By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger In a few days, I will be starting my nine-day residency as part of Fairfield University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program. This semi-annual retreat has been moved online due to the pandemic. Students attend workshops, seminars, and student-faculty meetings among...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Another thing I do with my computer is I have these meetings with people all over the country. We meet once or twice a month on Zoom. We all use computers to communicate. We talk at the meeting about anything. My friend John, who I have talked about before, told me about it. We all use...

_ By Spokes, aka Brad Whitmoyer_ So, if you have read any of my previous posts, you most likely know my opinions on overtime pay for direct care staff. Direct care staff go by a number of different names depending on where you are from but the people I’m referring to are the people who, for myself, take care of peop...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger In mid-February, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the world’s largest conference on writing, rhetoric, and composition, will take place. This international convention is typically attended by around four thousand graduate students and professors. I have ...

By Chelsea Hagen, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Ho, Ho, Ho!  It’s that time of year again, when both Santa and I are super popular. The only difference is, is when children are told by parents to sit on Santa or speak to him, and the child doesn’t want to… Santa can make up for it with gifts.  He leaves...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger In my last article, I discussed chairing and presenting on conference panels using my AAC device. There is an additional aspect of the conference session to navigate after the presentation itself—the question-and-answer portion. I have devised a process that enables me to effic...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Anyone that knows me, knows that I love animals. Animals help us and we help them. An example is Tux a horse. I helped him and he helped me. I met Tux at the barn where I rode for therapy. I rode for years and years and he was my horse the whole time. He was a big, white, beautiful the...

By Anna-Marie Beard, PRC blogger and parent Growing up, I was scolded for one thing far more than any other—talking. I’ve just always had so much I want to say. It’s like the valve between brain and mouth has always been open for me. I studied English throughout college. In a former life, I taught writing and spe...

by Patrick Fothergill, Ontario AAC Consultant & SLP As an AAC-focused SLP with connections to Quebec and northern & eastern Ontario, among other places, I often hear from people seeking French speech-generating devices (SGDs).  And while they exist, until recently I didn’t think there was anything for fo...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director or Implementation Resources Wordle is a tool for generating “word clouds’ from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts and colors. Plug in your AAC device ...

By Wylanta Jones, M.A., CCC-SLP I’m Wylanta, a school based SLP from Arizona and California. Love the 2022 PRC Saltillo Literacy planners! Can’t wait to dive in with some beloved stories about animals and explore the core vocabulary with my students. Some of the books (e.g. Dear Zoo) is a favorite and already i...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Do you have a dream? Have you always wanted go skydiving or snorkeling? All of us probably dream of doing some exciting things. I have some dreams. One dream is to publish a book. Another is to see the ocean and go surfing. This was my year to see a dream actually come true. I was nominate...

By Sallyanne McShane A big part of my journey with Willow has been communication. I starting signing with Willow when she was nine months old, but it didn’t seem to be sinking in. I got nothing back from her, nothing at all. I remember writing back when she was two, that “woohoo!” She signed ‘biscuit’. So we ju...

By Connie McCafferty, M.A., CCC-SLP, PRC-Saltillo Consultant During one of my recent school team trainings for a young teen with a new AAC device I came across the opportunity to demonstrate the difference between referential and descriptive teaching. For those of you who are not familiar, referential teaching simply refer...

By Hannah Foley, PRC-Saltillo Blogger How do you view people who have disabilities? How about those who have complex communication needs and use AAC on a daily basis? How do you feel when you see others praising people with disabilities for doing “normal” daily activities? The term “inspiration porn&rdq...

By: Stefanie Olson, M.S., CCC-SLP         Interview Responses: Catlaina Vrana, PRC-Saltillo Ambassador Imagine sitting in a house with a tin roof, in a rainstorm, and being asked to isolate the sound of a single raindrop. What a challenge that would be!  This is the experience some individuals...

By Abigail Brown Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. In the past year or two, God has been and still is teaching me that He has a plan for my life. I have read Jeremiah 29:11 many times. It’s amazing to me that God ...

By Danny Gonzalez, PRC Blogger I think this should come to the U.S. for all wheelchair and devices users, because this covers not only the person but the device as well!!! We as users need something like this system in the states so when it is raining we don’t get wet and our devices dose not either… Nobody like...

Jeanne Tuthill, MA, CCC-SLP AT Specialist, Collaborative for Educational Services, Northampton, MA Adjunct Faculty, Simmons College, Boston, MA jtuthillslp@gmail.com Jeanne Tuthill Each time I teach my graduate class I try to invite at least one AAC user in as a guest speaker to share their story with the students in the ...

By Chris Sawka, PRC Saltillo Blogger On days when we have all kinds of time to watch tv and movies, what do you think we should watch? The entire Harry Potter collection- I love seeing the school for the first time. I love all the magic we saw the first time. Ron, Harry and Hermione made good friendships. They even got ...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger At this point, I think I’ve lost track of all the things I’ve written. I’ll probably touch on something I’ve written about before, but it’s probably not exactly the same. Some things are important enough to be repeated. What is real communication? For me...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Some of you all might be familiar with Special Books by Special Kids. It’s a series created by Chris Ulmer. He travels around interviewing children and adults who live with various disabilities, and then he posts the interviews on YouTube. I personally find those videos interes...

By Jane Odom, M. Ed, AAC Language Lab Training & Implementation Specialist The AAC Language Lab has always tried to provide those supporting students using AAC with a variety of tools they can use to help their students be successful communicators.  What we have found is that language is more than just used for si...

By: Rigoberto Gaona My name is Rigoberto Gaona. I was born with Cerebral Palsy. I'm also non verbal. I never givin' up on my dreams and my goals. When I moved from Mexico to L.A. I've achieved all my goals so far. From the strength God has givin' me. Some of these goals were my Marathon Racing and working out. Moving out t...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I have no idea if this topic will be of any interest to anyone, but I’ve been asked about it before. Some people have asked me what goes on in my head when I communicate. I think I’ll try to explain it as well as I can. First, I want to preface my post with a few things ...

By Elizabeth Kenkel and Beth Christensen - PRC Saltillo Blogger What do you do when you can’t visit anyone in person? You can email your friends and family to keep in touch. If you can’t go to yoga or exercise class, you can use video calls or try to do it at home. If you can’t go to school, you can tak...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger When we left Missouri the weather was 86 degrees and sunny, but when we arrived in Minnesota it was 46 degrees and raining.  What a difference! Our shuttle didn't arrive to pick us up from the airport until an hour and a half after our flight landed.  We watched lots of pe...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger As I watched white, fluffy clouds floating by from my airplane window, I rehashed my whole adventure from the past week. Gretchen Bright had asked me if I would work at PRC’s booth in Minnesota for the “Closing the Gap” Conference.  I have never been to Minneso...

By Carson Covey, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Tips and tricks Welcome to 2021 finally!!! Over sixteen years of AAC experience I found some tips and tricks. You can put a password on the device to prevent unexpected editing. When someone first start using a device you can gray out pages and or buttons to make the device less b...

By Jacob MacIntosh, PRC Blogger Let me tell you about my weekends. I have been playing iPad. I play Walking Dead Season 2, Battlecast, Card Wars, and YuGiOh. My dad likes to check up on Clash of Clans and sometimes Clash Royale. At six o’clock, I like to watch YouTube. I have been going somewhere to eat. I like to go to...

By Emily Gabrielle, Liberator Ltd Encanto fever has swept our house of late (seriously we’re listening to the soundtrack every day!). We love all the characters – but especially Bruno, the family member no-one talks about due to his misunderstood powers and the perceived havoc they can wreak. As I was writing ...

By Beth Browning, Jennifer Herzog, Megan Kunz, Morgan Mayfield, Samantha Strong, Jenny Vallier, and Nicole Wingate Communication partners play an integral piece of the success of the AAC communicator.  Awareness of the features of a communicator’s AAC system makes it possible to share new language information to...

By Wayne Roupp My name is Wayne Roupp. I live at the Margaret E. Moul Home. I been there since I was seventeen years old. When I was twenty-five , I got my first communication device , it was a Light Talker. At the time I didn’t like the language , which was called Word Strategy. I told them , I was good at spellin...

By Brad Whitmoyer, PRC Ambassador Watching Walmart: Balancing Business and Employment Walmart, like many big stores, have had greeters at their doors for quite a while and this job is pretty ideal for some people with disabilities. It's typically not physically demanding which is important for some with physical disabilit...

