Top Episodes with AAC Users
Eva Sweeney
Episode 21: Consultant for ABC's Speechless, Author, Activist, AAC User
In this episode Eva Sweeney, filmmaker and consultant for ABC's Speechless - as well as author, activist, AAC user, and overall dynamo - talks with Rachel and Lucas about her AAC device, the importance of aides (and giving them breaks), her work as an activist on sexuality in the disability community, and more. Meanwhile, Lucas briefly flies solo to talk about the importance of a whole-person approach to AAC assessment and intervention.
Chris Klein
Episode 28: Why Does Motor Planning Matter in AAC?
Chris Klein is an educator, mentor, past president of the United States Society of Augmentative Alternative Communication (USSAAC), and founder of Building Connections with Others through Mentoring and Education about AAC (BeCOME AAC). Mr. Klein, an AAC user himself, is a voice for AAC users and individuals with disabilities everywhere; his thoughtful insights on motor planning are not to be missed!
Lance McLemore
Episode 69: Learning to Become a Proficient AAC User
Chris interviews PRC Ambassador and AAC user Lance McLemore. In Lance’s role as Ambassador, he attends conferences and speaks to different groups about his experiences using Lamp Words for Life. The interview is played in real time so our listeners can hear how quickly he accesses his device – it’s amazing! Lance shares how he taught himself to use Lamp Words for Life, how practice has helped him improve his rate, and why he believes motor planning is so important to using an AAC device successfully!
Alyssa Hillary Zisk
Episode 78: Adults With Autism Who Use AAC Part-Time
Alyssa is a graduate student in neuroscience who shares their experiences as an autistic adult who uses AAC part of the time to communicate.
Episode 110: Experiences of a Part-Time AAC User Researching and Writing About AAC
Alyssa Hillary Zisk is an Autistic adult who is a “part-time AAC user” and a previous guest of the pod! Part-time AAC users have the ability to communicate verbally, but there are times when verbal speech is difficult and non-verbal communication is preferred.
Hannah Foley
Episode 113: Full-Time AAC User & Future AAC Specialist
We have the privilege of presenting Rachel’s interview with Hannah Foley, a senior at University of Illinois who is pursuing a career in Assistive Technology & AAC. Hannah has cerebral palsy and is an incredible adult AAC user who works as an ambassador for Saltillo!
Carson Covey
Episode 130: AAC User & Future SLP
Carson Covey is a social media manager & AAC mentor at Jill Tullman & Associates, ambassador with PRC, and AAC user. Carson shares about changing his AAC system to TouchChat; the importance of having his circle of support use his device; updating AAC devices when sheltering at home; and going to school to become an SLP!
Kevin Williams & Lateef McLeod
Episode 137: Black AAC User Perspectives on Racism and Disability
This week, Kevin Williams and Lateef McLeod share about racism and ableism from their perspective as Black AAC users. Kevin Williams is a freelance web developer and the Chief Technical Officer of USSAC. Lateef is a PHD Candidate in the Anthropology and Social Change program at California Institute of Integral Studies, Vice President of ISSAC’s LEAD Committee, and published poet/author. In the interview, Kevin and Lateef discuss the importance of having difficult conversations about racism and ableism, the intersection of race and disability in their own life, and the importance of patience, especially from the police, when communicating with AAC users.
Codi & Jennifer Mendenhall
Episode 151: Using Social Media and Making Videos as a Teen AAC User
TWT presents Chris and Rachel’s interview with Codi Mendenhall, a 14-year-old who has been using AAC since she was 5, and her mother Jennifer Mendenhall.
Codi and Jennifer share about Codi’s journey learning to use AAC, the ways that Codi uses texting and social media to communicate with her peers, how to facilitate more communication opportunities for AAC users, and more!
Lydia Dawley
Episode 164: AAC User, CEO, and Co-Creator of the NadPen Stylus
TWT presents Rachel’s interview with Lydia Dawley, the CEO of the Click, Speak, Connect, and co-creator of the NadPen, an amazing stylus device that is easy to grip and use, especially for people with motor challenges. Lydia has mixed cerebral palsy and is a fantastic AAC user - you won’t want to miss her perspective on involving AAC users in decisions, choosing AAC vocabulary, incorporating peers as communication partners, and more!
Chris Sawka
Episode 165: AAC User & USSAAC Committee Member
We interview AAC user, USSAAC Membership Committee member, artist, and TWT superfan Chris Sawka! Chris provides great insights into some of the challenges and victories he has had as a full-time AAC user, how he socializes with other AAC users, playing sports on a paraolympic team, and more!
Brittany Dube
Episode 176: Author, YouTuber, and Part-Time AAC User
Rachel has an informative and engaging interview with author, YouTuber, dog trainer, and part time AAC user Brittany Dube! Brittany shares about why she is a part-time AAC user, how parents and others can better support part-time AAC users, and how we can show AAC users the respect they deserve in conversation.
India Ochs
Episode 194: India Ochs: Lawyer, Social Justice Advocate, Mother, and AAC User
India is a brilliant social justice advocate, lawyer, educator, and board member for USSAAC and ISSAC who is also a lifelong AAC user. India describes her incredible journey with AAC, how she has used her many skills to advocate for social justice, why she volunteers so much of her time to the disabled community, and what she sees are the impacts of systemic racism on the field AAC (e.g. lack of vocabulary words to talk about racism).
