0:00:01.120,0:00:05.840
This is our first time that we've done 
something like this in the district. So,

0:00:05.840,0:00:11.760
we're glad that you signed up and after today, 
if you have some friends or know of others that

0:00:11.760,0:00:17.840
might really benefit from some just additional 
knowledge on how to support your um students at

0:00:17.840,0:00:24.240
home, please feel free to share. I'm going to 
introduce a few people here in the room. Um,

0:00:24.240,0:00:30.880
in case you've not met them or you haven't seen 
them at any of our things, then I'll go first. Um,

0:00:30.880,0:00:35.680
my name is Julie Sakella and I'm a speech 
language pathologist. I work here in the

0:00:35.680,0:00:42.880
district and I support all of our SLPs across the 
entire district as well as our hearing impaired

0:00:42.880,0:00:50.080
teachers. And I have been in the county for 27 
years. When I saw that on your slide, I was like,

0:00:50.080,0:00:56.480
she's lying. There's no way. I have been here 
for 27 years. I have been an SLP for 30. So,

0:00:56.480,0:01:02.400
I have three years of adults experience and home 
health outside before I started my career here in

0:01:02.400,0:01:09.520
the school. So, we're welcome um to meet some new 
families and I am familiar with this family. So,

0:01:09.520,0:01:14.320
I'm gonna let Aaron introduce herself and then we 
have a few other staff people. I'll let I'll have

0:01:14.320,0:01:19.840
them introduce themselves. I'm Aaron Marvin. I am 
a speech language pathologist. I work at Buckner

0:01:19.840,0:01:28.480
Elementary. Um I've worked at Olden County Middle 
School. Um I've worked at a number of Oh yeah,

0:01:28.480,0:01:34.160
there's our our things. Um I've worked at a 
number of schools in the district. Centerfield,

0:01:34.160,0:01:42.240
um Liberty that that long ago. um that um and 
before um I worked in Olden County Schools,

0:01:42.240,0:01:45.840
I spent a little time in Jefferson County 
Schools and I also worked at the commission

0:01:45.840,0:01:49.680
for children with special healthcare needs. So 
working with kids who are medically fragile,

0:01:49.680,0:01:56.880
had a lot of um of kids in my case load that 
had a cleft pallet or you know lots of different

0:01:56.880,0:02:03.120
um physiological different differences. So um 
and before before I was a speech pathologist,

0:02:03.120,0:02:09.280
this is actually my second career. Um I worked 
with adults with developmental disabilities as

0:02:09.280,0:02:15.840
um a job coach and a residential program 
manager. Um so I spent Yeah. So I started

0:02:15.840,0:02:24.480
job coaching when I was 19. So I spent um a good 
chunk of years working with adults. Um and then

0:02:24.480,0:02:30.320
um once I had my first child and stayed home 
for a while, I just worked so many hours that

0:02:30.320,0:02:34.160
I mean it was like an 80hour week kind of 
job. So, um, I wanted to find something a

0:02:34.160,0:02:40.640
little more compatible with being a mom. So, um, 
got to still stay with my favorite population of

0:02:40.640,0:02:45.920
people and start working with younger kiddos. 
And, um, something that I learned in working

0:02:45.920,0:02:52.800
with adults is that for successful independent 
adult life, communication is the biggest factor.

0:02:52.800,0:03:03.120
It is the number one factor in how um much choice 
and freedom and opportunity is available to

0:03:03.120,0:03:11.520
um a person as they grow into adulthood. Um even 
I've worked with a number of adults who needed

0:03:11.520,0:03:16.400
complete physical assistance with everything. But 
if you could communicate, you can make the choices

0:03:16.400,0:03:21.520
about where you live and with whom you live and 
where and if you work and what you do. you know,

0:03:21.520,0:03:30.320
all of those pieces of life were so much richer. 
And so that's what really drew me to digging into

0:03:30.320,0:03:37.360
um communication as a specialty. So um I love 
AAC. It's my favorite. I've that's kind of been my

0:03:37.360,0:03:44.560
favorite thing since I was 19. So a lot of years 
um a lot a lot of years like 30 years now working

0:03:44.560,0:03:52.880
with people um using AAC in different capacities 
and it's grown and a lot over the years. Um,

0:03:52.880,0:04:02.560
but one of my dreams for our county has always 
been a way to um help bridge like I feel like

0:04:02.560,0:04:09.600
a lot of families of my students say we don't 
really like know how to make this fit into our

0:04:09.600,0:04:18.000
life at home or we really um don't know if we can 
or if we want to or you know just a lot of and um

0:04:18.000,0:04:25.760
then when I was listening to um and SLP podcast. 
I stumbled on information about stepping into AAC,

0:04:25.760,0:04:31.360
which is the program that we want to talk about 
tonight. Um, and it's already laid out. It's

0:04:31.360,0:04:40.720
beautifully done by um the Angel Medid Syndrome 
Foundation in partnership with Practical Accum

0:04:40.720,0:04:50.080
resource. And they've developed this program 
and it's um it's a 20 week program and it's all

0:04:50.080,0:04:55.920
laid out of just things to do each week 
that would help um just kind of ideas,

0:04:55.920,0:04:59.840
things you could do at home, things you could 
ways that you could learn and grow together as a

0:04:59.840,0:05:07.680
family. Um and I so when Julie and I talked about 
this, we kind of bounced ideas off each other and

0:05:07.680,0:05:13.840
thought like some people might be interested, but 
20 weeks is a lot or maybe they want to just jump

0:05:13.840,0:05:21.680
in and see what kind of information is there. So, 
we we're wide open to just thought and possibility

0:05:21.680,0:05:29.040
about what this could be for our county. Just 
um we I would love for families to be able to

0:05:29.040,0:05:34.960
connect with each other because I think that um 
having a child who communicates in a different

0:05:34.960,0:05:42.240
way can brings you a unique set of experiences and 
it could be really helpful to have, you know, know

0:05:42.240,0:05:48.240
some other people who have that same experience. 
um because you can learn a lot from each other.

0:05:48.240,0:05:52.640
I've I've learned with my own children, you can 
learn a lot from other parents and at any stage,

0:05:52.640,0:06:01.360
right? Um so um we're hoping for a connection. 
Um these the the weeks that are laid out,

0:06:01.360,0:06:05.120
pause for a minute. Let's let them introduce 
themselves and then we're going to get into

0:06:05.120,0:06:12.160
because like we I've got slides to do all this. 
Okay. And then you I will just keep talking. You

0:06:12.160,0:06:17.600
just have to hush me up. I just love this so much. 
I just wanted to give everybody them a chance in

0:06:17.600,0:06:21.920
case they haven't met the rest of our staff. So, 
we'll start with Miss Slider sitting here at the

0:06:21.920,0:06:27.120
table with us. She's one of our teachers in our 
district. So, I'm a high school special education

0:06:27.120,0:06:33.040
teacher and I'm mainly here because I really 
really want to support our district with the

0:06:33.040,0:06:40.320
implementation of AAC in the younger group because 
by the time they get to high school a lot of times

0:06:40.320,0:06:48.400
it is it takes so much more effort to be able to 
teach the AAC um and you get smaller growth. We

0:06:48.400,0:06:54.080
have growth but it's not like it is when they're 
younger. Um, also I've been in the district since

0:06:54.080,0:07:01.600
99. So she's experience been here a lot. But I'm 
also here because my uh brother and sister-in-law

0:07:01.600,0:07:09.280
have a son with autism. He'll be five in March and 
he is nonverbal and they're in a different county,

0:07:09.280,0:07:15.520
but I've been trying to push towards doing 
an AEC evaluation in that county and they

0:07:15.520,0:07:21.680
said he's not ready. I don't know what that 
means. So anyway, I'm here just to learn as a

0:07:21.680,0:07:28.160
aunt for my member as well because I don't have 
experience in the elementary. Thank you. And then

0:07:28.160,0:07:34.640
we have our panel back here standing up. We'll 
start with uh Faren. I'm Darren Craw. I'm the

0:07:34.640,0:07:40.320
low incidence coach. I support all the functional 
academic classrooms which are moderate to severe

0:07:40.320,0:07:46.560
disabilities essentially. Um this is my first year 
in the district. I came from JCBS where I was for

0:07:46.560,0:07:52.640
about 11 years where I taught MSD. I taught 
elementary middle school and high school for

0:07:52.640,0:07:59.440
two months. You can really count that. Um I love 
AC. I was a big advocate for AC in the classroom.

