This week, Chris interviews Daniel O’Conner and Bradley Haven of All Access Life! All Access Life is a nonprofit that showcases the latest trends and movements in adaptive products and assistive technologies on their website allaccesslife.org. Daniel & Bradley share about how they met when Daniel was Bradley's Aide in high school (Bradley has nonverbal Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy), how they came to decide to create a nonprofit together, and how they developed their mission to share information about adaptive products. They also discuss Bradley’s AAC journey and how the technology has progressed from the switches Bradley used as a teenager to the current eye tracking he uses on his TD Pilot device.
Before the interview, Rachel shares about a family who had a very strong emotional reaction to having their child’s voice changed from a child’s voice to a teenager’s voice, and why we need to include the family and give lots of advance warning if we want to make a change to voice output for maturity purposes.
Key Ideas this Week:
🔑 We should try and spread the word about current accessibility gaming options, like Copilot with the Xbox Adaptive Controller, that allow people like Bradley to play video games. Accessable gaming opens up social opportunities and allow users to engage with friends and family in new ways!
🔑 A lot of companies don’t think about the fact that people with disabilities use their product. Big companies like Microsoft embracing inclusive design with their Xbox Adaptive Controller helps move the field forward, but there is more work to be done!
🔑 Bradley says “nothing about us, without us,” meaning he wants companies who create products to get feedback from actual people with disabilities at every step of product creation.
🔑 Playing video games in schools shouldn’t be a carrot at the end of a difficult task, but rather something woven in (e.g. tallying up classroom scores on Rocket League to practice addition) to make learning more engaging.
Links from This Weeks Episode
Miles Harvey - Esports Research and Its Integration in Education (Advances in Game Based Learning)
How to Use Copilot on Xbox
Kim Hurley & Jessica Conrad (Part 2): Involving Stakeholders in the Selection of a Tier 1 AAC System
Kim Hurley & Jessica Conrad (Part 1) - Preparing to Implement the Specific Language System First Approach
Vicki Haddix & Janine Peca (Part 2): A Neuroaffirming Approach to Overstimulation and Sensory Needs
Vicki Haddix & Janine Peca (Part 1): Increasing AAC Skills Through Mentorship
Shelley Anderson: Teaching Core Words with Music
Bilingüe AAC (Part 2): Taking a Bilingual Approach to AAC Implementation
Bilingüe AAC (Part 1): Conducting Bilingual Family-Based AAC Assessments
Ceci Fetterolf: Supporting Core Words with Student-Led Projects
Benjamin Bennett - Implementing the Specific Language System First Approach District-Wide
Laura Taylor: Using PODD to Teach Communication, Language & Literacy
Meredith Gohsman (Part 2): Possible Negative Impacts of ASHA AAC Certification
Meredith Gohsman (Part 1): Evaluating the Effectiveness of AAC Camps
Small Talks VI: Andy Smidt, India Ochs, Lory Chrane, Mark Nichols, and Tali Kellerstein
Jeffrey Ebin - Creating a Free Eye-Tracking Communication Board
Andy Smidt: Writing Effective Goals for Emergent Communicators
Sarah Lockhart: Choosing Motivating Therapy Targets to Maximize Spontaneous Language (Part 2)
Sarah Lockhart: How AAC Supports Greater Spontaneous Language for People with Echolalia (Part 1)
Rebecca - Increasing the Quality of Assistive Technology Support in the Schools
Jeanette Washington & Mai Ling Chan - Creating Effective and Engaging Presentations
Stacy Maijala - Streamlining AAC Evaluations with Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
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