By Ryan Knoblauch, M.S. CCC- SLP Here we go. It’s the final season of American Idol. If you have kids of your own or you work with kids, then it’s likely they know a little bit about the show. I personally have watched about four seasons collectively (a couple of the Simon Cowell years and now with Urban, J-L...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Apple cider, hot cocoa, creamy soup, homemade bread, macaroni and cheese, fluffy warm blankets, cozy fires, snow ball fights, snowmen, and sledding down a hill are all things that make us think of winter. Like it or not winter is here! What other season can you throw a frozen ball of rain a...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger My brother is very talented musically, and for many years practiced his musical talents with piano, drums, and the guitar. Cameron also enjoys playing many different styles of music. Because of that, I have a broad appreciation of all sorts of music.  Last year I had spine surg...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger You already know that I went to camp where I gained so much confidence. I was able to do many things that I had never dreamed I could do. When I first heard about camp, I wasn’t sure about it. The idea of being away from my family for a week was a little scary, even though tree climb...

By Kim Vuong, PRC-Saltillo Blogger One of the most important things that you can advocate for yourself is voting. Voting is a right and a privilege. If you are of voting age, you should take the opportunity to do it.  You may think that your one vote isn’t important, but it matters a great deal. Our democratic s...

Beth Christensen, SLP My name is Beth Christensen and I am a Speech/Language Pathologist who has worked in the area of AAC (Augmentative and Alternate Communication) for over 22 years. This summer I signed on to be a Voice Bank Summer Ambassador for VocalID. VocalID and Rupal Patel have found a way to merge a donate...

_ By Jane Odom, M. Ed, Director of Implementation Resources_ The vocabulary available to AAC users can have a huge impact – both positive and negative- on their writing. There are three basic categories of vocabulary sets (Musselwhite&Hanser, 2004) Closed Sets consist of a small number of pre-programmed words a...

Virtually Impossible Possible A High-Tech, High-Touch Approach to AAC in the Age of COVID: 
How one school-based SLP conquered challenges with a ‘hard drive’ and determination By Jami Slotnick It was Friday the 13th. Specifically, March 13th, 2020—a cold and blustery Philly day and I was halfway home ...

By Carson Covey, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Have you ever tried to order stuff or make appointments on the phone while using your devices?  Here are my tips I have that could help. First, do some research on what questions the organization will ask you. Next, make a PREPROGRAMMED page and make sure you start with the statem...

By Gail Van Tatenhove,PA, MS, CCC-SLP Patterns are everywhere in our world. Wherever you are right now, look around and identify some patterns in your environment. What do you see? By understanding patterns, we are able to see and understand the way things work together. Math teachers have students do all sorts of tasks i...

By Brandon Bubba Patrick Williamson, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Hi, my name is Brandon Williamson.  I use an integrated Accent 1000.  When the world shut down from COVID-19, I had to start doing my therapies online.  I use Zoom for all of my virtual sessions.  Instead of using a ...

by Mary Prather M.Ed LEGOs for Learning It’s been said so often that play is the work of childhood. Fred Rogers said, “Play gives children the chance to practice what they are learning.” It makes sense, then, that the most basic of skills for children (including speaking and writing) should be approached throug...

By Cortney Maholtz, M.A., CCC-SLP By now you probably know that we communicate in a lot of different ways…with verbal speech, with our facial expressions, with gestures, or with an AAC device. Today, I want to talk about gestures. But not the normal gestures you are probably thinking of right now, like waving or poi...

By Margo Edwards, Director of Content Development for SightWords.com, a free resource for teaching children to read Finding great educational activities is a challenge for teachers and parents alike. Teachers want classroom time to be fun but still substantive, and parents want to promote their child’s education with...

By Ryan Knoblauch, CCC-SLP I’m on the verge of being old. My kids, however, are not and keep me informed about what’s current. The other day I saw all three of my kids huddled around one Kindle. That was definitely a red flag that they were up to something no good. Wait. They were all chatting, smiling, and get...

As a Regional Consultant for PRC for over 8 years now, some of the most common questions I get asked is how to incorporate parents into the implementation of AAC and the best ways to provide carryover into the home. Parents play a HUGE role in how AAC is perceived and used by a student. And, we can’t underestimate sibling...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Camp is coming up next weekend and I'm excited about it. The Kyle Pease Foundation sets it up. The camp is in Winder, Georgia. It's called Camp Wheel Away because we all ride bikes together. That makes it different from other camps. The camp is kind of back in the woods. There are cabi...

_By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Having CP isn’t a walk in the park. I have my ups and downs. I have big struggles and I have small struggles. Basically, you can say I am very human. For example getting dressed can take me a long while. Just to put my shirt on, I have to lay the whole shirt flat; make an opening; re...

by Laura Kane This summer my son, Peter, began using LAMP Words for Life on his iPad as his primary means of communication. He is completely nonverbal, and we had tried sign language and the Picture Exchange System, but never progressed beyond simple requests. Just two months after introducing the LAMP app to him, we had...

By Maria Rivera M.S., CCC-SLP & Kirk Behnke, M.Ed., ATP Back to school is such an exciting time for both kids and teachers! Some kids will feel nervous or even a little scared because of all the new changes: new teachers, new friends, and maybe even a new school! However, some kids may feel even more anxieties because ...

By Angie Sheets Seventeen years ago I began teaching in a centralized, mostly self-contained elementary intense interventions classroom. I was the only teacher in two counties serving in this capacity. Students were bussed in from six different school districts to receive my services. The pressure was on! As a fresh ...

By Katie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger My name is Katie, I am 19 years old and I have Cerebral Palsy and epilepsy.  I communicate with my Accent 1000 device, it has definitely been the most amazing tool and it has helped immensely to break down the barriers I once faced when trying to communicate. Being non-verbal was always...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I like sports. I have tried many sports like baseball, basketball, soccer, sled hockey, dance, running races, and horseback riding. Then my friend Matt told me about snow skiing and I gave it a shot. I went to Park City, Utah with my family. I was excited about going. I skied with some...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger I wanted to give a shout out to all the people who wished me well and sent me cards following my kidney stone surgery. Thank you very much, and I am feeling better every day. I am honored and touched. Last Friday I went to a Brew Brothers ’coffee shop Worship event in my hometown. It w...

Transitions: Moving Along with AAC by Margaret Perkins, CCC-SLP, ATP Transitions, wow, they can be really scary. Transitions mean different things so let’s try to break it down so we can plan: For individuals who use AAC to communicate there are two basic types of transitions that occur throughout their lives. One...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Coming out of my room, I moved a toy out of my normal walking path, when the sound of crying caused me to pause and reflect on all of the changes that have happened recently in our life. We are fostering two kids who are family members. Their ages are three and one.  Thankfully...

By Leanna Fox Help! These teenagers are too cool for this therapist! What do I do? Suddenly I found myself with a caseload of teenage girls who are much cooler than I ever was. Right, magic basic therapy rule 101 – use their interests and make them your interests also. For example, ‘romance’, ‘love’ and ‘...

_ By Grant Ahner_ I have awesome friends. Tom and Dot are crazy. They are good to me. Tom plays X-Box with me. He is good at playing Madden 15. They got me a new iPod. Grant and Friends They took me to NASCAR races at Talladega, Daytona two times, Michigan, Bristol, and Chicagoland Speedway. They took me to a Rams foo...

by Penelope Jameson, AAC Consultant Liberator Australia, and Teacher Aide at Coombabah State High School As our school year draws to a close in Australia, my thoughts are with our students using AAC, and how they will cope in the New Year with the possible change of teacher and support staff. With that change, some expe...

By: Kerri Adamic, PRC-Saltillo Blogger During the month of November, it is time to be grateful for because it is so important for us to think how thankful we are for. Thanksgiving is coming up, so think about one thing to be thankful for.   I know I am grateful for this company who designs these communicati...

By Kim Vuong, PRC-Saltillo Blogger My name is Kim Vuong.  I am the community liaison at Tichenor Clinic for Children in Long Beach, which provides therapy for young clients up through age 18 and support for their parents.  I started out as a volunteer at Tichenor, and after two years was hired as a staff member....

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director of Implementation Resources Are you looking for a way to introduce vocabulary that is more than just drill and practice? Using a simple game like Tic Tac Talk is not only fun and motivating, it is also easy to set up on the fly. Tic Tac Talk can also be scaffolded to accommodate the skills of ...

By Tina Pagnucco, M.S., SLP I’d like to introduce you to the 3 students who changed my course of AAC and ultimately brought me to my current position of regional consultant for Michigan and Toledo-Bowling Green, Ohio. Working as a speech pathologist and AAC consultant in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor Public Schools for ma...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger My dad wanted to eat in Saint Louis on The Hill.  So, we decided to eat at Mamas on the Hill.  Except when we got there, we learned there was going to be a 40-minute wait.  Maybe we should go somewhere else, but my dad wanted to wait.  I guess it wasn't too bad.&n...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I will be graduating from Fairfield University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program this summer, and I am now in the home stretch of my thesis semester. I think this semester best exemplifies how to take advantage of many of the unique features of my Accent 1000 AA...

