “design challenge” he helped create for some 5th graders to help figure out how to attach 3D printed AAC keyguards (i.e. overlays) to AAC devices without needing to remove the case (for warranty reasons). Chris talks about how this authentic problem got the students really excited, and he shares lots of great online resources for getting started with 3D printing keyguards (see links section below).    On this episode:   🗣️ Andy Smidt shares about universal design for learning, and how she is helping people see how UDL is something they already do in the classroom and there are benefits for educators as well as students in making the learning environment more universal.   🗣️ India Ochs talks about “tone policing”, a practice of criticizing the emotional manner in which a person has expressed a point of view, rather than addressing the substance of the point itself. Tone policing can occur when people are having a discussion about disability and ableism - by criticizing the person’s “tone”, they can avoid discussing any important changes.    🗣️Lory Chrane discusses Symbol-It,  (https://symbolspeak.co/symbol-it/) a paid app that will translate verbal speech directly into symbols that correspond to the person’s AAC.   🗣️ Mark Nichols shares three of his favorite AT solutions right now, including enabling live captions for all videos, using “accessibility checkers” like Grackle (or ones embedded in Office) to make sure our files are as accessible, and converting the text files we assign to students into audio files for them.    🗣️Talk Kellerstein describes how she uses set up and clean up of games to introduce more opportunities to practice using speech or language. She also describes why she avoids games with batteries.   Links from this week’s episode:   Volksswitch.org - 3D printing resource for AT, including keyguards   Jennifer Schubring (@jjschubring on Twitter) has lots of great info about 3D printing keyguards here: https://www.buildingaac.com/post/3d-printing-keyguards-an-epic-journey   Tinkercad.com - create digital 3D printing designs    “No, We Won’t Calm Down: Tone Policing is Just Another Way to Protect Privilege”, an informative comic on Tone Policing shared by India Ochs   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!

This week, Rachel interviews Dr. Jeffrey Ebin, an inventor and ER doctor at the University of Houston who created a FREE eye-tracking communication board (communicatonboard.io) that requires no more equipment than a camera (e.g. on a phone/tablet) and a web browser! Jeffrey shares all about his interest in creating Assistive Technology solutions, and how helping a man who was paralyzed from the neck down started him thinking about a free eye gaze website. One great thing about his communication board, particularly in the hospital setting, is the user can pick it up and learn it quickly without needing a lot of training for themselves or communication partners.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a scenario that may be familiar to people who support AAC users - when we see someone with their AAC device in public, is it appropriate to go and talk to them (and/or their family) about it? Chris saw an AAC user at his daughter’s play and wanted to go and talk to them, but he hesitated and decided not to say anything. Rachel shares similar situations she has experienced, and the uncertainty that many SLPs feel when they are deciding whether to talk about communication outside of the clinical or school setting.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 Some of the vocabulary on the communication board is more specific to a hospital setting (e.g. suction), but there are plans for making the vocabulary customizable in the future.    🔑 The communication board (communicationboard.io) can be combined with an inexpensive receiver to operate things like light switches.   🔑 According to Dr. Ebin, a lot of the tech we are using in the field of assistive technology is outdated by 10-15 years, and in many cases much more expensive than similar technology in other fields. He believes we need to better incorporate the advances we are making in other areas of technology into assistive technlogy.   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!

This week, we hear from Dr. Andy Smidt, a professor at the University of Sydney who teaches a number of courses related to communication and supporting people with severe intellectual disabilities. Andy shares about teaching pre-service professionals in unique ways, her “TEAM” taxonomy that can help write goals for emergent (presymbolic) communicators, and more!    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about playing “The Mind”, a card game where you only use observation and nonverbal communication to sequence a set of cards together. They reflect on what they learned playing this game, including how essential nonverbal communication is to our everyday lives and how we can learn to observe very subtle signals. They also share about how we can observe nonverbal communication and then attach language to it in a therapeutic setting.   Key ideas this week:   🔑How do we support someone with severe intellectual disabilities who is presymbolic and may never become symbolic? We can presume their potential, but becoming a symbolic communicator may take a long time. How do we write goals to be worked on right now? Andy came up with the TEAM taxonomy for goal writing that is useful when working with pre-symbolic communicators:   T = Train, e.g. train communication partners E = Expand, e.g. expanding what the AAC use already does. Expand the people they interact with, the activities they participate in, the situation in which the person uses potential communicative acts, expand the people who can interpret these communicative acts. A= Augment, e.g. add something new. Allow the person to make choices in their daily routine. Add in new object symbols, community request cards, etc.  M= Move, e.g. for the person to move to become intentional or symbolic.   🔑In some cases, we need to regroup when we have hit a roadblock and look back at the TEAM framework. You might want to give it a few months and not add anything new - the AAC user may need a break to get comfortable with what they have already learned.    🔑Most clinicians feel they are doing family centered practice, but research indicates most families would say their therapy is not family centered. Family centered practice means going at the speed of the family, which may be slow if that is what they need.   Links from this Episode: Full Text of Andy's article on the TEAM process   The Mind Card Game   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!

This week, we share Part 2 of Rachel’s interview with SLP and host of the SLP Happy Hour podcast, Sarah Lockhart! They continue their discussion of Sarah’s clients, including a nonverbal client who uses lots of scripts to communicate. Rachel shares ideas for how to choose targets for therapy, why we should be modeling language that is important to the AAC user, and how motivating materials during AAC assessment can help get a better picture of his or her true ability.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel finish answering the question from last week about a student with a complex medical history that includes cortical visual impairment (CVI). Chris and Rachel discuss ideas for using books and TV shows the student loves to make therapy more fun, including watching YouTube and eliciting language from the video. They also talk about what to look at when the student isn’t making progress, including whether or not the activity they are doing is fun.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 When modeling, are you showing them language they might want to use? For example, it may be better to model “I don’t want to wake up” for a teenager than “Good Morning Mom”. Both are important, but, in this case, a modeled protest may be used spontaneously more readily than a greeting.   🔑 The most valid assessment is one in which the AAC user is motivated to engage - if we are assessing but forcing the student to label something uninteresting, they may not demonstrate their true skills.   🔑 How can we figure out where to start teaching language? One idea is to look at how AAC users are communicating nonverbally. If a child is already demonstrating non-verbal communication, it is an easy transition to giving them language to use instead of that gesture or action.    🔑 What are other ideas for choosing targets? Ask the communication partners - what does the student do all the time when no one is around? It can give us insight into what they are motivated by, such as sensory seeking behavior or refusal, which can then give you insight into targets and activities.   Links from this week’s episode:   Talking with Tech Episodes related to CVI: https://www.talkingwithtech.org/search?q=CVI   For resources related to coding, go to Code.org

This week, Rachel interviews Sarah Lockhart, an SLP and host of the SLP Happy Hour podcast. Sarah had questions about providing AAC to a student who has limited spontaneous communication but used lots of scripts. Rachel and Sarah discuss the importance of supporting independent communication for echolalic students, how AAC benefits these students by providing visual word choices with auditory feedback, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a listener question about a student with a complex medical history, including CVI, who uses an eye gaze system. Rachel and Chris touch on how they would approach the case and some specific things that come to mind, including the challenges of directly prompting an eye gaze user, ideas for using games to teach language, and how they could use Canva in therapy to make something useful for the student’s school.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If a student relies on us to open a folder on their device, how can it generalize to independence? It’s especially tempting to help an eye tracking user, but If we aren’t training from a motor plan approach, it may not generalize. If we start with supports, we need to fade them as soon as possible so they get the full motor plan.   🔑 It doesn’t move the needle for spontaneous autonomous speech to verbally say what we think they want to say and have them repeat that over and over again. In many cases this hasn’t worked for years.   🔑 You can support independent communication with AAC in ways you can’t with verbal speech alone, such as gesturing at the device with an expectant gaze   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!   Links from this weeks episode:   Episode 147: Kaylie Gustafson: Supporting Eye Gaze Users Through Telepractice https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/kaylie-gustafson?rq=Eye   Pepi's Wonder World: https://www.pepiplay.com/wonderworld/

This week, Chris interviews Rebecca, a guest who requested to keep her last name anonymous. Rebecca is an assistive technology professional who supports a K-12 school district and was interested in putting together some information for her school board asking to increase the number of assistive technology specialists in her district. She and Chris break down some arguments for increasing the quality of AT in the schools, as well as topics like providing direct service minutes vs. coaching, how to calculate the impact you are having on the entire student body (not just students with IEPs), working together with staff development professionals for trainings, and more!    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris have a lively discussion about a hypothetical classroom with one AAC user who has some sensory seeking behaviors. Rachel and Chris go through their thoughts about the case, including  how to approach the teacher, how to support language while also keeping the kids and the staff safe, and providing alternative sensory experiences for the student that may help avoid some of the sensory seeking behaviors.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 One argument for increasing the number of AT/AAC Specialists - there is a lot of time spent selecting the tool, but not much follow through on how to implement that tool. if you need better AAC implementation across the district, you may need to have a dedicated person for coaching.   🔑 Another argument for increasing the number of AAC Specialists - look at the numbers over the previous few years regarding the number of AT and AAC requests you are getting. In many districts, the numbers are growing rapidly.   🔑 There is a huge overlap between accommodations and assistive technology on an IEP - it may make sense to approach the IEP by writing “accommodations reflect AT considerations” under AT considerations, then exploring AT with the team as part of the accommodations discussion.    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!

This week, we share Chris’s conversation with Mai Ling Chan and Jeanette Washington on making our presentations and trainings more engaging and effective! Chris, Mai Ling, and Jeanette are seasoned presenters, and they have a ton of useful tips that you can use to improve your presentations right away!    Before the interview,  Rachel shares about a client who was moved to tears by a sad video that he saw, but was confused about what was happening when he was crying - he wondered if someone was cutting onions. Chris and Rachel talk about engaging kids with experiences that teach them to anchor abstract emotional concepts with something that is real for them, like how it makes their bodies feel or how they feel when grandma leaves.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 It is more important to engage with your audience well rather than focusing on having “pretty” slides. Also, from an accessibility standpoint, it can be more difficult to follow slides that have lots of animations and graphics that don’t really add to the experience.   🔑 Instead of putting several bullet points on a slide, you can just take each bullet and make it its own slide. This makes it less distracting and allows the audience to follow along with you at the same speed.   🔑 Most presentations are three act plays - the first act is a problem we are working to solve, the second act  is strategies we can put together to solve the problem, and third act is the action plan and takeaways.    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!

This week, Chris interviews Stacey Maijala, an SLP who recently started a new AT Specialist position in Michigan that supports 13 school districts and five transition programs. Stacey had lots of questions for Chris about creating a lending library for technology, providing AT and AAC to everyone through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), informing teachers about Tier 1 resources (i.e. resources available to everyone without the need for an evaluation or special education eligibility), and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a patreon users question - is it OK to choose one particular AAC software application (eg. LAMP WFL, Proloquo2Go) as your “go-to” choice for new AAC users? Chris and Rachel describe the “system first approach” and why that is a valid reason for choosing one system over others. Chris and Rachel also touch upon making one AAC app your “Tier 1” option if you are using a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support model.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 You can inform teachers and staff about some of the AT solutions available in your district through a monthly or weekly “tech tips” blog or newsletter that shares some of the strategies and supports that are available to everyone (i.e. Tier 1). You can also send an automatic email reply when they ask for an AAC evaluation that reminds them of all of the resources available without an evaluation.   🔑 AT Specialists and SLPs are “are not Amazon” - they don’t just fill orders for technology. Rather, AT Specialists can help the team come to a consensus decision about what strategies and tools to employ for a potential AAC user. Act as a facilitator and ask questions to help draw out answers from the team.   🔑 If you are creating a lending library, start with technology and tools that are very specialized to one person (e.g. Tier 3 tools), like switch activated toys or braille materials. Trialing AAC devices for a short period makes less sense, because proper implementation takes much longer than a couple weeks. If we have chosen the tool carefully as a team, we need to give the student enough time to learn to use it before we decide if we need to change the tool.    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!

This week, we share Part 2 of Chris’s interview with Tracy Kovach! Tracy is an SLP and AAC specialist who has over 30 years of experience with AAC. She shares about helping Bruce Baker organize the Pittsburgh Augmentative and Alternative Language Seminar Series (PALSS), changes we should make to pre-service education (e.g. university classes),  how implementation might change with brain-interface systems, and more!    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a Patreon member’s questions about working with students who use AAC in a rural district. This listener had questions about creating a tool to help highlight symbols they want AAC users to focus on. She also had questions about choosing a core board to use as a universal support for everyone, and if she should limit the number of icons to make the layout less distracting for students.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 When teaching about AAC at the pre-service education level, we should be focusing on teaching students that AAC intervention is, to a large extent, language intervention. Previously, a large amount of effort was focused on teaching how to operate and program AAC systems, which may not be the most effective approach. The devices might change, but the need to teach language skills stays the same.    🔑 If you are working at a school campus, consider creating a “communication club” for students that meets regularly to support AAC users on campus. This is an authentic problem that some students could really get interested in helping out with. Club members could create and distribute core boards for the school, learn how to be a good communication partner, and practice modeling.   🔑 If Tracy could share one thing about AAC with everyone, she would share “AAC is not magic.” Just because you get the system, doesn’t mean it works right out of the box. Getting the device is only the beginning. AAC implementation is a lot of work and it doesn’t happen without lots of dedication and effort from both the AAC user and the user’s circle of support.   Links from this Episode   Minspeak’s Successful AAC Outcomes Seminars: https://minspeak.com/outcomes/

This week, Chris interviews the Tracy Kovach, an SLP and AAC specialist with a wealth of experience working as an SLP supporting complex communication needs. She shares about working with AAC when it was in its early years, the important of training communication partners, how SLPs and other professionals can advocate for changes in their profession, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel have a fascinating discussion about Lego Braille Bricks (legobraillebricks.com), a service that provides free Lego Braille sets to help teach Braille to people with visual impairments. Chris shares about how the free lessons on the website make learning Braille fun, keeping this set in mind as we support people with visual impairments, and the importance of learning through play!   Key Ideas this Week:    🔑 There is such high turnover in staff, someone working on language development might have 7-10 therapists or more. If we can train the communication partners, then there can be a consistent source of support and implementation despite staff turnover.   🔑 Professionals who work with AAC need to think carefully about how their role is defined as it relates to communication partner training. There needs to have some kind of position statement saying that these professional’s role is, in part, to instruct communication partners and is not just direct contact.   🔑 If SLPs and AAC Specialists can point to something that they are using systematically coach communication partners, it can help administrators understand that the SLPs and AAC Specialists are not making up with something new every week off the top of their head.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Tali Kellerstein, an SLP and owner of The Speech Boutique (https://thespeakboutique.com/) who recently presented at ASHA with Chris on incorporating games and communication! Tali shares about strategies she uses to incorporate games with literacy, letting the child’s targets drive what game you choose, and more!   Before the interview, Rachel shares about working with a client who uses AAC and how she got him motivated using games related to his specific interest, elevators. Chris shares some ideas for incorporating elevators into a home-made game and other ways we can hone in on someone’s interest in therapy!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 You can incorporate games and books together in therapy - if you know what words you want to target, you can choose a book that connects to that theme and a game that will help evoke your target. Manipulate both the story and book to get the child to communicate as much as possible.   🔑 When choosing what game you want to play in therapy, choose the game that will best targets the words you want to target. Avoid choosing a game simply because it matches a particular theme, holiday, or season.   🔑 Buying books and games for therapy does not need to be cost-prohibitive.  if you find the right books and games to target particular words, you can those materials over and over again.   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!

This week, we present part 2 of Rachel and Chris’s discussion of their experiences at ATIA 2022! This episode includes discussion of Rachel’s first experience with “AT Chat”; the benefits of learning in small groups during “Ed Camp”, the success of Chris’s “Cards Against Exclusivity” session, new strategies for using Canva in therapy, AT Maker Day, and more!   Links from this weeks episode:   Search #ATChat on Twitter   Ashley Larisey TWT Episode    Canva.com

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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

This week, Chris chats with Michaela Ball, TWT’s Audio Engineer & SLP Grad Student, about getting a certification in Assistive Technology while she finishes her Master’s degree. They have a lively discussion about why Chris thinks that the time and money spent on AT certification could be better spent on other kinds of professional development.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a recent experience Chris had in a classroom of young students playing Minecraft, including using Immersive Reader to read text in the game and learning about coding while playing Minecraft.   Key Ideas This Week:   🔑 In many parts of the US, there are lots of SLP jobs available without needing a specific certification to get the job. AT jobs may or may not be more competitive depending on the area you work in.   🔑 People who choose to get certification have good reasons to do so, but getting a certification can be a large expenditure of time and money that could be spent more effectively in other ways.   🔑 RESNA certification could be useful in situations where professional competence is called into question or to improve your resume when looking for AT jobs. Chris has heard from RESNA-certified colleagues that their certification was not very useful in improving their day-to-day work as an AT professional.     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!

This week, we share five brief “small talks”, or short interviews, with Mark Brown, Meryl Schnapp, Jennifer Edge Savage, Kim Albrecht, & Colleen Warn!   Before the interviews, Chris and Rachel have an amazing discussion about targeting spontaneous language when people do not communicate much without a prompt or model. For example, you can help parents and teachers realize how much (or little) their child/student communicates spontaneously by having them track it during the day. Making sure to give appropriate wait time and finding something that is motivating are also essential to encouraging independent initiation.    Small Talks This Episode:   🗣️Mark Brown discusses 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, and how we can better support them through AAC during early language development. With 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, language is delayed and there can be cognition deficits. There can also be VP insufficiency which creates hypernasal resonance and impacts articulation and intelligibility. AAC can be used as an interim support before they are more intelligible.    🗣️Meryl Schnapp shares about using 3d printed tactile core symbols, and her efforts to create large classroom sized core board with tactile symbols that are always put in a consistent location, because it would be frustrating to dig through a basket of objects every time you wanted to say a word.    🗣️Jennifer Edge Savage talks about starting AAC Town Halls during the pandemic while working for northeast PRC-Saltillo.  They had a lot of SLPs sharing resources with each other about things that were new or different during remote learning, like AAC tele-assessment.    🗣️Kim Albrecht talks about making her home the local “grand central station” for the neighborhood kids, which is really good exposure for her daughter Miranda.   🗣️Coleen Warn discusses working to create asynchronous learning experiences for people. They developed a bunch of screencasts that are only about 2-5 minutes long that cover different aspects of different AAC tools to encourage people to learn more about their devices.   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!

This week on TWT, we are excited to present Rachel’s interview with the amazing Alexandria Zachos! Alexandria is an SLP, educator, and private practice owner who specializes in treating delayed echolalia (aka scripting) and using the Naturalistic Language Acquisition framework to move from echolalia to self-generated language. Alexandria has a wealth of information to share about gestalt language (learning language in chunks or scripts), how we can teach language to gestalt learners, and how to determine if someone is a Gestalt Language Processor.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel share about a recent presentation at Closing the Gap, and their plans for a similar pre-conference session at ATIA on January 26th from 8 am to 4 pm. They discuss some of the plans they have to make the sessions fun and share some of what they have learned about putting together a meaningful presentation.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 There are two ways that people learn language - Gestalt Language Processors, who learn in chunks or scripts, versus Analytical Language Processors who learn one word, then learn to put two together, and so on.   🔑 Some GLP communicate with single words, but they can’t combine words together to make longer sentences. Others use longer scripts to communicate that are taken from things like favorite media. Other GLP sound unintelligible for a few syllables then say clear word - the unilntellgible sounds and the word together make up the gestalt.   🔑 Understand what stage of echolalia the child is at:  Echolalia - full scripts. Can be delayed (scripts are used long after the initial stimulus). Mix and match - moving around partial scripts or taking parts of scripts. Magic stage - starts to understand that words are units - singling out words and understanding they can stand alone. Beginning grammar and novel original language.   Help them get as many gestalts as possible in Stage 1, then they can break them down in Stage 2 and get the to Stage 3 where they can single the words out.    Find out more about Alexandria’s work at www.meaningfulspeech.com or on Instagram @meaningfulspeech   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!

This week, Rachel interviews Cindy Gelormini, parent of an autistic person and author of a series of children’s books about autism called "Robbie's World and his Spectrum of Adventures". Previously, Cindy built a following on YouTube making videos about her son and their life together. Cindy shares about her son’s journey as a communicator, and some of the challenges he faced not having a method of communication beyond PECS and gesture. Tragically, her son passed away, and Cindy discusses why she wanted to write and illustrate a series of books to carry on Robbie's memory and to help others understand autism a little bit better.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss their upcoming presentation on Coaching at ASHA 2021! They will be presenting together on November 19th, from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm. Chris will also be presenting on gaming and communication on Saturday, 11/20 at 9:30 am, and presenting on robots and communication on 11/20 at 4:30 pm!    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Without a good foundation of communication, people can become much more frustrated and there can be more behaviors. In some cases, this frustration and stress may lead to other health problems.   🔑 If seizures are happening to a client or someone in your family, start tracking what happens before the seizure, what happens after the seizure, and what it looked like. This information can be very helpful down the road.   🔑 For some people, AAC is important because they know what they want to say, but the right words aren’t being articulated.  For example, Rachel shares about a client that answered every preposition question with the verbal answer “under” but, when given an AAC device, was able to select the correct answer every time, indicating he knew the correct preposition even if he couldn’t say it.   Links: Cindy's YouTube Page (includes episodes of her podcast and videos of Robbie): Robbie and Me: Autism Reality      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!

This week, Chris interviews Lory Chrane, an AAC Specialist and Professor at Abelene Christian University. Chris and Lory talk about how Lory has tried to improve pre-service teaching by involving as much experiential learning as possible, especially in the area of AAC instruction. Lory also describes a mission trip to Uganda to work with Hope Speaks, a nonprofit that supports people who have communication challenges and SLPs in Uganda.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel connect to talk about slang and AAC, including the slang word “poggers" that Chris learned from his kids. Chris notes how putting the current slang on AAC devices can make help users talk the way their peers do and make using the device more motivating.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Teaching students how to problem solve and meet challenges head on when dealing with AAC can really help students not be afraid of AAC in practice.   🔑 It’s important to teach students that a lot of work with AAC is teaching language concepts to AAC Users who have difficulty with vocabulary. A much smaller part of working with AAC involves programming or more technical work.   🔑 Lory is working with ACU on a project to support greater inclusion of AAC users into faith-based activities. This includes teaching church leaders to use the Symbol-It software  to provide symbols along with text for greater visual support.   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!   To learn more about Hope Speaks, go to joinhopespeaks.org

This week, the TWT team presents Part 2 of Chris and Rachel’s coaching call with Anya Ashouri, an SLP and AT Specialist for a Non-Public School. In this half of the coaching call, Chris, Rachel, and Anya discuss how to decide what the next AT strategy to work on with students will be, the benefits of providing visual supports to everyone all over the school, how to monitor the quality of implementation in the classroom, and how to get students more excited about the writing and editing process.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a question from Luke about supporting AAC users who primarily use text to communicate (rather than symbols). Rachel touches on how to model AAC using text, when a typing-only system (e.g. Proloquo4Text) would be more appropriate than symbols + text, and how to encourage modeling AAC for a family when parents understand the child’s speech but it is difficult for others to understand.   🔑 When you are assessing a child with complex communication needs who has strengths in the area of writing, look at the complexity of the AAC user’s utterances - if there is low MLU and simplistic sentences, consider including symbols along with the keyboard to support language growth and modeling.   🔑 If a child wants to type messages more than use symbols, but they still have growth to make in learning vocabulary, consider a hybrid  like TouchChat with WordPower80 that includes a keyboard and symbols. That will allow you to teach new vocabulary while using a keyboard at the same time.   🔑 When you are considering what kinds of supports you want to target on in the area of AT, consider the strategies that will make the biggest difference, and not just the tools that are needed. For example, making “modeling” a targeted strategy rather than making “high tech AAC” a target allows you to implement a strategy that can be used by all students, not just AAC users.   To listen to last week’s episode, visit talkingwithtech.org/episodes/anya-ashouri   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!

