This week, the TWT team is proud to present the amazing Caroline Musselwhite! Caroline shares from her 45 years of experience with low- and high-tech AAC, including the communication circle of people around an AAC user, the importance of pranks & humor when using AAC, recognizing gestures, and more.
Before the interview, Rachel shares from her webinar on telepractice and AAC and why “all children are good candidates for telepractice.” Rachel notes that telepractice can look different for different students, but all children can benefit from a qualified speech-language pathologist and/or AAC specialist facilitating communication, even if students won’t pay attention to the screen. Telepractice doesn’t have to be a direct service model - we can always coach communication partners, including parents, siblings, and other family members on how to support an AAC user's communication.
Key ideas this week:
🔑 Coaching an AAC user’s circle of support should include peers whenever possible. Training friends and siblings allows for exposure to different communication functions, and involving peers can increase an AAC user's motivation and buy-in.
🔑 “Coaching” is not necessarily the same thing as “consulting.” They are both important, but coaching can be more valuable because it involves follow up and showing communication partners how to work with AAC users, not just telling them what to do.
🔑 Gestures are an important part of multi-modal communication. Recognizing what each AAC user communicates (or can communicate) with things like facial expressions can add to the overall effectiveness of their communication.
You can learn more about Caroline and her work at www.aacintervention.com, her AAC Girls blog, on Pinterest, and Teachers Pay Teachers.
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Visit bit.ly/twtpod for access to previous episodes, resources, and CEU credits that you can earn for listening to TWT episodes!
Rebecca Gettings: A Parent’s Journey Supporting AAC, Language, & Literacy
Sydney Elcan Birchfield: Assistive Technology Q&A with Chris Bugaj
Coaching Call with Sarah Seiger: AAC at a Nonpublic/Nonprofit School
Small Talks VII: Darla Ashton, Hank Poore, Sean Sweeney, Shelley Anderson, & Tami Altschuler
Samantha Hagness & Becky Woolley (Part 2) - Strategies for Improving Communication Partner Coaching
Samantha Hagness & Becky Woolley (Part 1) - Modeling AAC in the Classroom Using Grid 3
Alyssa Hillary Zisk and Lily Konyn: Gestalt Language Processing and AAC
Darla Ashton: What Have We Learned About AAC in the Last 10 Years?
Nanny Aut: Autistic Blogger, Advocate, and Teacher
LJ Seiff: 14-Year-Old AAC User
Kristina Edie, Erica Sauer, Joy Mockbee, & Bernadette Wiley: Exploring the Specific Language System First Approach (Part 2)
Kristina Edie, Erica Sauer, Joy Mockbee, & Bernadette Wiley: Exploring the Specific Language System First Approach (Part 1)
Bruce Alter: Pros and Cons of Allowing AI in Schools
Noah Callan: AAC User, Disability Advocate, and Technology Coordinator
Takeaways from ATIA 2023
Coaching Call with Marcella: Benefits of Early AAC Intervention
Dr. Theresa Bartolotta: Supporting AAC for People with Rett Syndrome
Sarah Lockhart: Using Requesting to Teach New Communication Functions
Chris Bugaj: Accessibility and Inclusion at Disney World
Jennifer Hyles: Creating Materials That Better Reflect AAC Users
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