By Karim Tawfik, PRC blogger I have a lot of goals for 2017. My first goal is to not be on a wheelchair cuz when we go to the mall or any place I want to be able to move by myself. I know that it will not come easy and I have to work hard. I want to learn how to type with my left hand and use my left hand more often. I...

By Danny Gonzalez, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I am going to talk about how theme parks handle people with disability and how they handle the disability people and the rides.  Some places handle the disabled people good then others they do a not so good job. I been to a lot of different parks where people just did not care a...

By Brad Whitmoyer, PRC Ambassador When people hear about the cost of a high-tech communication device, they are often flabbergasted. At a price in the mid to upper four digits, it is really difficult to blame them for their reaction. Especially if they know that many, maybe even all, of the newer models are basic tabl...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo blogger  This past week I went to a dance.  It was called a New Year’s Cosmic Glow Party.  I hadn’t danced for a long time, and this sounded like a lot of fun.  So we packed up my walker and drove to a strange, dark, and somewhat foreboding building.  Com...

By Laura Townsend Kane As a lifelong introvert, I have diligently avoided encounters with strangers, and have often fought back mini panic attacks at the thought of “small talk” at parties or gatherings. Being open with strangers does not come naturally to me. Oddly, this is the case for all of my immediate family me...

By Darryl “Kippy” Porter, Language Lab Blogger Some people could call me a Renaissance man. I have numerous passionate interests. I’m Chicago born-and-bred. I have two brothers, although my father, mother and eldest brother are deceased. I like people to have a fair chance, especially disabled people. ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger It is funny how we judge someone by looks. We always think that a juicy, red apple is good. Even though it looks good, inside it may be brown with worms climbing out. My mom and I watched an interesting movie named The Real Beauty and the Beast. I love the classic story where a beaut...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger When I was six years old, my speech therapist recommended me to have an evaluation with Mid Missouri Assistive Technology in Mount Vernon, Missouri. I tried multiple types of communication tools during this evaluation.  As she watched me, the therapist told my parents that my sp...

By Jamie Leopard, M.S., CCC-SLP & Melissa Malani, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL Do any of these situations sound familiar? “We are going on vacation to the beach but are not taking the device with us because we don’t want something to happen to it.” “I forgot to charge my device, what can we do in th...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Growing up in a family that didn’t believe in letting my Cerebral Palsy stand in the way of my enjoyment and pursuit of life’s extraordinary experiences, I have participated in many unique endeavors. I am a para athlete, using my walker to run road races, triathlons, and ...

By Jane Odom, M. Ed, PRC-Saltillo, AAC Language Lab Training and Implementation Specialist The AAC Industry is quite small in comparison to other industries.  We serve a unique population of clients.  When a student is deciding what path to take for their future, I highly doubt, AAC Specialist is even something t...

By Hannah Foley, PRC-Saltillo Blogger As humans, we tend to get so caught up in moments and the current chapter of our lives that we are in that we do not often think about what the next chapter has in store. We get comfortable in our routines and physical places that were a part of the current chapter and when that chapte...

_By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Who has been to the brand new coffee shop here in Eldon on Business 54? For many months my family waited for the Brew brothers’ opening. I mean they opened early to our soldiers, police, and firemen, anyone who is important. Not to say that we aren’t important. Twelve days lat...

Michelle Britt-Thompson, M.S., CCC-SLP There are moments in AAC therapy that stop me in my tracks. Those moments strike out of nowhere, usually when I’ve turned away for a moment to scribble some data or glance at my watch. When I turn back to my student, there it will be on the screen. The lightning bolt word. A w...

By Stephanie Faso, PRC ambassador My name is Stephanie, and I’m 23 years old. I’m happy to share with you about myself, my communicative development, and my experiences as a PRC ambassador. Stephanie Like everyone else who’s my age, I live a busy life. With the support of my ECO, I’m able to p...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger We have this overweight, orange, tabby cat that lives in our house.  His name is Alfredo and he will be eighteen years old in February.  And throughout all of these years, he has been a joy to us. Recently, I was asked to Skype with a class for PRC.  Even though I hav...

By Annie Nichols, MA, CCC-SLP Annie Nichols is a practicing speech-language pathologist in Indiana. She works in the school setting in addition to working with private clients, mainly specializing in the area of augmentative and alternative communication. “Well, I usually know what he wants…” “I th...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger The cave was amazing even though it had some very steep places which made it a tricky situation for my dad. He had to push my stroller up and down these steep, slick walkways. My dad’s calves were burning by the time the tour was over. But the things I saw were awesome. There were hug...

By: Brittany Toney, MA, CCC-SLP, PRC-Saltillo Regional Consultant Behavior. A hot button issue in the field of AAC and speech-language pathology. An SLP myself, that worked in an ABA center for most of my career, I have often wondered why it is such a tumultuous topic. I highly respect my BCBA colleagues, and although we d...

By Aaron Kramlich, author & illustrator and a super cool dad Hi! My name is Aaron Kramlich and I’d like to share with you a bit about me and my new children’s book, The Gray Day. I live in Lawrenceville, Georgia with my wife, Christine, and my two daughters Alison and Kyleigh. I used to work in managemen...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Sometimes life can be disappointing and not work out the way you think it will. It is easy to get frustrated and angry, but feeling sorry for yourself and getting bitter hurts only you in the end. Last fall my family and I were at a sporting event in a nearby city when we came across a bo...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger One day my dad and I were sitting on our outside swing talking and enjoying a peaceful evening. We could see our neighbor’s calves calmly grazing in the pasture to our left. Some were off in the field walking around; and many were simply laying in the grass. I was showing my da...

By Jennifer Herzog, B.S., Regional Consultant, Arkansas It’s November. Time for turkey and trimmings, friends and family, and maybe football and all things fun!! It’s that time of year when we embrace all that we have to be thankful for, and this year is no exception for me. I have a ton of reasons to be thank...

_ By Brooke Brown_ Dance means freedom within these walls. When you have a disability, life is all about boundaries and limitations. Boundaries are pushed whenever possible and your limitations are compensated for with the best alternative solutions that can be found. But inevitably, there always seems to be some things...

By Hank Poore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Last year, a best friend of mine named Helen texted me and asked if I wanted to come up to Colorado and bike on West Elk Loop and I said YES. Early last Friday me, my mom, my sister, and my mom’s friend flew out. We landed at 9 am and we went to Rocky Mountain national park and ...

By Timmy Klatt and Jane Odom, M.Ed Did you know that students who write become better readers? Students learn to write when given daily opportunities to see others write. Students must have frequent opportunities to write without standards to make progress in the process of composition. Tim and his Grandpa I was sent...

_By Beth Ahmad, , M.A., CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist Regional Consultant, PRC The “Model, Model, Model” Mantra Here’s an all-too-familiar story… I met with a team of a student who uses an Accent 1000. This student has had the device for over a year now, but the team tells me, “He’s not interested in...

By Hannah Foley, PRC-Saltillo Ambassador We are nearing the end of the year and as I reflect on the year’s happenings, I am amazed at how quick the past twelve months have gone by. Time goes slowly when you are experiencing life and its adventures (and challenges), but when you take a moment to look back, it seems as...

By: Wes Burson, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Introduction  In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of responsibilities, stress, and the never-ending pursuit of goals and dreams. Sometimes, we forget to take a step back and appreciate the things that truly matter. Gratitude is ...

By Mike Hipple, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Hello this is my blog. Wow, it is already time to start thinking about the fall. You know what that means, school is starting soon again. I wish I could see the future to tell you if your school will be in person or Online in the fall, but no one can. No matter if we will have in person...

‘Tis the season, and it strikes me how many diverse ways that my AAC device has enabled me to partake in classic and unique holiday festivities. Of course, my Accent 1000 helps me to converse with others at gatherings. I love the fact that the device comes with preprogrammed holiday greetings such as “Happy Hol...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Teamwork is really important to me because people can help me do stuff. When you work together, like when I run or play basketball, everybody helps each other and we all get active and get out there. It's also more fun working and playing with others. That way you can share memories and...

