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.
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Otto Lana: Autistic Advocate, Writer, Actor, and AAC User
Rémi Morin - Creating the Canadian-French Version of LAMP:WFL as a Parent
Emily Macklin, Neha Sharma, & Amber Skerry: Supporting Communication for Deafblind Students
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
Jordyn Zimmerman: Overcoming Limiting Beliefs in the Education System
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