This week, the TWT team interviews Anya Ashouri, an SLP and AT Specialist for a Non-Public School who had questions about  identifying students in her school who are complex communicators but were not given AAC to communicate. Anya describes how she came to learn that her school needed more robust AT, the steps she took to train herself on AAC and AT, and asks Chris and Rachel for advice on getting admin and parent buy-in for robust AAC.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about a journal article from May 2020, called “The Effects of Telepractice to Support Family Members in Modeling a Speech-Generating Device in the Home”. The article resonated with Chris and Rachel because they both had always felt that coaching family members through tele practice can lead to greater success than direct therapy alone.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If we are building from the ground up, we should tell people what AAC is and why its important. It’s easy to overwhelm people with jargoin if they are not familiar with AAC.   🔑 Many people thing about the SETT framework to select the AT tool, but that is only one part of it. As you are having this discussion, discuss what kind of outcome you want? What else needs to change in the environment? Do we need to change the tasks?   🔑 When you visit a classroom, be conscious of how you can help all the kids, not just one student. Helping teachers with ways they can promote language development for all students is a good way to build rapport and buy-in.    Links:    “The Effects of Telepractice to Support Family Members in Modeling a Speech-Generating Device in the Home”. by Sarah Douglas, Elizabeth Biggs, Hedda Meadan, and Atikah Bagawan   https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2021_AJSLP-20-00230   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   To listen to this episode, search "Talking with Tech" in your podcast player of choice or go to www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/anya-ashouri

This week, Rachel interviews Anu Garla, a mother of Oliver, a boy with autism and cortical visual impairment who uses AAC to communicate. Anu describes her journey getting a diagnosis, how she started working with Rachel, why coaching with Rachel really jump started progress for her son, and advice that she has for other parents who are starting on an AAC journey (e.g. little “homework” assignments for parents can help).   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a recent presentation that Rachel did that she almost missed due to clerical error from one of her staff, and how she adjusted to the situation and made the presentation work. They also discuss how they decide how much to charge (or if to charge) for doing presentations, and have advice for people wanting to do more presentations.   Key Ideas This Week:   🔑 Oliver didn't really make a lot of progress until they started working more closely with Rachel during the pandemic. There was an intensive intervention with Rachel and Oliver that led to the discovery that the team needed to give more time for Oliver to initiate.    🔑 Sometimes, intervention in the home environment is more “quality than quantity”. If you have short, high quality interactions and connections with your child, they are still making progress. It doesn’t need to be hours of intense “drill and kill”, it can be based on brief, quality interactions throughout the day.   🔑 Its important to listen to families as much as other professionals on the team of an AAC user. Parents usually know their child better than anyone!   🔑 Before we decide if a child can or cannot do something, we need to make sure motivation is there. Motivation is a current that flows through everything we do as educators and therapists.   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!   Link from this episode:   Comprehensive Literacy for All by Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver: https://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Literacy-All-Significant-Disabilities/dp/1598576577   Anu's Facebook & Instagram: @oliphantabulousstormilicious

This week, Chris interviews the incredible India Ochs! India is a brilliant social justice advocate, lawyer, educator, and board member for USSAAC and ISSAC who is also a lifelong AAC user. India describes her incredible journey with AAC, how she has used her many skills to advocate for social justice, why she volunteers so much of her time to the disabled community, and what she sees are the impacts of systemic racism on the field AAC (e.g. lack of vocabulary words to talk about racism).   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel respond to several comments from listeners about their recent banter about PECS. Some listeners said PECS works for them while robust AAC  doesn’t work for them. Chris and Rachel note that, if robust AAC hasn’t worked, maybe the implementation hasn’t been done in a systematic way. They also respond to the idea that PECS is a necessary stepping stone to robust AAC, and provide some strategies for demonstrating early success with robust AAC when it doesn’t look like AAC is “working” yet.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 While the systematic nature of PECS implementation can encourage some people who would like a step-by-step guide, in some cases it causes students to “stall out” at a particular stage because they are required to demonstrate certain skills before moving on the next skill.   🔑 A simple paper and pen can be the most effective form of AAC for some literate AAC users.    🔑 It is difficult to find symbols for words like racism, anti-racism, African-American, Black person, hispanic, Martin Luther King, Jr on many AAC devices. Developers need to bring in experts on Black history and anti-racism to tell us what vocabulary we need to add to our devices.   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   To listen to this episode, search "Talking with Tech" in your podcast player of choice or go to www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/india-ochs   Links from the episode:   AAC Speaker Connection: https://speaker.ussaac.org/   Silent Auction benefiting USSAAC that ends October 15th: https://www.silentauctionpro.com/bidonlinegrid.php?groupId=1860 or email Virtualauction@ussaac.org   India's Blog: https://intrepidoaks.com/   Xceptional AAC Leaders Book with Chapter by India 

This week, Rachel interviews SLP and AAC Facilitator Laura Hayes! Laura recently did a presentation on AAC in the Cloud on AAC “stimming” and how we can best support AAC users who choose to press a button or series of buttons repeatedly. Laura shares that, If a person using AAC is “stimming”, ask yourself “how can I shape what we are doing” (e.g. teach a lesson on the word they are pressing) rather than just trying to extinguish the behavior.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a listener question, who asked for ideas on how to become a better communicator and presenter in a conference setting. Chris and Rachel share lots of tips on presenting to others, including the importance of making it interactive, asking reflective questions to the audience, showing vs telling, and why often less is more.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 “Stimming” means different things to different people in the context of AAC devices. Laura found  this behavior had 4 main purposes: babbling/exploration; exploratory perseveration; self regulation through audio/visual/tactile components, and/or scripting/echolalia.    🔑 If a person who uses AAC is disrupting a classroom because they are pressing buttons on their device while others are talking, teach the student to turn on “whisper mode” to make the device quieter.   🔑 According to Alexandria Zachos of meaningfulspeech.com, as many as 75% of autistic individuals are gestalt language processors, i.e., they process chunks of language without distinction between individual words.    You can reach Laura on Instagram @aac_innovations or via email at aacinnovations01@gmail.com.   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!

This week, we hear from Part 3 of TWT Live - Closing the Gap 2020. This week’s portion of TWT Live has lots of helpful ideas for communication with families, coaching, motivating students, advocating for high-tech AAC with clinicians who always start with PECS, and more!    Before the interview, Chris shares about his recent experience as “Shadow the Labrador”, a mascot at a local school. He and Rachel discuss why we need to be the zaniest person in the room sometimes to get people motivated to talk. They also discuss a situation Chris was in recently where he wasn’t sure if he should ask for compensation for consulting with a company about their newest new technology tool. Rachel gives Chris some tips about asking for compensation and strategies she uses in negotiations.   If you would like to listen to Part 2 of this presentation, you can listen at talkingwithtech.org/episodes/twt-live-ctg-2   Key ideas this week:   🔑  If you have limited enthusiasm in your district for AAC, try finding teachers and/or staff who are excited about using technology in their curriculum and start working with them first.    🔑  What motivates a person can change over time. Periodically, do a preference assessment with your students to maximize motivation.   🔑  Have students give you directions on what to do (e.g. drink water) using their device - a lot of times, students are told what to do all day, and turning the tables can be motivating   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   To listen to this episode, search "Talking with Tech" in your podcast player of choice or go to www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/twt-live-ctg-3

This week, the TWT team presents part 2 of Talking with Tech Live: Closing the Gap! This week, Rachel and Chris discuss several topics with the audience, including personal core /key vocabulary, the importance of literacy, and overcoming barriers to high-tech AAC in school districts.    If you would like to listen to Part 1 of this presentation, you can listen at talkingwithtech.org/episodes/twt-live-ctg-1   Before Part 2, Rachel and Chris discuss PECS in greater detail, including why motor planning is so important when comparing PECS to other AAC options, the consensus among experts that Chris and Rachel trust about PECS vs. more robust AAC, and why choosing robust AAC has the least chance of harming the client.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 Without the benefit of a motor plan, using PECS to communicate can be more fatiguing than using more robust AAC. For some of Rachel’s clients, making limited progress on PECS made the family resistant to other AAC options later on.   🔑 When making a difficult decision between strategies as clinicians (e.g. PECS vs robust AAC for a client with some verbal skills), we should choose the intervention with the lowest chance of doing harm. If we assume the client will will need AAC in some form forever, the time spent teaching PECS could have been better spent learning motor plans on a robust AAC device.   🔑 If we are trying to help teachers and admins embrace robust AAC, you can point to the abuse and neglect statistics for people with disabilities. Teaching language through robust communication systems gives students a better tool to future abuse and neglect in the future.   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!

This week, we share Chris and Rachel’s presentation from last year’s Closing the Gap called “Brainstorming Solutions to Real-Life AAC Questions”. During this week’s Part 1 episode, Chris and Rachel share about evaluating evidence-based practices, when to consider “verbal” clients for AAC, how to determine when someone is ready for AAC, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss ABA therapy and why working with ABA therapists can be very helpful in some cases, but difficult in others. Rachel shares about working with an ABA team that refuses to follow suggestions about working with her client’s AAC device, and how that has impacted her client’s progress using AAC. Chris also shares his three questions that he asks himself before employing a strategy like AAC:   Is it research based? What are professionals saying? What are the people who are using the strategy saying worked for them?   Chris notes that, in particular, the last question can be very important. Chris wonders whether the people who are getting ABA are saying “thank you” afterwards for the intervention.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Consider AAC when someone has a high level of scripted phrases - AAC can be a great way to build novel generative language skills. Build vocabulary skills with more abstract language concepts.   🔑 Just because someone has speech some of the time doesn’t mean they have speech all of the time.  AAC can be a great backup for people who have inconsistent difficulty with expressive language.   🔑 There are no prerequisites for high-tech AAC - people learn to use AAC when they are given the time and the oppertunity to learn 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!

This week, Rachel interviews Megan Roberts, an Associate Professor and SLP at Northwestern University. Megan started the Early Intervention Research Group, where she researches early parent-implemented interventions for children with hearing loss, autism, and developmental language disorders. Megan has lots to share about her research behind parent-implemented interventions, early behaviors that are a predictors of autism, and how to approach conversations with parents about their child's possible autistic-like behaviors.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a listener’s email about a difficult situation with an administrator. When the listener requested a high-tech AAC device for a minimally-verbal student, her school administrator told her she needed to give him low-tech AAC, because there was no way to get the student high-tech AAC. Rachel and Chris talk about how this administrator was stepping out of their role, and how Rachel and Chris would approach the situation to push back against this.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Megan’s most robust predictor of autism in her assessments have been the presence of contact gestures, e.g., the person uses another person’s body part as a tool.   🔑 When we notice possible signs of autism in a young child and want to discuss this with parents, focus on identifying the behaviors that might interfere with learning rather than the “autism” label. Then, you can “wonder” about those behaviors with the parent, how they might impact the student, and how these maladaptive behaviors might be suppressed via intervention.   🔑 Girls with autism can present very differently than boys with autism early in their development - we need more research to better define what the differences are.   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!

This week, Rachel interviews Amanda Soper, AT Specialist, SLP, and Professor at Gallaudet University. She supports, among others, people with cortical visual impairment (CVI) who also use AAC. Amanda shares from her experiences working with CVI, including: how she teaches vocabulary, the importance of reducing visual complexity in the environment, talking through navigation, and the three main red flags for CVI:   You notice there is something not quite right about a child’s functional vision. There is nothing structurally wrong with their eye, but they are having vision problems. There is a medical history of neurological conditions, such as a lack of oxygen to the brain, or chromosomal disorders. 10 visual behaviors that characterize a person with CVI’s vision, including: need for movement, color preference, visual field deficits, absence of visually-guided reach, and difficulty with visual complexity.   Learn more about Amanda’s strategies at http://www.aacreatively.com/. You can email her at amandasoperslp@gmail.com   Key ideas this week:    🔑  Pull students out of class when introducing a new device or a new overlay, because the complexity of the class environment can make it more difficult to understand the new symbols.   🔑  When using AAC with someone who has CVI, you can talk through the navigation when you are introducing new vocabulary to help them track and follow. (“press the red apple, then the blue man”)   🔑  Try and teach AAC vocabulary to a person with CVI in context, like working on “fork” during eating time.   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!

This week, Chris interviews school-based AT Specialists Amy Fleischer and Melissa Petersen! Amy and Melissa share lessons they have learned about putting universal supports in place, including universal core boards in Melissa’s district. They discuss many of the reasons why Melissa wanted to put a universal core board in place, how her district decided on what words to include, and the improvements she has seen in overall AAC implementation since that time. You can view  the website she made for her district here.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss a recent trip Chris took to visit his cousins and all of the visiting with his family. Chris shares about tempting his young relatives with fun games, and then waiting for them to come over on their own, and relates that to motivating AAC users with a “tempt and pause”.     Key ideas this week:   🔑  When Melissa made a low-tech support universal, teachers who were previously afraid of technology said they felt more confident with the core board. This helped them to focus more on modeling and descriptive teaching, and less on the technology.   🔑  Putting the district logo on their universal core board helped Melissa to get buy in from some teachers and staff - they said it make the board look more “official”.    🔑  If we want communication partners to take on extra responsibility via coaching, it helps to give them resources they can pick up and run with. A great way to do this is with a low-tech board, because we are giving them something inexpensive they can go out today and start using with students.    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!

This week, we share Part 2 of Chris’s interview with Jayme Grant. Jayme is an Educational Technology and Assistive Technology Specialist in Beaufort, South Carolina who wanted to interview Chris about AAC and Assistive Technology. In Part 2, Chris and Jayme discuss obtaining funding for AAC and AT, shifting away from a direct therapy model for AAC users, monitoring progress, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel finish up answering some questions from one of our Patreon users about changing the mindset of AAC communication partners. In this listener’s school district, classroom staff appear more interested in AAC assessment than AAC implementation. Rachel and Chris share why it can be helpful to break coaching sessions up into smaller “bites” and how to reduce the negative impact of staff turnover on AAC users by coaching family members as well as school staff.    Key ideas this week:   🔑  School should be an opportunity to get kids excited about things they never would have been excited about in the first place. SLPs can benefit from fun activities in therapy, because we can get students to talk more about things they are interested in.   🔑  Mindset is the most important first step in a successful implementation. Many people who work with people with disabilities start with a mindset that a student must prove they can use AAC before we give them AAC and help them learn to use it. We must help them see the AAC user’s potential before we move on to assessment or implementation.   🔑  When measuring progress of AAC users, don’t measure how much he or she uses the AAC tool, measure whether or not the desired outcome was achieved. It is difficult to say if the AAC tool we provided is the total reason someone is communicating more, or if it is a combination of factors. By measuring the outcome, you don’t have to worry how much the AAC device was the cause.   Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!   To listen to this episode, search "Talking with Tech" in your podcast player of choice or go to www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/jayme-grant-2

This week, we share Part 1 of Chris’s interview with Jayme Grant. Jayme is an Educational Technology and Assistive Technology Specialist in Beaufort, South Carolina who wanted to interview Chris. The resulting interview is packed with useful tips and ideas for improving AAC assessment and implementation!    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss more questions from a Patreon user about how to change the mindset and culture surrounding AAC in her district. Rachel and Chris talk about coaching teachers to use core words to describe fringe words, why we shouldn’t create temporary pages for specific activities or academic topics, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑  Rather than add academic vocabulary to a device that will only be used for a particular lesson or unit, try coaching the team to describe academic words using core words. This helps teach core words and doesn’t create temporary folders  and additional fringe vocabulary words, which can interfere with motor planning.   🔑  Technology is a tool, not a quick fix. Make sure the team understands that giving a device to someone is only the beginning. Parents sometimes demand a device without understanding the work that goes along with teaching how to use this tool.   🔑  During assessment, consider having a team member, such as a teacher, describe what they want a potential AAC user to be able to do with the device long term. Even better, consider collaborating with a variety of communication partners to determine AAC needs. Collaboration amongst the team on assessment can help avoid disagreements later about the decisions that were made about device selection and implementation.    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!

This week, Chris interviews his long-time colleague, Mark Nichols, an AAC/AT Specialist who is the Senior Director of Universal Design and Accessible Technologies at Virginia Tech. Chris and Mark talk about the differences and similarities between higher education and K-12 for universal design and AT, the types of technologies that are often very useful in higher education, how to determine how much a university supports inclusion and assistive technology, and more!    Before the interview, Chris shares memories and thoughts about the late, great Joy Zabala with his wife, Melissa Bugaj. They talk about the importance of Joy’s SETT framework, the impact Joy had on AT, and Melissa and Chris’s personal relationship with Joy and how she influenced their personal life.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 You can set up software to identify how inclusive your materials are. Software like Grackle for Google Docs (grackledocs.com) will scan a document to determine if there are accessibility issues (e.g. a pdf image that does not support text to speech) before the document is posted.   🔑  Accessibility and universal design are not just for a select set of people with disabilities - many times, typically developing students will benefit from making materials more accessible. Also, making the solution universal students don’t have to ask for the tool to have it available.   🔑  Consider making a training video for staff that outlines all the ways that universal design and accessibility can make a big difference for students and then gives training on how to use the technology services currently available to make more accessible materials.    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!

This week, Rachel interviews “The AAC Coach” Kate McLaughlin! Kate and Rachel discuss resetting our expectations surrounding what progress looks like for AAC users, the importance of layering small AAC habits over time to get big results, how to create more effective goals for AAC users, and more! This episode is packed with lots of practical ideas and tips – you won’t want to miss it!    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about Rachel’s recent Hawaii vacation and respond to an email sent in by a Patreon subscriber. This subscriber is looking for help being more effective, because she feels like she is stuck having the same conversations and coaching the same strategies over and over again.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Don’t focus so much on the device that we lose sight of meaningful progress. If the goal for an AAC user is successful communication and as much autonomy as possible, we should celebrate any steps toward autonomous communication, regardless of whether the device was used or not.  The focus should be on building connections with others and not on a particular modality.   🔑 Many AAC users make slow gains. If we switch the AAC program and symbols prematurely due to “lack of progress” then the AAC user may never make significant gains. Celebrate the small wins and try and measure progress in a way that shows meaningful growth.   🔑 Layering small AAC habits over time can lead to big changes. When a family starts with an AAC system, they can take time to get comfortable – e.g. start with carrying the device around everywhere. We want to build fluency and naturalness using the system and not let the device disrupt connection between the communication partners.   🔑 When writing goals, we should write them so we can track progress in a meaningful way. Communication should be for real reasons. There is a lot of pressure on therapists to write goals that are easily tracked in contrived communication settings. Instead, write goals that look at the AAC user’s participation in shared activities - also consider different settings and/or different people.    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!

This week, Chris interviews Meryl Schnapp & Mark N. Brown, AAC Implementation Coaches with Chicago Public Schools. They discuss how the position of AAC Coach was created in their district, why it is so helpful having coaching as a separate position in a school district, what they have learned from instructional coaching research, and more!  Before the interview, Chris talks with Rachel about participating in the recent Greatest International Scavenger Hunt (GISH) mini-hunt. Chris shares some of the unique activities Chris and his family did on their GISH hunt. Chris and Rachel discuss ways that these types of scavenger hunts could be used to make AAC coaching more fun for AAC users and communication partners.   Key ideas this week include: 🔑 AT Specialists and AAC Coaches have different roles in Chicago Public Schools. The AT Specialists engage in device selection and training, and after the training the AAC Coaches collaborate with staff to implement the device effectively in the classroom.    🔑 In the education field, instructional coaching is a well established form of professional development with a large evidence base. Mark and Meryl were exposed to literature from researchers like Jim Knight and Michael Bungay Stanier to help develop Chicago Public School's current approach.   🔑 In Chicago Public Schools, students aren't the only ones who have goals! Some teachers and SLPs have self-created goals to help improve their skills supporting AAC users.   🧑💻👨‍🏫 Meryl Schnapp and Mark N. Brown have a FREE AAC in the Cloud presentation about AAC coaching on June 24th at 6:00 pm EST .   🧑💻👨‍🏫 Chris also has a presentation at AAC in the Cloud on June 24th at 2 pm EST - its about interactive choose your own adventure games!    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!

This week, Chris interviews Heidi Hosick Joyce, an SLP and specialist in both AAC and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Heidi and Chris discuss some of the differences between coaching in sports and coaching AAC communication partners, including "reflective coaching" - helping someone to change what they are doing at the level they are capable of. They talk about the importance of building a positive relationship, giving positive reinforcement, and using "I wonder" phrases to encourage self-reflection amongst communication partners. Heiti also discusses PACT, a “low dose” therapy method that includes therapists using video to coach care givers how to support their autistic child’s social communication at home and in the community. Find out more here. Heidi also shares about her survey for SLPs who support AAC users -  learn more at redcap.link/AACtraining   Before the interview, Chris discusses his upcoming session for Closing the Gap with Shaun Pearson and Katie Robertson called "Voice and Choice -- Learning Made Fun Through Interactive Choose Your Own Adventure Games". This session will focus on all the ways that generative language and core words can be encouraged playing "choose your own adventure" games. Rachel shares a strategy for logging an AAC user's spontaneous language - you can use a virtual assistant (e.g. Alexa, Google Home) to create a communication log all day long whenever communication occurs. Key ideas this week include:    🔑  Help communication partners to reflect on what they did when working with the student - there is a temptation to focus only on what the student is doing.   🔑 One reason "consulting" doesn't work is because you don't always have the context to totally understand something you witness. Feedback based on incomplete information can cause interpersonal problems and lead to incorrect advice.   🔑 Use videos. When something is going well, you can send to parents. Then your example can act as a training model for them (e.g. longer wait time).    🔑 We can better move the needle towards AAC proficiency if the family and school staff understand where an AAC user's language level is at, meet them there, and push them to improve to the next level.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Tonya Williams-Walker and Beth Poss about improving equity for AAC users. Tonya is an Instructional Specialist, AAC Specialist, AAC professor, and SLP. Beth is an author, SLP, AAC Specialist, and Director of Educational Programs for LessonPix.  Beth, Toyna, and Chris discuss the meaning of equity, how equity is different from equality, ways that we can improve equity for AAC users, and how they have adjusted their own practices to confront biases surrounding people with complex communication needs. Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss some of Rachel's concerns with the amount of time that some SLPs are prioritizing working on verbal speech when they work with young children with limited speech skills. Rachel is working with 8 and 9 year olds who have only worked on verbal speech for 5 or 6 years. Ethically, its an SLPs responsibility to build the foundation for language development, and if verbal speech isn't working, SLPs need to either introduce AAC or refer out to an AAC specialist who will. Key ideas this week: 🔑 When looking at whether a young child (e.g. 3 years old) is a good candidate for AAC, look at imitation and approximation skills.  If those skills aren't there, we should have the conversation with the family about language development and giving their child "visual supports" or robust AAC to build comprehension and alleviate frustration. 🔑 Listen to all the ways that AAC users are communicating with us about their systems, what is important to them instead of imposing on them what we think is best. To listen better, Tonya asks AAC users and families "What do you need in order to feel successful?" and then "How can I help?". 🔑 "Equity" is not the same thing as "equality". Equity can mean supporting people who have been disenfranchised more than others so they can get to a place where they have the same access, power, and opportunities as everyone else.   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   To listen to this episode, search "Talking with Tech" in your podcast player of choice or go to www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/poss-and-williams-walker  

This week's interview is with Chris's long-time friend and fellow assistive technology specialist, Mike Marotta. Mike is a specialist in inclusive design, and he joins Chris to discuss how accessibility features for common devices like iPhones, iPads, Chromebooks, and Android phones can be used to meet assistive technology needs. They talk about which features they like the most, adding captions, universal logins for accessibility, how to decide on which tools to offer people, and more! Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss ways that accessibility has been improved in the past year despite the pandemic, including Instagram adding automatic closed captioning for videos. Rachel discusses reaching out to technology companies for help with an accessibility issue, such as when she asked makers of the Word Wizard app to add high contrast. Key ideas this week:  Many "accessibility" features on our devices are not just for people with access problems (e.g. vision problems). Features like text to speech are helpful for many people - it can help everyone proofread their writing, for example. Captions are a great way to promote literacy and draw learners in. You can even mute the TV audio to require learners to read to follow the story. We don't want to overwhelm people with too many assistive technology tools. Work with the learner's team to dig into what the real issues are and then decide on one or two tools that will address those issues. You can always add more tools later as they become more proficient. 