Co-written by:  Beth Browning, Senior PRC Consultant, southern Indiana,  Jennifer Herzog, PRC Consultant, Arkansas, Jennifer Vallier, PRC Consultant, Illinois, Meghan Kunz, PRC Consultant, Minnesota, Samantha Strong, PRC Consultant, Colorado, Nicole Wingate, PRC Consultant, northern Indian...

by Patrick Fothergill, SLP Patrick is an AAC consultant for Liberator Communications Canada (LCC), which is a division of PRC-Saltillo.  He worked with kids & adults in public Ontario AAC clinics for six years before joining LCC. For me, one of best the things about working in AAC is how there’s always more...

By Penny Jameson, Liberator Australia When taking on the task of teaching language on a communication device, we are often faced with challenges. Some of them include length of time between therapy sessions, hectic classrooms, busy family life, and just not knowing where to start. What if teaching one thing could re...

By Bob Segalman, Ph.D., D.Sc. (Hon), President Speech Communications Assistance By Telephone, Inc. (SCT) drsts@comcast.net Telephone Relay This invitation is for people interested in improvement Speech-to-Speech, the telephone relay service for AAC users and other people with speech disability (see [www.speechtospeech.org...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Have you ever seen Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on first comedy routine? It is a classic comedy of misunderstanding where two people discuss a baseball game. At times it’s as if they both are speaking a different language. Using an AAC language device can seem like a...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Most people understand that AAC enables users to participate in social activities and gatherings. So many individuals, though, don’t realize that this technology makes it possible for users to be involved in leading these events. Growing up, I held various leadership positions ...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I’m assuming that many people who read this blog are familiar with the LAMP method. In case you are not familiar with it, it is a therapeutic approach for teaching language. LAMP Words for Life is a language system designed to follow this approach. The LAMP method has 5 compone...

By Jenni Koebel, PRC Ambassador My name is Jenni, and I have been using an ECO2 for a year and a half. I am currently working as a PRC Ambassador doing a variety of different tasks such as: speaking to Speech Language Pathologist college classes via Skype, sitting at the PRC booth at conferences within my region, and ...

By Christine Kramlich M. Ed, Regional Consultant Christine Kramlich As a mom, I have always seen the importance of having fun while continuing to learn. During my years as teacher, I always viewed schooling as a way to learn new things while continuing to have fun. Now, that I am a PRC consultant, I truly get to embrace b...

By Kelly Savage, AAC Consultant, Liberator Australia Let’s be honest! Who isn’t freaking out just a little about doing AAC therapy via Telehealth? This #stayhome scenario is challenging! We are all under tremendous levels of stress at the moment; worrying about the world and finding a new routine for ourselves ...

By Chris D. Yensan, MA, CCC-SLP If you’re a speech therapist, you’re probably creative.  It seems that more often than not the SLPs I know and work with have come up with some incredible and original solutions to complex problems time after time, from making adaptive styli for an AAC device to creating ori...

Today I would like to tell you about my grandpa. My grandpa likes to tease. He has a special sense of humor. But my grandpa DOESN’T sit around the house. He is a working man. Whenever we asked him to help us fix things, he does it in a flash. One time after coming home from a family outing, our van suddenly died with...

By Mackenzie Sanders, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Every Saturday I take a dance class with other kids with disabilities .   Each student has a helper.  I have been doing this for 13 years .   Its the best.  We do different dances every week .   We started with 6 dancers.  Now we have 1...

By Kyle Dinwiddie Hello! This is Kyle. I forgot to tell my age. God has blessed me with sixteen almost seventeen wonderful years, and I thank Him. What an amazing honor it is for me to share my adventures with you. From now on, I will be giving my blogs titles. Today, I am going to tell an adventure about my dad. I ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Everyone likes superheroes, but what is a superhero? There are more than 8,000 characters in Marvel comics and Marvel Studios, not even counting DC.  And what makes a hero?  For David Banner, it was caused by gamma rays.  For Tony Stark, it was due to an injury to his ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger The doctor gave me the okay to go home from the hospital earlier than planned.  My parents were very excited.  Even though everyone assured me that I was strong enough to go home, I wasn't sure.  Scary thoughts flooded my mind.  What if I fall or hurt myself again...

By Tracy Custer, M.Ed, SLP, Regional Consultant, PRC The school year is quickly winding down and the summer months are soon here. One thing I know for sure is that the summer gives us the ability to rest, relax and engage in some of those activities that we never have time for during the school year. It also is the time...

By Mike Hipple, PRC-Saltillo Ambassador  When I was in school, most of the time I was working in a regular education classroom, so I didn't have time to work on life skills. So during the summer, my parents and school team wanted me to learn all of the important life skills. My school aide trained my summer helper on ...

By Kristy Lipe, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Hello again everybody! This is PRC Ambassador Kristy Lipe from Memphis, Tennessee! A lot of you may have read the blog post I wrote in February about my personal health and fitness journey . But it’s May and I know school is going to get out for summer soon! So I wanted to write a...

_ by PRC_ Stephanie Taymuree has witnessed huge advances in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) during her nearly 40 years as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and special educator, and her implementation of AAC technology in the classroom is unrivaled. But she still finds it thrilling when a student embra...

By Himani Hitendra, PRC-Saltillo Blogger On 4th and 5th March, I attended my first Student Rights Initiative training held by COPAA (Council of Parent, Attorneys, and Advocates) in San Francisco. COPAA is a national peer-to-peer network dedicated to protecting the civil rights of students with disabilities and their parent...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Old Scrunchie New Scrunchie “Well,” the regretful words came out of my dad’s mouth as he handed me my blue bath sponge, “I think it is time to get a new scrunchie.” I sadly looked down at my old bath buddy with its thinning cloth. It did look pretty worn. I had ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Life is amazing. Like a roller coaster, it has its ups and downs, fears and thrills. Some parts are expected, many are not; however, all in all life is an adventure. Recently my dad and I went to the Stronger Men’s Conference in Springfield. We have gone to this conference for ...

_By Elyse Pycraft, M.S., CCC-SLP As I’m sitting here watching the World Series, I’m thinking about how easy it is to strike out when working with a new AAC user. Whether you are a clinician, teacher, or parent, we’ve all had those days when you feel like you are bringing your best game, but you just keep striking o...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I had spinal surgery on my neck August 5th, and I get to wear a fancy collar every-day for 6 to 10 weeks. I look like an old-fashioned Englishman now.  It is like a fashion statement. I just need a top hat and walking stick to complete the ensemble. I have been having Occupation...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Last Sunday, we visited a new church.  My dad had heard about it through friends.  So, even though the church was farther than we usually go, we went.  And as usual, I had my Accent 1000 with me. Everyone at the church seemed very nice.  One woman came over to in...

By Kim Vuong, PRC-Saltillo Blogger One of the hard things about the pandemic is that it has disrupted many of the traditions that we’ve developed in our lives. We all have events that we look forward to going to each year, and return from with some happy memories that we can think back upon. For my boyfriend and me,...

By Carson Covey, PRC-Saltillo Ambassador Happy Spring! Every spring I do AAC cleaning! That consists of looking at every icon and see if I want the same icons, delete pages that I do not use anymore, and the most important, update your personal pages! First of all, you do not have to clean up your device, but I recommend...

By Cory Peters, M.S. CCC-SLP Yes that is right….the AAC word. Being a consultant for an AAC company, I live AAC daily. However, this was not always true and not true for everyone. Like most SLPs I went to a graduate school that trains all about assistive technology in a 3 credit course over the summer. Therefore, it...

_By Brad Whitmoyer, PRC Blogger The people at ABC and/or the people from the television show Speechless asked a number of people around the country to host “watch parties” during the Oscar-themed episode this past Wednesday and then write a blog post about the episode. If you have never seen the show, in a nutshell i...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Over the past few years, I have had many opportunities to converse with people interested in AAC: parents, teachers, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, other AAC users, etc. I tend to get asked many of the same questions repeatedly. Because of time constraints it&...

By Kim Vuong, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Last November, we elected a new President, Joe Biden, and whether or not a person agrees with his political views or policies, he’s clearly remarkable in one important way. President Biden is a stutterer, a challenging disability for a person in public life who has to give speeches,...

By Wylanta Jones, M.S.- CCC-SLP How do we really measure progress in functional communication for AAC users? In the planet I invite my coworkers and families to join me in, it’s simple. We are getting somewhere when you can use your communication device to get in trouble. I give 10 times the weight in importance to wor...

Katie Yonker, PRC Ambassador Katie’s Mantra My name is Katie Yonker. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I have a Cerebral Palsy so my mouth and right side of body does not work right. I am twenty-eight years old. I have had a communication device for a long time and it helps me to talk to the people. I have two frien...

