This week, Rachel interviews Alissa DeSousa, a mom of a child with Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) who started a YouTube channel for kids like her son. Alissa shares about her journey getting a diagnosis for her son, how they came to better understand CVI, why she started a YouTube channel for people with CVI, and discusses resources that support literacy and visual discrimination for people with CVI, like the book “Little Bear Sees”. Before the interview, Rachel talks about her “Takeover” of A...
Mar 18, 2021•59 min•Ep. 172
This week, Chris sits down with Julia James to talk about ideas for improving online instruction for students in special education. Julia supports online students as part of a special ed support team for her school district, and she called Chris to ask his thoughts on improving online education with technology. Before the interview, Chris talks with Rachel about the film Crip Camp . Campers who went to this camp after Woodstock went on to be leaders in the civil rights movement for people with d...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 171
This week, we interview AAC user, USSAAC Membership Committee member, artist, and TWT superfan Chris Sawka! Chris provides great insights into some of the challenges and victories he has had as a full-time AAC user, how he socializes with other AAC users, playing sports on a paraolympic team, and more! Before the interview, Chris talks about the ATIA presentation by Kevin Williams, who won the Prentke AAC Distinguished Lecturer award. Chris notes that Kevin said he continues to use multiple AAC ...
Feb 18, 2021•30 min•Ep. 170
This week, TWT presents Rachel’s interview with Lydia Dawley, the CEO of the Click, Speak, Connect, and co-creator of the NadPen, an amazing stylus device that is easy to grip and use, especially for people with motor challenges. Lydia has mixed cerebral palsy and is a fantastic AAC user - you won’t want to miss her perspective on involving AAC users in decisions, choosing AAC vocabulary, incorporating peers as communication partners, and more! Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss Rach...
Feb 10, 2021•48 min•Ep. 169
In part II of their AAC After Work presentation, Rachel and Chris do a deeper dive into storytelling with digital tools, aka digital storytelling. They go over all the different ways that digital tools can support storytelling and how we can use storytelling as a way to stimulate communication, support literacy, and teach core words! They also discuss “pre-story brainstorming” where you discuss the setting, characters, and problem/solution with an AAC user before you begin to create the story. B...
Feb 03, 2021•50 min•Ep. 168
This week, we present the first half of Chris and Rachel’s previous webinar from the AAC after Work conference that focused on digital storytelling. This week’s portion provides an overview of AAC strategies, including expansion, core/fringe/personal core words, “stimming” on devices, using apps to support language, and more! Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about how to deal with the awkwardness of taking a coaching approach with fellow clinicians who need help with AAC. Often, peopl...
Jan 28, 2021•48 min•Ep. 167
This week, we share Part 2 of the TWT Live from the Access to Education Conference with Chris and Rachel! In this TWT Live, there are lots of useful tips and tricks, including ideas for motivating communication partners to model AAC! Before the live session, Chris shares about working with a computer science supervisor in his school district to combine AAC with computer science in the classroom. Chris describes how they trained the instructional facilitators who work with teachers to teach core ...
Jan 21, 2021•40 min•Ep. 166
This week, we present part 1 of TWT Live: Access to Education Conference 2020! Before the TWT Live session, Chris and Rachel briefly discuss the importance of using captions, both as a tool to learn to read and to support people who are hard of hearing. There are many small tweaks we can make to make things more inclusive, such as enabling a feature on iPhones that allows captions to be turned on automatically when they are available. Key ideas shared this week: 🔑 If you start with PECS, are yo...
Jan 13, 2021•44 min•Ep. 165
This week, Chris and Rachel review highlights of the Talking with Tech podcast during 2020. They talk about which countries listened the most to the podcast, the ways the podcast grew in 2020, and a breakdown of the most downloaded episodes of the year and of all time!
Jan 06, 2021•31 min•Ep. 164
This week, we continue with part 2 of Chris and Rachel’s coaching call with TWT’s Audio Engineer & SLP grad student, Michaela Ball! Michaela continues to discuss her severely apraxic student who is a multi-modal communicator with Rachel and Chris. They continue to explore the importance of picking a larger iPad when possible, ways to promote direct selection skills, choosing motivating vocabulary to start with, and how to train staff and communication partners. Before the interview, Chris an...
Dec 16, 2020•50 min•Ep. 163
This week, we share a coaching call between Chris, Rachel, and our amazing Audio Engineer & SLP grad student, Michael Ball! Michaela asks the TWT team about a severely apraxic student she is working with who is a multi-modal communicator. With limited therapy time with this student, should Michaela focus more of her time on implementing a device, using sign language, or promoting verbal speech? How can she promote AAC best during the school day? Before the interview, Rachel shares with Chris...