0:07:59.440,0:08:04.160
Um it's just so important for them to get early 
access to the AC device so they can have their own

0:08:04.160,0:08:10.000
voice. Um a lot of behavior communicates that. We 
don't have that early functional communication. A

0:08:10.000,0:08:14.720
lot of that behavior impedes their learning. So I 
think it's really important for them to have their

0:08:14.720,0:08:19.280
voice everywhere, not just in the classroom, out 
in the community. I think it's really important.

0:08:19.840,0:08:27.440
I'm really glad we're having this. I think it's 
really I'm glad that more prevalent tech. On that

0:08:27.440,0:08:32.400
note, I had a student that came to me from JCPS 
and he did not have any kind of a device and he

0:08:32.400,0:08:38.400
was nonverbal and he was extremely aggressive and 
he was also very large. Um so his world became

0:08:38.400,0:08:45.360
very very small. Um but once we got his AAC device 
in place um and he started to communicate with it

0:08:45.360,0:08:50.080
then his world got bigger because he became less 
aggressive. able to communicate what he wanted

0:08:50.080,0:08:57.040
to say. So that's just a question and I think 
it's increasing too like the utilization when

0:08:57.040,0:09:02.720
I started at my elementary school I taught I 
think maybe two had a devices and by the end

0:09:02.720,0:09:08.720
12 out of 12 had a devices I just think it's 
really important whether you have minimal

0:09:08.720,0:09:20.720
um communication or just barely any I think 
it's really important for I think it increases

0:09:20.720,0:09:25.200
Hi, I'm Sean Reer. I am one of the assistant 
directors of special education here in the

0:09:25.200,0:09:31.200
district. I am a former school psychologist. So, 
that's my training. That's my background. I am the

0:09:31.200,0:09:38.560
parent of a child who had medical complex needs 
and had a communication and language disorder and

0:09:38.560,0:09:43.360
used a communication switches and then have 
also been fitted for an I gave device. So,

0:09:43.360,0:09:49.440
I have some experience with AAC um 
but not nearly enough experience. So,

0:09:49.440,0:09:54.000
I'm glad that we have these two experts here 
who can help share more information with us.

0:09:54.000,0:10:00.800
Nice to meet you all. I'm Jennifer. I am the 
director of special education and it's my first

0:10:00.800,0:10:06.400
year as the director, but previously assistant 
director and um experience in elementary and

0:10:06.400,0:10:14.960
middle school special education and some other 
experiences. Um but yeah, excited to learn.

0:10:14.960,0:10:20.800
Yay. Thank you for coming to support us and 
meeting our families. And um what are y'all's

0:10:20.800,0:10:31.200
names? I'm Ashley. Nice to meet you. I'm Sherry. 
This is Charlotte. Um this is actually Charlotte's

0:10:31.200,0:10:39.200
teacher. So that's why she's not excited. Who is 
excited to see their teacher at six o'clock at

0:10:39.200,0:10:48.240
night? I thought our day was over. Um, so sorry 
before I started rambling. It's all good. So

0:10:48.240,0:10:56.000
I'm going to let her keep talking. She she is very 
good at that. Um, I mean a speech pathologist. Um,

0:10:56.000,0:11:02.480
I just wanted to kind of just remind you all and 
and loop us all in because we are all a team here

0:11:02.480,0:11:09.280
and we're all about collaboration and supporting 
our kids across the board. Um, so we're going to

0:11:09.280,0:11:18.320
share information today to um really help support 
and ideas on ways you can engage with AAC at home

0:11:18.320,0:11:24.720
and the device. But I also want you to keep in 
mind that you have an expert in your buildings

0:11:24.720,0:11:32.880
who's with you, your SLP. Um, all of our schools 
have an SLP in their building or more. And then

0:11:32.880,0:11:38.400
their classroom teachers and so that is also the 
other Then Aaron and I wanted to make sure we

0:11:38.400,0:11:44.400
had your um what school your child's at and those 
types of things so we can connect with the people

0:11:44.400,0:11:50.000
who work with your child on a daily basis and 
let them know like the information we're sharing,

0:11:50.000,0:11:56.720
the questions you guys may have and then just keep 
that door open. Um we have a great relationship

0:11:56.720,0:12:02.160
with all of our SLPs in the district. So, we're 
glad to connect with them following, you know,

0:12:02.160,0:12:06.720
this meeting with any questions you might have 
that really might pertain to some of those like

0:12:06.720,0:12:15.440
unique needs of your students. Anything you want 
to add or change or say? Okay. So, this is talking

0:12:15.440,0:12:23.440
about our program, right? Um, so it's kind of 
the idea behind stepping into AAC is that it's

0:12:23.440,0:12:29.520
it's kind of a complex maze. I mean you guys 
brought a device so you already have one. Does

0:12:29.520,0:12:37.360
your child have a device? No. Okay. So, does your 
child communicate verbally at all or like he will

0:12:37.360,0:12:46.160
say words but he does not express. Okay. Same. 
So very repetitive. Say words all day. Lots of

0:12:46.160,0:12:59.440
words. Okay. Yeah. Um so the idea is that at any 
stage um you could start with week one and it just

0:12:59.440,0:13:05.040
kind of guides you through the process of if you 
already have a device you can jump in using it or

0:13:05.040,0:13:14.080
if your child didn't you know on it even has some 
um ideas and activities around like selecting one

0:13:14.080,0:13:18.480
um which is something that you know an SLP can 
help with if it's something that you know would

0:13:18.480,0:13:26.160
be beneficial. Um it has ideas for use. We um 
duly printed a few paper core boards which you

0:13:26.160,0:13:32.640
may be familiar with if your student already has 
a device. Um basically the idea of core language

0:13:32.640,0:13:39.120
um is that there we say a lot of things all day. 
I mean maybe I say a lot a lot of things but

0:13:39.120,0:13:46.800
um we use a lot of the same smaller 
set of words all day long. So there,

0:13:46.800,0:13:52.160
so if we were going to think about like bang 
for your buck in terms of communication,

0:13:52.160,0:13:57.440
if you could say if you could only pick out a 
few words, you would probably go for the ones

0:13:57.440,0:14:07.920
that could get you the furthest. So, we want to 
focus on things like um go and in, out, eat, like

0:14:07.920,0:14:15.440
some things that are going to be like critical, 
but could be applied across the across the day,

0:14:15.440,0:14:23.120
across settings. So if you use go for an example, 
like maybe dad go because dad's going to work,

0:14:23.120,0:14:34.160
maybe I go on the bus, maybe a car 
goes, maybe the slider go away. So

0:14:34.160,0:14:42.240
um the the idea behind core vocabulary is that 
teaching to use those words that are like high

0:14:42.240,0:14:48.880
frequency like give you a lot of power. Um, and 
then fringe vocabulary, which is something that

0:14:48.880,0:14:55.600
is referenced throughout any use of AAC, is the 
words that you need for specialized occasions.