By Michelle Retzlaff, M.A., CCC-SLP The holidays are approaching.  During this time, we find ourselves surrounded by family and friends …and maybe some presents.  Catching up with family and friends means that we may: Say “hello” and “goodbye” a bit more Ask questions to connect...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Have you heard of baptism? Some churches baptize babies. Some sprinkle you with tiny droplets of water. Others pour a bucket of water over your head. My church pushes you totally under water. No matter how your church does it, baptism is a pretty cool thing. I have been a Christian for 13 y...

By Chloe Wayt, PRC-Saltillo blogger The next day after I had finished working the booth, we went down to the bus stop twenty minutes early again. I prepared something to say if the bus driver didn't let me on again on my NOVA Chat. “Delete that.” Ordered Mom. I quickly deleted it. “I'm sorry.” I tol...

By Chloe Wayt, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I was getting into Minneapolis, Minnesota for my first week at work as an ambassador for the Saltillo Company. When I was born I got the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. Flash forward about three years later, I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Skip about another decade, I am aske...

By Danny Gonzales, PRC Blogger Hey bloggers, I want to tell what happened to me at Six Flags Over Georgia. I was told I couldn’t ride due to my disability in case there was an emergency and I can’t evacuate the ride myself. This is BS because I have been to Universal Studios and I was able to ride everything there ...

By Abigail Brown Abigail Brown I was born February 12,1993, a healthy and very cute baby girl. At the age of three my life would be changed forever. On May 27, 1996 I caught Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite which caused brain damage. The doctors said, “I would be normal in a year.” By normal he m...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director of Implementation Resources Shout Out It is important to give our AAC device users enough time to practice their vocabulary in a meaningful way. One way to teach core vocabulary with repetition in a group is to do a ‘Shout Out’ activity. In this activity, you will need to create a poste...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director of Implementation Resources Shout Out It is important to give our AAC device users enough time to practice their vocabulary in a meaningful way. One way to teach core vocabulary with repetition in a group is to do a ‘Shout Out’ activity. In this activity, you will need to create a poste...

By Hank Poore, PRC Blogger I have a lot of friends who I love. But the one who is dear to me that is not only like a friend to me but who is basically like my “sister ” is my friend named Shanna . Shanna was one of my babysitters when I was 7, and was my babysitter until I was 12. She didn’t only babysit me, sh...

By Valerie Susnick, MS CCC-SLP, PRC-Saltillo Regional Consultant As a PRC-Saltillo consultant, and previously an AAC evaluator, I have had the opportunity to work with many teams. Over the years, I have found that the ease of technology paired with the desire to foster success, has often prompted teams to jump in and start...

Sean Walker of Euclid, Ohio has set two goals for himself: Find full-time employment and qualify for the Paralympic Games. Given his successes in life to date despite the challenges of cerebral palsy, it’s a safe bet he will achieve his objectives. Sean is a 27-year-old who earned a bachelor’s degree in business from W...

By Scott Scherer ONE: INTRODUCTION My name is Scott Scherer. I am 23 years old and go to college at Ivy Tech I would like to tell you about my experience using a communication device. I have been using a device to help me talk since I was about 6 or 7 years old. The technical word for it is a Speech Generating Device...

By Cammie McGovern, author Cammie and Ethan I got the idea to write a novel featuring a non-verbal character who uses an AAC device in part because I am the parent of a child with autism and I wanted to say something about alternative pathways to communication. I should quickly add, my son does not use an AAC device. H...

By Kyle Dinwiddie Today I am dedicating this to my two pugs, Elizabeth and Maximums. I got Max for my birthday several years ago. He has been and still is a joy to me. The name Max came from a Disney movie, Tangled. And in this movie, there is a tall, white horse named…..you guessed it….Maximums! And this is the ...

By Michelle Mineo, M.S. CCC-SLP, PRC Regional Consultant for Central Ohio and Open Territories I decided post 40, with no real experience as runner, that I wanted to tackle a half marathon, 13.1 consecutive miles.  Several very slow 5Ks later, I thought “I can do this.” But I had no training partner, no i...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Let's talk about road trips. Road trips can be fun and sometimes not so fun. A bad road trip to me is when you find nothing to do except stop for food. A good road trip is when you find places to stop or other fun things to do on the way to your destination. I have had both. My family ...

By Ayleen Armendariz - PRC-Saltillo Blogger When I lost my mom at the age of 10 years old, I was sad and mad because she didn’t listen to me. I told her not go to back to the house knowing that my dad was there. However, when she went back to the house, I knew I wasn’t going to see her again. In the movie, Ridi...

By Kim Vuong, PRC-Saltillo Blogger For some people, getting back to normal after two years of pandemic isolation means returning to work in the office again, going out to dinner, going to concerts or attending sports events. I like all those things too, but for me, what really matters is that I get to go to an AAC conferen...

By Danny Gonzalez, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Being a disabled person, I have watched a T.V. show named Speechless.  This TV show is about a boy that is in a wheelchair and cannot talk. He uses a low-tech communication tool. It is a letter board, and he uses his head to point to letters in order to spell out the words. As f...

By Jane Lindley, Saltillo Consultant If you’re in the AAC world, you’ve likely heard how important it is to model language (aka Aided Language Input) for those who use AAC -- and it’s true, modeling is absolutely essential! But when you’re just getting started, it can be hard to REMEMBER to do or to...

By Darlette Navrotski, MA, CCC-SLP Darlette Navrotski It has been said that this is an era of awakening. For many, this is a reminder to awaken to our spirit self, a side of ourselves that is so easy to push aside with all that needs to be done, in order to carry on in our daily lives. As a speech pathologist and one ...

By Darryl Porter, Saltillo Blogger The system needs to change. The system is not perfect or even ok for a disabled person. The system should be for disabled people and their families who require some help and equipment to live their lives in their way. The state requires the disabled population to get certification and...

By Russell T. Cross, Director of Clinical Applications, PRC As a parent and grandparent, I’m always keen to help my kids achieve their best. More specifically, I want to see them improve over time. Years ago, if my daughter started the swim season with a time of 2 minutes to swim 100m and ended at 1 minute and 30 sec...

By Russell Cross, Director of Clinical Applications, BSc (Hons) Psych; MRCSLT One of the gurus of modern management practice is Ken Blanchard. His classic book, The One-Minute Manager, has sold over 13 million copies and been translated into almost 40 different languages. His impact on the field of management science has b...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I have been mainstreamed since preschool. Classes always involve students reading aloud from course material and their own work. As an AAC user, I never had an efficient way of doing this—if I knew that I would be expected to read my work aloud when I was composing my assignmen...

My presentation went wonderfully! These are some of the questions I got asked.   I would like to thank you for providing me with these very thoughtful questions! I have been speaking to various university classes for years, and these are some of my better questions, and I’m truly impressed. It was my pleasu...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger We have the best neighbors in the world.  We look out for one another and are always ready to lend a hand when needed.  Every year we usually exchange cookies, but a couple of our close neighbors bring us gifts. This year one neighbor gave us a basket filled with all kinds ...

By Sarah Wilds, M.S., CCC-SLP Last week I got the pleasure of meeting Liam, a bright-blue eyed 3 year old. Liam has severe apraxia and had been working for several months on imitation of vowels and consonants. His speech pathologist thought he might benefit from AAC and asked me to come work with the two of them to see...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger One of the common assumptions that people make about my use of AAC is that it limits the types of activities and discussions that I participate in. They surmise that I will not want to partake in events that require me to speak for a prolonged period or compose spontaneous responses ...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger As a now-twenty-five-year-old with no cognitive impairments, I communicate with all of my medical providers myself and even monitor the exchanges between my insurance company and my assistive technology suppliers independently. There are specific steps that I take to ensure that I ca...

By Mike Moran - Illustrator Have you ever wanted something really badly and then once you got it, it wasn’t quite like you expected it to be? Well that’s kind of what happens to the main character Logan in the Project Droid series. This new group of stories is illustrated by me, Mike Moran, a guy who draws funny pic...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger With back-to-school season in full swing, I’m reminded of the pearls of knowledge about AAC that I gained in elementary school. Receiving my first device in preschool—20 years ago—I learned very quickly that it took me a while to type what I would like to say and th...

By Carson Covey, PRC-Saltillo Blogger First of all, This blog is not about technology. This is about preprograming sayings if you will. I ran into a heated talk with some people at my step sister’s wedding on July 17th. Long story short some people crashed my sister’s wedding after party. These people talked to...

_By Ryan Knoblauch, SLP, blogger The Speech Knob As speech language pathologists, we must continue our education and keep on top of current trends and evidence-based treatments. Over the past few years, I’ve attended several professional development conferences and some have stood out over others. I previously spo...