This week, Chris interviews Karen Janowski! Karen is an inclusive technology and assistive technology specialist who is also co-author of Chris’s new book, Inclusive 365. In the interview, they discuss some of the many ways that we can support literacy for all and make classrooms more accessible to all students (e.g. audio supports, digital texts that can be read aloud, etc).    Before the interview, Chris shares about a former student he has worked with who is moving to a new situation that does not support robust AAC. Chris discusses why this was such a disappointment, and how this experience motivates him to better support the students that he works with now. Rachel talks about the difficulty of supporting students who don’t make progress and/or have AAC taken away from them.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 General education teachers should choose inclusive instructional methods and ways for learners to demonstrate what they know, even if those students are in special ed.   🔑 Student-selected books for reading and self-selected topics for writing are very compelling for learners. Choice can really drive the love of learning. Writing for an authentic purpose  (e.g. having learners write a letter asking for support for a cause that is important to them) can be very effective as well.   🔑 Worksheets are a classic example of an instructional output method that is limiting for many students. Worksheets are OK as an option, but we don’t want to require everyone to use them. For example, you could also choose an input option that allows dictation, keyboards, spell check, etc.   🔑 Start your thinking and planning with each learner's strengths in mind. Figure out what learners are best at and what they love to plan activities that are more motivating.   Resources Book Creator - bookcreator.com Seesaw - web.seesaw.me Inclusive 365 book site: inclusive365.com 

This week, Rachel has an informative and engaging interview with author, YouTuber, dog trainer, and part time AAC user Brittany Dube! Brittany shares about why she is a part-time AAC user, how parents and others can better support part-time AAC users, and how we can show AAC users the respect they deserve in conversation.   Before the interview, Rachel shares a fascinating story about one of her clients who has improved his verbal speech by watching others model AAC, even when the client doesn’t use AAC himself. Its a great reminder that AAC is an excellent tool for teaching language even when it isn’t used by the client to expressively communicate. Rachel also shares the disappointing decision by the school team not to support AAC for this client because the client is “already verbal.”    Key ideas this week:   🔑 All forms of communication should be given equal respect by parents. Parents understand that one-size-fits-all doesn’t work in education and healthcare, but when it comes to communication some only want to pursue verbal speech.   🔑 We don’t have a right to speak for someone just because they use AAC - we need to remember to give AAC users whatever time it takes to speak for themselves.   🔑 Brittany finds using AAC is most useful when she is in an overwhelming situation, like when a doctor is asking her how she feels. Using a device gives her more time to process than she would get using verbal speech alone.    🔑 It’s always important to remember a lack of verbal speech doesn’t mean that the person doesn’t understand - people who use AAC are often intelligent and aware of their surroundings.   You can learn more more about Brittany on Instagram and YouTube!

This week, Chris interviews Colleen Warn, Director of the Center for Assistive Technology for the NYC Department of Education. Chris and Colleen discuss how we can make assistive technology more equitable, especially for racially/culturally diverse students and students with a lower socio-economic status (SES). They talk about how their Center for Assistive Technology has pushed to teach teachers and staff about AAC, how they have changed the referral process to be more equitable, and how they seek to empower service providers across NYC. Colleen also shares about supporting her child, who has complex communication needs, and how her family has learned more about AAC.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about their upcoming preconference seminar, “Designing and Delivering Empowering Experiences to Teach Language Using AAC” and their excitement to be able to connect with learners in a more intimate and collaborative environment. Learn more at bit.ly/designaac   Key ideas this week:   🔑 One important consideration when looking at equity in assistive technology is the speed in which a school or district gets an AAC device when they need one. Make sure everyone gets a device at the same speed, regardless of SES.   🔑 If one district or school is sending in many more referrals than other districts, look at the makeup of the students who are not getting referred for AAC and their service providers. Are there cultural or SES barriers to implementing AAC?    🔑 When a related service provider (e.g. SLP) sends a referral to do an AT assessment, consider coaching that person how to do the assessment itself.  This will improve their skills and may improve their ability to refer the correct students with AT needs in the future.   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!

This week, we present part 2 of Chris’s interview with Amy Fleischer and Corinne Nelson! Amy and Corinne  continue with their questions about changing their district to a “specific language system first” model of device selection, and how it can be adapted to best fit the needs of their school district. They also discuss whether PECS should be a prerequisite for getting a device, ideas for rolling out training on modeling, and more!   Before the interview, Rachel discusses a recent conversation she had with a mother of a person with complex communication needs. This person doesn’t have access to a robust AAC system and was initially given only a switch to communicate with - even though she has no access issues. Rachel questions why so many children she hears about with complex communication needs are being given a switch when no access issues are present. Rachel feels many of her clients have been held back due to myths, such as “an AAC user must show cause and effect with a switch before they can use high-tech AAC.”   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If you are concerned with hesitancy with changing how device selection occurs in your district, you can use a collaborative approach to select the device for a few students, then down the road you can look back and have everyone decide what is best.   🔑 To be more collaborative with device selection, you can take a facilitative, coaching approach to the meeting (e.g. teachers, related service providers). Then, in the meeting, try and fill out a grid or chart that looks at the communication needs of the student and the needs of the circle of support. Focus on long term growth, not just what would be easiest to learn in the short term. If you try device selection with a more collaborative approach, then down the road you can look back and have everyone decide on what worked best.    🔑You can pick one strategy or process to teach modeling, like SMORRES, and adopt it across the district. You can implement this modeling strategy more quickly than moving to a specific language system first model that would take a longer amount of time.    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!

This week, Amy Fleischer & Corinne Nelson talk with Chris about moving their school district to a Specific Language System First” approach to AAC device selection. There is currently no set standard in Amy and Corinne's district for device selection, and many students go get an outside AAC evaluation before getting a device. There are many different AAC apps being used at different sites for a variety of reasons, and this has led to disagreements about which app to use, confusion about the device selection process, and inconsistent device implementation across their district.   Before the interview, Chris shares some good news he’s heard about his two latest books with ISTE - The New Assistive Tech  & Inclusive Learning 365.  Rachel talks about adding early intervention content to her AAC Ally course. They both talk about dealing with “imposter syndrome”, especially when charging money for something you have created.   🔑 Under the “system first” approach, most students who need AAC across the district get one robust AAC system. When students have needs that are not met by that particular AAC system, then a different system is selected. You don’t force a particular system on anyone, but you look at it first.   🔑 One benefit of a “system first” approach is better implementation in many cases. If the school team knows one system better, they can usually teach students how to use that system better.   🔑 Trialing multiple AAC systems during device selection, even if you trial for a few weeks, may not be the best way to choose one system over another. Often, implementation of each system isn’t very robust and the student isn’t trained extensively on each device. It is difficult to learn much about how proficient a student will get in one system over another in a couple of weeks.   🔑 You can take a phased approach to implementing a “systems first” device selection process. All the new students get one AAC system (unless there are good reasons to choose another) and every student who has already made progress with a different system keeps the one they are already using.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Kim Albrecht, host of the LOMAH podcast and mother of two teenage daughters, one of whom is a minimally-verbal AAC user with autism. Kim shares about how her family came to embrace AAC for her daughter, the importance of siblings and peers modeling AAC, the idea behind the LOMAH podcast, her upcoming podcast series on literacy instruction for people with disabilities, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel share an excellent idea from TWT listener and Patreon member, Bill Wallace. He suggested using a “sabotage series” -putting desirable items and undesirable items in a bag, then taking them out one by one and talking about them. This can a fun way of reinforcing the concept of both "yes" and “no”. Rachel and Chris also discuss finding the middle ground between following the child’s lead and setting up certain situations (e.g., communication temptations) to practice particular vocabulary words and concepts.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Treat AAC vocabulary on a well-designed AAC device like a sudoku puzzle - if you get stuck and/or don’t like where a word was placed, consider that you just haven’t figured out why it was placed there and don't jump to the conclusion it was put there randomly or by mistake.    🔑 It took Kim time to embrace using the AAC device all the time at home. If she could do it again, she would have started using the device and modeling AAC at home right away.   🔑 One reason it’s so important to train families about AAC is they are often the most consistent factor in the student’s life over time. Given the many SLPs, teachers, and aides that work with a student during their education (with varying degrees of experience with AAC), training the family will often lead to better and more consistent AAC implementation in the long term.

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.    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!

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.    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!

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!

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!

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.   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!

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!  

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!

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!

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!

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!

This week, we share Part 2 of the TWT Live from the Access to Education Conference with Chris and Rachel! In this TWT Live, there are lots of useful tips and tricks, including ideas for motivating communication partners to model AAC!    Before the live session, Chris shares about working with a computer science supervisor in his school district to combine AAC with computer science in the classroom. Chris describes how they trained the instructional facilitators who work with teachers to teach core words and block coding together. Chris and Rachel discuss the importance of enthusiasm and why projects like this are so important to fuel you to move forward!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 When trying to motivate teachers and staff to model more often, ask reflective questions and get insights into the struggles that she or he experiences with the AAC user. This can build rapport and lead to the brainstorming of ideas that have a better chance of being implemented.   🔑 Even if a student has moved from primarily being an AAC user to being more verbal, don’t take the device away from him or her automatically (if they still want to use it). That student can be a great peer communicator for other AAC users, and they may want to use AAC instead of verbal speech in some situations.   🔑 Don’t always assume that a student is “stimming” on a device when they’re pushing buttons seemingly at random. Sometimes there is communicative intent that we do not yet understand. If the student has true stim-like behaviors on a device, we can try and shope it to be more functional. We can also tell a social story to help them see how the stimming makes others feel.   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!

This week, we present part 1 of TWT Live: Access to Education Conference 2020! Before the TWT Live session, Chris and Rachel briefly discuss the importance of using captions, both as a tool to learn to read and to support people who are hard of hearing. There are many small tweaks we can make to make things more inclusive, such as enabling a feature on iPhones that allows captions to be turned on automatically when they are available.    Key ideas shared this week:   🔑 If you start with PECS, are you considering what that person will use as an adult? PECS often isn’t a good long-term robust solution compared to something like a high-tech AAC device. Its OK to use many different kinds of AAC but you want a primary method of communication that is robust and can grow with the user.   🔑 Virtual learning is a great opportunity to coach family members and communication partners. Service providers can change every year but the family will often be a consistent source of communication and support for the user over the years.    🔑 Look beyond your own discipline for professional development. There are trainings (e.g. cognitive coaching, difficult conversations) that apply to working with AAC but are not listed under the umbrella of education, speech pathology, or AAC.      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!

This week, Chris and Rachel review highlights of the Talking with Tech podcast during 2020. They talk about which countries listened the most to the podcast, the ways the podcast grew in 2020, and a breakdown of the most downloaded episodes of the year and of all time!

This week, we continue with part 2 of Chris and Rachel’s coaching call with TWT’s Audio Engineer & SLP grad student, Michaela Ball! Michaela continues to discuss her severely apraxic student who is a multi-modal communicator with Rachel and Chris. They continue to explore the importance of picking a larger iPad when possible, ways to promote direct selection skills, choosing motivating vocabulary to start with, and how to train staff and communication partners.   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss the “Pygmalion effect” and the ways that belief in someone can promote greater performance from that person. This includes the Rosenthal experiments in mice, in which mice who were labeled “intelligent” actually performed better. Experiments with students also indicate that belief in the student promotes better performance on average. This supports the idea that “presuming potential” can actually improve the performance of those we work with.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 Visual supports help all students, especially early learners, Consider a classroom approach to aided language input so that everyone gets more practice with core words and how to use them.   🔑 Consider putting core words into other places like the playground. For example, you can laminate key rings or core boards and place them on the playground for any kid to use and engage with.   🔑 If teaching action words like “go”, instead of having adults model demands on the AAC user with that word, try having the AAC user make demands of others in a fun way, like in “red light, green light”.    🔑 When an AAC user communicates in multiple modalities, whenever possible, avoid “double demands” by communication partners, e.g. saying it verbally and then on the device. It is better to accept what they said and model without expectation.   To get 20% off registration for the virtual conference ATIA 2021, go to ATIA.org/talkingwithtech and enter code ATIA21VISION (in all caps).  Chris and Rachel will teach virtual seminar Jan 30th and February 6th - check it out at bit.ly/twtatia2021! 

This week, we share a coaching call between Chris, Rachel, and our amazing Audio Engineer & SLP grad student, Michael Ball! Michaela asks the TWT team about a severely apraxic student she is working with who is a multi-modal communicator. With limited therapy time with this student, should Michaela focus more of her time on implementing a device, using sign language, or promoting verbal speech? How can she promote AAC best during the school day?   Before the interview, Rachel shares with Chris about a another apraxic student she recently consulted with. Rachel talks about her approach to the difficult conversations that occur when a family is wary of AAC and holding out hope for verbal speech without AAC. Chris poses the option of bringing in more experienced families of AAC users to talk with the new client's family about the benefits of AAC. Chris also brings up the argument that AAC can often be the “lest dangerous option”, especially when compared to doing nothing differently.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 When someone communicates in several different modalities, and we have to prioritize which modality to support, one good question to consider is “what modality will be most understood by unfamiliar listeners down the road?”   🔑 When we are choosing what word to target first when working with an AAC user, it can be helpful to choose a word that is both really motivating to them in particular and one that he or she will use in many different contexts.    🔑 When choosing between an iPad mini or a full-sized iPad for AAC, it is important to consider the extra “real estate” that the full-sized iPad screen can give. More space often means for more symbols! It can also mean more space between the symbols, which can help students with fine motor challenges.   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!

This week, TWT presents four more short interviews, aka "small talks", covering a variety of topics related to AAC and Assistive Technology!   Before the interviews, Rachel talks about a contentious IEP she recently attended for a student she consults with.  Rachel had some ideas about supporting literacy that she shared with the team, but the team was resistant to Rachel’s input as an SLP and didn’t seem interested in changing any goals. Chris shares about a situation early in his career where he was told SLPs “don’t do reading” - but those same people couldn’t say who was responsible for helping the student succeed. Chris then connects this to ASHA’s perspective that reading falls under the scope of practice for SLPs. Rachel touches on some of the mistakes that are often made when teaching a minimally verbal student to read, presumably because teachers don’t know how to support a student’s reading effectively if he or she can’t read out loud.    This week's Small Talks are:   🔑 Candice Steel, an SLP & AT specialist working for Gompers, a non-profit in AZ, talks about empowering paraprofessionals to support AAC. Her training focuses on concepts like core vocabulary, operational competence, evaluative feedback, and communication facilitation. You can email her to learn more at empoweringparas101@gmail.com.   🔑 Chris Ramirez & Monique Madrid are SLPAs who work with young children, AAC, and home health. Monique shares about being a parent of a child with autism and introducing AAC to her daughter. Chris talks about working with bilingual families and working with a supervisor who supervises SLPAs from out-of-state.    🔑 Sarah Gregory, SLP and AAC specialist, talks about the benefits of using Seesaw and videos to connect with families and teachers. Sarah likes to take videos and share them with families, including videos of students (with permission) that she shares with families. With Seesaw you don’t have have everyone’s email address to be able to contact them instantly.    🔑 TJ Haley - high school SLPA who discusses ways to engage students, including augmented reality. You can broadcast augmented reality for groups and classes using software that is often free and easy to use. He finds augmented reality is a great way to elicit expressive language. Sketch Fab and Jig Space are two apps he uses.   Do you have burning AAC questions for Chris and Rachel? Sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/talkingwithtech and join our TWT Live show for Patreon members only on December 9th 7:30-8:30 pm Eastern Time (4:30-5:30 pm Pacfic)!   Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, we present the final episode in our three part series of TWT Live from New Jersey! This week, Rachel, Chris, and the participants tackle user questions about using eye gaze during teletherapy, how to decide if social media is accessible, maintaining attention and motivation during virtual sessions, and the language-system-first approach to AAC.    Before Part 3, Rachel and Chris get a tutorial on the popular video game Among Us! Rachel and Chris discuss how concepts from this game could be used to make therapy more fun and to work on vocabulary.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 Consider incorporating sensory movement breaks into virtual therapy to make therapy sessions more engaging. You can also incorporate a direct therapy hybrid where you include some coaching for communication partners during the session.   🔑 Using less technology and more physical items , like a puppet or toy, during a teletherapy session can make a session more interesting for some students. Check out @thespeakbotique on Instagram for ideas. (https://www.instagram.com/thespeakboutique/)   🔑 Incorporating items from the child’s environment and helping parents participate in therapy can be more useful for generalization and motivation then engaging them with our therapy items.   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!

This week, we share Part 2 of Chris and Rachel’s “crowd-sourced” TWT Live from New Jersey! To listen to part 1, click here (https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/twt-live-nj-1) . In Part 2, they discuss coaching vs consulting, how to pursue a job as an AAC facilitator in a school district, and how to increase support for high-tech AAC devices among ABAs who would rather use PECS.    Before Part 2 of TWT Live, Chris and Rachel talk about an independent evaluation Rachel recently did for a school district that ended up with a student who was a good candidate for high-tech AAC put on a 90-day trial to determine if the student was a good candidate for AAC. Rachel shares her fears that the student will not get enough training to show her capabilities, and that they won’t use the device in motivating ways. She notes how hard it can be to do an assessment without being able to work the with the student after that.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If you force someone to use a device to communicate, they will probably reject what you are forcing them to do. We need to change the “I am the instructor, you do what I say” mindset in education to better motivate students to learn and grow.   🔑 Coaching AAC users and their circle of support is best when it “holds up a mirror” by asking reflective questions to lead others to their own answers. This leads to better internal motivation. Watch videos of yourself coaching to see how much you consult vs. coach.    🔑 If you want to work in the area of AAC and you are waiting until you feel totally prepared to be an AAC Specialist, you might never get started. You can coach, implement, and share AAC resources with others no matter what your title. Districts often want to see you know how to find the correct information rather than that you know everything there is to know about AAC already.    Have some great questions for our team? Join our Patreon group now at patreon.com/talkingwithtech to participate in our next edition of TWT Live on December 9th!   Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, we share Part 1 of a “crowd sourced” episode recorded as a webinar with listener feedback we call “Talking with Tech Live”! To start, Chris and Rachel cover some AAC core concepts, like criteria for evidence-based practice, signs a child needs AAC, avoiding “quick fire” phrases, and 80/20 ratio for core words. Then, Rachel and Chris, together with listeners,  discuss some effective coaching strategies when working with AAC users via telepractice! Stay tuned next week for more listener questions & participation in Part 2!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about connecting with people who share similar genetic information, including the story of how Chris learned he had a half-brother through 23 and Me!    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Three criteria ASHA about evidence-based practice: Is there research supporting the practice? Do professionals agree it’s a good strategy? What are people who actually use AAC telling us works for them?    🔑 Signs a child needs AAC: If they aren’t able to speak, they have minimal language, speech is hard to understand, vocabulary less than 50 words, or they use a high level of scripted phrases.   🔑 Be careful of using “quick fire” stored phrases. They can be useful for certain circumstances, like social situations, but quick fires don’t support the individual building blocks of language very well.    🔑 Talk with AAC users about things that are memorable, exciting, interesting, even gross. AAC users aren’t inspired to talk about boring things any more than anyone else would be!    Want more great TWT content and with access to members-only resources? 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!

This week, TWT presents Rachel and Chris’s meet-up with an AAC social group of SLPs and AT specialists in Cuyahoga county in Ohio! Their AAC podcast & research group sets aside time every month to listen and discuss a TWT podcast episode or journal article via Zoom. Rachel and Chris dropped by to connect with them and learn about how they have used the podcast to further AAC in their district.  The social group talks about how they formed their group, how Zoom has helped make getting together easier, how helpful learning about AT can be for SLPs, and creating social groups for AAC users within the district!    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel brainstorm assistive technology questions that listeners might have, and some possible answers.  For example, turning on closed captions is really helpful with building literacy by presenting information in multiple modalities. Rachel and Chris also discuss word prediction and when a student might benefit from prediction that is “in line” rather than “ahead”.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Meeting on Zoom makes people more willing to participate in learning groups like this. Hopefully teleconferencing can make professional development for everyone more organic, authentic, and fun.   🔑 You can use Zoom to help students connect via a social group. This can be for just AAC users, AAC users and people who don’t use AAC, or even as a mentor-type relationship between a more advanced user and an emerging AAC user.   🔑 A social group for AAC users, whether in person or on Zoom, develops vocabulary that users may not use as often in an academic setting , like greetings and humor.   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!

This week, TWT presents Chris and Rachel’s interview with Codi Mendenhall, a 14-year-old who has been using AAC since she was 5, and her mother Jennifer Mendenhall. Jennifer and Codi recently shared their story on a TEDx talk - you can watch here. Codi and Jennifer share about Codi’s journey learning to use AAC, the ways that Codi uses texting and social media to communicate with her peers, how to facilitate more communication opportunities for AAC users, and more!   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss some of their upcoming trainings on coaching and virtual AAC assessment. Chris shares about a recent multi-series event he hosted with both live and asynchronous components, and how the pandemic has made new ways of learning possible.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 When selecting AAC, it’s important to consider the input of those who will be communicating most with the AAC user, e.g., the family may find one app easier to program and use than others.   🔑 Communication partners need to be very patient with AAC users and should try hard not to finish their sentences for them.    🔑 One way we can help motivate AAC users is by demonstrating that AAC is a way to connect more closely with the people in their life.   Check out Codi’s YouTube Channel, Codi’s Life   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!

This week, TWT presents Chris’s interview with SLP, AT Specialist, and founder of Speech and Language Songs, Stephen Kneece! During the interview, Chris and Stephen discuss his work as a professor teaching AAC, as President-Elect of SCSHA, and how he founded a Youtube channel playing his original songs, including many songs targeting core words.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about how they are promoting AAC during AAC Awareness Month. Check out Chris’s Inclusive Technology Spotlight here: http://bit.ly/lcpsaac.  Rachel also shares about the new packet of resources she created to help learn more about an AAC user’s vocabulary needs (find out more at rachelmadel.com). Finally, Rachel and Chris discuss their hope that we all can continue to coach families via Zoom after SLPs are back working in person.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Coaching parents and team members has been more important than ever during COVID. Hopefully after COVID is less of a concern we can continue to reach out and coach an AAC user’s circle of support as part of our normal practice.   🔑 We can often get more bang for our buck helping families and staff support an AAC user than only working with the AAC user one-on-one.   🔑 Steven is the creator of Speech and Language Songs, a great resource with lots of songs about language concepts and using core words. You can learn more at https://speechandlanguagesongs.com   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!

This week, we share Part II of Erin Sheldon’s interview with Karen Erickson! In this fascinating second half, Erin and Karen talk about emergent vs conventional literacy, and four indicators that maximize the likelihood of success with conventional literacy instruction (e.g., phonics, decoding, spelling):   Does this child know most of the letters most of the time? Does the child have a means of communication and interaction? Are they interested and engaged during shared reading (when not given a reinforcer)? Is there an understanding that writing is about letters and words?   Erin and Karen also discuss the benefits of inclusion for everyone in the classroom, and why Project Core is a universal, Tier 1 solution for teaching symbol-based communication.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss one of Rachel’s clients whose family had no idea that the client had the ability to read and write. Rachel and Chris talk about the importance of doing foundational assessments to see what clients know, why incorporating books into therapy is so important, and the benefits of bringing in a reading specialist. They also touch upon dealing with a family who feels guilt that they did not understand how to help their child sooner.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 It’s important to let your client pick what to read in therapy. If we are to develop a love for reading, it’s better with a book that interests them. Epic books is one way to search for interesting books (and it's free for educators).   🔑 If we say a student “isn’t ready yet” for high-tech AAC, there needs to be a plan for how we will get there. If we only provide low-tech supports with no core words, there may be no pathway to robust AAC.    🔑 If we are trialing a device with someone who has never learned core words, we can’t expect them to use their device right away.  If we teach core words to everyone with complex communication needs with or without a device, they are better prepared to use a device at a later point.    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!