Hank Poore
Episode 244: Hank Poore: AAC User, AAC Ambassador, and Foundation Director
Hank Poore is an AAC user and Tobi Dynavox ambassador who has his own foundation, hankpoorefoundation.org. Hank shares about becoming a proficient AAC communicator, the AAC journey Hank took to come to his current eye gaze system, advice for looking for a job as an AAC user, work Hank does with his foundation, and more!
Chris Klein & Lance McLemore
Episode 252: Chris Klein & Lance McLemore: Creating an AAC-User-Led Conference & Nonprofit
This episode, Chris Klein and Lance McLemore “take over” the Talking with Tech podcast! Chris and Lance are both proficient AAC users who work in the area of AAC and advocate for AAC users everywhere as members of USSAAC and board members of the nonprofit, ImpAACt Voices. Lance and Chris share some of the goals and objectives for ImpAACt Voices, and also relate some of their takeaways from the recent First Annual ImpAACt Voices conference, which focused on helping adult AAC users finding employment and educating the business world at large about AAC!
Chloe Rothschild
Episode 255: Chloe Rothschild: Teacher, Author, Advocate, and Part-Time AAC User
Chloe Rothschild is an autistic advocate, author, teacher, and speaker who uses AAC to communicate part-time. Chloe currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Arc, a disability advocacy group, as well as working with the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence. Chloe joins the podcast to share her amazing insights into using different communication modalities depending upon the demands of the situation, as well as a discussion of using her Apple Watch for AAC, working with nonspeaking children in an autistic classroom, why she like to use symbols to communicate even though she is a fast typer, and more!
Noah Callan
Episode 263: Noah Callan: AAC User, Disability Advocate, and Technology Coordinator
Noah Callan is a 25-year-old disability and inclusion advocate who is a full-time AAC user. Noah is also the AAC & Technology Coordinator at Kids+ in Australia. Noah shares about his AAC journey, including some of the changes he has made over the years, such as going from switch access scanning to using an eye gaze camera with Gridpad 12 . Noah also shares some challenging and rewarding experiences he recently had with able-bodied people, including a worker at a bank who refused to talk to him and assumed that he was not intelligent because he is nonspeaking.
LJ Seiff
Episode 267: LJ Seiff: 14-Year-Old AAC User
LJ is a 14 year old boy with cerebral palsy and cortical visual impairment, which impact his ability to speak intelligibly. LJ shares about his AAC journey and some of the things that her wishes were done in the classroom more, like giving him more wait time to respond or asking multiple choice questions, since an AAC user can respond with a single press of “a” “b” or “c”
Jordyn Zimmerman
Episode 277: Jordyn Zimmerman: Overcoming Limiting Beliefs in the Education System
Jordyn Zimmerman is an autistic nonspeaking adult who was featured in the documentary “This is Not About Me.” This is Not About Me covers Jordyn’s journey trying to be included in school and to get access to robust AAC. Jordyn shares about the challenges with an education system that can segregate disabled students without giving them equal opportunities, the problems with “gatekeepers” withholding robust AAC from students, the impact of limiting beliefs, and more!
Otto Lana
Episode 296: Otto Lana: Autistic Advocate, Writer, Actor, and AAC User
Otto Lana (@otto_types)is an autistic advocate who uses multiple modalities, including AAC, to communicate. Otto is an intern at Kindred Communication (gokindred.com), which specializes in providing speech, language, and AAC coaching services. Otto shares about his AAC journey, why he believes literacy and typing skills need to be more emphasized for AAC users, his preference for positive instead of neutral or negative terms (i.e. nonspeaking) to refer to people with complex communication needs, and more!
Bradley Heaven
Chris interviews Daniel O’Conner and Bradley Haven of All Access Life! All Access Life is a nonprofit that showcases the latest trends and movements in adaptive products and assistive technologies on their website allaccesslife.org.
Tiffany Joseph
Episode 312: Tiffany Joseph (Part 1): Educating and Supporting AAC Users as a Part-Time AAC User
Tiffany Joseph (@nigh.functioning.autism) is an autistic mother of three neurodivergent teens, as well as an educator, advocate, and a part-time AAC User with inconsistent verbal speech. She explains more about situations when verbal speech becomes difficult, the ways that writing text out before hand helps her, strategies she uses when she has trouble with verbal speech, and more!
Tiffany is an autistic mother of three neurodivergent teens, as well as an educator, advocate, and a part-time AAC User with inconsistent verbal speech. She shares about her experience as a gestalt language processor, how she thinks AAC could help students mitigate their gestalts, her perspective on Spelling to Communicate, and more!
Yoosun Chung
Episode 315: Yoosun Chung: Honoring an AAC User's Chosen Form of Communication
Dr. Yoosun Chung is the former president of USSAAC, activist, professor at George Mason University, and AAC user! Dr. Chung shares about her journey from South Korea to the United States to learn English and pursue higher learning, her first introduction to high-tech AAC as a doctoral student in assistive technology, her work as co-chair of the 2023 ISSAAC conference in Cancun, and more!
Benjamin Gibbs
Benjamin Gibbs: Interviewing Chris Bugaj for a Master's AT Program
Benjamin is a student at George Mason University studying Assistive Technology who is completing a school project interviewing Chris, and Chris asked if the conversation could go on the podcast! Ben has cerebral palsy that affects his walking gait and verbal speech. He uses a combination of verbal speech and AAC to communicate, depending on his communication partner and the context. Benjamin interviews Chris about evaluating students for AT, the importance of sharing AAC concepts with everyone at a young age, Benjamin’s lived experience as an AAC user, and more!