By Jane Odom, M. Ed, Director of Implementation Resources, PRC Printing materials is sometimes necessary for use in therapy or the classroom. The Language Lab has a variety of games, books and other supports that are there for you to use. Did you know that you do not have to print them with full pages? There are some si...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger A few weeks ago, I delivered a presentation on disability accessibility and accommodation at the virtual Conference on College Composition and Communication, the world’s largest conference on writing, rhetoric, and composition. This was my fourth time presenting at this confere...

By Krista Howard, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I love to present at conferences. It gives me purpose in my life.    Conferences make me build my confidence to be a great SLPA (speech-language pathology assistant) some day.  Everyone knows me after my presentations so I get other presentations and consulting job...

_ By Kim Bond Thompson, M.S. OTR/L_ Prepositions: Not Just Important in English Class I have to admit that I have a weird relationship with prepositions. When I was in 3rd grade, we had to learn the top 50 prepositions and then our teacher had a competition. Whoever could say all of the prepositions the fastest withou...

By: Mike Hipple, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Wow, it is already time to start thinking about the fall. You know what that means, school is starting soon again. I first wrote this blog three years ago, but I thought that I would reshare this information again. Plus I have some new thoughts and ideas for you to use.   Thirt...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Change can sometimes be difficult, but sometimes it can also be wonderful. A good change recently came into my life. About a week ago, I got a power wheelchair! This isn’t my first power-chair. I had a chair when I was in the third grade. It was really fun navigating down the h...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I love birthdays. My mom always makes sure mine is the best. My favorite birthday memory is when I had a Harry Potter birthday party. I was fifteen. It started in the bathroom when I got up. It was written on the bathroom mirror that “the birthday chamber has been opened.” ...

By Hank Poore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Last year I had to come home from school in March due to COVID. I got furloughed from my job at Urban Cookhouse because of it and I had literally nothing to do which sucked because I like to be on the go. However my older sister and one of my brothers had to move back home because their ...

By Gretchen Bright, B.S. As a consultant, I LOVE receiving emails from families and clients using our devices. It’s so exciting to hear how our clients are doing. Getting the chance to hear how some are teasing their siblings, ordering their food at a restaurant, making cards for grandparents, starting a new job or taki...

By Kip Porter, PRC-Saltillo Blogger It is so easy for the soul It is so easy to carry on in life Then why do you have to worry or strive So easy to do things which are alikeSo do things that are off the strike When the soul knows that the soul has that spirit in the soul It becomes so very simple too So easy to understand...

_ By Jenni Koebel, PRC Ambassador_ Like any other teenager, I used to try to take the easy way out in doing certain things. One of those things was communicating my needs and wants to my care givers. I would try to get away with typing a word or two to express what I wanted to say, instead of typing a whole sentence. ...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director of Implementation Resource, PRC Theater performances are fun to watch and even more fun to participate in. Most students who use AAC never get the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. They never get to feel the butterflies of nervousness in their stomachs or hear the applau...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director of Implementation Resource, PRC Theater performances are fun to watch and even more fun to participate in. Most students who use AAC never get the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. They never get to feel the butterflies of nervousness in their stomachs or hear the applau...

Recess. Is there any other time at school that children like as much as time spent playing? Children who use AAC, however, face a unique challenge. When playing outside with their classmates, taking an AAC device with them means the device can get broken or lost. But without it, there is no way for the child to communicate...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger From the time I received my first device at four years old until fourth grade, my mother and my speech therapists asked me to think ahead on what I would like to say for presentations so that they could work on programming my device beforehand. When I took over programming my own dev...

By Johnny Schneider, PRC-Saltillo Blogger One day, I was talking with my friend that works at PRC. I didn't have any Christmas events to go to so I thought it would be a great idea if PRC could throw a Christmas party. I mentioned this to my speech pathologist and she said it was a great idea and that we could plan it toge...

_By Ryan Knoblauch, SLP I’m always looking to get kids to engage in learning, and it’s really all about having fun. The core vocabulary movement is taking augmentative and alternative communication by storm and people are always looking for ways to learn and use their AAC systems. Being a speech therapist, I ...

By Daniel F. Dardiz M.A. CCC-SLP For the majority of us who have the privilege of working with individuals who may have special needs, we picture the young child beginning their first “communicative steps” learning how to access their devices, communicating those first words and phrases. This is such an awesome time...

_ By Hank Poore, PRC Blogger_ There are a lot of people who have inspired me. But the ones who have really have inspired me are the ones who have walked along beside me for my whole life. I met Miss Kim when I was 6 months old and she was my Physical therapist and she was kinda like my second mom to me also . She was alwa...

By Kim Vuong, PRC-Saltillo Blogger While we’ve often heard it said that actions speak louder than words. But language can shape attitudes and viewpoints that lead to action.  In the past, the words that society has used to  describe people with disabilities has had the effect of separating them from the com...

By Brandon Williamson, PRC-Saltillo Blogger First of all, I like to use my device to communicate.  But to be honest with you, I do not like using my device all the time.  When people do not understand me or do not have patience with me when I’m using my device, I feel frustrated.  I am good at using my...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger What are some things that bother me when I am using my device to talk to somebody?  The one thing I would like people to know is that most computer users don't like it when people don’t let them finish what they are typing before they start guessing what the user is saying.&n...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I’m sure that I have addressed this topic to a limited extent in a previous blog post, but I think it deserves more attention. I have to preface this post by saying that I understand that most people supporting an AAC user have the best of intentions. I understand that most of ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger Warning! Warning! My mom is a shopper. She bulks up things and stores them up like a squirrel storing up nuts for winter. Some may call it hoarding, but mom calls it smart shopping. When an item is on sale, it pays to stock up. Such as the Great Sugar Heist of 2017, my mom has certain item...

By Brittany Toney, M.A., CCC-SLP, Saltillo Consultant We made it to 2021! So what now? You are unsure whether or not your children will ever go back to school; meanwhile you are trying to navigate teletherapy with your child who uses an AAC device. Although I have heard from some caregivers that this time at home has been ...

By Laura Arnold, Speech Language PathoM.logist, M.A., CCC-SLP/L In April of 2012, the National Education Association (NEA) published the results of a study in which they explored parent-teacher communication. The findings showed that nearly one-quarter of parents did not feel like a collaborative partner in school activiti...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger A couple of days ago, my family drove to the grocery store. My mom went in while my dad and I stayed safely in our van.  When my mom came back, she told us all about her shopping experience. She remarked that all of the shoppers looked frightened as passersby were confronted wi...

“Communication is key in expressing knowledge and intelligence.” It is truly amazing to see how people transform over time.  Typically, a person is not the same person as they were ten years prior, especially when they have gone through puberty.  The teenage and young adult years are a time of menta...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, prc-saltillo blogger OVERCOMER I really like the song by Mandisa called "Overcomer."  It talks about how we can overcome things when they seem impossible.  And every time it's on the radio, I boldly sing it in my loudest voice.  It is an awesome song. Labor Day weekend 2 years ago, my da...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I really like the song by Mandisa called Overcomer.  It talks about how we can overcome things when they seem impossible.  And every time it's on the radio, I boldly sing it in my loudest voice.  It is an awesome song. Labor Day weekend 2 years ago, my dad and I took ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, prc-saltillo Blogger We all make judgments about things we encounter such as animals, people, places, ideas, things, and even food. We judge those things by how they look or sound. If I am in a doctor’s office and the nurse comes in with a shot. I am going to get out of there as fast as I can! No...

By Kate Chappell, Blogger Last week Dave, my husband, and I went to Fredericksburg which is a little town in the Texas hill country to celebrate his birthday. I was amazed how wheelchair accessible it was compared to 10 years ago. I remember going there with my mom and step-dad, I could only get into couple of restaura...

_ By Danny Gonzalez, PRC Blogger_ Hey bloggers, I want to tell what happened to me and TJ (my aide). On Saturday November 4th 2017, we went to an event called Firs Annual Purple and Green Gala. It was an event for all kind of disabilities from CP to all kinds of disabilities. Here is a little background of the fo...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I’m not going to pretend to be unbiased here. I have strong opinions on this subject. However, I know in the field of AAC there are few absolutes and no one-size-fits-all solutions. What might be true and applicable to my situation is not necessarily true and applicable to anot...

By Denise Jenkins, mom I am completely in love with the entire AAC Language Lab!!! Without the Language Lab, I would have no idea where to even start with Matthew and his device. Furthermore, Matthew’s team at his school were unfamiliar with AAC. I understand why this is new to them because this is not commonly used ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, prc-saltillo Blogger In June, I had the opportunity to go to camp for the second time.  I had even more exciting adventures and made lots of new friends.  The camp is called Camp WeCanDu, and it is in St. Louis, Missouri.  A whole week filled with fun activities from the moment you open yo...