This week, TWT presents part 1 of special education specialist Erin Sheldon’s amazing interview with literacy expert Dr. Karen Erickson on promoting literacy for people with significant disabilities, including deaf/blindness and severe intellectual disability. They talk about supporting access to grade level standards for kids with complex needs, the problem of the candidacy model, why literacy is critical for everyone's well being, and more!   Before the interview, Rachel shares about meeting Hannah Foley virtually and how Rachel was able to connect Hannah with one of her clients. She shares about all of the ways that meeting a proficient AAC user motivated her client (and her client’s circle of support) to work even harder to achieve AAC proficiency.    Key ideas this week:    🔑 We can teach reading and writing every day to every person. It’s not easy and it may take longer, but it isn’t impossible. There are people with significant disabilities that read and write every day.    🔑 Without literacy, a person with significant disabilities may lose the ability to connect with friends who have moved away after school. We want people to be engaged and happy when they are 25, not just when they are 10. Literacy is the way that we socially connect now.    🔑 “Presume competence” doesn’t mean “presume there is no disability”. We don’t want to presume people with significant disabilities will learn the same way in the same amount of time. We should presume potential and that there is a path to success.    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!   Smiles for Speech provides children with special needs living in impoverished communities with the therapeutic intervention and  resources they need to enhance their ability to reach their full potential. Contact them at sfsvirtual@smilesforspeech.org to sign up for their upcoming dyslexia workshop on October 10th!

This week, Rachel interviews Kaylie Gustafson, an SLP and AAC specialist in the schools who frequently works with AAC users who utilize eye tracking. Kaylie talks about remote modeling over Zoom using the “remote control” feature, which allows her to model on the user’s device and watch what the user does in response. Kaylie shares lots of tips and tricks for supporting eye gaze, including turning on visual/auditory selection feedback, using Boom Cards and Google Slides with eye gaze, positioning and calibration during telepractice, and more!    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about their recent presentation,“Talking With Tech Live.” During TWTL, they answered questions along with the participants and “crowdshared” the presentation, allowing the community to help each other learn! Rachel and Chris share their thoughts about this format and promise to air segments from this presentation in upcoming episodes of TWT!   Key ideas this episode:   🔑 You can model on an AAC user’s iPad during telepractice by using the “remote control” feature on Zoom. Learn more here.   🔑 Help Kidz Learn is membership service with lots of activities and games for a variety of access methods, including switch, eye gaze, mouse, and touch.   🔑 Ian Bean’s SENict Resources page has an excellent (free!) selection of online activities for switch, touch screen, mouse, and eye gaze that can be used in therapy and assessments.    More Links:   Access to Education conference    Gassy Gary Powerpoint on TpT   Assistive Touch    How to Annotate in Zoom   Toy Theatre    Crickweb    Playlists on Rachel's YouTube Channel

This week, Chris interviews Shawnda Saul, an SLP and AAC Specialist who runs the Learning Language AAC Initiative for Arlington Public Schools. Chris and Shawnda discuss how she promotes modeling and language instruction in the classroom, her approach to coaching communication partners, the changes she has seen coaching families during distance learning, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about rethinking how we educate students. Teaching is still thought of as presenting information to a class from the front of the classroom and having students spit that information back on a test. For example, math instruction often has students memorize formulas and complete worksheets, even if they have dyscalculia. Chris demonstrates how we can better ground learning in functional problems, like discussing planting lettuce as a way to understand the concept of perimeters.    Key ideas this week:    🔑 Accurate content about the world is widely available to students, making the concept of a teacher providing information to students from the front of a classroom less relevant. Instead, we should be teaching students strategies for absorbing and evaluating content more effectively on their own.    🔑 Coaching communication partners about AAC and making them I feel comfortable using a device is the most important thing clinicians supporting AAC can do.   🔑 For many SLPs during distance learning, a much bigger part of therapy with AAC users takes place in the home. Hopefully we can continue to reach out to families to support them after school resumes in-person and move to more of a coaching model rater than just direct therapy.   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!

This week on TWT, we share Chris’s interview with Lauren Kravetz Bonnet, an SLP & AT Specialist, and Brittany Thomas, who is also an SLP. Lauren and Brittany talk about their school-based communication program to support students with complex communication needs. This program is a short-term (i.e., less than two years), high-intensity intervention to teach young students to use their device more effectively. It is not a self-contained program; students get their support in an integrated, general education setting with in-class speech support for a large portion of the day. Lauren and Brittany share about their success with this program, the reduced need for this program as teachers embrace AAC more broadly, the importance of reflective listening with teachers and families, lessons learned training peers to become communication partners, and more!     Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss one of Rachel’s new adult clients and the bittersweet experience of seeing the potential in the client but also seeing the time that was lost to poor AAC implementation. Rachel’s client uses some sign language and has had a device for many years, but he arrived without many skills using the device. The  device was difficult to navigate and was not optimized for motor planning, and parents said that when they started using the device “he didn’t want to use it.” Rachel shares about the many great signs that AAC will be successful, including that the client pays a lot of attention to communication and is a quick learner. Finally, Rachel shares about the changes she has made to his device template and how she has improved implementation at home.   Key ideas this week include:   🔑 Building rapport with school staff is a big part of Brittany and Lauren’s success. When teachers see that the device isn’t a barrier to progress in the classroom and the AT team is there to support them, they are more likely to embrace the device in the classroom.     🔑 Lauren started having much greater success with teachers and staff by doing more job-embedded coaching and reflective listening to lead people to their own solutions rather than telling them what to do. This leads to greater motivation on the part of staff and less of a struggle to find success.   🔑 Getting school peers to engage in authentic communication with AAC users increases positive attitudes about AAC and can be really motivating to all the students involved.   Follow Lauren @aps_astech and Brittany @msbrittanyslp on Twitter to learn more about them and their awesome work!   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!

This week, TWT shares Rachel and Chris’s coaching call with Alison Bono! Alison is an SLP who reached out to Rachel and Chris for help working with a young student with complex communication needs. On the call, Rachel and Chris explore moving from low-tech to high-tech supports, getting teachers on board with a core language approach, integrating core words into routines, motivating the circle of support, and more!    Before the coaching session, Rachel and Chris dive into Rachel’s latest “intensive” approach to supporting clients. During this approach, Rachel had observation and coaching sessions at least once a day over a two week period with a client’s circle of support, including behavior therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and parents. Rachel shares how this intensive approach gave her a new perspective on this client, provided lots of ideas for making faster progress, and gave everyone even more motivation to support the client’s use of AAC and language.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Until Rachel observed the whole circle of support during intensive coaching, she wasn’t aware of everything that was happening with communication partners. Partners may not see that they are prompting, or that the client is not actually responding spontaneously.   🔑 Asking reflective questions can be more helpful than giving advice. Allowing people to think through their problems and come up with their own solutions can lead to greater ownership and change.   🔑 A more intensive approach harnesses the collective energy of the team and promote greater change.  Positive change in the client can then motivate the circle of support to continue improving and growing.   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!

This week, Chris interviews recent SLP graduates Alexis Martinez and Natalie Fry about their experience focusing on AAC in grad school and their thoughts on how AAC instruction and mentorship can be more effective for graduate students in the future.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a listener question from a parent who has multiple children who use AAC. This parent has one 3-year-old child who uses LAMP Words for Life (WFL), and another child who uses LAMP WFL - Visual Impairment. Chris and Rachel discuss integrating low tech supports into daily routines, placing those supports around the home, modeling for both kids using high-contrast symbols, and taking a few minutes to model with each child individually.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 It may be better to have a required AAC course early in grad school, rather than later, to better prepare students for the clients they may see early in their clinical training.    🔑 If an early AAC course isn’t an option, AAC and core language instruction can be embedded more into first-year graduate courses    🔑 Guest speakers about AAC can include AAC specialists and local AAC product representatives.  Borrowing devices from lending libraries to be used in class is another great way to integrate AAC into graduate courses.   Links:    Previous TWT Episodes with Parents of AAC Users: Caitlin Calder, Dana Nieder, and Erin Sheldon   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!

This week, Chris interviews Dr. Kathy Howery, an AAC specialist and educational consultant in Alberta, Canada. Chris and Kathy talk about modeling (aka aided language stimulation) and explore a question Kathy often gets from parents: “Is modeling getting in the way of my natural interaction with my child?”    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a Spanish version of the AAC Agreements (habloconcaa.wordpress.com), using Microsoft Translate to communicate with someone who speaks another language, and ways that Rachel has been using Zoom to support her students in unique ways!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 We don’t want to focus so much on modeling that we don’t pay attention to what the student is doing. Modeling needs to be a child-focused interaction, not a performance activity.   🔑 Modeling without expectation doesn't mean that we don't pay attention to what the AAC user says or does in response. We should try and honor multi-modal communication and pay attention to what the AAC User is trying to communicate.   🔑 Videotaping yourself is a good way to learn about how you model with students and how much you engage in expectant pauses. It is important to inhibit our natural inclination to fill silence with talk.   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!

This week, Chris interviews Krista Howard, an AAC Technician and AAC User, and Deanna Wagner, an SLP and AT Specialist, about supporting AAC users and family members in the community through Out & About. They discuss the Out & About program, the fun they have with AAC users and family members, Krista’s work as an AT Technician with Gompers, how Krista supports AAC and literacy, and Deanna’s experiences in Singapore with AAC.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss dealing with parents who don’t want to provide assistive technology for their child because they see it as a “crutch.” Rachel talks about a dyslexic client who needed tools like Read&Write for Chrome and Grammerly, and how she brought the client’s parents around to supporting these important tools.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Out & About selects activities each week that support the development of communicative competence (linguistic, operational, social and strategic skills) for AAC users and their family members.   🔑 The leaders of Out & About share the week’s planned activities ahead of time with its members, along with key vocabulary words. This gives everyone a chance to practice and familiarize themselves with key vocabulary beforehand.    🔑 One popular Out & About activity is their treasure hunt! AAC users pair up with a partner, often a family member, to take a picture of an item that they can find within a particular category. Afterwards, everyone gathers to vote on which words best match which picture!   You can purchase the Out & About manual by Deanna Wagner, Caroline Musselwhite, and Jane Odom on TPT here.   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!

This week, Chris talks with Assistive Technology Specialist David Moehn about supporting general education and special education students more effectively with assistive technology (including AAC). They discuss how to train staff more effectively, supporting all students with text-to-speech and speech-to-text, the specific language system first approach, and the benefits of providing AAC and core language instruction to all students in a classroom.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a listener question: how can we make using AAC more spontaneous and expressive for a child who is accustomed to lots of hand-over-hand prompting? Chris and Rachel offer lots of helpful suggestions for making AAC more motivating, including: changing the appearance of the device, evaluating what the child is most excited about, modeling without expectation, using expected routines, and the benefits of targeting motivating sensory experiences.     Key ideas this week:   🔑 To tempt communication and reduce prompt dependence, combine an expectant pause with an expected routine, like “ready, set….” during a highly motivating activity.   🔑 Some technology supports, like Read & Write for Chrome, can be helpful for both general- and special-education students. For example, all students, not just students with dyslexia, can benefit from listening to their writing before submitting it.   🔑 When AAC and core language is more universally adopted in a district, consults go down over time because everyone is more accustomed to using the app. Many students also use language more expressively when modeling increases in the classroom.    🔑 Look at the time spent by specialists and support staff to train vs the cost of universal deployment of a tool like Read & Write - if teachers and staff are comfortable and do not need training, then less specialist involvement is required overall.    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!

This week’s episode features Rachel’s interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Karen Wilson!  Dr Wilson shares some of the treatment approaches and assistive technology tools she uses to support children and adults with ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and language-based learning disorders.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a reader’s question looking for more on the "Specific Language System First Approach" from the TWT episode with Erik Engar. Chris tells the story of how this term came to be used, revisits some of the reasoning behind this approach, and shares some resources for learning more about it!    Key ideas this week:    🔑 Classroom accommodations that can help children with ADHD include: private signals between a teacher and the student to refocus attention, breaking down instructions into smaller chunks to support working memory, and eliminating distractions with strategies like preferential seating.   🔑 Mindfulness helps with decreasing anxiety, increasing self-regulation, and and improving focus. Using a mindfulness app before beginning schoolwork can help people with ADHD increase focus and get ready to learn.   🔑 Listening to audiobooks (while following along with the printed text) can help children with dyslexia improve their reading comprehension, because they can spend more effort on comprehending the material and not use up all their energy simply decoding the words.   Links & Tools   AAC Spotlight Slides: Bit.ly/aacspotlightcb Mindfulness: Headspace Calm Stop, Breathe, Think Breathe like a Bear book ADHD: Revibe watch Dyslexia: NaturalReader  Kurzweil Google Keep Notability Read&Write for Chrome Co:Writer Universal Snap & Read Livescribe Smartpen Top 6 digital scanner pens   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!

In this episode of Teaching with Tech, Chris and Rachel explore the Picseepal, a low-tech AAC communication tool that protects and organizes low-tech communication boards! Chris and Rachel unbox the Picseepal, talk about how they would use it in therapy, and discuss the importance of Picseepal’s goal of donating 1 million Picseepals to those in need across the world. They also discuss why laminating communication boards is not ideal for protecting communication boards, including: 1) lamination may not last very long, 2) it creates a distraction for some AAC users, 3) recreating damaged boards takes time, and 4) dirty or crumpled lamination looks less professional than a Picseepal.    Links:   To see the video version of this episode, visit talkingwithtech.org/episodes/picseepal   Buy an Early Bird Picseepal at over 40% off (for a limited time) and support their global initiative at startsomegood.com/picseepal   Download Picseepal’s core communication board: bit.ly/picseepaldownload   Learn more about Picseepal: www.picseepal.com

This week, Kevin Williams and Lateef McLeod share about racism and ableism from their perspective as Black AAC users. Kevin Williams is a freelance web developer and the Chief Technical Officer of USSAC. Lateef is a PHD Candidate in the Anthropology and Social Change program at California Institute of Integral Studies, Vice President of ISSAC’s LEAD Committee, and published poet/author. In the interview, Kevin and Lateef discuss the importance of having difficult conversations about racism and ableism, the intersection of race and disability in their own life, and the importance of patience, especially from the police, when communicating with AAC users.    Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss the need for more options for AAC users to socialize with other AAC users online, especially during the pandemic.    Key Ideas this Week:   🔑 Have uncomfortable conversations about racism and ableism with people in your immediate circle of friends and family. People are more likely to listen to someone they care about and respect   🔑 Police should inspire compliance with their own behavior, including telling someone why they are being physically restrained, rather than simply demanding compliance. Police need to be the most patient with people with disabilities.    🔑 An AAC user’s personality is communicated by more than the software or voice on a device; it also comes from that person’s gestures, vocalizations, and body language.   Links:    Some of Lateef's books on Amazon   Lateef’s podcast “Black Disabled Men Talk”   Join USSAAC and ISAAC   ISAAC PWUAAC Chat page   Speak Up blog   Body Cam Footage of the Death of Rashad Brooks Warning: Video Contains Graphic Images   Where is Hope, The Art of Murder (the documentary)

This week, Rachel interviews Erik Raj, a Speech-Language Pathologist and app developer. about using apps to make language development more motivating and fun! Rachel and Erik discuss picture-manipulation apps to get students laughing, telling stories with the my story app, making passive screen time more active, teaching students to comment and not just request, integrating parents into therapy with the superherofx app, and more! Learn more about Erik at Erikxraj.com and on Instagram @erikxraj   For extra apps and hacks from Erik Raj and to enter to win Erik’s Your Face Learning apps, become a TWT Patron at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss their presentations on AAC in the Cloud: Chris’s presentation on robots and coding for core language, and Rachel’s presentation with Lauren Enders on attention-grabbing tools. They also share about some of the other interesting presentations from this year's AAC in the Cloud conference.   Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, Rachel interviews Chris Ellis of Audio Cardio, an app designed to help strengthen hearing. They discuss how the app uses threshold sound conditioning (TSC) and barely audible sound to stimulate the cells in the ear, and the results of research studies suggesting TSC can improve hearing thresholds.     TWT listeners can get a free 30 day trial of Audio Cardio by going to audiocardio.com and using the code AAC3XS   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about intersection of hearing and AAC. Rachel shares about an AAC user who had recently received cochlear implants. This AAC user benefited from the visuals on the device and he rapidly improved his functional communication by using the device. Then, Chris shares about some of the issues regarding speaker volume he has solved with solutions like bluetooth speakers. Finally, Chris and Rachel discuss teaching AAC users how to change volume on their devices so they can be heard above the background noise.   Check out Picseepal, a low tech communication tool that is mobile, durable, and splash-proof, at picseepal.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/picseepal    Visit talkingwithtech.org to access previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, Rachel interviews Gemma White, an SLP who owns a private practice specializing in AAC and feeding support. Gemma and Rachel discuss a “growth mindset” and why mindset is important for everyone, including people with complex communication needs.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris play a game where Rachel decides on which words she would use to communicate with fictional “veggie” creatures! Then, Rachel and Chris discuss resources for learning about state license reciprocity and how Chris teaches growth mindset to his kids.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 The idea behind a “growth mindset” is that a person’s personality, intelligence and abilities are not fixed. People grow, change, and develop when they make mistakes and decide on a path forward.   🔑 Promoting a growth mindset isn’t just being a cheerleader- it’s also about fostering an environment where people are brave enough to make mistakes, receive feedback on what was done correctly and incorrectly,  and choose a path forward   🔑 We can promote growth mindset while also teaching core language and modeling. We can model things like “you tried, it’s hard, you can do it” to support the idea that learning is a process, they made an error, and we are going to move forward.   🔑 When giving corrective feedback, try to say “not yet” instead of “no”.   You can find out more about Gemma at gemmawhiteslp.com and on Instagram (@a.spoonful)    Check out Picseepal, a low tech communication tool that is mobile, durable, and splash-proof, at picseepal.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/picseepal    Research   Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House Digital, Inc..   Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Psychology press.   Rhew, E., Piro, J. S., Goolkasian, P., & Cosentino, P. (2018). The effects of a growth mindset on self-efficacy and motivation. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1492337.

This week, Rachel and Chris interview Cara Walton (@thebuckeyeslp), the author of a recent change.org petition “Demands for ASHA to Increase Cultural Sensitivity.” Cara shares about her experience as a Black woman becoming a speech-language pathologist, what ASHA can do right now to increase cultural sensitivity, and ways that AAC can better support people of color.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about their previous attempt to discuss anti-racism and AAC on the podcast, how they responded to mistakes they made, and how that response has led to a better understanding of their own cultural “blindspots” and the importance of learning from our mistakes.   Key ideas this week:    🔑 There is a need for more diversity in the field of speech-language pathology - only 8% of SLPs self-identify as people of color, and only 3% identify as Black. We need to recruit more people of color to become SLPs and audiologists, and push graduate schools to have requirements to enroll a more diverse class.   🔑 Most AAC symbol sets typically default to white male icons being showcased in vocabulary templates and it requires a high level of customization to select and program racially diverse icons. Considering whether the symbols will represent the user can be an important factor when choosing a system for an AAC user. If software developers know racial diversity in symbol sets is a consideration when feature matching, we may see more diverse symbol options in AAC software.    🔑 There should be a mandatory diversity CEU requirement that is similar to the mandatory ethics CEU requirement, and there should be more CEUs on diversity and multicultural issues available on the ASHA Learning Pass.   We invite you to write your own goals for improving racial equity and share them with us at https://bit.ly/twtequityform.    Click here to sign the ASHA petition Cara started.    Resources: Donation Spreadsheet Speech-Specific Organizations:National Black Association of Speech Language Hearing NBASLH Sistas in Speech Therapy and Audiology S.I.S.T.A.S. SLPs of Color  Education-Related OrganizationsBlack Girls Code The Conscious Kid Social Media Accounts@equityslps @slpsofcolor  @the_juvenileforensic_slp  @speechologistsf   @theslpway   @jrc_theslp   @ei_incolor   @thebuckeyslp   @coffee.communication   Black Speech-Language Pathologists SLP Private Practice in Color (Townhall Meeting) Helpful PodcastsThe Mindful SLP Episode: Anti-Racist Mindfulness Brene Brown: How to Be an Anti-Racist Helpful VideosA Kindergarten Teachers Talking about Racism to her Students Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man  Helpful ArticlesThe New Yorker: White Fragility Comprehensive Anti-Racism Resource Guide

This week, Rachel interviews Brittyn Coleman (https://www.autismdietitian.com), a pediatric dietitian who specializes in supporting children with autism and ADHD. She talks with Rachel about the difference between the different types of food reactions, when biomedical testing may be used to evaluate food sensitivity, the different reasons why some foods may be avoided by picky eaters, and more!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel finish their game of AAC Bingo! Topics that they rate themselves on this week include if they “inspire not require”, if they are CEU “junkies”, if they use password managers, and how much they enjoy laminating!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 There are up to 30 different steps that may be necessary before we ask a picky eater to eat a new food (e.g., seeing, smelling, touching, tasting). Going straight to eating a new food may elicit a “fight or flight” response that reduces appetite even further.   🔑 There are different types of food reactions that can occur. Food allergies often involve anaphylactic reactions and typically can bee seen on the outside. Food sensitivities can take longer to show up and may only occur internally and manifest as cognitive and/or behavioral issues. Food intolerance is when there is a digestive enzyme that is missing and the body can’t break down a particular food.   🔑 Every person on the autism spectrum is unique and there is no one diet that works for everyone. Even if someone doesn’t benefit from one diet (e.g., gluten-free diet), it doesn’t mean they won’t benefit from a different approach.   Listeners can get $500 off Brittyn’s services by using the promo code talkingwithtech !

Brittani’s son Lucas is a 7 year old AAC user who has Joubert’s syndrome. Brittani shares about her journey with teaching Lucas to communicate and how it led to writing her book “Lucas the Lion Loves the Tiny Talker,” a social story about a lion who uses AAC. It teaches kids about AAC and even comes with its own light-tech AAC device, the Tiny Talker!    Before the interview, Chris plays the “Opposite Challenge” with Rachel, a game with a surprise ending! Next, Chris remembers the late, great Bruce Baker and talks about the impact Bruce made on his life. Rachel discusses starting new online therapy groups for kids that combine direct therapy activities and integrated parent training - learn more at rachelmadel.com/vitual. Chris and Rachel also talk about the need for a “telepractice” license that allows you to practice in multiple states at the same time.    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Joubert’ syndrome is a genetic condition causing the vermis of the cerebellum to be underformed, which causes global developmental delays in eye movement, speech, coordination, and balance.   🔑 Considering the size of a device is important when doing an AAC assessment. A very heavy device may not be a good fit for a small child to take around at home and school.   🔑 Talking with Tech has a new website! Visit talkingwithtech.org for access to all of our episodes and more!    Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!

