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Wisconsin AAC Network > Newsletters > 2024 > Fall 2024 Newsletter
Fall 2024 Newsletter

by | Sep 15, 2024 | 0 comments

Fall 2024 Newsletter

Welcome to the fall newsletter of WI AAC Network and happy AAC awareness month. I am sorry about not sending a summer newsletter, I took summer off as well as I could :).

If you have been reading the Network’s newsletter for years, you might know that fall is my favorite season. Fall means a new school year, traveling to CTG, being with friends, going to different events, and of course hopefully AAC awareness month in October. Plus my mom bake delicious apple desserts!!

When I was in school I didn’t like fall at all, because school wasn’t my favorite place to be, I didn’t know about AAC awareness month, and at school I felt left out. This was in the 2000’s and for anyone who wasn’t in the community back then, for me we didn’t have much going on. I think a part of it was that I was just a kid and I didn’t know anyone who used a device minus my classmates and friends. But my school team didn’t tell me about adults who were like me. My school team was amazing and I think about the world of these people. I think they didn’t know anyone themselves, but you know at least one person who uses AAC, me.

If we have met in person or not, you have been reading the newsletters for years. You know what an adult who uses AAC could be. Please tell students and their family about an adult who founded an organization for AAC. If you are a parent reading this, you might like to ask if they know about Wisconsin AAC Network. Celebrate AAC awareness month with your kid, kids, or your students so they know that they aren’t alone. I am available to zoom with them so they can see an adult who uses AAC. Maybe you want to read a book with a character or characters who use AAC to celebrate this month. We have a list of books for you to choose from. Maybe you want to watch YouTube videos from AAC Communicator to or AAC Communicators, we will list our favorite ones. Maybe you want to follow AAC Communicators and their families on social media to learn from them. We will list our favorite people to follow and we learned from them a lot of things over years. I hope you will have an excellent October and you celebrate with AAC Communicators in your life. By Mike.

This was in the WI Forward Assistive Technology monthly email. If you want to get these emails, please subscribe to it if you want to. https://dpi.wi.gov/news/subscribe-email

Anastasia Wilson’s AAC Journey

 Stasia and I were both mentors at camp Chatter Matters at UW-Whitewater. One of her paintings called “My Augmentative and Alternative Voice” was on display.  She kindly said yes to a picture to include in the newsletter with her interview. I asked How old were you when you started using AAC? “I was around three or four when I received my first communication device” 

 What was your education like? “I was mainstream for most of my education except for reading and math because I have a couple of learning disabilities. I didn’t mind because I knew my grade and Middle School teachers were trying to help me. However, in High School, DVR misdiagnosed me with an intellectual disability. They gave me a standardized test to come to this wrong diagnosis. To make a long story short, I worked hard to get accepted into UW-Whitewater and shed the wrong label. With a lot of hard work, I graduated with honors. In 2019, I was accepted into WI LEND as the first AAC user to participate fully in their program. LEND is a grad-level program that trains professionals to improve their services to children with disabilities in their field. Now, I am working there as a Peer Mentor. I support other students with disabilities through the program.”        

When did you start painting? “I don’t remember how old I was when I started doing art, but my earliest memory is of coloring on the floor. My parents taped my crayons in an X to be easier to hold. My dad made the first headstick in early grade so I could make 2d art.”   

How does painting feel when you finish a project? “When I do art, I feel like I am overcoming my disabilities because I am doing what most people cannot. When I paint, I can meditate, and I can take a break from the world for a while. When I finish a project, I feel proud because I accomplished something and made something beautiful in the process.”

I know you painted each student that was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. Why did you want to do that? Did you give the paintings you did to the student’s family, if yes what was their response? “I painted each child and teacher who passed in the Sandy Hook Grade School shooting because I felt so helpless. I had to do something! Yes, I tried to give the parents the portraits. I even met the mother of a boy who saved a couple of his classmates. I went to her seminar about her son and choosing love. She was very grateful and teary-eyed when she saw a photo of her son’s portrait.” Unfortunately, the other parents weren’t ready. So, I still need to find a permanent place for the portraits.  

The WI AAC Network thanks Anastasia for sharing her story! Remember * We all have important stories to tell about AAC and its impact on our lives. This is the time to share – we welcome you to share in upcoming newsletters.

CELEBRATING AAC AWARENESS in OCTOBER!

Because this month is AAC awareness month, I thought what a great time to talk about awareness month. AAC awareness month was started in 2007 by the United States Society of AAC and the International Society of AAC. The goal is to make the public aware of the fact that people who can’t speak, they need to have access to AAC to live their best life. I know everyone who is reading this understands it, but do your co-workers, the grocery store workers, the bus drivers, and police officers understand that the students who use AAC they should have access to their device at all of the time.