0:14:55.600,0:15:00.800
Like I was making some fringe pages today for some 
of my students with Christmas vocabulary because

0:15:00.800,0:15:05.200
they don't need access to that all the time 
because they don't really need to necessarily

0:15:05.200,0:15:09.600
talk about Christmas things unless they just love 
it. I mean, and then if that's the case, it might

0:15:09.600,0:15:15.840
be their thing. But, um, I was just thinking about 
we added trick treat for Halloween and then she

0:15:15.840,0:15:22.800
just kept pressing it. Right. Right. Because 
it's fun, right? And we got candy. Um so, but

0:15:22.800,0:15:28.160
right now everyone's talking about like ornaments 
and we're going to make this craft and we're going

0:15:28.160,0:15:33.280
to do that and and so, you know, having a place 
where you can open up a board that has some of

0:15:33.280,0:15:39.760
that vocabulary is helpful. So, that's the kind of 
stuff that would be like fringe. Um or even like,

0:15:39.760,0:15:46.960
you know, like if you have a student who like 
loves space and planets and the solar system. I

0:15:46.960,0:15:52.480
have a student right now who's very into that. 
Super important words for him. They might not

0:15:52.480,0:15:57.200
be at all important to somebody else who doesn't 
really care about that and is not at a level where

0:15:57.200,0:16:02.160
they're learning astronomy, but he definitely 
needs access to words about space because he loves

0:16:02.160,0:16:08.800
that. So, um I would definitely want to make a 
way for him to, you know, have access to that. So,

0:16:08.800,0:16:15.200
um, so the boards are all they're different 
ones that I mean there are so many different

0:16:15.200,0:16:21.840
companies out there that produce AAC. Um, 
philosophically there's a few differences,

0:16:21.840,0:16:30.800
but um, they're all kind of in a general idea of 
right now the um, research tells us that the way

0:16:30.800,0:16:36.960
to approach vocabulary is from a core language 
perspective. So, that's not always the way we've

0:16:36.960,0:16:44.720
set things up, but most um systems operate from 
kind of that basis, like your homepage is going

0:16:44.720,0:16:50.400
to be kind of a a core type situation. Now, 
we didn't always do that. I mean, like I said,

0:16:50.400,0:16:55.360
I've been in the AC world for a long time. We used 
to just have switches and you recorded one thing

0:16:55.360,0:17:03.840
and that was it. or um we had all just a huge mass 
of French vocabulary to weed through and that you

0:17:03.840,0:17:10.080
know it's not functional in in that way but over 
time you know we've grown and learned and come a

0:17:10.080,0:17:18.480
long way. So um so do you want to maybe just like 
look at week one and see what a week my computer's

0:17:18.480,0:17:23.920
over here but everything's up here. So what a 
what a week would look like in this program. So,

0:17:23.920,0:17:28.800
um, this is basically just the overview and I 
want to share with you we have a packet ready

0:17:28.800,0:17:34.560
to send home with you. Um, I'm going to warn you 
that it's a lot just kind of but don't feel like

0:17:34.560,0:17:40.720
you have like right this is just we're giving you 
access to information. It's not like we expect you

0:17:40.720,0:17:48.400
to go home and look at this. It's just a a way 
to support you and you know um learning AAC is

0:17:48.400,0:17:54.720
very similar to learning like a second language 
and so the only way we learn those things is to

0:17:54.720,0:18:00.480
practice and implement and do. But um they've 
got the program laid out really nice where it's

0:18:00.480,0:18:07.360
got resources for you. They've got some handouts. 
They've got some links for you to access resources

0:18:07.360,0:18:12.480
and they also have some links to some videos. 
We're going to watch a few tonight as long as

0:18:12.480,0:18:20.720
we have time. But um I think in the packet it'll 
show you this project overview and for each week

0:18:20.720,0:18:26.400
there's going to be like an action step. So like 
what what we'll do, what we'll target, what we'll

0:18:26.400,0:18:33.840
talk about. The step two in that is the signpost. 
So those are access to the tools that they have

0:18:33.840,0:18:39.920
available as resources. And again, some of those 
are going to be paper copies and some of them will

0:18:39.920,0:18:47.920
be some links. my house. And then the last little 
step is something for you to kind of read as a

0:18:47.920,0:18:56.640
parent or a family or a guardian to give you just 
some information um about AAC in general and just

0:18:56.640,0:19:03.200
maybe some ways how you might be able to access 
and use that at home. Um maybe a couple things to

0:19:03.200,0:19:10.400
target or practice in between our meetings. Again, 
we are not assigning homework. So everybody take a

0:19:10.400,0:19:17.120
deep breath, right? It's just to give you access 
to the tools um that they have gathered that are

0:19:17.120,0:19:26.320
really they're like um exemplars. They're they're 
the models that we want to give you all to use as

0:19:26.320,0:19:31.920
a resource because they're from experts in the 
field and from families who have gone through

0:19:31.920,0:19:41.040
some of this training. So um as she said, there 
are 20 weeks laid out the next slide. Like is

0:19:41.040,0:19:46.720
this a website or Well, you can go they do have 
a website that you can go to and you can click

0:19:46.720,0:19:50.640
all of the thing. I mean, and it's free and open 
to anybody. You don't have like it doesn't have

0:19:50.640,0:19:56.320
to you don't have to go through us to do it or 
anything. Anyone can can do it. Um it's and it's

0:19:56.320,0:20:03.680
all out there and you know part of what we wanted 
and it's all free which is amazing and it's so so

0:20:03.680,0:20:10.560
well done put together by all the smartest 
brains in this thinking space in our field.

0:20:10.560,0:20:19.280
Um so it's really amazing um and it's definitely 
something that I will I continue to use as a tool

0:20:19.280,0:20:26.800
to help like my own students families and you 
know things like that. So, um, you know, as we

0:20:26.800,0:20:31.600
we'll just kind of check out week one. Yes. What 
I thought we could do is maybe check out week one,

0:20:31.600,0:20:37.360
just look through. I've got some links in here for 
us to look at. But then an important thing that I

0:20:37.360,0:20:43.280
want to get from you all that we want to get from 
you all is just some input about like what you're

0:20:43.280,0:20:49.280
hoping to get out of this, how we can help support 
you best. you know, do we have priority topics

0:20:49.280,0:20:56.640
that we want to maybe shift things around and and 
start off with that? But, um, I think, you know,

0:20:56.640,0:21:02.240
tonight was really just about introducing you to 
the idea of stepping into AAC. They've got some

0:21:02.240,0:21:06.960
videos that we can watch. I think I have them 
linked here and then some additional resources

0:21:06.960,0:21:15.360
for you. And just be thinking, I mean, we we don't 
really have a structure in mind. Our thought was

0:21:15.360,0:21:20.400
that we could help facilitate this. Really, even 
any family could pick this up anywhere and go

0:21:20.400,0:21:24.880
through it on their own. They don't have to like 
do it as a connected group, but our thought was

0:21:24.880,0:21:32.560
that making some connections might be helpful. 
And um that we love this and we're wide open to

0:21:32.560,0:21:40.240
helping facilitate, but also I know that everyone 
has different lives and like realistically meeting

0:21:40.240,0:21:46.080
like super frequently may not work for everyone, 
you know. So we we don't have any expectations or

0:21:46.080,0:21:51.520
anything on this yet. We're just like throwing 
ideas out there and ready to talk about it. So

0:21:51.520,0:21:57.040
yeah, we just felt there's a need out there just 
um being able to support families with, you know,

0:21:57.040,0:22:04.080
we know it can be a lot to navigate something that 
we're not familiar with, you know. Um and so just