This week, the TWT team presents Chris’s interview with Carson Covey, social media manager & AAC mentor at Jill Tullman & Associates, ambassador with PRC, and AAC user! Carson shares about changing his AAC system to TouchChat; the importance of having his circle of support use his device; updating AAC devices when sheltering at home; and going to school to become an SLP!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel play AAC Bingo & score themselves on AAC in their lives, including advocating modeling, using low tech AAC, valuing motor planning, and using AAC memes.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Having an AAC user’s 1:1 aide know and use the device can be a huge help when navigating the school environment inside and outside of class. Having the family know the device is similarly helpful at home.   🔑 It is important to avoid helping AAC users too much - we must give them the time and opportunity to communicate before jumping in to help.   🔑 AAC users should trust in themselves, and trust their technology!   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, Tara Wineinger and Rachel discuss Sophie’s Run (runsophies5k.com), a “virtual 5k” that supports decreasing the amount of time students wait for AAC devices and to assist communication partners with training in the Kansas City area. Tara shares about building awareness for AAC, the services they have been able to provide, and ideas for how you can bring fundraising like this to your school district.   Before the interview, Chris and his wife Melissa talk about how the school closures have changed their personal and professional lives. They discuss how “eduspeak” can be overwhelming to some parents, how getting emails from multiple teachers for multiple kids can be a lot to manage, and why we need to have a lot of compassion and empathy for each other in these times.    Key Ideas This Week:   🔑 If possible, educators and therapists should focus on helping students to understand academic content and apply it to their lives (e.g., graphic organizers, reflective coaching, solving authentic problems.) rather than just providing content.   🔑 Having teachers and therapists meet as a team with AAC users and their parents to support AAC implementation and provide resources can help promote language development during school closure.   🔑 Co-Vidspeak (covidspeak.org) is a free open source, web-based video conferencing tool built for people who can't speak but still need to connect with others.   Double Time Docs helps you write your pediatric SLP, OT, and PT evaluation reports in a fraction of the time. SIgn up for a free 30 day trial at doubletimedocs.com and use promo code TWT2020 for to get 1 free Doc credit!    Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, the TWT team presents part 2 of Rachel’s interview with Caitlyn Calder, parent of a child with complex communication needs and SLP at CHI St. Luke’s Health in Houston TX. Caitlin continues to share from all that she has learned about being a parent of an AAC user, including thinking of parents as “co-clinicians”, how she second-guessed herself about her daughter’s progress with her device, how grief can impact family buy-in, and more.    Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about running a “virtual 5k” called Sophie’s 5k to help fund devices for people with complex communication needs (runsophies5k.com) and Chris’s latest stories involving characters that use technology to communicate. Listen for free at  nightlightstories.net !   Key ideas this week:   🔑  Caitlin’s daughter learned how to communicate much faster once there was more family buy-in for modeling. Showing parents how to model by watching the SLP do it first can be very helpful.   🔑  It can be really stressful for parents when a child starts to make progress with AAC, because often the family could have started supporting AAC sooner. It’s important to recognize that progress can be made at any age and to celebrate success rather than focus on what could have been done at a younger age.   🔑  Parents of students with disabilities experience grief in different ways at different times. The grief can be so overwhelming at times that working with a device feels impossible, but that doesn’t mean that it will feel impossible forever.   Double Time Docs helps you write your pediatric SLP, OT, and PT evaluation reports in a fraction of the time. SIgn up for a free 30 day trial at doubletimedocs.com and use promo code TWT2020 for to get 1 free Doc credit!    Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

On this episode of Teaching with Tech, Rachel and Chris do a deep dive into Double Time Docs, an online software that helps you write speech and language reports, including AAC assessments! By answering multiple-choice, fill-in, and short answer questions, you can have a fully written and formatted report generated in moments. It has an extensive bank of standardized tests that only require a few fill-ins to complete, as well as sections for articulation, voice, fluency, pragmatics, parent & teacher reports, observations, developmental history, and more! Their AAC evaluation section includes device trailing, method of access, and common standardized testing used to evaluate people with complex communication needs. Whether you are a new clinician that could use help making your assessments more thorough, or a veteran who would like to write reports in a fraction of the time, it is worth taking look at Double Time Docs!   Go to doubletimedocs.com for a free 30 day trial, and use the promo code TWT2020 to get an additional report “doc credit” for FREE! 

This week, the TWT team presents part 1 of Rachel’s interview with Caitlyn Calder, parent of a child with complex communication needs and SLP at CHI St. Luke’s Health in Houston TX. Caitlin shares from some of the many lessons she has learned, including working with specialists, teaching her daughter AAC, dealing with expectations that don’t match reality, and navigating the many challenges that complex communication needs can bring.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss dealing with co-workers and communication partners who are not motivated to provide the best service they can. Ideas for overcoming this include focusing and talking about the positive, charting out growth for everyone to see, incorporating language opportunities into routines, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑  Parents & teachers can think “this isn’t working” when there isn’t quick success, but its normal for kids with complex communication needs to take significant time to learn language.   🔑  Parents who expect to use the device 24/7 may feel badly when the device isn’t being implemented all the time, which can lead to negative feelings that discourage them from using the device even more.   🔑  We can help parents feel less overwhelmed by setting realistic expectations for using the device (e.g., starting small,)  telling them it’s OK to feel awkward to start using AAC, and teaching them how to model at home.   Double Time Docs helps you write your pediatric SLP, OT, and PT evaluation reports in a fraction of the time. SIgn up for a free 30 day trial at doubletimedocs.com and use promo code TWT2020 for to get 1 free Doc credit!    Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

For a FREE 30 day trial of Smarty Symbols, go to smartysymbols.com and use coupon code TWT30 at checkout!   On this episode of Teaching with Tech, sponsored by Smarty Symbols, Chris and Rachel do a "deep dive" into Smarty Symbols! Smarty Symbols provides access to over 21000 clean and modern symbols that can be used to create visuals supports and materials for therapy and language enrichment. Chris and Rachel discuss how the Smarty Symbols website can be used to create comic strips, planners, low tech AAC boards, visual scenes, and more! The site also provides access to a library of ready-made materials and simple drag-and-drop tools for creating materials. The symbols can be used in other apps to create new materials as well, such as using them to create Boom Cards.With a commercial license, you can even sell your Smarty Symbols creations on sites like TPT!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, Chris interviews Mike Hipple, Tami Altschuler, and Sarah Blackstone of the United States Society of AAC (USSAAC) to talk about USSAC and its role in policy making, disaster relief, and providing funding help for AAC users.   Before the interview, Rachel & Chris answer a Patreon member’s question about using music to teach AAC and how to support her son’s fine motor challenges. Chris and Rachel discuss teaching core words by starting and stopping music with edpuzzle.com, using a switch with powerpoint, adapting instruments to make them more accessible, creating a grid of links to music with symbaloo.com, putting links on a picture with thinglink.com, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑  Without the work of USSAAC & Lew Golinker, Medicaid and Medicare would probably not cover AAC devices   🔑  patientprovidercommunication.org is providing free alphabet boards, symbol boards, medical decision making boards, and other communication resources for people in acute care & ICUs, including people in respiratory distress due to COVID-19.   🔑  We should look at communication as a medical priority - its a quality and safety issue. If you use AAC, having a “go bag” with chargers, low tech options, and anything else you might need in the hospital can help with emergency preparedness. 

This week, the TWT team presents Rachel’s pre-conference presentation for AAC in the Cloud on AAC and telepractice! This session is filled with practical solutions for practitioners who are working with anyone over telepractice, with an emphasis on working with AAC users.   Key ideas this week:   🔑  All children are candidates for telepractice, but telepractice will look different for everyone. They don’t have to be able to watch a screen for us to facilitate communication!   🔑  Checking in with parent’s to gauge how overwhelmed they are is critical right now; some parents are ready to take on more responsibilities, while other parents may need something simple and achievable.   🔑  Communication should not feel like work - look for the opportunities that already happen during the day and take advantage of them. What is their favorite time of day to spend with their child? When does their child communicate spontaneously, and what do they say?   🔑  Include a variety of communication partners, including siblings, friends, ABA professionals, teachers, etc. You can have them join in virtually as well as in person.   🔑  You can plan ahead and track progress using a shared google sheet to provide materials prior o the session, share photos/videos, and provide feedback after the session.   🔑  Use strengths-based coaching - start with what communication partners are already doing well, build a strong relationship through collaboration & listening, provide performance feedback, and encourage self-reflection.   Links: Handout from the presentation: bit.ly/teleAAChandout Free Coaching Guide: www.rachelmadel.com/aaccoach Rachel’s Free Communication App List: www.rachelmadel.com/applist Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech! Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, the TWT team is proud to present the amazing Caroline Musselwhite! Caroline shares from her 45 years of experience with low- and high-tech AAC, including the communication circle of people around an AAC user, the importance of pranks & humor when using AAC, recognizing gestures, and more.   Before the interview, Rachel shares from her webinar on telepractice and AAC and why “all children are good candidates for telepractice.” Rachel notes that telepractice can look different for different students, but all children can benefit from a qualified speech-language pathologist and/or AAC specialist facilitating communication, even if students won’t pay attention to the screen. Telepractice doesn’t have to be a direct service model - we can always coach communication partners, including parents, siblings, and other family members on how to support an AAC user's communication.   Key ideas this week:   🔑  Coaching an AAC user’s circle of support should include peers whenever possible. Training friends and siblings allows for exposure to different communication functions, and involving peers can increase an AAC user's motivation and buy-in.   🔑  “Coaching” is not necessarily the same thing as “consulting.” They are both important, but coaching can be more valuable because it involves follow up and showing communication partners how to work with AAC users, not just telling them what to do.   🔑  Gestures are an important part of multi-modal communication. Recognizing what each AAC user communicates (or can communicate) with things like facial expressions can add to the overall effectiveness of their communication.   You can learn more about Caroline and her work at www.aacintervention.com, her AAC Girls blog, on Pinterest, and Teachers Pay Teachers.   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, the TWT team presents the audio recording of Chris and Rachel’s AAC Hour-by-Hour webinar originally presented on Xceptionaled.com! This episode is jam packed with practical strategies and advice for parents and professionals working with AAC users who are staying at home. These ideas can be implemented in the home or shared with parents and communication partners via teletherapy!   Key ideas this week:   🔑  Look at your daily schedule and plan out the “when what who and how” for incorporating core words into your routines. Choose routines that happen every day to allow for more chances to model.   🔑  It’s OK to take a break and not model 24/7, especially when you are with an AAC user all day long. When giving AAC users a break, you can let them “babble” and explore with the words on their device freely.   🔑  Have a family meeting and create a to-do list for your extended time at home. Create the to-do list together to increase everyone’s motivation, and give everyone a chance to talk about feelings regarding the break.   For links to the slides used in this episode, including shared resources, go to bit.ly/aachourbyhour   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, the TWT team presents Chris's interview with Dr. Elena Dukhovny, professor at CSU East Bay! She is a leading researcher on motor planning, AAC training for paraeducators, and more, and she shares some of what she has learned about these two important topics!   Before the interview, Rachel shares a wealth of useful advice on preparing to consult with parents and the circle of support, including 1) asking what gets kids excited to communicate; 2) having parents write down all non-verbal communication, including behaviors; and 3) asking what parents would change about the child’s communication, if they could. Rachel also shares about gently approaching situations where a non-robust language system was already recommended to parents and she wants a robust language system implemented instead.   Key ideas this week: 🔑  Developing a motor plan allows AAC users to have a rate of speech that is closest to verbal speech.    🔑  Elena’s research indicates fluent AAC device users plan and remember words by where their hands move on the device, similar to how speaking people remember words by how they sound and sign-language users remember words by how they are signed.   🔑  Briefly trialing different language systems isn’t always the best way to determine what system will be best for a user in the long term. For example, a system that is simpler or easier to visually scan may be learned quickly, but if motor planning isn’t supported then a user may not become as fluent with that system long term.   Help us develop new content and keep the podcast going strong! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!   Research   Dukhovny, E., Gahl, S. (2014) Manual motor-plan similarity affects lexical recall on a speech- generating device: Implications for AAC users. Journal of Communication Disorders 48, 52-60.   Thistle, J. J., Holmes, S. A., Horn, M. M., & Reum, A. M. (2018). Consistent symbol location affects motor learning in preschoolers without disabilities: Implications for designing augmentative and alternative communication displays. American journal of speech-language pathology, 27(3), 1010-1017.

Speech Blubs will be giving away a lifetime membership to anyone who signs up to become a Talking with Tech Patreon member by April 2nd, 2020! Just go to patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   In this episode of Teaching with Tech, Chris and Rachel dive into the Speech Blubs speech therapy app. The Speech Blubs app utilizes games, video/peer modeling, and augmented reality to make learning language and improving speech skills fun and engaging! You can use the app to teach emotions & core words, work on wh- questions, improve verbal speech, and more. The app has been used successfully to improve communication for children with speech delay, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down syndrome, and apraxia!   You can download a free trial of the app by going to speechblubs.com.    Find out more about Speech Blubs on Instagram (@speechblubs) or by emailing them at hi@blubblub.org

This week on TWT, Chris interviews Christine Tripoli, an SLP with the Deaf/Blind program at Perkins School for the Blind, and Ellen Maisel, Director of Cortical Visual Impairment project at Perkins. They discuss cortical visual impairment (CVI), including what it is and how to look for it.   Before the interview, Chris shares about his discussion on AAC Certification with Marie Ireland, VP of ASHA. Chris wonders if a slippery slope argument (if we let A happen, then Z will happen) is happening with AAC certification and talks about yourlogicalfallacy.com. Marie talked with Chris about the lack of data to support anyone getting denied services once a certification is put in place.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 CVI is a brain-based visual impairment that affects visual attention and recognition. The cause of visual impairment for people with CVI isn’t their eyes, but their visual brain.   🔑 Just because a child is looking at something, doesn’t mean they understand what they are seeing. This understanding is the primary challenge for children with CVI.   🔑 For brain-based visual impairment, you don’t need to just make it bigger or closer. Its about teaching them to understand what they are looking at.   If you love Talking with Tech, help us develop new content and keep the podcast going! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, the TWT team presents Chris’s roundtable discussion on coding, robots, and AAC with Darla Ashton, Brian Franklin, Catherine Brown, Kelly Fonner. They discuss practical strategies for teaching language using the Dash robot, Ozobot, Code.org, the Every Move Counts method, and more!   Before the roundtable, Rachel and Chris share about meeting each other for the first time in PA during the previous winter break. Rachel also describes going to a screening of Uncut Gems and meeting Adam Sandler! Finally, Rachel and Chris talk about the challenges and rewards of networking, and how they have both become more comfortable with criticism!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 It is important to be ourselves when interacting with others, especially when networking. While not everyone will be interested in us when we are ourselves, the connections we do make are stronger when we are authentic!   🔑 Coding and working with robots is a great way to work on core vocabulary (e.g. “go here”)
 Robots can be more age appropriate for students in school, especially middle and high school   🔑 Coding can encourage peer interaction, because coding robots is motivating to many students, and it allows robotics teams and students in special education to work side by side.   If you love Talking with Tech, help us develop new content and keep the podcast going! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, TWT presents Rachel’s interview with Kathryn Dorney of AAC for the SLP! Before the interview, Rachel shares about a young client she is working with whose family was modeling using Rachel’s free communication board before their first session!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Kathryn Dorney discusses her recent research with Karen Erickson investigating attributing meaning to behaviors, using aided language input, and core vocabulary for preschool students with ASD.   🔑 For aided language input to be more successful, you need core words so that the communication partners have access to more of the words they use themselves. You can also teach intent better with core words - nouns often don’t indicate the intent of the speaker, but core words do.   🔑 When implementing AAC, we should encourage development, not performance. It can quite a while for some students to learn to communicate, and if we require early success to continue implementation, some students don’t get enough time to learn.   If you love Talking with Tech, help us develop new content and keep the podcast going! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week on TWT, we present part 2 of Chris’s interviews from ATIA! Before the interviews, Chris shares even more stories from ATIA. There were two “smackdown” sessions which focus on sharing strategies. biy.ly/appsmack20 gives you links to all of the apps at the App Smackdown, and  bit.ly/pdsmackdown20 links to all the strategies discussed at the Professional Development Smackdown. Chris also shares about the AAC Certification town hall, poster sessions on AAC camps, using robots to teach language, updates to the AAC Agreements ranking the evidence behind them, and more!   Interviews this week:    🔑 Jeanna Antrim  & Maggie Judson from BASSC share about their session on building capacity and supporting staff with implementation, strategies, and supports. Building capacity includes empowering families and increasing the AAC knowledge of educators and administrators. To build capacity, Jeanna and Maggie use the Power:AAC modules to create a learning community, hold monthly AT meetings with administrators, and host family AAC nights.  Jeanna and maggie discuss the McNaughton et. al. (2019) article on building capacity, the Nate Network that connects AT specialists in Education, and other great resources!   🔑 Susan Todd & Laura Vaughan discuss why AAC assessment should not be a pass/fail test, but rather a dynamic assessment that occurs over a number of sessions. Family involvement should also be central to the assessment process whenever possible. They also discuss the Dietz et. al. (2012) article that describes seven aspects of AAC assessment for each assessment - Multi-Modal Approaches, Communicative Assessment, Symbol Assessment, Device Trials, Access Method, AAC Instruction, and Personalization. There is no hierarchy of mastery - it is a circle that changes for each individual.   🔑 Marlene Cummings shares about her presentation on breaking through barriers to AAC implementation utilizing the participation model from Beukelman & Mirenda. Barriers discussed include attitude, skill, practice, policy, and knowledge.   If you love Talking with Tech, help us develop new content and keep the podcast going! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

If you love Talking with Tech, help us develop new content and keep the podcast going! Support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech!   This week on TWT, we present part 1 of Chris’s interviews from the Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference 2020! Before the interviews, Chris shares some stories from ATIA, including not wanting to be “Creepy Chris” when he saw someone he thought he recognized, having FOMO over all the sessions he couldn’t attend, and how much everyone was talking about about literacy at the conference. Chris also talks about the super fun “AT Family Feud” he helped produce!   Interviews this week:   🔑 Jennifer Thistle, Professor at Western Washington specializing in AAC, whose research includes the importance of motor planning and the design of Visual Scene Displays. Visual Scene Displays (VSDs) are photographs with vocabulary embedded into the picture. Jennifer is also asking for feedback from current school-based SLPs who have been working for at least three years and have a student who uses AAC. You can fill out this Google Form and contact her at jennifer.thistle@wwu.edu   🔑 Karen Fahey - graduate student at California State University, Northridge who is interested in AAC & assistive technology. Karen talks about her experience at ATIA, including her favorite parts of the exhibit hall and how much she enjoyed being around other people who are interested in AAC, and also shares about her experiences in grad school.   🔑 Amanda Hettenhausen - SLP & Saltillo consultant talks about how to use AAC in the classroom and adapt books for reading with an AAC user. She shares tips and tricks she uses, including making simple and natural powerpoint books, printing icons on address labels to label books, and more!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, we have the privilege of presenting Rachel’s interview with Hannah Foley, a senior at University of Illinois who is pursuing a career in Assistive Technology & AAC.  Hannah has cerebral palsy and is an incredible adult AAC user who works as an ambassador for Saltillo!    Before the interview, Rachel & Chris talk about Christine Derse’s article, A Call for Consistency in AAC Picture Systems. Rachel and Chris discuss their agreement that using different symbols sets can be confusing at times, but note it isn’t clear a universal symbol set would lead to better modeling. For example, adults often use labels, rather than pictures, when modeling, and once a motor plan is in place the pictures become less important.   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Initially, Hannah was against using AAC because she felt her dedicated device was unsightly and it made her feel even more different. Working with Matt Baud, she came to see the importance of communication for her independence and started using an iPad.   🔑 Response time is incredibly important when communicating with an AAC user - it is critical that we give enough time to respond and become comfortable with silence.    🔑 People often assume that Hannah is intellectually impaired, can’t go to college, or manage her care independently because she uses AAC. This is, of course, totally incorrect!   We need help from our listeners to keep Talking with Tech going - please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!   Resources Hannah Foley's blog post - Overcoming AAC Resistance: Communication is Key. Schlosser, R. W., Brock, K. L., Koul, R., Shane, H., & Flynn, S. (2019). Does Animation Facilitate Understanding of Graphic Symbols Representing Verbs in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder?. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(4), 965-978.

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech.   This week, Chris and Rachel talk about Chris’s takeaways from the Future of Education Technology conference,  a place for teachers, coaches, and administrations can learn about ed tech, including using tech to increase inclusion.    🔑 E-sports was a big topic of discussion at FETC.  E-sports allow for more inclusion because students who cannot participate in traditional sports can still play video games. Students can collaborate and interact in an authentic way with peers in a team environment and participate on twitch.com    🔑 The FETC keynote speaker Daniel Pink who discussed the relationship between timing and performance. You want to do analytical tasks in the morning and the afternoon is the “trough” which is better for more routine tasks. We can help students with low motivation to perform better by scheduling them in the morning.   🔑 Carol Allen talked about early childhood education and introducing students to educational technology at a very early age. Don’t be the “lid on the flea jar”, as seen in this video (https://youtu.be/v-Dn2KEjPuc), by setting low expectations for students.   🔑 Jane Odom talks with Chris about the new “voice control” feature on Apple iOS where you can use a real or synthesized voice to interact with everything on an iOS device. This has opened up opportunities for AAC users to become more independent in exciting ways!    Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Chris interviews Matt Levac of ACCEL and David Reno of Southwest Human Development about making assistive tech and developing the “Makers of Change AT Challenge”. Matt and David discuss why making AT for each child can be so important, how recent technology like 3D printing has changed AT making, and how they leveraged the technical expertise of local students through the “Makers of Change AT Challenge”  to solve real problems for people with disabilities.  Before the interview, Rachel and Chris connect about getting clients to communicate with carrier phrases and doing fun and silly activities to engage students. They also discuss their experience finding their creative flow in therapy or writing, and how it can be a powerful way to produce a great deal of creative content.   Key ideas this week:   🔑  The Makers of Change AT Challenge takes advantage of the technical skills of students to work on real-world problems facing people with disabilities. One year, students integrated internet-connected sensors into equipment so therapists could get better data about how equipment is being used.   🔑 The Makers of Change AT Challenge is looking for teams across the country to get involved next fall to work on the challenges independently and send in their solutions remotely. Learn more at Atmakerschallenge.com.    🔑  Access free AT resources and “Open AT” solutions at www.makersmakingchange.com and atmakers.org.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, the TWT team is excited to share Rachel’s interview with Alyssa Hillary Zisk, an Autistic adult who is a “part-time AAC user” and a previous guest of the pod! Part-time AAC users have the ability to communicate verbally, but there are times when verbal speech is difficult and non-verbal communication is preferred. Before the interview, Rachel shares about all of her new technology she purchased recently, and shares tips on using an Apple Pencil to become more organized and use less paper in therapy!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Alyssa discusses their new article, “Am I the Curriculum?”. They discuss how and why being a part-time AAC user, taking an AAC course, and doing AAC research was “systemically awkward” because of many inconsistencies in the field, including our definitions of AAC and who uses AAC.   🔑 Parents may be resistant to AAC because want their child to use verbal speech, but we should empower individuals to use whatever communication method they find beneficial in that moment.    🔑 Alyssa prefers identity-first language (Autistic adult) rather than people-first language (person with autism) when talking about their autism. This perspective is not always respected in the field of AAC - in fact, some AAC journals refuse to accept submissions with identity-first language, even when the author is talking about themselves.    Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!  