I was working at an organization this summer and one of my student who I have known them since they were eight, they were there for the summer program. They can speak so some people can understand them, but they have an iPad to communicate with. I wanted to see and hope to see if they needed it would they get it to communicate and they did!! This only happened because, when they were younger their team worked hard with them to know when no one could understand them they need to use their device to say what they wanted and needed. That happened because everyone on their team understood the importance of the device. This does not happen every time sadly.

When I was in seventh grade, zero of my teachers understood that I needed to have my communication device with me, but I am lucky enough to have a great family and had a great school team who taught me the importance of using my communication device. So please do some AAC awareness this month not only for the school staff, and for the students and their families too. I hope you will have an excellent month doing awareness things. By Mike

LINKS TO AAC AWARENESS MONTH INFORMATION & ACTIVITIES

BOOKS WITH AAC CHARACTERS

Free Professional Development on AAC brought to you by the AT Forward Project  be sure and look into our Free Micro Credential on AAC

Tuesday, February 4, 2025 12:00pm-1:00pm  AAC Decision Tree: How to Do an AAC Assessment by Dawn Merth-Johnson and Kathy White. This meeting will include the following:  a discussion around what is an AAC assessment, the introduction of the AAC Decision Tree (from assessment to implementation), and a conversation around funding and how to avoid roadblocks. Please register in advance for this meeting.

Some free resources that may be helpful from Tobii Dynavox.

Half price on classes on Minspeak this month If you have someone in your life that is using PRC device and you want to learn more about their language program called Minspeak. It is your lucky day, because their classes in October will be half off. https://www.aaclearningjourney.com/learn/course/external/view/classroom/620/core-vocabulary-and-aac-implementation-how-to-get-your-crew-on-board

VIDEOS WITH/BY AAC COMMUNICATORS

PEOPLE TO FOLLOW/WATCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA

AAC Content on Social Media

REMEMBER to CELEBRATE AAC IN OCTOBER!

Some ways to celebrate AAC Awareness Month include:

  • Sharing helpful information and resources
  • Reading stories
  • Watching videos
  • Making music
  • Participating in community events
  • Sharing events and activities using #AACaware24

Companies will have discounted pricing this month – usually for one week during the month

Every Journey Starts with a First Step: AAC Social Groups at CUW

By Heather Pauly and Grant Becker

As we raise awareness for AAC and complex communication in October, we encourage everyone to reflect on their first step into AAC or to take their next step by engaging in one of the options listed in this newsletter.  The AAC Social Groups that we conducted through the Speech Language Pathology (SLP) program at Concordia University, Wisconsin (CUW) this summer was a step on our journey as a six-year-old program.   The purpose of this section of the newsletter is to describe the social groups, and encourage you to engage with something new, no matter how big or small.

Over the course of Heather’s career as a SLP one of the biggest lessons she has learned about AAC is that the most important aspect is to jump right in and take a hands-on approach.  No matter how much education you have on the topic, the key for practitioners seems to be to “learn by doing”.   After teaching the AAC class in the SLP program at Concordia University WI three times, Heather determined that her students would benefit from a “learn by doing” approach in the fourth iteration of the course.  At the same time, it had become apparent to the SLP department at CUW that there is a great need for AAC users in our area to socialize, as they had been approached by community members over the past few years.    Some children who use AAC are the only user in their classroom, and some are the only AAC user in their school.   The social support and acceptance that one can feel when interacting with others similar to you is very powerful and something that all people should be able to experience, regardless of circumstance.  It was with these elements in mind that Heather attempted to set up learning opportunities for the graduate SLP students at CUW this past summer (2024).  Heather spent the early months of summer researching AAC social groups across the globe, reading research, and collaborating with peers who are involved at UW-Whitewater’s CHATTER Matters.  Based on a community interest sign up, we were hopeful that we would be able to tap into a community of AAC users and families who would be willing to help the SLP students get some experience.

In the end, CUW had interest from a very wide variety of families and young adults from all over the state of Wisconsin.  Those that attended learned about us through our network of school and private SLPs, the university clinic, social media, a county resource fair, and word of mouth.  Due to logistical barriers for all parties (i.e., university student schedules, family schedules, distance), about 40% of those interested were able to attend.  Our groups consisted of four small groupings in the age ranges of early elementary, mid-upper elementary, middle-high school, and young adult. All participants were high tech AAC users, meaning that they communicated partially or fully using their

speech generating device.  Most of the families came from within two hours, and many from within a 30-minute drive.   From the caregiver perspective, those that responded to the survey after the groups reported that AAC users did not have opportunities outside of school or ABA for interaction with others who use AAC.  Most of the caregivers were interested in more socializing in general, and brought their AAC users to give them more opportunities to interact with other AAC users.  Grant attended the young adult AAC group with an eye-gaze device and before the class thought, “This is not my thing, I have many concerns.” 