0:22:04.080,0:22:10.880
getting you a little bit more familiar, a little 
more comfortable with what we do, things that you

0:22:10.880,0:22:17.280
know, ideas, tools. Yeah. And I always say to 
my students, families, like it's overwhelming

0:22:17.280,0:22:24.560
to try to do something like this all the time. So 
my first advice is usually to pick one small thing

0:22:24.560,0:22:31.920
that happens every day or pretty frequently and 
let's try to work on using it for that like and

0:22:31.920,0:22:35.920
not and we're not going to just suddenly decide 
that we have to use this device every day all

0:22:35.920,0:22:41.600
the time because it's just way too much and and 
I mean I would lose my mind over something like

0:22:41.600,0:22:48.560
that and and then well we know life happens. Yeah, 
I feel like that would be a really good example

0:22:48.560,0:22:54.320
or a really good um situation where okay, we're 
all going to go I mean, we don't need to do this

0:22:54.320,0:23:00.320
right now, but like tell me your example. What 
are you going to do? And then I could say, okay,

0:23:00.320,0:23:04.480
well, I'm going to make this up right now, but 
uh I want to work on Charlotte's daily schedule.

0:23:04.480,0:23:10.000
That's what I want to do. And then you could 
tell I would love to hear from you. Honestly,

0:23:10.000,0:23:15.200
that's a horrible idea. I wouldn't start there. Or 
that is a great idea. I would start there and then

0:23:15.200,0:23:20.480
maybe like I would like to hear what you guys are 
going to start with because maybe your suggestion

0:23:20.480,0:23:25.280
is better than my daily schedule. Not necessarily 
better, but like it just gives you might spark an

0:23:25.280,0:23:30.000
idea. That's my next one, but then I'm going to do 
that next. I mean, that's how I think it could be

0:23:30.000,0:23:37.200
helpful to hear like how somebody else is going to 
use it too, right? And to also have a professional

0:23:37.200,0:23:43.520
advice of someone saying that's not the best. 
Here's what you can do with it. here's what you

0:23:43.520,0:23:49.600
can do. So, I had I had one family, for example, 
who said, "Okay, well, we're going to use this

0:23:49.600,0:23:55.200
um to help her make all make choices once we're at 
home." And then they came back and they're like,

0:23:55.200,0:23:59.680
"Okay, she's not choosing anything. I It's not 
working. It's She's just mad. She keeps throwing

0:23:59.680,0:24:04.960
it away." And so, you know, we kind of got down 
to like, "Well, why do you think this is a good

0:24:04.960,0:24:09.040
idea?" Well, because she always has something 
to say about the clothes I pick out. I was like,

0:24:09.040,0:24:15.600
"Okay, so let's start here. How about we just 
decide that this is all we're going to do before

0:24:15.600,0:24:20.160
we go to bed. We're going to use this device and 
we're going to pick out like what shirt you want

0:24:20.160,0:24:26.320
to wear tomorrow and that's it. That is what 
that is what we're going to start with and then

0:24:26.320,0:24:34.160
they threw it out, you know, after that. So we So 
sometimes you have to be like really small and get

0:24:34.160,0:24:39.600
a success and then build on that, you know, and 
then that's how it actually started to work. But

0:24:39.600,0:24:45.680
it was just too much, too overwhelming because um 
for this particular student, she ne she she didn't

0:24:45.680,0:24:51.120
really have any experience with making those 
choices. Even though they were trying all the

0:24:51.120,0:24:59.120
time to offer her choices, she didn't really know 
how to do it. And so it was just too overwhelming.

0:24:59.120,0:25:07.840
And so they so we finally had to get down to like 
okay let's put out like three options and then she

0:25:07.840,0:25:14.960
can tell you I want the purple one or I and then 
okay that's manageable then we can grow it into

0:25:14.960,0:25:22.560
and I want to wear these shoes and I want to wear 
that. But that that was too much at first just

0:25:22.560,0:25:28.320
because she wasn't they were trying and trying to 
give her all the choices but she just didn't even

0:25:28.320,0:25:34.480
know how to make a choice because it so had not 
been available to her. So um well and we always

0:25:34.480,0:25:41.280
like I think it's with the best intentions that 
we start with these ideas but sometimes it's it's

0:25:41.280,0:25:48.640
just too big and it's too broad and sometimes we 
have to really narrow in on some more of um like

0:25:48.640,0:25:53.840
you know selected times if you will to really 
talk and then put it away and we're not going

0:25:53.840,0:25:59.040
to stress out about it all night. I think that's 
the most important part of having like you guys

0:25:59.040,0:26:05.280
to guide us through this because I can follow the 
instruction, you know, like I can follow along,

0:26:05.280,0:26:11.440
but what if I get stuck on something? Then that's 
the kind that's the thing that I'm like, okay,

0:26:11.440,0:26:16.240
I'm going to need somebody that I can ask like 
I just tried this and it didn't work. You know,

0:26:16.240,0:26:22.880
like that's the thing that I think is helpful to 
have your advice with, but then get the ideas from

0:26:22.880,0:26:27.200
other people also who are like, "Okay, well, I 
tried the clothes thing and that didn't work,

0:26:27.200,0:26:31.440
right?" You know, but maybe maybe your child 
doesn't care about their clothes and that they

0:26:31.440,0:26:34.320
they don't even want to make a choice about 
that because they're like, "Whatever, I'm just

0:26:34.320,0:26:40.320
wearing whatever, you know." So, yeah. So, the 
first week is just laid out. I just to kind of

0:26:40.320,0:26:45.040
put some of the highlights in here like their day 
one, it talks a little bit about choosing a board.

0:26:45.040,0:26:49.600
Day two. So, we presented you with some of the 
boards. Those are all you can all take those

0:26:49.600,0:26:54.240
home. They're all linked on there and you can have 
access to them. Day two, she's actually really

0:26:54.240,0:27:02.320
talked about a little bit already. That is some of 
your um your power words that are the small words

0:27:02.320,0:27:08.720
go in, on, under. When you think about how many 
contexts that we use those words, they're very

0:27:08.720,0:27:15.200
powerful because we're using them all day long in 
different scenarios. So, they have a word list. We

0:27:15.200,0:27:21.520
don't have to stick to that. It's just a beginning 
place. Yeah. And then you can see on day three,

0:27:21.520,0:27:27.200
that's the big question like where do I start? How 
do we what do we do? Where do we go? Um day four

0:27:27.200,0:27:31.920
has a little bit of a reading activity and it just 
gives you like a little snapshot of some things to

0:27:31.920,0:27:38.640
try and then an idea for day five. And then they 
always are going to have resources connected to

0:27:38.640,0:27:46.320
every week or every segment that we go through. 
So I can't all of those things. Ah, no,

0:27:46.320,0:27:53.680
this is perfect. So, I kind of wanted to introduce 
the idea of what our program is and then this is

0:27:53.680,0:28:00.560
really and um Sherry, you kind of started us on 
this is really we want we are very interested in

0:28:00.560,0:28:06.960
getting your input on how you would like this 
to look. Do you have some ideas, Charlotte?