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. TWT presents the last, but not least, collection of interviews by Rachel recorded at ASHA 2019! Before the interviews, Rachel and Chris talk about some gems from Chris’s upcoming presentations at FETC about inclusive design, flexible learning spaces, and teaching through coding with robots. They also chat about ATIA, where Chris will be doing a pre-conference on writing, an “AT Feud” Family Feud style game, an assistive technology strategy “smackdown” session, and more! Afterwards, we hear from our interviews:   🔑Betsy Kennedy and Megan Murray talk about their poster session about how students learn with a consistent core word system across classrooms. They found that two core words a month, with a different focus each of the two weeks covering the same word, was more successful that focusing on one word each week or one word in a month.   🔑Heidi LoStracco shares about Speak for Yourself and their new “Smart Search” feature that remembers the words that have been searched but were not on the system and allows you to quickly add those words later when editing.   🔑Daisy Clay, the author of “Super Core” for the AAC system “SmartBox” shares about how the research behind Super Core, and how it provides both a static set of core words and a dynamic set of context- or activity-specific words on the right.   🔑 Jennie Bjorem, an expert on Childhood Apraxia of Speech, talks with Rachel about helping children with CAS, red flags for making a diagnosis of CAS (e.g. inconsistent errors, consonant & vowel distortions, intrusive schwa, difficulty with multisyllabic words, prosody issues, slow rate), becoming more comfortable with making a CAS diagnosis as an SLP, and more!   If you haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, check out Chris’s amazing book on assistive tech, “The New Assistive Tech: Make Learning Awesome for All”!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, we are happy to share the Xceptional Podcast Network’s 2019 Holiday Episode! To start off the episode, Mai Ling Chan of the Xceptional Leaders podcast talks about working with her new co-host, Martyn Sibley, and her new book “Becoming an Xceptional Leader.” Brandon Seigel talks about getting started with his new podcast, the Private Practice Survival Guide. Chris and Rachel (aka “Crachel”) share about being busy with lots of presentations and clients. Matt Hott talks briefly about the upcoming 100th episode of the Speech Science podcast and his son’s love of Lego games. After these introductions, the XPN crew play a fun holiday quiz game. Finally, the XPN crew share about their goals for the new year. From Chris, Rachel, Luke, and Michaela - have a safe and happy holidays!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, the TWT team is proud to present Part 3 of Rachel’s interviews from ASHA 2019! Before the interviews, Rachel chats with Chris about doing a live podcast interview with Jennie Bjorem, speaking on a panel about podcasting and ethics, and her presentation on apps and autism! Don’t miss the discussion of Pepi Bath 2 😆! After that:   🔑 Erik Raj stops by the booth to talk about infusing technology into stuttering treatment, including using funny pics to get kids talking (PhotoFunia) and using a voice changer (voicechanger.io) to motivate clients to talk more in therapy!   🔑 Kate Lamb (@lesswasteslp on Insta) talks about her “zero waste speech therapy room” and how she utilizes strategies like refusal, recycling, and reusing to cut her year’s trash down to the size of a spice jar! One great tip - use less laminating sheets and more reusable plastic sleeves instead!   🔑 Sarah Gregory discusses her presentation on AAC in the general education classroom, free resources on Twitter at @SGregorySLP, and why social media is a great way to follow amazing adult AAC users!   🔑 Kathy Hoffman, Arizona State Superintendent, talks about her presentation on being an advocate for public education, her decision to run for state office, and how she became the first educator to become State Superintendent of AZ in 20 years!   🔑 Lucas Steuber shares about working with Tobii Dynavox customers to figure out their biggest needs working with AAC.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, the TWT team is proud to present more of Rachel’s interviews from ASHA 2019! Before the interviews, Rachel chats with Chris about meeting all of the TWT fans at ASHA, how great it was to be part of something that is helping others, and talking with AAC user Hannah Foley. After that, we hear from:   🔑 Adriana Lavi - Dr. Lavi is the author of the Clinical Assessment of Pragmatics, Assistant Professor at Loma Linda University, and founder of the Lavi Institute. Dr. Lavi talks about creating and standardizing the CAP with her husband, why video-based assessment of non-verbal language is so important to pragmatics, and using auditory-visual bombardment to teach how to read facial expressions.   🔑 Debbie Brooks - the very funny host of SLP Wine and Cheese podcast talks about going from a job as a comedy writer to working as an SLP, why she is a “productive procrastinator”, and how she got started with the podcast.    🔑 Matt Hott - the host of the SpeechScience podcast checks in briefly to talk about being at the XceptionalEd booth and working with ASHA SEALs.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, the TWT team is proud to present Rachel’s interviews from ASHA 2019! Before the interviews, Rachel brings on her #1 fan, Mama Madel, to chat with her and Chris! After that, we hear from:   🔑 Lynsey Lobdell and Brie Norton discuss their presentation about four foundational components to ensure authentic communication across all environments: 1) Improved team communication to promote a collaborative environment; 2) training; 3) support; and 4) culture.   🔑 Maria Kotsonis, host of SLP’s Wine and Cheese Podcast. Maria talks about hosting, working with her co-host Debbie Brooks, why she loves listening to different podcasts and learning while she does other things, and more!   🔑 John Kim - talks about his presentation about the SETT framework and how to incorporate AAC into the classroom curriculum. He shares about utilizing Student, Environment, Task, Tool framework to make a self-guided questionnaire for service providers to help highlight needs. He talks about working with teachers and SLPs who are not as familiar with AAC.    🔑 Andrea Paulson - undergrad student at Middle Tennessee State at ASHA for the first time. She shares about her favorite talk and a upcoming conference at her school with keynote speaker Celeste Roseberry-Mckibbin on Saturday Feb 29th.   🔑 Nicole Tripp - discusses presentation about tracking data to drive change for AAC service delivery, working with administration with data to promote funding and training, evaluation of your own district, collaboration with teachers, and more!   🔑 Daisy Clay talks about creating SimpleAAC to respond to the issue of providing a device without implementation by providing guidance for parents, teachers, and others using the acronym SimpleAAC. It stands for Show, Interesting, Pause, Language, Exploration, Always available, Add words (expansion), and Commenting.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Chris interviews Nicole Bender, an AAC specialist who was inspired to move from the US to Thailand to help people with developmental disabilities to communicate! Nicole shares her fascinating experiences deciding to move to another country, her challenges and successes working with AAC in Thailand, and why Nicole loves working abroad so much. Before the interview, Rachel gives her much awaited update on her experiences in Nepal, including adapting her training to help people in a developing country, traveling to far-flung locations, blending in with the locals, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Nicole makes great use of Saltillo’s  “Activity First Approach” - We pick a motivating topic, fill in words in the different sections on the visual, and think about what we need to say or do to get the child to say targeted phrases.   🔑 Song activities for AAC - some families with a song-based activity before working on core words. The family sings songs together and points at the pictures as they sing. It can help in some cases get the family more comfortable with picture-based vocabulary.    🔑  It is important to think about culture when choosing AAC pictures to use. In some cases, the picture is not culturally appropriate’. For example, Nicole found out that a picture of someone putting their feet to signify “take a break” in Thailand isn’t used because putting up your feet and pointing them at someone is considered rude.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, we are happy to share our third Small Talks episode! We have 5 different short interviews from Brian Whitmer, Brandi Lee Wentland, Kathy Howery, Shaun Pearson, and Kelly Key! Each of them shares a key experience or strategy that is of particular interest!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Brian Whitmer, CEO of CoughDrop, talks about the process of coming up with CoughDrop’s clever AAC-themed shirts (e.g., “I love it when a good motor plan comes together”).    🔑 Brandi Lee Wentland discusses pushing into classrooms and other environments to support students in a more naturalistic environment.   🔑 Kathy Howery shares about working with parents, students, and SLPs at an AAC camp in Canada, including the importance of training communication partners before the camp begins.   🔑 Shaun Pearson shares about creating a table-top role playing game for children at AAC camp with Kathy, and all the creative ideas the students came up with! He also touches on the Argyle and Crew role playing game for kids and adults!    🔑 Kelly Key talks about #coreaokey, a fun activity she came up with to work on core vocabulary! You play a song, and as it plays, you can model the language from the song!    Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Chris interviews Catherine Fredricks, a School-Based SLP & AAC Specialist with Wayne Township Public Schools. Catherine shares about her experience using AAC with students with a variety of needs (bilingual students, language-delayed students who are verbal, students with complex communication needs, etc) and how she builds excitement at school for a student’s early progress with AAC.  Hearing about how she has built success and buy-in within the schools is useful and inspiring! Before the interview, Chris and his amazing wife Melissa Bugaj catch up on the latest at Melissa’s school site!    Key ideas this week:   🔑 Descriptive teaching is a way to reinforce and teach core language when we are discussing fringe words, especially during academic subjects. For example, instead of finding “ocean” or other fringe words during a science lesson, talk about the ocean - it is big, it is cold, etc. This allows for access to the curriculum while also reinforcing core language.   🔑  It can be difficult to get everyone on a school site “on board” with modeling & core language. Often, finding just one teacher to embrace AAC and work with the students can lead to others seeing the progress, which can create more buy-in for everyone.   🔑  When writing goals for students with complex communication needs, consider allowing for verbal responses as well as AAC responses in the goal (e.g., don’t just write the goal for AAC). This respects the student’s communication regardless of modality, and recognizes that verbal skills can grow with AAC skills.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Rachel and Chris interview Amanda Scheriff, an SLP working with students with complex communication needs at the Labbb Educational Collaborative in Lexington, MA! The Labbb Collaborative is a multi-district collaboration providing special eduction services that promote inclusion and independence. Amanda works with the Labbb’s multiple handicap program and social/emotional program, and she has lots of great practical advice and strategies to share!   Key ideas this week include:    🔑 The “Symbol It” app is a speech to symbol app that takes speech input and will display the corresponding symbols/text. This can be a great way to avoid using an AAC user’s device to give them commands (“Sit down”).    🔑 Asking AAC users which greetings, slang, humor, etc they would like on their device is a great way to increase interest in communicating with others, especially peers.   🔑 Amanda uses Carole Zangari’s “Tell Me: AAC in the Preschool Classroom” curriculum with her students as a way to provide structured reading and writing lessons focused on core language & familiar books.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Chris interviews with AAC enthusiast, SLP, and TWT podcast listener Sarah Gregory (@SGregorySLP on Twitter) about “authentic” inclusion, social belonging, peer modeling, universal access, and more! Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about Rachel’s upcoming trip to Nepal to train and coach teachers and caregivers about AAC!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 If we include students with complex communication needs into a general education classroom, we should try and help them feel they are part of the class and they have friends in the class. See this graphic by Shelley Moore.   🔑  Running peer modeling groups in school is a great way to teach everyone in school about AAC & celebrate our differences.   🔑  Culturally responsible teaching - can we structure classrooms so that AAC users are better represented?   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Rachel interviews Dr. Lisa Erwin-Davidson (www.lisa-aac.com) about some of the questions Lisa had working as an AAC specialist, what answers about language she has discovered in her research, and her areas of interest she is exploring next!! Lisa is a faculty member at CSU Fullerton who has conducted research into how preschoolers with and without disabilities are taught core language, and she has unique insights into how core language develops!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Rachel gives an update on the family from the “Aggressive Behaviors” episode.    🔑 One type of core word, a “concept relational word” (e.g., in/out, before/after, big/little), can make an excellent target for beginning AAC interventions.   🔑 Infusing graphic language into daily routines, whether done by teachers or parents, is a great way to expand how often AAC is modeled and used throughout the day.    Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, the TWT team is pleased to share Rachel’s interview with David Tobin, former TV producer and CEO of Audiojack! First, Chris and Rachel discuss how they have gone almost 2 years making the podcast, and haven’t yet met in person (but almost did last week). Chris and Rachel also connect about using audio as a tool in therapy, and the importance of being able to visualize and use our imaginations. Next, Rachel connects David Tobin, former TV producer and CEO of Audiojack (www.audiojack.com), to talk about his company and how Audiojack is being used in classrooms and therapy rooms to improve student engagement and foster creativity. Finally, the episode ends with a short Audiojack, with Rachel and Chris comparing what they heard in the clip!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 “Audiojacks” are audio-based, wordless stories created by layering lots of different sounds together.   🔑 Rachel  has used Audiojacks to help clients produce more language and get better engagement in therapy.    🔑 Some of Rachel’s clients used vocabulary Rachel didn’t know they had when trying to describe an Audiojack.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Chris interviews SLP & AAC Specialist Brandi Lee Wentland, owner of We Speak AAC!  Brandi shares lots of helpful strategies for working with AAC users, including collaborating with other professionals, using a reinforcement matrix, helping others to get started on their AAC journey, and more!   Key ideas this week include:   🔑The cost of agreeing to increase speech therapy minutes can be much greater for a district than vs the cost of a device, but a request to increase speech minutes may be much less scrutinized in some settings than a request for AAC. 🔑BCBAs want research, preferably research of a certain type. Instead of debating the merits of some AAC research, more productive conversations can be had about video modeling, functional language, and utilizing AAC with motivating activities. 🔑Increasing the number of communication partners that model AAC with an AAC user both a) increases their exposure to language overall and b) demonstrates respect for the AAC user’s chosen mode of communication.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week on TWT, Rachel shares about her recent experience with a client who became aggressive, self-injurious, frustrated during a therapy session, and what she was thinking and feeling as the situation felt like it was slipping out of her control. Rachel and Chris discuss the wide variety of emotions and thoughts that can occur after an experience like this, and they consider how we can best support students with complex communication needs who also demonstrate challenging behaviors.   Key ideas this week include:   🔑 Chris wonders whether videotaping sessions with the client could be helpful in figuring out what may have caused the client’s aggressive outburst.  🔑 Gradual exposure to a disliked item, like a particular food being moved closer to the client each session, can be effective in some cases where students become upset or disregulated interacting with it. 🔑It is worth considering whether we can we make therapy that is engaging and fun that in order to reduce aggressive behaviors overall?   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Chris interviews Kelly Key about her role as Assistive Technology Coordinator with the Barrington 220 School District! They discuss promoting core vocabulary in Kelly’s district, using the SETT framework to evaluate AAC needs, helping to find communication opportunities in the school day, and more!   Key ideas this week include:   🔑 Discussion of the story on Twitter about Rachel Romeo teaching a young boy with ASD basic AAC skills during an 8 hour-flight. 🔑 Rachel & Chris’ experiences helping others with assistive technology out in public. 🔑 Kelly shares about growing her school district’s “Core Vocabulary Initiative” from 5 to 75 professionals!   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, Chris & Rachel connect with the amazing Gail Van Tatenhove about her career, working with adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities who use AAC, and more!   Key ideas this week:   🔑 Gail shares from her wealth of experiences, including how communication needs change as young AAC users grow into adulthood and beyond. 🔑 The idea that people with verbal speech don’t benefit from AAC is a myth - the first “A” in AAC is for “augmentative” communication! 🔑 If we rely only upon verbal speech to develop language, then language can be delayed when speech sounds are delayed. “Visual supports” are a great way to teach language while speech sounds develop.   Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

We need your help to keep Talking with Tech going strong! If you are a loyal listener, please support our podcast at patreon.com/talkingwithtech. This week, the TWT team is pleased to share Rachel’s interview with Charlotte DiStefano. Charlotte is a researcher at UCLA with the Center for Autism Research and Treatment, as well as a Clinical Psychologist at the UCLA Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Clinic. Charlotte shares about being a researcher at UCLA, her involvement with JASPER, her research on autism & language development, ways therapists can improve interventions, and more!   Key ideas this week include:   🔑 The importance of school districts providing access to AAC devices after school and during the summer.    🔑 When making device selections, try and involve parents, private SLPs, and teachers where possible! This can improve buy-in and help us make the most informed decision possible.    🔑 JASPER (Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation) is a treatment approach that "targets the foundations of social communication and uses naturalistic strategies to increase the rate and complexity of social communication.”    Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!

This week, the TWT team presents their third “Productivity Hacks” episode! This episode covers additional “hacks” that Rachel and Chris were not able to get to during their AAC in the Cloud presentation, including Slack, Trello, Voxer, ITT, Doodle, and more!   Key ideas this week include:   🔑 Using Slack to coordinate and organize messages between groups of people, such as an IEP team. 🔑 Rachel is “obsessed” with Voxer, a walkie-talkie app for team communication that allows sharing of short voice and video messages. 🔑 Doodle makes scheduling easier for meetings by highlighting the times everyone is available at the same time.   Before Rachel and Chris share these “hacks”, the adorable Margaret Bugaj joins the podcast to share about modeling using LAMP Words for Life with a new AAC user while they watched movies together. Margaret also shares about being a temporary LAMP user herself when she recovered from stitches, and her advice for new LAMP users!

This week, TWT presents the second half of the presentation “Tech Hacks that Support Team Collaboration, Productivity, and Efficiency.” This session was originally presented by Chris and Rachel as part of the AAC in the Cloud 2019 conference!   Key ideas this week include:    🔑 Rachel discusses how she uses TheraNest to help her schedule multiple clinicians at once. 🔑 Summer vacation gives some AAC users a chance to work with different communication partners. We can use this opportunity to see how AAC skills are generalizing outside of the therapy room.  🔑  This week’s half of the “Productivity Hacks” presentation continues to share lots of ideas to help you become more productive and effective, including using Google for to do lists, sending screen captures with Loom, holding team meetings with Zoom, and more! Slides at bit.ly/AACproductivityhacks.   Before we present the second half of “Productivity Hacks”, Chris and Rachel talk about the end of extended school year services, using technology to schedule clinicians, assessing how skills learned in the therapy room are generalizing, and more!

This week, the TWT team presents the first half of their presentation “Tech Hacks that Support Team Collaboration, Productivity, and Efficiency.” This session was originally presented by Chris and Rachel as part of the AAC in the Cloud 2019 conference!   Before we present the first half of “Productivity Hacks”, Chris and Rachel talk about working with impulsive clients, using wait time and eye contact to distinguish communication attempts, doing therapy alongside communication partners, and more!   Key ideas this week include: 🔑 Developing “care plans” for communication partners - e.g., “next week, we will practice expanding utterances by one word” - is a great way to think more about coaching. 🔑 Rachel uses her Core Word Bundle every week to explain core words, language expansion strategies, parts of speech, and more to parents. https://www.rachelmadel.com/shop/core-word-vocabulary-bundle 🔑  This week’s “Productivity Hacks” presentation shares lots of great ideas about how to become more efficient and effective in your AAC practice, including making QR codes and using bit.ly links. Slides for this presentation: bit.ly/aacproductivityhacks 

This week, the TWT team presents the second half of the “ABCs of AAC.” This session was originally presented by Chris and Rachel as part of the SLP2B 2019 conference!   Before we present the second half of the “ABCs”, Chris and Rachel talk about augmented reality in therapy, the “Do Not Touch” app, supporting literacy, and more!   Key ideas this week include: 🔑 Rachel loves to use some slang in therapy because shared use of slang fosters peer acceptance. We need to program and teach users how to communicate in the same way others are communicating. 🔑 It helps to get the community involved with AAC, so more people know more about how to connect and interact with AAC users. 🔑  Avoid repeating phrases too often for children who use scripts. instead, teach language concepts as individual units so kids can say whatever they want to say, whenever they want to say it.    Listen to part 1 of the “ABCs of AAC” and this week’s episode, then head to bit.ly/techceu to earn CEU credit for listening!

This week, the TWT team presents the first half of the “ABCs of AAC.” This session was originally presented by Chris and Rachel as part of the SLP2B 2019 conference!   Before we present the first half of the “ABCs”, Chris and Rachel discuss using the power of core vocabulary, changes to their schedules from summer, celebrating an AAC user’s circle of support, and more!   Key ideas this week include: 🔑 Modeling looking for vocabulary (and using the search function) on a device is a great way to help everyone feel more comfortable looking for vocabulary. 🔑 “Think-alouds” can be used in combination with modeling on the device(e.g., “Hmmm…how do I search?”) to help clients think about solving the problem themselves. 🔑  The “ABCs of AAC” from Rachel and Chris is an excellent introduction into AAC and is intended for anyone interested in a better understanding of the fundamentals of AAC.    Listen this week and to part 2 of the “ABCs of AAC” next week, then head to bit.ly/techceu to earn CEU credit for listening to these episodes!

This week, the TWT team is pleased to share the second half of the “Golden Rules of AAC Competency in a New Era of Communication.” This session was originally presented by Lucas, Chris, and Rachel as part of the #XedAAC18 conference!   Key ideas this week include: 🔑 Overlapping treatment with other professionals can teach you strategies you did not learn in your own professional training. 🔑 It is important to support an AAC user’s “operational competency” - the ability to turn on the device, change the volume, plug it in, etc. 🔑  The COLE (Continuum of Language Expression) is a free tool used by therapists and IEP teams to evaluate early language development. http://bit.ly/colegooglesheets   Before we present the second half of the “Golden Rules”, Chris and Rachel discuss accessible programming, learning from other professionals, operational competency, and more!   Listen to part 1 of the “Golden Rules of AAC Competency in a New Era of Communication” and this week’s episode, then head to bit.ly/techceu to earn CEU credit for listening!

This week, the TWT team is pleased to share the first half of the “Golden Rules of AAC Competency in a New Era of Communication.” This session was originally presented by Lucas, Chris, and Rachel as part of the #XedAAC18 conference!   Before we present the first half of this session, Chris and Rachel discuss several topics related to 3D printing, including creating 3D core word symbols using Project Core!   Key ideas this week include: 🔑 Teachers and SLPs can coordinate with students in “maker clubs” to print 3D core word symbols using Project Core. 🔑 The “AAC competencies” are a helpful framework for planning AAC intervention by providing a broader definition of communication competence and success with AAC. 🔑  Five domains of communication competence in AAC: social, operational, linguistic, strategic, and emotional competence.    Listen this week and to part 2 of the “Golden Rules of AAC Competency in a New Era of Communication” next week, then head to bit.ly/techceu to earn CEU credit for listening to these episodes!

This week, Lucas Steuber of Tobii Dynavox returns to help Chris and Rachel answer questions from our listeners!    Key ideas this week include: 🔑 Ideas for supporting an eye gaze user's as he enters a magnet high school for game and app development. 🔑 Advice for a person whose client uses AAC and appears to display block-like disfluencies. 🔑 Strategies for promoting literacy, including incorporating the use of bluetooth keyboards.   For show notes, links to resources, past episodes, and more, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast. To earn CEU credits for listening to past episodes of TWT, head to bit.ly/techceu!

Listen to part 1 of the AAC Apps Update last week, then head to bit.ly/techceu to earn CEU credit for listening to both of these episodes! This week, the TWT team is pleased to share the second half of the AAC Apps Update 2018! This conference session was originally presented by Lucas, Chris, and Rachel as part of the Special Apps Update Conference 2018.  Before we present this week’s session, Chris and Rachel discuss Rachel's recent hand injury, ideas for improving aided language input, and more!    Key ideas this week include:   🔑 Important features to look for in AAC applications. 🔑 Using  parallel-talk vs self-talk when working with adults over 60+ 🔑 App ideas & strategies for challenging AAC assessments.

Listen to part 2 of the AAC Apps Update next week, then head to bit.ly/techceu to earn CEU credit for listening to these episodes! This week, the TWT team is pleased to share the first half of the AAC Apps Update 2018! This conference session was originally presented by Lucas, Chris, and Rachel as part of the Special Apps Update Conference 2018.  Before we present this week’s session, Chris and Rachel discuss reading specialists, being aware of compensatory measures when assessing children with autism, and more! Key ideas this week include: 🔑 AAC users may benefit from working with a reading specialist and/or from including a reading specialist on their interdisciplinary team.  🔑 When assessing receptive language, you must determine whether a child really understands the language and isn’t using compensatory measures, such as visuals or gestures. 🔑 School districts should consider teaching the basics of AAC to all students and staff!  

This week, Rachel interviews educational therapists and co-hosts of the Learn Smarter podcast, Stephanie Pitts & Rachel Kapp! Stephanie and Rachel share what educational therapy is, why executive functioning is so important, and strategies they utilize to help learners improve task initiation, time management, and motivation!   Key ideas this week include: 🔑 Educational therapists teach learners how they learn and strategies they can use to learn better and improve executive functioning. 🔑 No child is actually "lazy" - it is often about meeting learners where they are. 🔑 How to help early communicators improve both sustained attention and task initiation.   For show notes, links to resources, past episodes, and more, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast!

This week, the TWT team presents another “Small Talks” episode featuring short conversations with AAC specialists Erin Sheldon, Kelly Fonner, Lance McLemore, and Mo Buti!   Key ideas this episode:   🔑Suggest an AAC evaluation for young children (2-3 years old) with limited expressive language, because we don’t have to delay language skills while other skills (e.g. articulation skills) catch up.  🔑Try to use fun, memorable stimuli and prompts in therapy, because clients talk more about things that are silly, remarkable, and novel. 🔑Ask students who are AAC users to use their vocabulary to talk about the curriculum in the classroom, not just answer basic vocabulary questions.   For show notes, links to resources, past episodes, and more, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast!