Within the groups, AAC users interacted with each other and with graduate SLP students who also had devices and low-tech boards.  Group activities varied by ages but were all geared toward modeling without expectation, low stress communication, and fun.  Board games, card games, interactive games, ball play, building/constructing, getting to know each other, and scavenger hunts were a few of the types of activities across the different groups.  The graduate students did what they could to prepare, but they knew that they would have to be flexible throughout the group times.  Grant reflects that positive was my utmost feeling because the students made me be comfortable. They provided reasonable response time.

Some of the graduate students had previous hands-on experience with people who use AAC and some had none.  Based upon survey-response the SLP graduate students learned a lot from the groups.  Overall, those who had no experience prior to this, appreciated the opportunity and feel more prepared to work with AAC users in the future.  Those who had prior experience gained new knowledge by having to engage with multiple AAC users who use different devices simultaneously.  After the groups, many SLP students reported being more comfortable with modeling and navigating unfamiliar devices.  They learned a lot from watching each other model, navigate devices, and work together to overcome barriers within the group times.  They specifically learned how to apply prompting hierarchies and use extended wait time.  One of the biggest impacts on the graduate students from Heather’s perspective was the interactions they were able to have with families and caregivers; they learned some unexpected lessons which will stay with them for a long time to come.

During and after the group, Grant’s self-confidence really picked up.  Knowing what is expected of students positively affects them.  Education of AAC lets people have life skills. In addition, caregivers reported that the participants that they brought all wanted to return.  Those caregivers that were able to congregate together also appreciated the time to network and socialize with each other while the groups were running.  Those that responded to the survey provided great ideas and suggestions for the future.

Particularly important to note were the multiple mentions in the feedback wherein parents conveyed the importance of giving graduate students in training real world experience with AAC users.  Grant advises that people cannot describe what they feel in school so they behave utterly so poorly.  The professionals who teach with their instinctiveness surely need guidance from persons like me. The invaluable learning that occurred for the graduate students was made possible only by the willing participation of the people who attended. Thank you.

As a professional who works to train future SLPs, it was a gift for Heather to be able to match a training need with a community need.  It allowed us to open a dialogue, bring awareness, and listen to the voices of AAC users and families who are often unheard. Grant’s urgent message is to not hide but to make everyone aware “that so many students like me need help with communication but do not receive it”.  Help them to get AAC devices, let’s offer them opportunities.  Meaningful words take some time to say.  Grant and Heather encourage anyone in the Wisconsin AAC network who is interested in starting a social group in their own community to give it a try.  Take that step, we all have to start somewhere. 

AAC programs at Concordia University Wisconsin are just getting started – through the Speech Language Pathology (SLP) program at Concordia University, Wisconsin (CUW).

https://www.cuw.edu/academics/schools/health-professions/clinic/services.html

Within our adult and pediatric clinics, we work with any AAC user to integrate, practice, and expand their use of AAC.  We integrate AAC use through our Child Language and Literacy Center (a two-morning a week preschool), our feeding clinic, and our speech language clinics.  We are able to work with clients on their own devices, but also can model through the use of our clinic-owned devices.  CUW does not have an AAC Evaluation clinic. Direct inquiries to either SLH.Clinic@cuw.edu or to heather.pauly@cuw.edu.

From WI DPI

Hello Wisconsin Augmentative Alternative Communication AAC Network! My name is Michelle Silverman and I joined the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in June as a full-time occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT) and assistive technology educational consultant. In this role, I work with therapists’ assistive technology providers, special education directors and others to inform them about best practice in school-based settings and how to best incorporate our professional knowledge into the IEP. I am an occupational therapist by training with over 30 years of experience in school-based practice as well as higher education clinical instruction in occupational therapy and assistive technology.

Some of you may wonder how OT’s and PT’s provide support to AAC communicator. It is a common question but as I like to say “it takes a village”!

Occupational therapists often support the AAC user in accessing their device. OT’s work closely with SLP’s to identify the most efficient and effective way to produce their communication. Sometimes we help identify the body part that will use the switch and then what type of switch would be best. Other times, we work with the SLP to determine if the user can produce their message using direct selection of letters or symbols or will need to use a type of scanning to produce their message.

Physical therapists will often work with the AAC user on positioning of the device and or their body to ensure the best positioning for accessing the device. If a user is in a wheelchair, they will make sure the device is mounted in the optimal place for AAC access, and the user is positioned in a way that will support their orthopedic needs as well as needs for accessing their device and communication. 

Occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech and language pathologists work as a team to ensure the AAC user has the best possible access to their device and communication needs.

Michelle Kaye Silverman, OTD, OTR, ATP

michelle.silverman@dpi.wi.gov | (608)-267-9242

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