0:28:08.480,0:28:14.560
out of ideas. Well, and I would say that I mean 
I definitely appreciate like all parents, aunts,

0:28:14.560,0:28:19.440
I mean that's amazing, but like 
this is wide open. Our siblings,

0:28:19.440,0:28:28.960
siblings are fantastic models. Um grandparents, 
I mean, anyone is absolutely welcome. Anyone who

0:28:28.960,0:28:36.000
you know is a part of your child's life is they're 
important and so they're absolutely welcome to be

0:28:36.880,0:28:41.840
So, I just popped in some questions that I 
felt like, you know, maybe we could just all

0:28:41.840,0:28:48.000
talk through or if you have some insight or 
you kind of have a really strong opinion or,

0:28:48.000,0:28:52.800
you know, I just felt like this was the time 
where we wanted to open it up to you about what

0:28:52.800,0:28:59.360
what you're hoping to get from this and then 
um you know, questions you might have for us

0:28:59.360,0:29:04.880
and then we can get into a couple videos that 
they share like in the introduction week. But

0:29:04.880,0:29:11.760
um does anybody you just take a minute and maybe 
look at some of those questions? If you feel like

0:29:11.760,0:29:17.600
you you know an answer to one of them and want to 
share with us that would be great. I tried to pick

0:29:17.600,0:29:24.400
the like most important things really when I was 
thinking about like what kind of input do we want

0:29:24.400,0:29:33.520
from you? I think for us well I don't know I think 
we thought it was just like one of like really

0:29:33.520,0:29:40.640
cool and you definitely I mean it can be that for 
you know what to expect. Uh but our situation like

0:29:40.640,0:29:47.600
Nora is almost four and she goes to town preschool 
and she got to eventually one day like was like

0:29:47.600,0:29:56.160
six months ago. Oh she got some point they were 
like oh yeah so she At one point they're like,

0:29:56.160,0:30:01.120
"All right, we're trying this out." And so we're 
like, "Oh, that's cool." Like, we're glad that

0:30:01.120,0:30:05.200
you got to use it. We didn't know. At some point 
they were like, "Okay, you can just take it home."

0:30:05.200,0:30:09.520
Yeah. They didn't We didn't like We didn't get any 
training on like how do you use it or like how do

0:30:09.520,0:30:15.920
you effectively use it? I think easy enough like 
Andy figured out like okay, how to like modify

0:30:15.920,0:30:21.520
things because they gave us the like password 
to like change the stuff on it. Um but we don't

0:30:21.520,0:30:29.680
really know how to like incorporate that into And 
we're we are using it at home. Um and it is great.

0:30:29.680,0:30:38.880
Uh but she doesn't want she don't choose to use it 
a lot I think. Right. Uh and um so we're trying to

0:30:38.880,0:30:43.120
just figure out like how can we scenarios you 
talked about like clothes or whatever sounds

0:30:43.120,0:30:48.640
awesome. Uh, and then also, I don't know. I think 
I don't know what you think, but I'm I'm kind of

0:30:48.640,0:30:53.600
like, okay, like could we at some point it's just 
like trying to figure out how to navigate it to

0:30:53.600,0:30:59.200
what we might want and like can we change it? 
Should we change it? Maybe they have it set up,

0:30:59.200,0:31:06.160
right? So, you're asking all the right questions. 
That's what I want you to know. You're asking

0:31:06.160,0:31:12.240
questioned program and it's a lot when you just 
get it. It's a little overwhelming because you're

0:31:12.240,0:31:17.760
not familiar with it. And it is very much picking 
up another language. I mean, because you have to

0:31:17.760,0:31:23.120
learn where all this stuff is stored and how to 
navigate it and all of that. So, absolutely it

0:31:23.120,0:31:30.320
is. Um, our daughter also has a sense of humor 
and she'll press sushi 500 times. Uhhuh. You

0:31:30.320,0:31:35.600
don't know what that is, but it sounds funny. I 
mean, it does. If you say sushi, it sounds funny,

0:31:35.600,0:31:41.520
especially if you say it a lot. I mean, but she 
laughs and she knows that she's being funny. Yeah.

0:31:41.520,0:31:46.880
That's awesome. Communication. Yep. She's making a 
joke. A little bit challenging for her. Yeah. Oh,

0:31:46.880,0:31:50.640
yeah. And for sure. And then, you know, questions 
like, "How do we handle that when she's saying

0:31:50.640,0:31:55.440
sushi 500 times?" And it was funny the first 
like 50 and then you're like, "Oh my gosh,

0:31:55.440,0:32:04.320
if you stop saying, you know." Um, so I mean, 
yeah, that's absolutely like those are the kinds

0:32:04.320,0:32:10.080
of things that we definitely want to Yeah. like 
talk about. What kind of things do you questions

0:32:10.080,0:32:14.080
spark your interest? What kind of input do you 
have for us? I'm totally gonna piggy back off of

0:32:14.080,0:32:21.040
what you said. My son, he's four. He just started 
preschool a few weeks ago at county. Okay. So,

0:32:21.040,0:32:30.640
they um suggested, you know, the AAC device and I 
actually got a message from today where it's been

0:32:30.640,0:32:36.400
introduced to him and he's showing interest. Okay. 
But that's about as far as Awesome. Okay. That's

0:32:36.400,0:32:42.640
that's as far as I know. Like I didn't know if 
this is something I would need to get, you know,

0:32:42.640,0:32:50.320
outside of school or if this is like an additional 
app that I would need to put on his iPad or if the

0:32:50.320,0:32:55.040
device would come from the school. Eventually 
they gave us the iPad and we we just take it to

0:32:55.040,0:33:03.200
and from school. Yeah. But it sounds like Sorry, I 
don't want No, go ahead. But it sounds like there

0:33:03.200,0:33:07.920
are other like I did find even before we got 
to the device something for like there was a

0:33:07.920,0:33:17.040
free online thing that we could I have some videos 
that I can send you all to help with some of that

0:33:17.040,0:33:22.400
just basic background knowledge and just kind 
of an introduction. Yeah. And a lot of that is

0:33:22.400,0:33:28.080
built in and some of that is built in here. And 
again some of it's very like program specific.

0:33:28.080,0:33:37.600
Um, the one thing I want to reassure all of you 
with is that um, AAC does not hinder their oral

0:33:37.600,0:33:44.640
language development skills at all. In fact, it 
it grows grows the oral language development.

0:33:44.640,0:33:52.080
It gives them access um to al to oral but also 
that receptively that they're taking that in and

0:33:52.080,0:33:59.360
being able to store some of that information to 
be able to eventually perhaps get out some oral

0:33:59.360,0:34:07.200
input. You know, we can't guarantee that, but it 
does um expand and research shows that it will

0:34:07.200,0:34:15.840
expand their ability to um express their ideas, 
express their wants and needs. It's I have read

0:34:15.840,0:34:20.880
the research on that for years and I believed it, 
but I believe it so much more with my heart now

0:34:20.880,0:34:27.200
that I've actually seen it happen because I had 
a have a student who's she's in third grade now.

0:34:27.200,0:34:32.400
um she came to us with very little verbal 
language. She had a device um that she used

0:34:32.400,0:34:37.520
a little bit um when she came in kindergarten and 
she didn't go to Olden County Preschool. she went

0:34:37.520,0:34:46.560
to a private setting and um then she just when 
she's like has a a little moment of like break

0:34:46.560,0:34:51.520
time, she would take her device and like just 
constantly like like she would go through all

0:34:51.520,0:34:55.680
and and she's like saying these things over and 
over and over and everybody's like, "Oh my gosh,

0:34:55.680,0:35:01.120
she's driving us crazy." She was teaching herself 
where all those words were and then all of a

0:35:01.120,0:35:06.560
sudden they all started coming out and she started 
saying them verbally and then it was amazing.

0:35:06.560,0:35:10.800
I was like, "Oh my gosh, she taught herself 
all these words." Like, she totally modeled

0:35:10.800,0:35:18.400
for herself on her device and did it all for 
herself and built this herself. And I And then

0:35:18.400,0:35:24.720
I had another student who's in middle school now, 
um, who had I think when he came in kindergarten,

0:35:24.720,0:35:33.280
I think I counted that he had 15 words that he 
used. Um, and then by the time he was in about

0:35:33.280,0:35:38.320
second or third grade, he used a device. Um, he 
just stopped using it because he was talking so

0:35:38.320,0:35:45.200
much. And now he just talks. He that um, so not 
that verbal communication is the gold standard.