This week on TWT, Chris interviews Brian Whitmer, CEO of CoughDrop, about OpenAAC.org and the “open” movement supporting AAC users and their right to move communication boards from one system to another, access a free set of symbols, open 3rd party apps inside their AAC systems, and more!   Key ideas: 🔑Many AAC developers do not allow communication boards to be moved from one communication system to another system, especially if that system is not owned by the developer. This can lead to users being stuck on old, broken equipment when a system or device is no longer supported. 🔑Giving control back to the user can be good for developers as well as users! Building customer goodwill can be a powerful way to build customer loyalty. 🔑The Communication Workshop (https://www.coreworkshop.org) is a growing collection of free materials, videos, and prompts for teaching words and ideas to AAC users.   For show notes, links to resources, past episodes, and more, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast!

This week on TWT, Rachel interviews Alyssa Hillary Zisk! Alyssa is a graduate student in neuroscience who shares their experiences as an autistic adult who uses AAC part of the time to communicate.    Key ideas this episode:   🔑Some autistic adults experience intermittent or insufficient speech. 🔑Some of these adults use AAC part of the time. 🔑It is important to give AAC users the same chance to participate in discussions and to allow them to communicate in whatever modality they choose.   For show notes, links to resources, past episodes, and more, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast!

This week on TWT, we share the second half of Rachel’s interview with Carly Stoltenberg! Carly is an SLP who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) two years ago. At one point in her recovery, Carly was paralyzed and unable to speak. In the second half of the episode, Carly shares what she has learned about valuing the uniqueness of each person in our care, and why honesty about her struggles with GBS has led to greater, more meaningful connections with others!   Key ideas this episode:   🔑There are many ways to acquire AAC, and successful implementation doesn’t always require the involvement of an “AAC expert.” 🔑The “wrong” AAC is often better than no AAC at all. 🔑We should respect the differences in each patient, because there no “one size fits all” when it comes to a person’s treatment and care.   For complete show notes for this episode, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast Earn CEUs from listening to Talking with Tech at linktr.ee/talkingwithtech

This week on TWT, we air the first half of Rachel's interview Carly Stoltenberg, an SLP who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome two years ago. At one point in her recovery, Carly was paralyzed and unable to speak. Carly shares her amazing journey to regain her ability to walk and talk, and how this has shaped her passion for positive thinking and patient advocacy!   Key ideas this episode:   🔑The critical need for patients to be able to communicate with medical professionals during treatment. 🔑How Carly used low-tech AAC to communicate when she was paralyzed. 🔑A resilient attitude isn’t about “not having bad days,” its about getting back up when you’ve been knocked down.   For complete show notes for this episode, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast Earn CEUs from listening to Talking with Tech at linktr.ee/talkingwithtech

This week, Chris interviews Charlie Danger, an occupational therapist from the UK who specializes in assistive technology and AAC! Charlie shares from his fascinating experiences working with AT and AAC in Qatar, including how to increase our understanding of other cultures and the importance of learning about our own!   Key ideas this episode:   🔑 Importance of encouraging more than requests from AAC users 🔑 Why “different but not less” applies to both cultural and neurological differences 🔑 Strategies for working with AAC users and families from different cultures   For complete show notes and links from this episode, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast Earn CEUs from listening to Talking with Tech at linktr.ee/talkingwithtech

This week, Chris interviews Longwood University graduate students Shannon Graham, Courtney Kaczmarek, Lizzie Llewellyn, and Payton Yates! Key ideas this episode:   🔑 Students’ research on ways people, like teachers, learn AAC 🔑 Benefits (and challenges) of 1:1 instruction 🔑 Value of encouragement from mentors and supervisors   For complete show notes and research discussed in the episode, visit bit.ly/twtpodcast Earn CEUs for listening to Talking with Tech and more at linktr.ee/talkingwithtech

This week, Rachel interviews speech-language pathologist and mindfulness meditation leader Melanie Pensak! Melanie offers nature-based and home-based speech-language therapy services through her business, Destination Speech. In addition to her work as an SLP, Melanie leads wellness workshops and meditation groups, and specializes in helping therapists and parents prevent burnout and increase joy! Melanie believes that being aware of the present moment is a “superpower” that everyone can use to live life with more joy!    Three keys from this week’s episode: 🔑 Why making small changes over time often leads to the biggest results. 🔑 How mindfulness can be helpful for children, especially those with complex communication needs. 🔑 How mindfulness can be promoted in therapy through play-based activities, such as creating a focus on breathing by pretending to blow out a candle.  Links: To learn more about Melanie, visit www.melaniepensak.com For links to resources from this week’s episode, to listen to previous episodes, and more, visit linktr.ee/talkingwithtech!

This week, Talking With Tech is re-broadcasting the second half of our March 31st Facebook Live episode with Matt Hott, host of the SpeechScience podcast! Continuing where they left off last week, Rachel discusses how a AAC Clinical Speciality Certification could benefit SLPs in private practice, and why we should focus on how certification affects AAC users, not just ASHA members. Chris shares ideas about possible “microcredentials” that demonstrate expertise in particular sub-specialty areas, like eye gaze devices, least-to-most prompting, etc. Rachel notes that the Speciality Certification would expose those seeking certification to the latest evidence and best practices for AAC. Rachel also discusses the need for all clinicians to be more confident about AAC, whether or not they are certified. Matt shares why certification would give him more confidence as an SLP when working with parents and clients. Chris notes the importance of being motivated to learn, whether or not we are working towards certification. Rachel and Chris conclude by sharing their hope that the AAC Specialty Certification will support a “coaching” model that empowers communication partners to facilitate language all day long! Links: SpeechScience podcast: xceptionaled.com/podcasts/speech-science/ To join the Talking With Tech Facebook Group, earn CEUs, and more, visit linker.ee/talkingwithtech! For Part 1 of our Facebook Live episode on AAC Clinical Specialty Certification, click here

This week, the TWT team is re-broadcasting the first half of our March 31st Facebook Live episode! Rachel, Chris, and Matt Hott of the SpeechScience podcast took questions from listeners about the ASHA AAC Clinical Specialty Certification. During this free-flowing discussion, they share concerns with the “expert” model, why Specialty Certification may help improve graduate-level AAC instruction, and how a Specialty Certification could impact private practices working with AAC. Rachel and Chris also touch on concerns about insurance payments, the need for more a collaborative approach to assessment, questions about who should be considered an “AAC Specialist”, and more!   Links:  SpeechScience podcast: https://xceptionaled.com/podcasts/speech-science/ Chris Bugaj's book, "The New Assistive Tech: Making Learning Awesome for All!": https://www.amazon.com/New-Assistive-Tech-Learning-Awesome/dp/1564846881 For Part 2 of our Facebook Live episode on AAC Clinical Specialty Certification, click here

If you are interested in learning about the proposed ASHA AAC Clinical Speciality Certification, don’t miss this week’s interview with Dr. Katya Hill! Before the interview, Rachel shares why her jury duty was not as bad as she had expected, and why taking a step away from work can be so helpful. Next, Rachel and Chris discuss new AAC users who repeatedly press all (or only one) of the buttons on their device, and why this doesn’t need to be actively discouraged for the behavior to fade. Finally, Chris talks about his experience touring schools to evaluate classroom seating and lighting design.    Next, Chris and Rachel interview Dr. Kayta Hill, Associate Professor at Pitt and leader in developing the new AAC Clinical Specialty Certification! First, Katya shares about how she came up with the phrase “SNUG” (spontaneous novel utterance generation) while working on her dissertation. Next, Katya discusses her role in gaining approval for an AAC Specialty Certification and why a specialty certification for AAC is being sought. Katya also covers why graduate-level AAC instruction will hopefully improve as a result. The process of developing the certification, including identifying specific AAC competencies, is also discussed.   Links: ASHA’s page for New Specialty Areas: https://www.asha.org/Certification/specialty/Approved-Petitioning-Groups-for-New-Specialty-Areas/   Clinical AAC Research Conference at Howard University, October 17th-19th: https://aacinstitute.org/2019-caac/ 

In this week’s episode, Chris interviews proficient AAC user and Prentke Romich Company (PRC) Ambassador Lance McLemore! Before the interview, Chris is joined again by his wife, Melissa Bugaj! Melissa and Chris discuss the first ever International #ATChat, which focused on AAC and Access. Next, Melissa discusses her recent experiences with students who use AAC. Melissa shares about learning to increase wait time, how AAC devices are helping users to demonstrate competencies for alternative assessment, and how a student self-regulated his behavior by protesting on a device.   Following this discussion, Chris interviews PRC Ambassador and AAC user Lance McLemore! In Lance’s role as Ambassador, he attends conferences and speaks to different groups about his experiences using Lamp Words for Life. The interview is played in real time so our listeners can hear how quickly he accesses his device – it’s amazing! Lance shares how he taught himself to use Lamp Words for Life, how practice has helped him improve his rate, and why he believes motor planning is so important to using an AAC device successfully!   Links: Questions and responses from the first International #ATChat on AAC and Access! Lance has an upcoming free webinar with the Center on AAC & Autism! Register at https://prentrom.pages.salesfusion.com/Implementing-LAMP-April-Webinar-Series

This week, Rachel and Chris connect with Chris’ wife, Melissa Bugaj to talk about what makes a successful IEP meeting! Melissa is Dean of Special Education at Loudoun Valley High School and has lots to share about effective meetings, including the need for open and transparent communication, the importance of agendas, and why involving parents before the IEP meeting is so important! Rachel also shares about her experiences with IEP meetings, and why, whenever possible, Rachel tries to talk with a student during an IEP meeting rather than about him or her.   Following this discussion, Chris interviews Mo Buti! Mo is an advocate and instructional advocate who works with school districts and families to ensure free and appropriate public education for students with a variety of disabilities and special needs. Mo is an expert in the IEP process, and provides amazing advice about a wealth of subjects related to IEPs, including writing measurable goals, using the word “benefit” vs “require”,  and the power of active listening!   Links: Find out more about Mo Buti at her website: https://www.aiepautism.com Rachel’s recommended video messaging app: Marco Polo Melissa’s book recommendation: Guide to Collaboration for IEP Teams by Nicholas R.M. Martin 

On this week’s episode Rachel talks about her impromptu solo trip to Hawaii and how she balanced both disconnecting with technology and using technology to keep her connected to friends and family. Chris opens up a broader discussion about productivity hacks and minimalism with therapy materials. In this week’s interview, Chris talks with four members of the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Regional Network (WATRN) about creating a grassroots community to support AT & AAC. The four guests this week are WATRN Founder Mike Hipple and SLP/AT Specialists Jennifer Schubring, Kelsey Osten, and Sharon Redmon. They talk about how the defunding of Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) inspired them to start a grassroots organization, WATRN, to meet the need for AT & AAC education and support in Wisconsin. Along with sharing information across the state, WATRN brings regional groups together to meet, share knowledge, and raise awareness about issues related to AAC!  Don’t forget to join the TWT FB Group where we will reveal the topic of the Live Event on March 31st 8:00 EST/ 5:00 PST!  Also, be sure not to miss Rachel’s course in the free Special Apps Update Conference taking place on March 27th at 8:00 EST/5:00 PST. You can sign up for free at www.specialappsupdate.com with the code: XEDSAU19. We want to know what you think! You can connect with us on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes - it helps others to find us! Links: Wisconsin AAC Network: www.wisconsinaacnetwork.org

On this week’s episode of Talking with Tech, Rachel interviews Sarah Whyte, a Certified Brain Injury Specialist and Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) specializing in AAC & AT for the adult neurogenic population. Sarah has instructed the AAC course at Vanderbilt University and led the AAC program for outpatient neurogenic rehabilitation at Vanderbilt Medical Center. She has presented on numerous occasions about AAC for the adult neurogenic population, including acute-care patients, ALS patients, and aphasia patients. Before the interview, Chris shares an experience from work with a colleague about an eye tracking system. Rachel and Chris then briefly discuss end of life care and AAC for populations with regressing communication and motor skills. They also touch on grief and the counseling component involved in both children and adults with complex communication needs. Links: For Sarah's webinar on managing communication deficits with ALS patients, go to speechpath.com. Interested in earning CEU’s by listening to “Talking With Tech”? Check out our course at bit.ly/twtcorepd.

On this week’s episode, Rachel, Chris and Lucas answer listener questions for a second time! Topics include ideas for teaching the word “more," how to get siblings/peers involved in therapy, and how we can support AAC curriculum for home-schooled students!   Interested in earning CEU’s by listening to “Talking With Tech”? Check out our course at bit.ly/twtcorepd.  

On this week’s episode Rachel and Chris discuss all things related to access with their special guest, Kelly Fonner. Chris talks about his book heading up the charts and Rachel and Chris discuss their most recent webinar, “ABC’s of AAC”.     During Chris’ interview with Kelly, they talk about PODD (Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display). PODD is a unique type of AAC system where the vocabulary is organized according to pragmatic functions. This type of system is particularly useful for children with limited access or those who might benefit from partner-assisted communication.   Links: Rachel & Chris’s Course “ABCs of AAC”: https://xceptionaled.com/course/abcs-of-aac/ We Speak PODD YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfvD20l2wn-fS2Ar4bdTXZg Kelly Fonner: www.kellyfonner.com

On this week’s episode, Chris talks about his recent tour of the FETC and ATIA conference circuit. Rachel and Chris discuss what it’s like preparing for a big presentation and how to get participants engaged in the material.   In this week’s interviews, Chris has the pleasure of speaking with Christine Baudin (creator of the Facebook Group: “AAC for the SLP”). Chris also talks with amazing high schooler Michael Dicpinigaitis of Jericho Adapts Toys. Finally, Chris speaks with inclusive technology specialist Mike Marotta. Mike shares about his podcast, Inclusive Technology for All, his favorite Chrome extensions, and why Google Keep may be his favorite part of the "G Suite".   Links: AAC for the SLP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1539830846285663/ Jericho Adapts Toys: www.jerichoadaptstoys.org Mike Marotta, ATP: www.MMATP.com and @MMATP on Twitter

This week on Talking with Tech, Chris and Rachel talk about data management tools and technology that allows open lines of communication between caregivers, therapists, and parents. The TWT team also discusses the power of video clips for data collection, evidence of progress and team communication. Rachel mentions her latest obssession with the website “Loom” for video hosting and sharing. Chris and Rachel also mention a future “Listener Questions Answered” episode and ask listeners to send in their questions and comments and how to start earning CEU’s for listening to “Talking with Tech” podcast at bit.ly/twtcorepd. On this week’s interview, Rachel speaks with Carly Hynes, a teacher from Liverpool who discusses AAC implementation in the classroom. Carly discusses her journey from one student with complex communication needs to now having over seventeen students currently at her school. She talks about managing multiple devices and team communication for each of her students. Carly describes her modified core word classroom approach and advocates for communication throughout all activities during the day. Rachel and Carly also discuss student motivation, following their line of interest, and why lesson plans need to stay flexible. For more about Carly Hynes, check out her instagram at: www.instagram.com/sandfieldparkschool/ We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

Interested in earning CEU’s for this podcast? Check out the course at bit.ly/twtcorepd. In this week’s episode, Chris and Rachel talk about balancing administrative tasks, service delivery and direct communication with parents and caregivers.  Chris discusses ATIA and a session called “AAC Spotlight” where clinicians get a chance to present a problem with AAC implementation and then discuss different possible solutions.  The TWT team discusses therapist and educator transitions that happen when a student progresses through their education, and how parents can help maintain effective services during and after these changes.  Chris mentions several easy online tools (piktochart.com and easel.ly) for making infographics as well. To conclude, Chris and Rachel describe how future SLPs  can participate in the SLP2B conference presented by XceptionalED (xceptionaled.com/slp2b), and how to earn CEU’s for the “Talking with Tech” podcast at bit.ly/twtcorepd. Next, Rachel interviews Jason Lehmbeck, an app developer and parent of a child with complex communication needs! Rachel and Jason discuss Special X, his new online pilot platform that acts as a child’s digital binder for parents to keep all important documents together.  Jason has also created a team to interact with parents in order to help them navigate and better collaborate with educators, therapists, and government agencies. Jason hosts a podcast, “Who Lives Like This” with Elizabeth Aquino, that focuses on issues relevant to caregivers, advocates, and furthering disability rights (wholiveslikethispodcast.com).  During the interview, Jason discusses a therapist that took extra time to discover his son’s motivations and preferences, and how that positively impacted speech therapy for their son.  Rachel and Jason also talk about how SLPs can help parents “see the future” in their children’s communication. Bonus -  For a free AAC Transitions worksheet by TWT's Michaela Ball, visit https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/AAC-Transition-Sheet-4342513 We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes - it helps others to find us!  

Interested in earning CEU’s for this podcast? Check out the course at bit.ly/twtcorepd! This week, Chris and Rachel talk about how to engage AAC users, improve their motivation, and why clinicians, not users, should be responsible for creating highly motivating activities. Rachel discusses how to utilize the iPad and augmented reality during therapy to create communication opportunities. The team also describes how to earn CEU’s for the “Talking with Tech” podcast (learn more at bit.ly/twtcorepd)! In this week’s interview, the TWT team talks with Dr. Michael Biel, Speech-Language Pathologist and professor at California State University, Northridge. Dr. Biel describes how he became interested in motivation for rehabilitation and how he can create treatment opportunities that engage clients and motivate them to persist in their efforts over time. Next, Dr. Biel discusses Self-Determination Theory and how it applies to therapy. He also discusses how therapists can help motivate a client to make lasting changes to their behavior (e.g., changing how we ask a client what they want to accomplish in therapy). Dr. Biel discusses how to create an environment with clients where they feel they can be honest and genuine without repercussions or judgment. Dr. Biel then addresses the question of “How do I motivate my student when my student doesn’t seem to be motivated by anything?” The terms intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are defined and discussed, as well as the difference between engagement and empowerment. Respecting the autonomy of others is mentioned as a culminating point.

This week, the TWT team interviews Russell Cross of the Prentke Romich Company! Russell is one of the authors of the Unity language system that’s been embedded in all PRC devices since 1996 and has spent over 30 years working in the field of AAC! Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss two of the important ideas covered in the interview: "phrasal verbs" and "key words". Phrasal verbs are essentially combinations of verbs with small words that, in combination, mean something new (e.g., "get up," means something very different than "get"). Chris and Rachel discuss how a "core word of the week" approach doesn't usually emphasize combined words, and how explicit instruction on combining core words AAC users already know can be a great way to build more vocabulary. Rachel and Chris also talk about "key words", another idea discussed by Russell in the interview. "Key words" are the core and fringe words that are important to a particular person at a particular time. For example, "Santa" is a word that may only be important for a particular time of year, and the name of a person's dog is usually more important to the owner. Teaching key words may help build functional vocabulary in a more personalized and motivating way. Rachel shares her experiences in the schools recently, including her efforts to find time to teach core words, her challenges with "pushing in" to classrooms for therapy, and the impact of teacher and aide turnover in the classroom. Chris and Rachel discuss the importance of finding small opportunities in the school day to teach core words, and how "finding time in between the lesson" can provide for more language learning opportunities without removing any other instruction. Next, Chris talks with Russell Cross about phrasal verbs, key words, and his experiences  at PRC, including helping to develop the Unity language system. First, Russell shares about why the biggest cost of an AAC solution is almost always going to be the costs related to learning the device and help with implementation, not the cost of the device itself. Even if you provide a device to a student, they will not usually learn it without help and instruction. Second, Russell and Chris talk more in-depth about phrasal verbs and how they can be used to boost vocabulary. Finally, Russell discusses the concept of “key words” and why they can be so useful and motivating in vocabulary development! Links:  Phrasal Verbs: Usage and Acquisition By Emilie Riguel: http://bit.ly/phrasalverbsacquisitionresearch  28 ways to Boost your Client’s Vocabulary by Speech Dudes: https://speechdudes.wordpress.com/tag/phrasal-verb/  

This week, Rachel and Chris discuss the recent article in the ASHA Leader, “The Pitfalls of Presumption” by Katie O’Neil and Rebecca McCarthy. They agree with some ideas in the article, including the importance a well-planned assessment and implementation. They talk about why the phrase “presuming competence” can be confusing, and why they both prefer the phrase “presume potential.” Chris and Rachel go on to share some of their concerns about this article being misused by some clinicians to defend their role as "gatekeeper." If not read carefully, the article seems to advocate a process where clinicians decide who is, and who is not, allowed to receive training on a robust language system. Chris and Rachel go on to discuss why they presume their clients have the potential for robust language systems until proven otherwise, and why they think others should too.   Following this, we share Rachel’s interviews from ASHA with Bill Binko, Cindy Halloran from LAMP Words for Life, Heidi LoStracco of Speak for Yourself, Sarah Wilds of PRC-Saltillo, and Brian Whitmer of Cough Drop!   First, Bill Binko talks about Lesson Pix, a resource for creating custom learning materials for classrooms and therapy. He also talks about AT makers, an organization that seeks to introduce the “maker” community to the assistive technology community (e.g. partnering school robotics teams with people with AT needs).   Second, Cindy Halloran talks about the new version of LAMP Words for Life with improved support for users with visual impairment.   Third, Heidi LoStracco stops by to talk about Speak for Yourself. Rachel and Heidi discuss some of the new updates, how they have tried to make learning the software easier, and a new 30-day trial of the software launching soon.   Fourth, Sara Wilds of PRC-Saltillo discusses ExploreAAC.com, a new site that provides an introductory tutorial on AAC for parents, teachers, new clinicians, and anyone else interested in AAC. Areas covered in the tutorial include the meaning of “AAC,” differences between communication and language, and information about PRC & Saltillo devices and services.   Fifth, Brian Whitmer stops by and chats about this year’s Cough Drop shirt giveaway, why they think the shirts are a way to start conversations about AAC, and how the Cough Drop team come up with the shirt’s theme every year.   Finally, we share Mai Ling Chan’s brief interview with Summer Loehr, winner of the Xceptional Podcast Network contest at ASHA!   We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!   Links   “The Pitfalls of Presumptions” by Katie O’Neil and Rebecca McCarthy, ASHA Leader (December 2018)  https://leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/full/10.1044/leader.FMP.23122018.10   LessonPix: www.lessonpix.com   ATMakers: www.facebook.com/groups/ATMakers   LAMP Words for Life: www.aacapps.com   Explore AAC: www.ExploreAAC.com   Cough Drop T-Shirts: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/coughdrop/  

Happy New Year! This week, the TWT team would like to share five “Small Talks”, each 7 minutes or less, that we recorded with TWT guests Dana Nieder, Erin Sheldon, Lindsey Paden Cargill, Eleanor Francis, and Tabi Jones-Wohleber! In our first Small Talk, Chris chats with Dana Nieder about her 21-day modeling challenge. Dana shares about how she helped people to stay on track with the challenge, gave people new ideas for modeling, and bringing the device along with the family! Second, Erin Sheldon talks about what she learned listening to feedback from adult users of AAC. This included how to be a better speaking partner with AAC users, why finding out how an AAC user wants to communicate with you is so important, and the need for respecting the privacy of AAC users (e.g., asking permission to use their device, check their message history, etc). Third, Lindsey Paden Cargill chats about things she does to generate language with students and make learning fun! Helicopter toys, balloons, spin art – Lindsey shares how she uses activities to engage and motivate her students to learn language! Fourth, Eleanor Francis discusses how her school’s AAC users use the Square app to collect payment for their school’s coffee club! Her students are using the same app as stores use in the community, and the results have been great! Finally, Tabi Jones-Wohleber talks about “Camp Gizmo”, a summer “camp” where parents, graduate students, and professionals learn hands-on how to help young children with multiple assistive technology needs! We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

Happy holidays from everyone here at the TWT team! This week, join Rachel, Chris, Matt Hott of the SpeechScience podcast, and Mai Ling Chan of the Xceptional Leaders podcast as they gather for a special holiday episode! These four podcast hosts tackle several “behind the scenes” questions about their podcasts, including: What is the hardest thing about being a podcast host? What is the dumbest thing you have said when recording? Why did you say “yes” to starting a podcast?  We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it! We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