Dec 09, 2020•44 min•Ep. 162
This week, TWT presents four more short interviews, aka "small talks", covering a variety of topics related to AAC and Assistive Technology! Before the interviews, Rachel talks about a contentious IEP she recently attended for a student she consults with. Rachel had some ideas about supporting literacy that she shared with the team, but the team was resistant to Rachel’s input as an SLP and didn’t seem interested in changing any goals. Chris shares about a situation early in his career where he ...
Dec 03, 2020•55 min•Ep. 161
This week, we present the final episode in our three part series of TWT Live from New Jersey! This week, Rachel, Chris, and the participants tackle user questions about using eye gaze during teletherapy, how to decide if social media is accessible, maintaining attention and motivation during virtual sessions, and the language-system-first approach to AAC. Before Part 3, Rachel and Chris get a tutorial on the popular video game Among Us! Rachel and Chris discuss how concepts from this game could ...
Nov 26, 2020•56 min•Ep. 160
This week, we share Part 2 of Chris and Rachel’s “crowd-sourced” TWT Live from New Jersey! To listen to part 1, click here ( https://www.talkingwithtech.org/episodes/twt-live-nj-1 ) . In Part 2, they discuss coaching vs consulting, how to pursue a job as an AAC facilitator in a school district, and how to increase support for high-tech AAC devices among ABAs who would rather use PECS. Before Part 2 of TWT Live, Chris and Rachel talk about an independent evaluation Rachel recently did for a schoo...
Nov 18, 2020•48 min•Ep. 159
This week, we share Part 1 of a “crowd sourced” episode recorded as a webinar with listener feedback we call “Talking with Tech Live”! To start, Chris and Rachel cover some AAC core concepts, like criteria for evidence-based practice, signs a child needs AAC, avoiding “quick fire” phrases, and 80/20 ratio for core words. Then, Rachel and Chris, together with listeners, discuss some effective coaching strategies when working with AAC users via telepractice! Stay tuned next week for more listener ...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 158
This week, TWT presents Rachel and Chris’s meet-up with an AAC social group of SLPs and AT specialists in Cuyahoga county in Ohio! Their AAC podcast & research group sets aside time every month to listen and discuss a TWT podcast episode or journal article via Zoom. Rachel and Chris dropped by to connect with them and learn about how they have used the podcast to further AAC in their district. The social group talks about how they formed their group, how Zoom has helped make getting together...
Nov 04, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 157
This week, TWT presents Chris and Rachel’s interview with Codi Mendenhall, a 14-year-old who has been using AAC since she was 5, and her mother Jennifer Mendenhall. Jennifer and Codi recently shared their story on a TEDx talk - you can watch here . Codi and Jennifer share about Codi’s journey learning to use AAC, the ways that Codi uses texting and social media to communicate with her peers, how to facilitate more communication opportunities for AAC users, and more! Before the interview, Rachel ...
Oct 28, 2020•59 min•Ep. 156
This week, TWT presents Chris’s interview with SLP, AT Specialist, and founder of Speech and Language Songs, Stephen Kneece! During the interview, Chris and Stephen discuss his work as a professor teaching AAC, as President-Elect of SCSHA, and how he founded a Youtube channel playing his original songs, including many songs targeting core words. Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about how they are promoting AAC during AAC Awareness Month. Check out Chris’s Inclusive Technology Spotligh...
Oct 22, 2020•54 min•Ep. 155
This week, we share Part II of Erin Sheldon’s interview with Karen Erickson! In this fascinating second half, Erin and Karen talk about emergent vs conventional literacy, and four indicators that maximize the likelihood of success with conventional literacy instruction (e.g., phonics, decoding, spelling): Does this child know most of the letters most of the time? Does the child have a means of communication and interaction? Are they interested and engaged during shared reading (when not given a ...
Oct 15, 2020•47 min•Ep. 154
This week, TWT presents part 1 of special education specialist Erin Sheldon’s amazing interview with literacy expert Dr. Karen Erickson on promoting literacy for people with significant disabilities, including deaf/blindness and severe intellectual disability. They talk about supporting access to grade level standards for kids with complex needs, the problem of the candidacy model, why literacy is critical for everyone's well being, and more! Before the interview, Rachel shares about meeting Han...