By Carson Covey, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Since it is November, family and friends might be coming in for the holidays.  Take this chance to wear out your social pages. What I mean by that  is to start programming your yearly review answers.  For example, what was your favorite part of the year, despite the Covi...

By Kip Porter, PRC-Saltillo Blogger What's worst thing to a soul; Be silent; that's like a voice is in a prison. The gifts Nova Chat and TouchChatHD have come; Gave angelic voice to silent souls. It's like the sweetest sound of the Earth. Set their thoughts free; gifts put their thoughts Into words. Their words cou...

_By Alex Frank, M.S., CCC-SLP/L _ Everyday consists of various expectations. Expectations for yourself, expectations for your family members, expectations for your coworkers, and the list goes on. Expectations exist not to highlight weakness or a need for improvement, but to provide direction to what we want to accompli...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger In my lifetime, I have had two things happen involving my nose.  Last year I had surgery on my neck.  But before surgery, the doctor wanted to check my vocal cords. He explained that he was going to put a scope into my nose that would go down my throat to look at my vocal c...

By Catherine Snider, PRC-Saltillo Consultant in NYC and surrounding areas The New York City Halloween parade is a 46-year long tradition where puppeteers and artists are given license to run free with their creativity and parade down 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village. PRC is lucky to have Samantha Strong as part of our co...

By Margaret Moore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I have been an AAC user for almost 20 years due to my Cerebral Palsy. As my disability only affects me physically, I have been mainstreamed since preschool. I am a 2020 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Fairfield University with a degree in English/Creative Writing, and I am currently an M...

by Danny Gonsalves, PRC-Saltillo Blogger hey blogs, I’m excited because I have a new communication device and mount which make me happy. I love it better than my last one because I can move the communication device however, I need it to be and where I want it. I am going to go back to school in January and hopefully...

Jane Odom, M. Ed, Director of Implementation Resources Counting Pumpkins A new unit on counting is now available on the Language Lab. New lesson plans for teachers and parents have been added as well as new books and games to help your student learn to count using their communication device. Students can count pumpkins ...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger It is amazing how you can think that something is all over, and then life can completely switch to a new way of living.  We can choose to change with the times or fight against the changes. Recently, my life has had a ton of changes. But one of the good changes was that we rec...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger My parents often say” they don’t make things like they used too” and they are right. Many items are made more cheaply and don’t last as long, but some things are a lot better than they used to be like candy for instance. My dad loved the wax lips, or wax bottles with...

Jane Odom, M. Ed, Director of Implementation Resources A new unit on the alphabet is now available. Along with the lesson plan and Can Do card are a couple of books - one using fun graphics and one using fun Unity icons to represent the letter sounds. New Books Also available is a new set of alphabet flashcards. Fl...

By Sofia Blunt, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Today at school, my aid and I were talking about how tired we were. Then she said, “Wouldn’t it be cool, if we could take a quick nap?” Then I had an idea! If I were Principal, I would tell all the students to wear pajamas to school because we would all take naps. Napt...

By Kim Vuong, PRC- Saltillo Blogger and Ambassador This year has been quite a year for me. It started out bad because of the losing my little cousin to stomach cancer. My cousin was very young and very beautiful. Losing someone that you care for it not the way to start the year. Then I started developing the Life Skills g...

By Jacob MacAinsh, PRC Blogger Hi, everyone! It’s Jacob and I’m going to talk about my weekends. I like to play the Wii U sometimes. I like to watch the TV. I like to hang out with my brothers. I like to play the Wii U sometimes. I like to play Skylanders on the Wii U. I also like to play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe....

By Daniel Pop, prc-saltillo ambassador Unicorns are magnificent and noble creatures.They are both a symbol of purity and goodness and the personification of untamed freedom.  They have been described as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. I'm very different too, I have d...

By Hank Poore, PRC Blogger I went to Chicago last Wednesday through Saturday for the beginning of Spring Break. I was there for a doctor’s appointment but we had fun also.I went with my mom and my sister.The first day we went up to the Willis Tower. I went out on something called the Sky Deck. It was all glass and it ...

By Sarah Coiner, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I guess that I should start by saying that my name is Sarah Coiner, and I was born with Cerebral Palsy. My limitations are physical and not cognitive. I was my parents' first baby, and at first they thought I was just really lazy. I think I was ten months old when they took me to the d...

By Kyle Dinwiddie,  PRC-Saltillo Blogger I was asked to go to Tan Tara resort to work with Gretchen Bright at a  Prentke Romich’s booth for the Missouri Speech and Hearing Association’s conference to talk about my communication device. I was so honored and of course, I said YES!   So early on a ...

_By Chelsea Hagen, PRC Blogger _ My name is Chelsea Hagen. I was born on a beautiful summer day in the month of July. That day almost didn’t happen for me. My umbilical cord was caught on my arm and I had very little oxygen. My body was the colour of a bluish black. The doctors didn’t know if I would live. ...

By Krista Howard, PRC-Saltillo Blogger My name is Krista Howard.  I am an AAC user. I am in My 30s.   I was in grade school in 1990 to 2005  I need to share this uplifting story about me. I had been through a lot in my life. I am going to share something that is important to me. I am going to tell my st...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger The Stronger Men’s Conference was finally here with some literal lightning and thunder welcoming it. I am not talking about my ear infection either. What is better than starting the day with a caramel corn macchiato at Brew Brothers and a coffee cake muffin of course? Later, while we...

By Sofia Blunt - PRC-Saltillo Blogger You’ll never guess what happened last night! My black cat, Dot, gave birth to TWO kittens, in my bedroom closet. I didn’t even know she was pregnant. She gave birth at night when I was sleeping, and I didn’t even hear her! In the morning when my sister, Charlotte, we...

By Daniel Pop, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I have been using iPads for a few years now, for fun, playing word puzzle games, texting and Facebook, reading books, also I’m using it for my communication with the TouchChatHD app. For my 20th birthday, I got the latest iPad Pro version with face recognition.  Because I don...

By Darryl Porter, PRC-Saltillo Blogger A book fair asked me to take part in their book fair, because I have written some books. There was a question and answer session.  A person asked me which month is my favorite.  I thought the question was very strange.  I queried, why.   They explained. Then...

By Grant Ahner Adam is a good little brother. He is eight. He plays X BOX with me. We fight over the X BOX every week. He gets my Vantage Lite. He gets my iPad. Adam feeds me lunch. He likes to go fast on his four-wheeler. We go fast behind the greenhouse. Adam fixes my go-cart. He likes to shoot my M14 (it s...

By:  Anthony Ordile, M.S., CCC-SLP – PRC-Saltillo Regional Consultant, New Jersey In the world of AAC, there’s nothing like new device day. The box comes in the mail, and whether it’s a first device or a replacement, there are lots of feelings. It’s exciting to crack open the box and pull out s...

By Brian P. Cleary Brian P. Cleary Even though I hated school, I didn’t hate learning. As a little one, I fell hard for the sing-songy rhythmic patterns of Dr. Seuss. Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and the rest were my introduction to the wonder of words. I had a couple of teachers in grade school when I was...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger My friend John was always outgoing, and his smile was so contagious.  He was always happy.  We met over 10 years ago at a day camp called Camp Team, which was an outside camp.  One summer, his mom was sending him off to overnight camp for the first time, and my mom told m...

By Hank Poore, PRC Blogger Last Tuesday, I got to go a state conference at Gardendale First Baptist. My mom and Mrs. Hauser went with me and I talked to high school students and their teachers. I talked 3 times through out the day. I loved telling people about what all I do. My title of my presentation was called Drea...

By Hank Poore, PRC Blogger Last Tuesday I began my first real job at Urban Cookhouse in Tuscaloosa. I have a tray on my wheelchair that I bring people’s food out to their table. I also take to-go Orders to the drive thru. I refill people’s water and tea. I see a lot of people that I know come in. My Co-workers ...

_By Chester R. Cheesman, PRC Blogger _ My name is Chester R. Cheesman. I wanted to give you a little background about the ways I communicate. Up until age 7 I lived at home with my family. When I was 5 I started at the Bordentown Public Schools. Communication was difficult. I was unable to speak. The doctors wa...

By Lauren Opipari, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Hi, my name is Lauren and I am excited to be writing my first blog. I am very excited to be able to go out and do lots of things again once we can be around other people again. We really don’t know when all this will be over. I am very excited because even though High Point, wh...

