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Episode Summary

Hey SLP’s! Don’t be distracted by the shiny AAC penny! It’s all about language therapy and you’ve got this! This week, we welcome back Dr. Cathy Binger and Dr. Jennifer Kent-Walsh to share their pearls of wisdom around using typical language development to guide AAC practice. Tune in to focus on “the big C in AAC” as Dr. Binger and Dr. Kent-Walsh urge us to focus on language rather than technology as we support complex communicators to achieve their full communicative potential and give them access to the building blocks of language that they deserve. You’ll learn how to start off right with goals and objectives that hold language and communication at the center, you’ll hear all about the importance of getting a good grasp on receptive language using a variety of tools, and you’ll round out the hour learning how to use these starting points to develop a solid AAC intervention plan using what you already know about-pragmatics, semantics, and syntax. This is a passionate episode that emphasizes progress over perfection and acknowledges the messiness of learning language for all young communicators, not just those with complex needs.

Learn more about Cathy Binger and Jennifer Kent-Walsh here.

Course Accommodations

The transcript for this course is provided below. You can also email us at [email protected]

Learning Outcomes

Discuss the importance of applying a developmental model to aided AAC language learning. 

List the language domains that should be considered when providing AAC language intervention.

Describe evidence that supports an early focus on semantic and grammatical development for preliterate children who use aided AAC.

References

Binger, C., Kent-Walsh, J., & King, M. (2017). Dynamic Assessment for 3- and 4-Year-Old Children Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Evaluating Expressive Syntax. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60(7), 1946-1958. doi:10.1044/2017_jslhr-l-15-0269

Binger, C., Kent-Walsh, J., King, M., & Mansfield, L. (2017). Early Sentence Productions of 3- and 4-Year-Old Children Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60(7), 1930-1945. doi:10.1044/2017_jslhr-l-15-0408

Binger, C., Kent-Walsh, J., King, M., Webb, E., & Buenviaje, E. (2016). Early Sentence Productions of 5-Year-Old Children Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 38(3), 131-142. doi:10.1177/1525740116655804

Binger, C., Maguire-Marshall, M., & Kent-Walsh, J. (2011). Using Aided AAC Models, Recasts, and Contrastive Targets to Teach Grammatical Morphemes to Children Who Use AAC. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(1), 160-176. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0163)

Soto, G., & Clarke, M. T. (2017). Effects of a Conversation-Based Intervention on the Linguistic Skills of Children With Motor Speech Disorders Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60(7), 1980-1998. doi:10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-15-0246

Tönsing, K. M. (2015). Supporting the Production of Graphic Symbol Combinations by Children with Limited Speech: A Comparison of Two AAC systems. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 28(1), 5-29. doi:10.1007/s10882-015-9425-5

Tönsing, K. M., Dada, S., & Alant, E. (2014). Teaching Graphic Symbol Combinations to Children with Limited Speech During Shared Story Reading. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 30(4), 279-297. doi:10.3109/07434618.2014.965846

Speaker Disclosures:

Cathy Binger financial disclosures: Cathy is employed by the University of New Mexico; she receives grant funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders that supports her work on the topic we'll be discussing today. Cathy Binger non-financial disclosures: Cathy does not have any non-financial relationships to disclose. 

Jennifer Kent-Walsh financial disclosures: Jennifer is employed by the University of Central Florida; she receives grant funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders that supports her work on the topic we'll be discussing today. Jennifer does not have any non-financial relationships to disclose.

Kate Grandbois financial disclosures: Kate is the owner / founder of Grandbois Therapy + Consulting, LLC and co-founder of SLP Nerdcast.  Kate Grandbois non-financial disclosures: Kate is a member of ASHA, SIG 12, and serves on the AAC Advisory Group for Massachusetts Advocates for Children. She is also a member of the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy (BABAT), MassABA, the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) and the corresponding Speech Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis SIG. 

Amy Wonkka financial disclosures: Amy is an employee of a public school system and co-founder for SLP Nerdcast. Amy Wonkka non-financial disclosures: Amy is a member of ASHA, SIG 12, and serves on the AAC Advisory Group for Massachusetts Advocates for Children.

Course Disclosure - Financial and In-Kind

Funding for this course was provided by one of our Corporate Sponsors, DTA Schools.

Time Ordered Agenda:

15 minutes: Introduction, Disclaimers and Disclosures

25 minutes: Descriptions of the importance of applying a developmental model to aided AAC language learning

15 minutes: Descriptions of the language domains that should be considered when providing AAC language intervention 

10 minutes: Descriptions of the evidence that supports an early focus on semantic and grammatical development for preliterate children who use aided AAC.

5 minutes: Summary and Closing

Disclaimer

The contents of this episode are not meant to replace clinical advice.  SLP Nerdcast, its hosts and guests do not represent or endorse specific products or procedures mentioned during our episodes unless otherwise stated.  We are NOT PhDs, but we do research our material.  We do our best to provide a thorough review and fair representation of each topic that we tackle.  That being said, it is always likely that there is an article we’ve missed, or another perspective that isn’t shared.  If you have something to add to the conversation, please email us! Wed love to hear from you!

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