Episode 291: Emily Taylor: Using Social Media to Promote Your AAC Materials

This week, Rachel interviews Emily Taylor (@emily.the.speechie)! Emily is a speech-language pathologist who supports AAC users in New Zealand and Fiji. Emily shares about Fiji, a country that has limited access to AAC support, and why she was inspired to help AAC users there. Then, Rachel shares some great social media tips to help Emily promote her upcoming AAC resources!

Before the interview, Chris shares a heartwarming story about setting up an experience for a kindergarten class to use iPads and learn about AAC. In addition, Rachel shares about using an AI background tool (Skybox by Block Labs) to help create a story for one of her students! 

Key ideas this week:

🔑 Many of the families Emily worked with in Fiji had limited financial resources, and she found it more effective to primarily focus on light tech AAC. Light tech AAC won’t break, doesn’t need electricity, is inexpensive, and (relatively) easy to produce, which were often important considerations for the families Emily was supporting.  

🔑 Emily found that primary school in Fiji was very heavy on rote memorization. When students had difficulty with sitting and learning in that way, they were sent to the special school. Families of students at the special school were really excited when she told them that their child could grow up, work, and be a positive member of the village.

🔑 When evaluating your social media presence, understanding who your followers are (and who you want them to be) is really important, as well as being able to pivot if you find out that you have a different follower group than previously thought.

🔑 When you’re choosing which social media platform to post on most, choose the one that you know the best and already use, if possible. 

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Transcript of the Episode

Please Note: This transcript was generated using speech recognition & AI tools; it may contain some grammatical and/or spelling errors.

00:00:08
Welcome to Talking With Tech. I'm your host, Rachel Madel, joined as always by Chris Bugaj. Hey Chris. Rachel, I got two things for you today. Oh, I'm so excited.

00:00:17
One is about me and the other is about you. So let's about me. Who, me? Yeah, I know, right? You don't know what I'm talking about, but we're going to talk about it in a second.

00:00:27
Let me tell you about me first, because I'm super excited about what I got to do today. I think I mentioned this before how I worked with a speech therapist in our neck of the woods who had towards the end of the school year, She knew that a student was going to be moving into a classroom at the beginning of the next school year. And to kind of prep the kids for that, that experience, she asked me for a bunch of iPads. I helped set up the iPads. I didn't get to participate in the experience, but I gave this box of iPads to the speech therapist who did this whole experience with.

00:01:03
I think it was maybe a first grade class, like kindergarteners that were going into first grade and wonderful experience. I think I talked about it on the podcast before, but what I really want to tell you about is what I got to do this morning, which was that sort of experience. Again, I got to go into a kindergarten classroom here. At the time of this recording, we are the first two weeks of school in my neck of the woods, and sure enough, a different speech therapist and one of my colleagues reached out and said, Chris, we need those iPads. We all want to do an experience where we present this to the entire kindergarten classroom.

00:01:38
There's a kid coming into this classroom or who's in this classroom already and everyone's like, what's this device? Can you help us do that? And this time I got to not just set up the iPads, but also come and sort of help run the experience with the kindergartners, like sitting on the floor surrounded by kindergartners. This particular speech therapist set up like a bingo finding game. So we did a little bit of what is an AEC device and all the different ways we can talk and and communicate.

00:02:06
And kids were, you know, shouting out things like pictures. And you know, I we talk with our bodies and you know we're giving examples. And then we said and sometimes we use devices and we brought them out and then we brought out the bingo cards and we had them try and find different words and experience them. And it was just, you can probably hear it in my voice. The excitement of of the kids discovering the pictures, discovering the words, talking about what the words mean, finding them on the bingo cards and crossing them off and set yelling bingo when they got four.

00:02:40
And because they're kindergarteners, some knew what bingo was. Sometimes. For some kids, this was the first time they played played bingo. We got to discuss why the pictures were the way they were. Like for instance, this particular app we were using the picture symbol for the word color is a rainbow or it's the first hit, right?

00:02:59
Is is rainbow. And so we discussed why do you think the people chose a rainbow? What else could they have chosen? And people were like flowers cause flowers are colorful, right? They didn't choose flowers, they chose a rainbow.

00:03:11
But flowers could have been a good choice. Someone else said paints, like, yeah, could you imagine a palette of paints with all these different colors? So it was great to get the kid kids thinking this way. So you're thinking like one of these app developers, maybe someday you can develop an app and all along the student that was that had the communication device was there participating with everybody else, learning along, playing the bingo game while all the other kindergarteners are sort of experiencing AAC for the for the first time. And it was just awesome.

00:03:45
Oh, I'm so excited for you, Chris. This sounds amazing and I just wish that I could be there to witness this. And I, as you were talking, I was thinking, you know, we could do this exact activity with adults. Maybe during our next, our next presentation, we'll play a bingo game. But it's just like it's it's a really good activity especially with kind of thinking through the process of how these images are used and created.

00:04:13
And I feel like we've definitely done that in some of our, our presentations before. And just like getting people thinking about some of these things can just be helpful. And I love that you did this with kindergarteners. That's just so fun. And what a great way to promote, you know, multimodal communication and increase, you know, the education around AAC and especially for the student who is an AAC user.