This week, the TWT team interviews Curt and Ana Warner! Curt and Ana are authors, presenters and the parents of four children, including two boys with autism. Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss questions that Chris received during a recent assistive technology event, including: How can we hear more success stories from users? Where should we store large backups of AAC devices? Why is feature matching important? They also talk about Joy Zabala’s SETT framework (student, environment, task, tool) and how understanding problems through this framework can lead to more efficient and effective solutions.  Next, Rachel and Chris sit down for a touching and informative interview with Curt & Ana! Curt is a Former Pro Bowl NFL running back who played for the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams. His wife, Ana, has dedicated her life to caring for her family and studying the treatment of autism. In the interview, Curt & Ana discuss their experience parenting twins with severe autism, how judgment from others was so challenging when their children were young, and how they have stayed together through the ups and downs of parenthood. Curt & Ana share about dealing with complex communication needs, and how difficulty communicating may have caused self-injurious behavior. Finally, Curt & Ana share about the emotional highs and lows of parenting children with autism, and why acceptance and love are so important to them. Curt & Ana’s book, The Warner Boys: Our Family's Story of Autism and Hope, is available now! For more information, visit bit.ly/thewarnerboys We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

The TWT team is excited to bring you more interviews from ASHA - this week from Jenna Rayburn Kirk of Speech Room News, Marlene Cummings, and Matt Hott of the SpeechScience Podcast! Before the interviews, you won’t want to miss Rachel and Chris’s discussion of coordination between school and private SLPs! What happens if there is disagreement about the best AAC solution? Why do we need to communicate and come to agreement about this? How can we collaborate more effectively? How can even parents be a roadblock to collaboration? Rachel and Chris cover solutions you can use right away to help coordinate better with your peers, including scheduling apps and feature matching meetings! They also discuss strategies for getting along with people we disagree with, such as finding something in his or her idea to validate. Next, Rachel sits down at ASHA with the always entertaining Jenna Rayburn Kirk! Jenna and Rachel have a lively discussion about how ASHA has changed over the past few years, including an increased awareness of bloggers, increased utilization of social media, and more interest in online resources! Jenna also discusses why she thinks Teachers Pay Teachers has become so popular, and why services that provide clinicians with useful research, like The Informed SLP, are so important! Following Jenna's interview, Rachel interviews Marlene Cummings, AAC specialist from Oakland Schools in Michigan! Marlene discusses why AAC specialists can’t be the “expert” any longer, and why it is so important for us to “share the wealth” of AAC with as many people as we can! Marlene shares a few ideas from her presentation, including supporting professionals directly in the classroom, coordinating teacher-directed vocabulary instruction, and more! Finally, Matt Hott of the SpeechScience Podcast calls into ASHA to interview Rachel about her favorite parts of ASHA, and what her plans are for ASHA 2020 in Orlando! We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

This week, the TWT team presents three live interviews from ASHA with Jill Senner & Matt Baud, Meredith Poore Harold of The Informed SLP, and TWT listener Ashley!   Before the interviews, Rachel and Chris talk about all the great things that happened during Rachel's time speaking, connecting, and learning at ASHA 2018!   Next, we hear from Rachel’s interview at ASHA with Jill Senner & Matt Baud! They briefly discuss Jill & Matt’s talk on parent instruction and partner-augmented input with Kathleen Post, including the importance of pre-testing with video, why we need to move to a collaboration model, and things to get the ball rolling with AAC as a school-based SLP. Jill & Matt were kind enough to share the handouts from ASHA at www.talcaac.com!   For the second of Rachel’s interviews from ASHA, we hear from Meredith Poore Harold, owner of The Informed SLP! She talks about how The Informed SLP (theinformedslp.com) takes journal articles relevant to clinical practice and discusses why the article is important to know about and what the findings were. Meredith also teases a post on her site that details how to get a lot of different academic journal articles for free!     Finally, Ashley, an awesome TWT listener, asks Rachel some questions about AAC! These questions include when to incorporate core words on a new AAC user’s device, when “quick fire” phrases are (and are not) a good idea, and when we should introduce more grammatical morphemes as we model and recast!   We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

This week, the TWT team interviews Erin Sheldon, literacy and language development specialist for AssistiveWare and school inclusion consultant! Erin shares from her experiences working with visually-impaired AAC users, both professionally and as the parent of a teenager diagnosed with autism and Angelman Syndrome.   Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss some of their experiences with visual impairments and AAC, including teaching a student with CVI to communicate with visual & auditory scanning, using high-contrast images on AAC, teaching literacy using braille stickers, and the importance of AAC modeling with visually-impaired students!   Next, Erin shares about her daughter’s CVI, an impairment of the brain’s ability to process visual information. She discusses how they have taught her daughter to use a modified PODD system, and why it has been important that they have always presumed competence.  Erin also shares about:   1. Why we “can’t hold a student’s language hostage to their vision” when implementing AAC. 2. Why moving to AAC more quickly can be very beneficial to language development, because children with CVI may understand symbols better than photographs. 3. What partner assisted scanning is, why it is so important for some users, and how it can help build a language foundation faster than when communication is only verbal. 4. What verbal referencing is, and why verbalizing what you understood from a person’s behavior can help improve language development. 5. Why making grids with too few icons OR too many icons can cause students with CVI to plateau. 6. Why we need to look what someone with can access, not just what he or she can see. 7. How to take advantage of colors that are easier to visually identify for some people with CVI, and how mentioning coloring during modeling can help the child connect the color and the icon. 8. How visually-distinct, high-contrast symbols can be effective for students with CVI. 9. Why maintaining the motor plan and icon location is so important for AAC users with CVI.   We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!   For more links, information, and resources from this episode, visit our podcast page at bit.ly/twtpodcast

This week, TWT interviews Adrienne of “Learn with Adrienne”, an SLP who specializes in early intervention. Through online videos, she has taught thousands of people how to use sign language to support a child’s language development.  She and Rachel discuss several topics, including how sign language and high-tech AAC can be used as part of a multi-modal approach!   Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about motivation and why it is such an important part of any intervention. Rachel shares a personal story about a difficult conversation she had with a peer, and why it is important not to be too hard on ourselves when there is a breakdown in communication. Rachel also talks about why we should “inspire not require” our students to communicate, and why placing repeated demands can be so disruptive to progress. Finally, Chris asks why we can't have an AAC course in high school or college - maybe even one that satisfies a language credit!   Next, Rachel interviews Adrienne! They discuss: 1) How Adrienne became interested in early intervention and sign language, 2) How research indicates that learning sign language doesn’t limit spoken language growth, 3) Why teaching sign language can help a child receive more positive feedback, 4) Why it can be helpful to teach students more than one communication modality - e.g., teach both sign language and high-tech AAC devices as needed, and 5) How we should receive an approximation of a sign when a child has their own way signing something!   We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

This week, TWT interviews Jenna Rayburn Kirk, the ultra-creative school-based SLP, blogger, and TPT contributor! Jenna shares about how she got started creating resources, the kinds of AAC resources and materials that she thinks are effective, and how she continues to try and create resources that people really need! Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss their own experiences with making materials and, in Rachel’s case, why she recently decided to create a Teachers Pay Teachers page. Rachel and Chris also talk about some apps that they have used recently in therapy, including Choice Works and AR Dragon. Finally, Chris discusses “core kits,” a low-tech core vocabulary strategy that could save the day when you need a quick therapy idea.   Next, Rachel interviews Jenna Rayburn Kirk! Jenna talks about how she juggles being a full-time school SLP, AAC specialist, and an entrepreneur; why she is motivated to share her ideas; and how she has gotten to be so popular (over 25,000 followers) on Teachers Pay Teachers! Jenna covers useful topics in AAC and materials creation, including:   1) Why parent handouts are such an effective way to improve AAC implementation at home 2) Why it is helpful to be specific about how to get modeling and working on core vocabulary 3) Why we need to be flexible in how we approach asking for help from the circle of support 4) Why getting buy-in from someone is easier when you show them how you are solving a problem they have. 5) Why it is so important to build strong relationships with teachers, caregivers, and parents 6) Why some students need a “short term” assistive technology plan; not everyone who needs AAC needs it for years. 7) How a school can fill the gap between identification of an AAC need and getting a device funded by having devices available to everyone in the classroom. 8) Why “waiting for words” can delay language too much, because “there is no reason to stunt expressive language while we wait for speech sounds.”   To learn more about Jenna & get access to her TPT store, visit https://thespeechroomnews.com.  For access two free resources from Rachel and the Building Sentences board discussed on the podcast, visit http://bit.ly/RachelMadelTPT We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

This week, TWT interviews Dana Nieder about her journey as an advocate, writer, AAC specialist, speech-language pathologist, and AAC mom! Dana shares about how she always presumed her daughter’s potential, why she shared about her experiences on blogs and social media, and what her many experiences have taught her about AAC! Dana shares many helpful insights, including: How to deal with members of the circle of support who believe that an AAC user must “prove” they can use a high-tech device before one is provided to them; Why parents can be such valuable resources and why they are such a key part of any successful intervention; Why everyone in the circle of support needs to believe an AAC intervention will be successful; Why we must presume that people with complex communication needs have the potential to succeed; How to "invest" in an AAC user's circle of support, and why their buy-in and motivation is critical to success; Why we need to change how we support AAC depending upon both a person's role and his or her comfort level with AAC; Why we should share AAC modeling videos with people who are unfamiliar with modeling on an AAC device; Why watching a video of a successful adult AAC user can be so motivating to the circle of support;  and much more! We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

Join the TWT team this week for a roundtable discussion about writing Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals for students with complex communication needs (CCN). Topics discussed in this roundtable include: Why augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices should be used in early intervention and not just as an ‘intervention of last resort” for students with CCN. Using the accommodations section to detail what the student needs as part of his or her free appropriate public education. Adding minutes for coaching the circle of support about AAC on the IEP as a “related service” instead of a “direct service” Why listing a specific system or app in the IEP can cause problems, and how those problems can be avoided by describing, rather than naming, the system. Why accessories for AAC devices (keyguard, switches) should be included in the IEP. Why new training goals may be important when there is a major change in the circle of support. Why being specific about what you are going to measure in a goal is critical when you are measuring it later. The need to go beyond requesting when writing goals - include commenting protesting, asking questions, etc. AAC therapy is language therapy - in many cases you don’t even need to mention the system or app when writing a language goal Who should be responsible for an AAC-related goal on the IEP? We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

The TWT team is joined this week by Lindsey Paden Cargill, a speech-language pathologist and AAC specialist who works at Bridgeway Academy in Columbus, Ohio! Lindsey is the creator of the Chatterbox Challenge, an event that seeks to improve the modeling and prompting skills of caregivers and teachers of children who use AAC. During this challenge, caregivers and teachers communicate in a social setting using their student’s AAC device and no oral language! Before the interview, Rachel and Chris share some modeling “tips and tricks” for AAC communication partners that can be used to improve modeling and prompting. Some of these tips include: Using an AAC app’s search function instead of visual scanning when looking for a vocabulary word, Modeling for the student at their language level (or one step above), Coordinating “core word of the week” at home and in the classroom, Using peers and siblings as modeling “buddies,” and Using “scripts” describing how to model a particular book to increase AAC modeling during shared reading time. Following this discussion, Chris connects with Lindsey Paden Cargill to talk about her work with AAC and the Chatterbox Challenge! First, Lindsey shares about how her efforts to improve modeling among teachers led to the creation of the Chatterbox Challenge, and how parents became motivated to become involved as well. Next, Lindsey and Chris discuss how the Chatterbox Challenge teaches modeling by asking caregivers and teachers to use the devices to communicate.  AAC communication partners learn how powerful a robust AAC system can be and how these systems can be used for more than basic requests. Finally, Lindsey discusses some of the rules for the Chatterbox Challenge, and how listeners can start a Chatterbox Challenge of their own! We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes- it helps others to find us!

This week, the Talking with Tech team is joined by Dr. Rebecca Moles, a pediatrician who specializes in child abuse, to discuss how we can recognize and prevent the abuse and neglect of people with complex communication needs (CCN). Before the interview, Rachel, Lucas, and Chris connect to talk about some of their experiences with families dealing with abuse and how core vocabulary has been used in some cases to report neglect. The team concludes with a discussion of what we can do to prepare people with CCN to report abuse when it happens, including teaching the word “hurt”, teaching emotion words, and other strategies. Next, Chris interviews Dr. Rebecca Moles about identifying abuse and neglect, particularly when working people with CCN. Areas covered include: why teaching language is so important to stopping abuse, signs that abuse may be occurring, and what happens (and doesn’t happen) when a report is made to Child Protective Services. We want to know what you think! You can connect with us at our Facebook group Talking with Tech, on Twitter, and Instagram (@talkingwithtech)! Also, please subscribe and post a review for us on iTunes– it helps others to find us! Links: Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2009-2014 Statistics (bit.ly/abusestats2014)

This week, the TWT team answers questions from our listeners! They address the following questions:   I’ve thought about starting an AAC consulting business, but I doubt at times that I have enough experience. What should I do? What do you think about recent videos from Pyramid/PECS that seem to argue that we shouldn’t introduce core words until a student has already learned a number of fringe words? How can we best talk to parents about interventions that are not evidence-based, like the rapid prompting method (RPM), when the parent has a positive opinion about it?   This is one of TWT’s most thought-provoking and interesting episodes. You won’t want to miss it!   We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!   Links:   PECS & Core Vocabulary 1: http://bit.ly/PECSCoreVocab1   PECS & Core Vocabulary 2: http://bit.ly/PECSCoreVocab2   ASHA Position Statement on RPM: http://bit.ly/ASHARPM  

Talking with Tech is joined this week by Julie Freed, an SLP and school-based AAC specialist who helped create the AAC Planning Tool (APT)! Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss two communication assessments, the Continuum of Language Expression (COLE) and the Dynamic AAC Goals Grid (DAGG-2). Chris discusses his role in the creation of the COLE, what they considered when making it, and how it can be helpful when assessing emergent communicators. Rachel follows this with a discussion of the DAGG-2 and how it is similar to, and different from, the Communication Matrix. Rachel and Chris also chat about out how these assessments can be used as a baseline to determine the effectiveness of AAC implementation and measure student progress.   Next, Chris interviews Julie Freed, the Assistive Technology/AAC Resource Team Lead at Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Julie is the co-creator of the APT, a “menu” of AAC assessment tools that helps to guide the dynamic assessment process. It provides key tools to use as part of this process, including communication sampling forms and communication partner worksheets, that are suggested based on the student’s symbolic communication ability. Julie shares about why the APT was formed, the advantages she has seen from using it, and how it has helped to increase AAC competency and interest for many teachers and staff in her area!   We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!   Links: Continuum of Language Expression (http://bit.ly/colegooglesheets & http://bit.ly/lcpscolepiktochart)  AAC Planning Tool (http://bit.ly/APTbinder) Dynamic AAC Goals Grid (log into mytobiidynavox.com, then follow this path: Community >> Resources >> AAC Goal Writing) "Golden Rules of AAC Competency In a New Era of Communication" Course by Lucas, Chris, & Rachel: (http://bit.ly/GoldenRulesofCompetency)

The Talking with Tech team is joined this week by speech-language pathologist and AAC specialist Eleanor Francis to talk about AAC in Australia, literacy, video modeling, and more! Before the interview, Rachel and Chris mark the beginning of the school year with a discussion of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings. Rachel and Chris chat how they maintain a good relationship with the entire IEP team, how to show the team their views are important, and ways to promote collaboration. Rachel and Chris then briefly touch on wording they try to avoid when writing reports (e.g., do we really know what a student was “able” to do, or just what they did?) and the pros and cons of using video to document client progress.   Following this discussion, Chris interviews Eleanor Francis, a speech pathologist who works with students with complex communication needs at a special developmental school in Melbourne, Australia. Eleanor shares about a number of interesting topics, including her tour of the US visiting AAC experts, recent changes to AAC in Australia, lessons learned from the recent ISAAC 2018 conference, and her experiences helping to create a video modeling "TV show" featuring her school’s staff and students called “MeTV”.   We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

This week, the Talking with Tech team discusses how to obtain funding for alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) devices with speech-language pathologist and nonprofit founder, Traci Peplinski! Before the interview, Lucas, Rachel, and Chris chat about how to find funding for AAC devices and the need for more financial help for individuals who require AAC but cannot pay for it themselves. Then, the team examines why funding for implementation (e.g., training the AAC user’s circle of support) is such an important consideration when evaluating funding needs. The team concludes by touching on some of the challenges they experience with trialing devices during the AAC assessment process.   Following this discussion, Rachel sits down for a conversation with Traci to talk about her nonprofit, A Voice Discovered (www.avoicediscovered.com)! A Voice Discovered provides funding assistance to individuals with complex communication needs in Ventura County, CA. Rachel and Traci discuss why she founded the nonprofit, how it has grown, and how others have used her nonprofit as a model for starting their own! Traci also describes ways that she has helped others find funding assistance, including regional centers, local charities, grants, and donation matching. Finally, Traci discusses her work with The Arc (www.thearc.org) to support adults with complex communication needs, and why helping adults communicate with AAC is so rewarding (and important)!   We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

This week, Talking with Tech is joined by Dr. Jill Senner and Matt Baud! Jill and Matt are AAC experts who promote an evidence-based, systematic method for coaching communication partners how to implement AAC through partner-augmented input (PAI). Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss why training and coaching communication partners should be thought of as an ongoing process rather than something that happens once or twice in a “training.”  Rachel and Chris also talk about why it is important to try and follow evidence-based principles when coaching communication partners and implementing AAC, even if we may not be able to meet that goal all of the time.   Following this discussion, Rachel and Chris interview Jill and Matt about teaching communication partners to model effectively, how they came to become interested in partner-augmented input, and lessons they have learned coaching communication partners in a systematic way.  Their process is based on Kent‐Walsh & McNaughton’s (2005) 8-step process for communication partner instruction, which includes 1) pretest, 2) strategy description, 3) strategy demonstration, 4) SMoRRES (slow rate, model, respect & reflect, repeat, expand, stop), 5) controlled practice & feedback, 6) stepping back, 7) post-testing, and 8) generalization. Jill and Matt explain why generalization can be achieved effectively using this 8-step process, why this process takes less time than you would assume, and strategies for training family members to provide PAI on a consistent basis. Finally, Jill and Matt share some strategies for integrating their 8-step communication partner process into a variety of settings at home and in the community!   Dr. Jill Senner (@JillESenner on Twitter) is a speech-language pathologist, AAC specialist, AAC educator, and owner of the Technology and Language Center! You can find paid and free resources discussing PAI and other topics at her site, talcaac.com!   Matt (@Mbaud12 on Twitter) is an AAC coach, educator, trainer, practice owner, and the AT Coordinator for Niles Township District for Special Education. He is also an adjunct AAC instructor at Saint Xavier University.   We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

Talking with Tech is joined this week by Speech-Language Pathologist, Author, AAC Specialist, and CEO of Communication Circles, Betsy Furler! Before the interview, Rachel and Chris engage in a discussion of several “back to school” topics, including: the importance of presuming that all of our students are competent enough to communicate, using the excitement of a new school year to promote AAC intervention, what to do when teachers and/or staff are more familiar with one app than another, and the idea of teaching 80% core words and 20% fringe words. Following this discussion, Lucas interviews Betsy Furler about her career as a consultant, advocate, author, business owner, and SLP! Betsy shares why she has focused her career on using technology to improve the lives of others, how she manages such a hectic schedule, and why blocking out “focus time” is so critical to her productivity. Then, Betsy discusses her work to bring technology and people with disabilities together through bridgingapps.org. Finally, Betsy shares practical tips learned about running her own practice (communicationcircles.com); her strategy for hiring and retaining great SLPs; and the why letting go of perfectionism is so important.  We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

Talking with Tech is joined this week by Carrie Baughcum, a special education teacher who teaches language and literacy using a form of drawing called “sketchnoting”! Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss how to make drawing a language-rich activity, the benefits of child-directed therapy, and ways they incorporate drawing into their own therapy. Next, Chris is joined by Carrie Baughcum to talk about how she uses sketchnoting to improve visualization and teach language. During sketchnoting, Carrie reads a story (or teaches a lesson) while both she and the students draw several pictures about what they are thinking. In the interview, Carrie shares the story of how she and a friend turned sketchnoting into a classroom activity, and why this approach helps her students understand and remember material better. Carrie and Chris also discuss how to teach core words with sketchnoting, ideas for getting everyone to draw - no matter their skill, and more!   You can connect with Carrie on Twitter (@heckawesome) or at her website (carriebaughcum.com)!   We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

This week, Chris interviews Nicole Wingate and Angie Sheets! Nicole is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Angie is an Intensive Intervention Specialist who created a series of online videos teaching high-frequency, versatile vocabulary words (i.e., core vocabulary). Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss topics related to using videos in their own practice, including: the difference between using videos for instruction and as a reward, using short animated films to model core vocabulary, why we should pause and re-watch videos with clients, the benefits of turning captions on, and how to use a client’s photos and videos to teach AAC and language. Following this, Chris sits down with Nicole and Angie. They share the story of deciding to make their own videos after finding few other videos about core vocabulary online. Their project has grown into a series of 30+ videos teaching core vocabulary concepts to students, teachers, and parents in a fun and engaging way. Nicole and Angie share a variety of practical tips about teaching core vocabulary, making videos, and the importance of sharing our own creative projects with others.  Nicole and Angie's YouTube channel can be found by searching "Wings Works" on youtube.com. We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

Rachel and Lucas discuss entrepreneurship and app development with Barbara Fernandes, CEO of SmartyEars, a company that has created over 60 apps for speech, language, and communication! Before the interview, Lucas and Rachel have a lively conversation about their experience starting a private practice, their reasons for doing so, and some of the pitfalls they ran into starting their practice. Following this discussion, Lucas and Rachel sit down with Barbara to talk about her experiences as a business owner, app developer, speech-language pathologist, AAC specialist, and blogger  at geekslp.com. Barbara shares insights learned from a multitude of experiences working with bilingual students, founding SmartyEars, developing apps for iPhone and iPad, blogging, and creating her own symbol system, SmartySymbols! Questions addressed this episode include: Why did Rachel move to LA and start a practice in a new city? What experience told Lucas he should be working with AAC? Why did Rachel start out her practice doing in-home therapy? What made Lucas and Rachel decide it was time to start their own practice? What do Rachel and Lucas wish they had known before they started? What inspired Barbara Fernandes to found SmartyEars? How can we support better parent/child interactions using technology? How can we make apps both motivating and instructive? What inspired Barbara to create her own symbol system? How can we take our creative and business ideas and make them a reality? We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!

This week, Lucas and Rachel discuss their experiences with screen time and ways that they have tried to make screen time more meaningful for clients. Rachel and Lucas also discuss situations when they have disagreed with a family member about how to proceed with an AAC intervention, and why parent buy-in is so critical. Next, Rachel and Chris discuss screen time recommendations for children under the age of three with Stacey Landberg, a speech-language pathologist who specializes in early intervention and early childhood development. Ms. Landberg discusses why not all “screen time” is the same and shares some great tips on how parents and instructors can make screen time more meaningful and educational! Questions answered this week include: How should we deal with a parent who disagrees about goals or first steps in intervention? How can we use educational apps to teach AAC? Why is family input and parent education so critical to AAC in particular? What is the difference between active vs passive screen time, and are these terms misleading? Should AAC use be considered “screen time” for children under three? What is the “default mode network”? How can caregivers turn video watching into a social interaction? What is the best way for parents to manage screen time for children under three? We want to know what you think! Join us on Facebook at Talking with Tech and on Twitter and Instagram (@talkingwithtech). Also, please subscribe and post a review on iTunes - it helps others to find us!  

In this episode Talking with Tech's Lucas Steuber goes one-on-one with entrepreneur and angel investor Pradeesh Thomas, founder of both SmartEdTech and AlphaVista, and now a member of the Stepping Stones Group. We discuss the present and future of educational technology, the impact that it can have on outcomes for both students and teachers, and EdTech internationally from the perspective of both an engineer, technology thought leader, and past staffing agency CEO.