0:35:45.200,0:35:49.440
I mean, everybody communicates in different 
ways and they're all equally as valuable,

0:35:49.440,0:35:57.360
but it's just it some people do worry that it 
would hinder um, verbal development. And I mean

0:35:57.360,0:36:04.160
it was it was entirely a moment like if you've 
seen or thought you heard of like Helen Keller

0:36:04.160,0:36:08.960
and learning what that like what words were like 
he was literally one day running around the room

0:36:08.960,0:36:12.960
like pointing to something on his device and then 
pointing to the object and it suddenly like made

0:36:12.960,0:36:19.040
the connection. He was like oh my gosh like have 
words for all these things. It was crazy. So um

0:36:19.040,0:36:25.360
it really can be very powerful. So um Sher, did 
you have anything? I'm secretly hoping, well,

0:36:25.360,0:36:31.280
not secretly because I just said it out loud, 
but um I'm I am hoping that at different like at

0:36:31.280,0:36:39.200
different times in Charlotte's school life, we've 
tried a couple different things with her. And for

0:36:39.200,0:36:44.240
a variety of reasons, they just never quite were 
the right fit or the right thing or clicked or

0:36:44.240,0:36:52.160
whatever. And you know, we get by. I think like 
what you were saying um Miss Aaron about going

0:36:52.160,0:37:01.360
into adulthood and being able to say exactly and 
I feel like we're at this like moment where I need

0:37:01.360,0:37:08.400
to kind of try some of this again or try you know 
a little bit maybe find something different that

0:37:08.400,0:37:18.320
we didn't already try. I don't really know, but um 
I'm I'm just trying to like okay, it didn't work

0:37:18.320,0:37:24.320
before, but that doesn't mean it won't work now. 
And think of how much she's changed in this many

0:37:24.320,0:37:31.920
years and now the options have changed, too. So, 
a lot a lot of things are available now. I mean,

0:37:31.920,0:37:37.040
it's it's really expanding so rapidly that things 
are available now that weren't available months

0:37:37.040,0:37:44.480
ago. And so I mean we just had a representative 
from Talk to Me Technologies come in October and

0:37:44.480,0:37:51.760
show us brand new things that we had never seen 
before and we were super excited about them. So

0:37:51.760,0:38:03.120
um it's new all the time. So one of the benefits 
of a technology based field. So okay. So I think

0:38:03.120,0:38:08.960
this might be one of our first videos that they 
have. Um, are you all interested in watching the

0:38:08.960,0:38:18.000
little video? It's got some parents who talk about 
the program and just um some stories. And so,

0:38:18.000,0:38:23.520
you know, this idea is we have to give language 
to get language. Let me see if Oh, yeah. Um, well,

0:38:23.520,0:38:28.960
they might say what I'll I'll listen first. They 
might say that. Let me go over here. Well, while

0:38:28.960,0:38:34.880
she's working on that, that I read a statistic 
the other day that um and I said this to you in

0:38:34.880,0:38:41.600
October here, but that um really modeling is so 
key for every kid because we're talking to them

0:38:41.600,0:38:51.200
verbally all the time. Maybe she's right now. And 
so if you think about how children who are verbal

0:38:51.200,0:38:56.240
communicators have had their way of communicating 
modeled to them from the time they were in utero,

0:38:56.240,0:39:01.200
they've been I mean all along they've been 
hearing people talking around them and talking

0:39:01.200,0:39:09.440
to them. And our students who are using AAC may 
only get that modeling when like somebody is

0:39:09.440,0:39:14.240
working with them on that device. So, if it's 
just when they're with their speech therapist

0:39:14.240,0:39:20.800
a couple of times a week, it would take them 
until they're 84 years old to get the amount

0:39:20.800,0:39:27.520
of modeling that a 2-year-old child would have 
gotten just naturally from the ambient language

0:39:27.520,0:39:33.200
that's going on around them all the time just 
because there it's such a slower pace if people

0:39:33.200,0:39:38.400
aren't modeling around them a lot. So that's 
one of the the real keys in the giving language

0:39:38.400,0:39:45.200
to get language is that we want to be modeling 
all the time in their way of communicating and

0:39:45.200,0:39:50.960
not necessarily with the expectation that it's 
going to be returned but just that we're doing

0:39:50.960,0:39:58.080
it and showing it and providing that example. 
So my students model on other people's devices

0:39:58.080,0:40:03.600
but they'll come up and do it. Yeah. And at 
first some of my staff members were like, "No,

0:40:03.600,0:40:08.320
that's not your voice." I said, "No, that's great. 
He's modeling how to use it. Let's do it." Yeah,

0:40:08.320,0:40:13.760
absolutely. And sometimes I have a at at our 
school we have a lot of um peers that are like

0:40:13.760,0:40:18.400
friends and buddies and want to like talk 
together and I always encourage them to you

0:40:18.400,0:40:23.200
know ask first if you feel better about you know 
like that you don't want to touch someone else's

0:40:23.200,0:40:29.040
like device without asking them but that um you 
know if you model with them or you guys do it

0:40:29.040,0:40:35.360
together it helps your friend learn and they 
see you do it and they're much more inclined

0:40:35.360,0:40:49.280
to model after you than after a teacher for a 
grown-up. So, I mean, it's true, right? Okay.

0:40:49.280,0:40:57.280
Give language to get language. 1.1. When we 
hear professionals talk about the importance

0:40:57.280,0:41:03.360
of give language to get language, it 
means several important things. Namely,

0:41:03.360,0:41:10.800
we must provide AAC tools and we must use those 
tools to show our AAC learners how they work and

0:41:10.800,0:41:16.640
why they're awesome. But first, let's unpack 
the difference between speech and language so

0:41:16.640,0:41:22.960
we can ensure that we're on the same page about 
exactly what it means to give language. Speech

0:41:22.960,0:41:29.200
is an acoustic symbol. It is words, often 
language, that we express vocally. Language

0:41:29.200,0:41:35.200
is the use of words to express meaning. Langage 
can be expressed through symbols spoken, signed,

0:41:35.200,0:41:41.280
written or symbolically represented. Language is 
the building blocks of how we begin to understand,

0:41:41.280,0:41:46.960
respond to and share about our world. Language 
ensures that we can talk about the things beyond

0:41:46.960,0:41:53.440
the here and now. The third dimension is of course 
communication. Effective communication is simply

0:41:53.440,0:42:00.800
sharing a message others understand. It may or 
may not include speech or language. Body language,

0:42:00.800,0:42:07.040
gestures, vocalization, and facial expressions 
are often very effective forms of communication

0:42:07.040,0:42:12.160
and sometimes the most efficient. Throughout 
this series, we will explore the many ways that

0:42:12.160,0:42:19.280
language is expressed through AAC. This language 
builds on naturally occurring communication to

0:42:19.280,0:42:26.240
give AAC learners valuable experiences that 
expand upon what they wish to express. Before

0:42:26.240,0:42:33.200
we can get started with AAC, we must provide 
access to AAC. There are no prerequisite skills,

0:42:33.200,0:42:38.000
just as there are no prerequisites for babies to 
learn to babble. Next week, we'll take a deeper

0:42:38.000,0:42:45.680
dive into what makes really good or robust AAC 
and why that's important in subsequent videos. But

0:42:45.680,0:42:52.320
for the purpose of this conversation, know that 
welldeveloped AAC is more than just a choice board

0:42:52.320,0:42:59.600
or yes, no symbols. It's access to symbol based 
language that has enough words to allow anyone of

0:42:59.600,0:43:07.040
any age to experience lots of rich language while 
engaging in life's activities in meaningful ways.