00:04:36
I'm sure that was just such a really powerful experience. And also, let me just take a moment to be a little bit selfish here, to say that I loved being in the classroom with on my knees with marker all over my hand from the bingo. They didn't use dabbers, They use markers. And we're trying to check them off. But these are kindergartners, right?

00:04:56
So And the markers are everywhere and it's all over the place and it's just I don't get to flex that muscle as often as you do or many of our listeners do And it's certainly a muscle that I miss. And it was just so great. And my entire team that I work with, they're, they all know like when they have an experience like this, like we got to get Chris out from doing the programmatic like answering questions via teams and e-mail and and into the classrooms doing these things with kids. I often get to go out to schools and work with the adults. You know, like working with a speech and meeting with them and brainstorming or having adults conversations, but actually being there, you know, wearing out the knees on my, on my pants, you know, on the carpet.

00:05:39
I don't get that as much as I as I used to. And I really miss it. Yeah, I feel like that's one of the nice things about our work is that whenever I'm like having a weird day or feeling a little off and you know, whatever it is that's going on the moment, I kind of walk into a therapy session and start just engaging in a playful energy with kids. It just like totally gets me out of my head. Like all of my problems melt away.

00:06:06
And that's one of the most exciting things for me in our profession is that we have the ability to be playful and to drop into that space. So yeah, I'm happy that you got that experience and I hope you have more experiences in the near future like that. Now a little taste of that was that you sent me a video this past week just kind of privately on the side of keeping this the students privacy secure. But you in a previous banter segment I had talked about something I learned at ISTI which and one of the AI tools that I used and then you used it in therapy. So let's hear about this experience.

00:06:44
Immediately after that recording, I was like, I know exactly the kid on my caseload who's going to love this. And sure enough, he loved it. He is obsessed with trains and he was putting into that surfer. So we're working on just like formulating. He's practicing typing like all these beautiful things.

00:07:04
And so he's coming up with this description of this train stop that he wants to see with trains. And it was so specific in detail, which with this particular student we're working on the concept of general versus specific because so how often do we tell kids be more specific and if they don't understand what that means, like that's not really helpful to them. And so he gets it. He's, he is very specific when it comes to trains. He's talking about the kind of train and you know all these details.

00:07:40
And so that was what we did first. We did trains, which I shared with you because I just thought it was so funny. And then we were thinking about other things because he can be very specific when it comes to trains, but he he needs practice being more specific with other types of things that maybe aren't his, you know, passion. So yeah, it was beautiful. We captured that image.

00:08:00
Like I told you on that last time we talked about it. I pulled it over into Canva. We've been working on this ongoing story for the last year on Canva, where he has different characters that he pulls in and we do different dialogue bubbles and a whole story that's kind of evolving every. And we used one of those backgrounds in the canvas story, just like we talked about on the podcast. I can't tell you how, how big the smile appeared on my face when I opened up the Marco Polo and you were showing me that you're using this tool with this kid and how much fun you could hear it in his voice, how excited he was for the the the train that appeared like you were trying to find it.

00:08:39
And he was scrolling around and even in your voice, 'cause I don't think you knew the tool could do a whole 360 panorama, right? So I was like, Oh my gosh, it's like spinning around, you know, there was like so fun and it felt made me feel so good that that it helps somebody. Totally. Yeah. I mean, it's just like, it's really fun what you can do with some of these tools.

00:08:59
And you know, we've talked about AI on the podcast before, but how do we just lean in to this wave of new technology and really help support our students learn how to use it? And it's just, it's really cool what some of these tools can do. And it's just like the the creative power behind it. To be able to formulate with language something that you want to see and then to have a technology that just creates it, like, you know, in seconds is just like super exciting for for me, for for the kids that I work with. So yeah, it's really cool.

00:09:36
Awesome. So, Rachel, tell us about the interview today. Chris, I had the opportunity to interview Emily Taylor, so Emily reached out to me. Super interesting. She was working in New Zealand as a speech language therapist and then did some work in Fiji.

00:09:53
And she knew that I have kind of done a lot of trainings abroad and she reached out with a lot of questions. And so we had a really interesting conversation not only about kind of working abroad and what that looks like, but we also talked a little bit about how do we get the message out. And so we talked a little bit about social media, which was really interesting to kind of talk about both those things. So I'm really excited to share the interview I did with Emily Taylor. Hey Rachel, guess what?

00:10:30
We're headed back to ATAA. We've been doing this now for a couple years and it's always super fun time. It's a great experience and so this, this is a whole what, a whole day together doing a pre conference. I love our pre conference, Chris. It's just like such an amazing group every single year and every single year it's totally different.

00:10:51
I feel like it's never the same day twice and just full of tons of fun activities and lots of engaging conversations and by the end of it, we're all like BFFS and it's so much fun. So if you're interested in attending, check us out at atia.org, Find the Pre conference link, find us & up and we'll see you there. Welcome to Talking With Tech. I'm here. Who's Rachel Madel, Joined today by Emily Taylor.