Oct 07, 2020•40 min•Ep. 153
This week, Rachel interviews Kaylie Gustafson, an SLP and AAC specialist in the schools who frequently works with AAC users who utilize eye tracking. Kaylie talks about remote modeling over Zoom using the “remote control” feature, which allows her to model on the user’s device and watch what the user does in response. Kaylie shares lots of tips and tricks for supporting eye gaze, including turning on visual/auditory selection feedback, using Boom Cards and Google Slides with eye gaze, positionin...
Sep 30, 2020•49 min•Ep. 152
This week, Chris interviews Shawnda Saul, an SLP and AAC Specialist who runs the Learning Language AAC Initiative for Arlington Public Schools. Chris and Shawnda discuss how she promotes modeling and language instruction in the classroom, her approach to coaching communication partners, the changes she has seen coaching families during distance learning, and more! Before the interview, Chris and Rachel talk about rethinking how we educate students. Teaching is still thought of as presenting info...
Sep 23, 2020•52 min•Ep. 151
This week on TWT, we share Chris’s interview with Lauren Kravetz Bonnet, an SLP & AT Specialist, and Brittany Thomas, who is also an SLP. Lauren and Brittany talk about their school-based communication program to support students with complex communication needs. This program is a short-term (i.e., less than two years), high-intensity intervention to teach young students to use their device more effectively. It is not a self-contained program; students get their support in an integrated, gen...
Sep 16, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 150
This week, TWT shares Rachel and Chris’s coaching call with Alison Bono! Alison is an SLP who reached out to Rachel and Chris for help working with a young student with complex communication needs. On the call, Rachel and Chris explore moving from low-tech to high-tech supports, getting teachers on board with a core language approach, integrating core words into routines, motivating the circle of support, and more! Before the coaching session, Rachel and Chris dive into Rachel’s latest “intensiv...
Sep 09, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 149
This week, Chris interviews recent SLP graduates Alexis Martinez and Natalie Fry about their experience focusing on AAC in grad school and their thoughts on how AAC instruction and mentorship can be more effective for graduate students in the future. Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a listener question from a parent who has multiple children who use AAC. This parent has one 3-year-old child who uses LAMP Words for Life (WFL), and another child who uses LAMP WFL - Visual Impairment. ...
Sep 02, 2020•59 min•Ep. 148
This week, Chris interviews Dr. Kathy Howery, an AAC specialist and educational consultant in Alberta, Canada. Chris and Kathy talk about modeling (aka aided language stimulation) and explore a question Kathy often gets from parents: “Is modeling getting in the way of my natural interaction with my child?” Before the interview, Chris and Rachel discuss a Spanish version of the AAC Agreements ( habloconcaa.wordpress.com ), using Microsoft Translate to communicate with someone who speaks another l...
Aug 26, 2020•58 min•Ep. 147
This week, Chris interviews Krista Howard, an AAC Technician and AAC User, and Deanna Wagner, an SLP and AT Specialist, about supporting AAC users and family members in the community through Out & About . They discuss the Out & About program, the fun they have with AAC users and family members, Krista’s work as an AT Technician with Gompers , how Krista supports AAC and literacy, and Deanna’s experiences in Singapore with AAC. Before the interview, Rachel and Chris discuss dealing with p...
Aug 20, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 146
This week, Chris talks with Assistive Technology Specialist David Moehn about supporting general education and special education students more effectively with assistive technology (including AAC). They discuss how to train staff more effectively, supporting all students with text-to-speech and speech-to-text, the specific language system first approach, and the benefits of providing AAC and core language instruction to all students in a classroom. Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a...
Aug 12, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 145
This week’s episode features Rachel’s interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Karen Wilson! Dr Wilson shares some of the treatment approaches and assistive technology tools she uses to support children and adults with ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and language-based learning disorders. Before the interview, Chris and Rachel answer a reader’s question looking for more on the "Specific Language System First Approach" from the TWT episode with Erik Engar . Chris tells the story of how this term came to ...
Aug 05, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 144
In this episode of Teaching with Tech, Chris and Rachel explore the Picseepal, a low-tech AAC communication tool that protects and organizes low-tech communication boards! Chris and Rachel unbox the Picseepal, talk about how they would use it in therapy, and discuss the importance of Picseepal’s goal of donating 1 million Picseepals to those in need across the world. They also discuss why laminating communication boards is not ideal for protecting communication boards, including: 1) lamination m...
Aug 03, 2020•33 min•Ep. 143