0:43:07.040,0:43:14.320
We kept trying to give him that voice. Then they 
they backed us back and went to just hex pictures.

0:43:14.320,0:43:20.320
They didn't want to use any augmentative piece. 
They just wanted let's just use the pictures. And

0:43:20.320,0:43:27.520
we really didn't go anywhere for probably four 
or five years because the SLP at school really

0:43:27.520,0:43:32.080
felt that if he can't do the pictures then we 
can't do anything else. And so that's where we

0:43:32.080,0:43:40.080
kind of stalled. Another thing is there's I know 
I've heard of angels who just hadn't been exposed

0:43:40.080,0:43:46.560
to this and they they're older and they then they 
were exposed and they like got on so much because

0:43:46.560,0:43:53.680
they had it in their head and they just needed 
to a way to express it. So I think that's very

0:43:53.680,0:44:11.840
powerful and like I'm sorry commercial. 
I don't pay for the bougie. We can skip.

0:44:11.840,0:44:17.200
For language and communication skills to develop, 
learners must have access to a tool that allows

0:44:17.200,0:44:22.160
them to experiment with language. This is no 
different than the role of babbling and selft

0:44:22.160,0:44:29.120
talk in typical language development. It comes 
before proficient language use. AAC has the added

0:44:29.120,0:44:36.080
feature of being visual and concrete a multimodal 
language experience. Well-developed AAC tools

0:44:36.080,0:44:42.640
like language itself are pattern based. Unlike 
speech, which disappears as soon as it is spoken,

0:44:42.640,0:44:47.920
these tools create a sort of map that AAC learners 
can explore and learn about language through

0:44:47.920,0:44:55.360
multiensory experiences as others use it to talk 
to them. As such, access to AAC makes language

0:44:55.360,0:45:02.960
accessible to AAC learners both receptively and 
expressively. Push harder in those early early

0:45:02.960,0:45:12.240
years to get your community, meaning mostly 
the community around you support you. Um, and

0:45:12.240,0:45:19.360
you may have to bring things to them like some of 
the information. I I remember early on again his

0:45:19.360,0:45:27.040
SLP wanted him to well if he can't appropriately 
in the data that I have show that he's choosing

0:45:27.040,0:45:34.080
one of these pictures appropriately more than 
50% of the time, he can't use dynamic AAC. Um,

0:45:34.080,0:45:40.480
but when I go to a conference and talk to people 
who are working with kids with Angelman syndrome

0:45:40.480,0:45:45.760
and others. Yeah. No. Just because he can't hear 
doesn't mean he won't bear. So, we need to give

0:45:45.760,0:45:54.000
it to him and let him show us. This was years 
and years ago and I went out of town and I had

0:45:54.000,0:45:58.720
been gone for a while and Tyler, you know, dad's 
like, "Oh, she's at Stephanie's in Arizona." And

0:45:58.720,0:46:07.680
he hit it. My husband sent a picture of me. He 
hit mom airport home mom. Yeah. And just from he

0:46:07.680,0:46:13.360
My husband even said didn't even like verbalize 
she on the plane, but he knows that's how speaking

0:46:13.360,0:46:18.960
to Stephanie and he text me like, "Yeah, look what 
Tyler did." When getting going with AAC feels a

0:46:18.960,0:46:25.440
bit like jumping off a cliff, keep this in mind. 
All language is learned through experience. We

0:46:25.440,0:46:31.120
help our our learners get this experience through 
modeling. It will feel natural after a bit,

0:46:31.120,0:46:37.760
so dive in and keep going. Initially, you may 
be inclined to model labels for familiar things,

0:46:37.760,0:46:43.120
but as you will see in the weeks that follow, 
it's important to talk about what you and your

0:46:43.120,0:46:49.920
AAC learner are doing, feeling, and thinking. 
Comment and think aloud with AAC to show your

0:46:49.920,0:46:55.040
learner what it's all about. Think of it 
this way. Just as children of deaf parents

0:46:55.040,0:47:01.280
learn American Sign Language or ASL and children 
with Japanese-speaking parents learn Japanese,

0:47:01.280,0:47:05.520
and you understood more Spanish after three 
weeks in Spain, then three years of high

0:47:05.520,0:47:12.960
school Spanish. Experiencing language in natural 
context is critical to language learning. That is

0:47:12.960,0:47:20.400
one reason why AAC is not just a speech therapy 
thing. AAC learners benefit from a whole range of

0:47:20.400,0:47:27.600
communication partners, showing them how their AAC 
works to gain skills as lifelong communicators.

0:47:27.600,0:47:32.160
Um, and his first private speech therapist wanted 
to focus more on sounds and signing. and we knew

0:47:32.160,0:47:36.400
that that probably wasn't going to be a great 
option either. So, we went to the UNCC clinic and

0:47:36.400,0:47:41.120
um actually got a chance to have a long meeting 
with Margaret there that he'll be there. So,

0:47:41.120,0:47:44.800
it was wonderful and she was the one that 
told us to jump right into it. You know,

0:47:44.800,0:47:50.080
here he is 2 years old. I said jump right into it 
because we've been told he's not ready. She said,

0:47:50.080,0:47:55.920
"No, start it. Start modeling." Language 
learning is messy and that's okay. Having

0:47:55.920,0:48:01.920
open expectations keeps us grounded and optimistic 
in the understanding that practice and meaningful

0:48:01.920,0:48:08.720
interactions and often lots of repetition are 
necessary for learning. Some learners just need

0:48:08.720,0:48:15.280
to see something more than a few times before 
they learn it. Others may require many, many,

0:48:15.280,0:48:22.080
many turns, and that's okay. One of the biggest 
barriers to writing and implementing AA can be

0:48:22.080,0:48:30.240
the lack of proof. Too often people require some 
proof of ability before giving learners access or

0:48:30.240,0:48:36.640
opportunity to learn symbol based language. How 
can we expect AAC learners to prove they can use

0:48:36.640,0:48:43.040
AAC when they haven't been provided the tool or 
haven't been given the opportunity to learn how?

0:48:43.040,0:48:51.280
Let the open expectations we provide lead the way. 
Um Tyler's usually get better now at 21 than he

0:48:51.280,0:48:59.760
was at 12. and he had it since he was three. So, 
I mean, don't Yeah, there's no age is too too old

0:48:59.760,0:49:07.760
or to introduce it. Um, and there's no timeline 
on how long it should take and what how quick

0:49:07.760,0:49:12.720
they're going to catch on to it because they're 
all different. Lastly, communication is a two-way

0:49:12.720,0:49:19.200
street. Give your AAC learner feedback about when 
they communicate regardless of the communication

0:49:19.200,0:49:27.600
modality they choose. Repeat what they say and 
expand on it. If they bring you shoes, use AAC

0:49:27.600,0:49:35.840
to say go or go out as you verbalize you want to 
go outside. If they bring you their AAC and point

0:49:35.840,0:49:43.360
to the dog, use AAC to make a best guess about 
what they're trying to say. Dog sleeping, want

0:49:43.360,0:49:51.600
to play with dog, or dog made a mess. I'm really 
close with some Angelmen families in the community

0:49:51.600,0:50:00.800
um who talked about pod and so robust AAC. So I 
knew my twin sister is an SLP. So I also have a

0:50:00.800,0:50:07.280
little bit but I knew about AAC from I've been an 
art teacher for 10 years. So some of my students

0:50:07.280,0:50:14.320
um I've seen it a little bit and I just wanted 
more for her. So I know that she wants to express

0:50:14.320,0:50:21.440
like so much and I felt that with the text that 
we were doing at that point that it wasn't she

0:50:21.440,0:50:26.960
wasn't going to be able to explain that like her 
favorite movie was so and so or I want to go to

0:50:26.960,0:50:39.280
the park or things like that. Yes, for sure. And I 
know that I I don't ever want to put a cap on Maya

0:50:39.280,0:50:46.080
um because I know that she she's amazing and 
she can express so many things. We have to

0:50:46.080,0:50:52.240
give language to get language. As you get 
started or reinspired on your AAC journey,

0:50:52.240,0:50:58.480
keep this mantra in mind. The idea of giving 
language to get language will keep you oriented

0:50:58.480,0:51:10.400
to the importance of your role as a communication 
partner and help you share that AAC is a priority.

