Talking With Tech AAC Podcast

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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!