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
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McKinzee Steve, Danielle Welge, & Kendra Everette (Part 2): Providing High-Tech AAC as a Tier 2 Early Childhood Intervention
McKinzee Steve, Danielle Welge, & Kendra Everette (Part 1): Providing District-Led 1:1 AAC Training to Parents
Emily Taylor: Using Social Media to Promote Your AAC Resources
April Wallace & Christina Stader - Specific Language System First Approach Q&A
Dr. Barry Prizant (Part 2): Is ”Spelling to Communicate” Authentic Communication?
Dr. Barry Prizant (Part 1): Echolalia and Gestalt Language Processing
Kimberly Neely: The Trauma-Informed SLP
Barbara Gruber & Ashley Grady: Supporting Accessibility and Inclusion at the Smithsonian Institution
Tiffanie Zaugg: Creating an AAC Facilitator’s Guide for a School District
Ashley Waterman: Supporting Language as a Parent of an AAC User
Judith Schoonover (Part 2): The Role of OTs in AAC Assessment
Judith Schoonover (Part 1): Quickly Create AT Solutions From Common Objects
Recast: AAC Modeling Roundtable
Recast: Chris Klein: The Importance of Motor Planning
Recast: Shaun Pearson & Chris Chicoskikelly: The AAC Agreements
Recast: Core Words Roundtable
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