0:51:10.400,0:51:14.880
Okay, so that was just a little 
introduction video they have for week one.

0:51:17.920,0:51:25.280
I know we're nearing the end of our time, so

0:51:25.280,0:51:30.480
I want to How about we give out this 
this packet of information? And again,

0:51:30.480,0:51:36.080
it it's a lot. So, I want you to just 
digest it slowly and look through it.

0:51:36.080,0:51:44.800
Um, I'm going to share this with all of the SLPs 
that your kids work with and the teachers of your

0:51:44.800,0:51:50.880
students so they can see what information 
we are sharing with you and then maybe we

0:51:50.880,0:51:58.320
can talk about like our next steps like what what 
we would want to do for like a next meeting. Um,

0:51:58.320,0:52:04.880
are we is this something you want to do some 
things independently and come back together?

0:52:04.880,0:52:11.920
Do you want us to help with strategies? Do we want 
to do that in person? Um, just so we can kind of

0:52:11.920,0:52:16.240
plan and if you guys wouldn't mind sharing with 
us what you think is going to work best for you

0:52:16.240,0:52:20.000
all. And you can think about that and you don't 
have to tell us tonight because I have everybody's

0:52:20.000,0:52:25.760
email so we can um stay connected that way as 
well because that might be something you have

0:52:25.760,0:52:34.240
to like think about and think like Yeah. Can 
I take one? You can absolutely take one extra.

0:52:36.960,0:52:51.040
You want to have one since I made 
them? Sure. Do you guys need any extra?

0:52:51.040,0:52:57.760
Thank you. And your next your brother. Yeah. Just 
like check this out. I mean because if they're not

0:52:57.760,0:53:05.360
local and they just they wanted to come but they 
work crazy hours and couldn't. So yeah. Well,

0:53:05.360,0:53:08.800
they can come the next time. They can come in. 
Yeah. They're absolutely welcome. It's not We're

0:53:08.800,0:53:13.520
not I mean anybody can come. It doesn't have 
to be old county. Yeah. So it just there's a

0:53:13.520,0:53:18.640
lot of information in here. Okay. You'll see 
those QR codes that you can scan and it will

0:53:18.640,0:53:24.320
take you somewhere. I'll also email this to you 
guys so you can click the links and it'll take

0:53:24.320,0:53:30.800
you to the videos. Um, I'll do that tomorrow 
when I'm at work and send that to you. Um,

0:53:30.800,0:53:37.520
most of the things that we had in the PowerPoint, 
you'll see in here. Um, we didn't get to all of

0:53:37.520,0:53:44.720
it, but I wanted to I want to honor your time and 
it's a lot to digest. We tal we've shared a lot of

0:53:44.720,0:53:51.440
information tonight and we really just wanted to 
and we didn't even feeling great. Yeah, we could

0:53:51.440,0:54:00.480
stay for overnight, but I'm not sure that that's 
what everyone else wants to do, but um would you

0:54:00.480,0:54:07.200
guys like us to email you and just kind of get do 
you have any feedback? Like do you think you might

0:54:07.200,0:54:14.800
want in person? Do you think a virtual uh option 
might be better? or we can are you interested in

0:54:14.800,0:54:20.560
coming back? And if you're not, that won't hurt 
our feelings either. That's totally okay. Like we

0:54:20.560,0:54:27.200
I mean, we just wanted to offer an opportunity, 
not a requirement, you know, like like I mean,

0:54:27.200,0:54:34.480
absolutely. Just because we thought support might 
be helpful. So, you know, if if you're like, hey,

0:54:34.480,0:54:38.560
hey, thanks, but this is like way more than we 
have time for right now, that's totally okay, too.

0:54:38.560,0:54:47.200
So, I am motivated to well, I'm going to do it no 
matter what, but I am motivated to to do this. And

0:54:47.200,0:54:56.080
I don't really um I would be fine with whatever 
the group wants to do. I want to be able to just

0:54:56.080,0:55:02.560
um if I'm stuck on something know that I could 
email, you know, you and say, "What do you think

0:55:02.560,0:55:10.080
about this?" and you know, get a response. without 
having to wait for a month. You know what I mean?

0:55:10.080,0:55:14.240
In case so that we can keep moving, you like 
a monthly meeting. But then I'm like, well,

0:55:14.240,0:55:26.160
no, we might have more questions. Yeah. 
In the meantime. Yeah. Um but I'm open.

0:55:29.360,0:55:37.040
Well, and I mean hopefully like what you heard 
from that video is like that's I mean you're

0:55:37.040,0:55:41.840
going to learn. You are in exactly the right 
place. Like you are going to learn right along

0:55:41.840,0:55:46.080
with your child. That's really what we want 
you to know. And that's the best way to learn

0:55:46.080,0:55:50.960
is to learn it right alongside with your child. 
Yeah. I went to the website. It's set up so easy.

0:55:52.160,0:56:00.000
It's so easy. Yeah. Yeah. It's fantastic. Yeah. Um 
I mean Yeah. I think I think we need to see more

0:56:00.000,0:56:05.840
of these. Well, and and I mean this is obviously 
pretty introductory, so we'd be like digging in

0:56:05.840,0:56:11.840
a little more to ideas, you know, each week. 
But um so, well, I'll send an email and I'll

0:56:11.840,0:56:18.000
include all of us on it that were here tonight. 
If you know of anybody who might be interested,

0:56:18.000,0:56:23.280
you can share this with them. This is open 
to everybody and anybody who wants to come,

0:56:23.280,0:56:28.080
but since you were here, I'm going to make sure 
you're included on our follow-up email. We'll

0:56:28.080,0:56:33.200
get through the holiday and then we'll plan some 
time. We'll plan like kind of maybe a next step

0:56:33.200,0:56:40.000
or a next meeting. We can share some ideas of 
what um we can do in our next session and you

0:56:40.000,0:56:46.000
can give us some feedback. Um because I think 
we have a good idea of where you all we got

0:56:46.000,0:56:54.160
to hear from you tonight, which is most important 
because we're here to help you and your child. So,

0:56:54.160,0:56:59.520
it was wonderful meeting you all. Thank you all 
for coming, Charlotte. You have been so good. This

0:56:59.520,0:57:05.120
is like literal dreams coming true for for me that 
you know people would be interested and want to do

0:57:05.120,0:57:11.600
this and that you know we could launch something 
like this. I also really um like that we have like

0:57:11.600,0:57:18.560
the different ages represented because you know 
um communication is changing all of the time.

0:57:18.560,0:57:25.600
Is this associated at all with the other 
thing I've seen kind of cares? That's

0:57:25.600,0:57:29.600
actually you're getting the emails maybe. 
I don't know if you're on that list or not,

0:57:29.600,0:57:35.600
but um that's the parent group meeting. Is 
that too? Yes. Yes. And we were supposed to