_By David Chappel, PRC Ambassador _ I have very good memories of my first apartment with my best friend from college, Mike. I remember the day he told me he wanted to move from the place he was living because his roommates were getting married to each other and the living situation was getting very awkward. Mike and Da...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC Blogger How would you act if you were to meet someone whom you admire? Some people may cry, some may scream, some may stand in awe, while others may just play it cool. I don’t think anyone know how they would act until they are in the situation. A few years ago one of my favorite authors w...

By Johnny Schneider, PRC-Saltillo Blogger When people don’t understand what I’m saying I use my device to help me to speak with others . My device has helped me get my words out.  When I started using a device I would spell everything out. Now I’m using the icons to get faster. I love using my device...

By Lyle Bahe, PRC-Saltillo Blogger My name is AllieJane and I am an SLP. I have worked with Lyle on and off for about 5 years, always seeing him at his DTA (day program). Lyle has eagerly been searching for ways to work and interact with others and tell people about his device. Today, we were talking about his device, some...

By Kate Chapple, blogger Over the last few months I have been having difficulties accessing my SGD. Normally I access my device with my left hand, but I have lost control over it. This makes me feel very frustrated and angry that I can’t do what I used to. It is kind of like breaking your arm and it never heals. I...

By Hank Poore, PRC Blogger So I’ve been taking sports medicine at Tuscaloosa center of technology. I was in Mary T’s class for 18 weeks. I learned all of the bones in the human body and I also learned how to do CPR! ( yea call me a doctor) and I learned how to do spine boarding. I went over there every day by bus. ...

By Mike Hipple, PRC-Saltillo Blogger April is the start of the baseball season and nicer weather in Wisconsin. It is also Autism Awareness month and I have been celebrating it since 2009. I have cerebral palsy and use AAC, I don't have any family members who have autism. You might be wondering why I celebrate it? I could h...

By Lee Papierowicz, PRC Blogger In April 2017 I got my new device and my father missed the drop off from Fed Ex so I had to wait until the next day for it! (If it was UPS they would have signed off on it because my dad knows everyone and told them it was ok). I tried all different kinds of devices and landed with the A...

By Joseph Harrall Hi My name is Joseph Harrall I have an Accent 1400 and I can not live without it. It’s my voice, phone, tablet and everything I want it to be. I use mine for playing games, taking photos, doing my school work, talking to my friends and much more. The power is in my hands now. Having the Accent 1...

By Joseph Harrall, Accent Master Welcome back, my name is Joseph Harrall and I have an Accent 1400 which is a piece of me, it goes everywhere with me. The best feature is the feeling for me to be able to say something about what is on my mind. Spelling comes easy as I use the icons for all my schoolwork and communicat...

By Carson Covey, Saltillo Ambassador Hi everyone, My name is Carson, I'm an ambassador and a new blogger for Saltillo. A little about myself. I eat, drink and sleep Augmentative and Alternative Communication. I started AAC when I was four years old. I have used TouchChat on an iPad for the last 8 years. Saltillo's IOS...

By Mackenzie Sanders, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I'm a 19 year old girl with cerebral palsy .   I have a lot of limitations including talking.  I have used a computer since I was 5 with dual head switches.   It was very difficult communicating my needs until I got a computer.  I have been using an Accent 1400...

By Hank Poore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I’ve had a lot of teachers that I’ve loved but nobody is like Ms. Oatts . She was my Home Ec teacher this year and she’s the most hilarious, laidback, disorganized person which is my favorite kind of person because I’m all 3 of those things. We had to cook in her ...

By Parr Burton, PRC-Saltillo Blogger One thing I love to do is watch movies. My favorite movies are the Harry Potter movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Pinocchio. Let me tell you why. I like Harry Potter because I like Ron Weasly and the magic world is so fun. When I was little, my mom and I used to read the book...

By Carson Covey, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Wheelchair and scooter users: Are you tired of the wait for your manufacturer to fix your chair etc? For those of you guys in Colorado, Georgia, Texas, Ohio,  Michigan, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oregon, and California there is the Motor Vehicle ' Right to Repair Act that a...

By Sarah Coiner, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I have met a lot of disabled people in my life. I guess when you do not go out except for in your wheelchair and almost always have your communication device with you, you are going to get some questions.. And I guess it's only natural that many people who come up to talk to me know so...

_ Kevin Williams, PRC ambassador_ Kevin Williams Hello, my name is Kevin Williams and I have been communicating through AAC for over thirty years, and using a device for over twenty years. As an Ohio transplant living in North Carolina most of his time is dedicated to developing websites and promoting a healthy lifestyle ...

Hello! My name is Parr Burton, and I will be writing blogs for the AAC Language Lab for the next semester. I’m 21 and a student at Kennesaw State in Marietta, GA.   I have a job at an animal rescue. It's called Mostly Mutts. It's near my school. I work there three to four times a week. My counselor Sarah fr...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director of Implementation Resources It is a known fact that students who write become better readers. Students learn to write when given daily opportunities to see others write. They must also have frequent opportunities to write without standards to make progress in the process of composition. (Muss...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director or Implementation Resources Think about how often a young mother will talk to her infant even though the infant cannot repeat what she says. In this same way, it is important for us to use some techniques to show a child what we expect. First and foremost, it is important that the person tea...

By Jane Odom, M.Ed, Director or Implementation Resources Think about how often a young mother will talk to her infant even though the infant cannot repeat what she says. In this same way, it is important for us to use some techniques to show a child what we expect. First and foremost, it is important that the person tea...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger I have always had a difficult time falling to sleep.  I think it's because of my overactive mind.  Many times I do feel sleepy at bedtime, but as soon as my head hits the pillow I become wide awake!  I have battled this issue most of my life and have tried various thin...

By Katie Yonker, Poet Every morning I looked I was going good day I can remember every morning I go to my favorite subject The language arts class learning read the books and making of Animal Farm then back special ed classes waiting the favorite peer tours who was be my friends for day for play my communication dev...

By: Kristy Lipe, PRC-Saltillo Blogger This is PRC Ambassador Kristy Lipe again! I hope you had an awesome 2023 just like I had! As we’re coming into the Christmas season here are some of my favorite things my family does! We love the Christmas movies such as Home Alone , Grinch with Jim Carry, The Santa Claus and Pol...

By Hannah Foley, PRC-Saltillo Blogger The world is big and not one person can possibly navigate it alone. We all need someone to guide us and show us the way - that person is often referred to as a “mentor”. When we talk about mentorship in the world of AAC, we are often referring to individuals who are success...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Sometimes we win, and sometimes we don't in this adventure that we call life. Last week I lost my step-grandpa unexpectedly.  My parents and I were there visiting him in the hospital when he passed. It was quite a shock. My mom, aunts, and Uncle had to quickly put together a...

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogger One year ago, my whole family was chosen by The Dream Factory to make a dream come true.  The Dream Factory is an amazing organization that makes the dreams of children with illnesses or disabilities come true.  One day a wonderful woman named Maureen came over to our house...

By John Schnieder, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Hello, my name is John Schnieder. One day my brother Jacob got us tickets to go to see Josh Blue. Josh is a stand up comedian and I saw him on TV. My brother hadn’t seen him before and he liked him. Josh has the same condition as me, cerebral palsy. I think it’s cool to s...

By: Jon A. Feucht M.S.Ed, Executive Director Authentic Voices of America Doctoral student_ As my wife tells me, it is the littler things in life that are the most important. In 2014, the AAC field bear witness to such a phenomenon and it is time that we reflected on it. Everybody and their brother took the “Ice Bucket ...

By Lance McLemore, PRC-Saltillo Blogger It would have probably been better to write this for Autism Awareness Month, but as usual, my timing is off. I find that it’s better to write out an idea as soon as I have it. I would like to talk about the language surrounding autism and autistic people. Many people believe th...

By Charles “Chase” Sanders Chase I am so smart and nice. I am awesome. I am spiritual but, not so spiritual. I am OCD. I like race cars and Alabama football. My favorite color is green. I like playing with my device, the Eco14. I am not sure when I am getting my new device. It is called the Eco2. I like Su...

By Mattie Matlock, PRC-Saltillo Blogger Hello my name is Mattie Matlock and I have been on a communication device since I was three years old and I am 35 years old now. I am the kind of person that who loves to teach other people about the communication devices, before I get into what I want to teach, let me tell you what...

By Kim Vuong, PRC-Saltillo Blogger It’s important for everyone—including people with disabilities--to wear a mask while we’re trying to get COVID-19 under control.  But as a person with cerebral palsy, I find that wearing a mask can make it even more of a challenge to communicate verbally. Fortunate...