00:11:22
Emily, I'm so excited to have you here.

00:11:24
Hi. Nice to be here. Very exciting. Yeah.

00:11:28
So let's just start off by introducing yourself and telling our listeners a little bit about yourself.

00:11:34
Cool. So I'm Emily. I'm a speech and language therapist here in New Zealand, and I also work consultatively with some organizations in Fiji as well. All around AAC and implementing it in these two countries? Really.

00:11:49
Yeah. And that's why kind of you reached out to me. You were asking about, you know, information. And I know you had just gotten back from Fiji recently. So I thought, let's have her on the podcast so we can talk all things kind of global AAC and what it's like to support AAC in other countries who might not have, you know, built up the profession.

00:12:12
Like I have a lot of experiences abroad, you know, in Cambodia and Nepal and places like that. So just wanted to kind of dive in, and I thought the conversation was worth having as a recording for the podcast, 'cause I'm sure there's other people listening who, you know are interested in AAC and maybe even interested and volunteering their time abroad and helping to support organizations abroad. So let's just start by like, how did you even get connected with this organization in Fiji? And like what did that look like? And did you know, like I want to work abroad, I want to help support communities abroad.

00:12:46
Yeah, so it was a little bit of an accident that I sort of fell into it, cause originally the plan was for me and a friend who's also a speechy to head over to the UK and work there, but I quickly realized that I don't do so well without Beaches and Sunshine, so I hate me either girl.

00:13:07
I thought, what is the closest place to home where I can work and be on the beach? And I thought Fiji is so perfect so I literally googled speech therapy Fiji. And nothing came up. So I emailed the one e-mail address that just seems to pop up on Google, and it's a woman who works in Australia, but she lives in Fiji, which is really interesting. And she put me in touch with everyone.

00:13:32
So a special education school over there, the Frank Hilton organization who works with all of their sort of most disabled children, and pretty much they all jumped at the chance to have me on board. And we're just sort of in the process of getting.

00:13:47
Funding for me to move there a bit more permanently, which is very, very exciting, That's awesome. And I feel like that kind of echoes the experiences that I've had. You know, the first trip I took abroad to support a community in AAC was in Cambodia and I it was so random. I was reading a newspaper article about how this organization in Cambodia was their mission was bringing speech therapy to the country because they hadn't had access to speech therapy and speech therapy resources. And so I was like, oh, like I would love to be a part of that.

00:14:22
Like, I wonder if they have any training in AAC. Like what about, you know, our students with complex communication needs. And so sure enough, I reached out and they were like we would love to have you like come, you know, support us and and teach us how to help, you know, better support AAC. And so, you know, I think it's just these things can kind of unfold organically and naturally, but it takes kind of just doing a little bit of research and reaching out and connecting with the right people and things can kind of unfold from there.

00:14:53
Yeah, definitely. And also the whole world needs AAC and so many countries just haven't had access to it. So it's really exciting and it's such a universal toll out sort of talking with symbols because everyone can understand what you're saying. So it's not even a worry about language barriers or anything. So we can create it in any language that we need to.

00:15:15
Yeah, I know you're so right. And there's not a place that doesn't need AAC because we have a lot of people with complex communication needs. And I think you're right there as far as like everybody needs help. And it's like any everywhere I've been, at least it's been like, yeah, we don't exactly know what we're doing and we don't exactly know how to support. And so you know, being able to come in and just share some of the strategies and resources and tools has been helpful.

00:15:45
Let's talk a little bit about your recent experience, because before you had reached out and you were about to embark on this trip and now we're having this recording and you've just gotten back from Fiji. So what was the experience like? What was it like going into it? What, what were your expectations? How were they different?

00:16:01
Because I definitely have had experiences where I had this expectation of what it would be like and then it was completely different. So I'm curious what your experience was.

00:16:09
Yeah, so I had sort of two halves to my trip to Fiji, where two weeks I was in Lotoka, which is in sort of the northern part of Fiji at a special education school who has never had a speech therapist before. That whole side of Fiji just hasn't been touched by an any speech therapy, so it was really interesting to see. Like what they were doing already in the classrooms. Like the teachers have sort of made-up their own ways of doing things. And just from a little bit of research they tried to find resources.

00:16:47
But me coming in and just putting so much meaning to what they were already doing was so exciting for all of them. And to be able to run trainings on things as simple as choice boards, like children, being able to rip it off with Velcro and make a choice. And that was so empowering. Touring for those teachers to know that these kiddies have a voice and can be heard. And then the other half of my trip I was at the Frank Hilton organization in Suva which is their big main capital and this has been going for a long, long long time.

00:17:22
It was originally set up for survivors of polio way back in the day and they have very recently bought 3 speech therapists on board one. Girl Dira, she is actually Fijian, which is very, very exciting. First Fijian speech therapist ever in the country. And then they've got two other Sri Lankan speech therapists who work there. All three of them are brand new grads.

00:17:47
So this is their sort of first job, first taste to everything. And the Frank Hilton organization is huge. They have special schools around the country. They do outreach, they've got hostels on site and it's massive. They cover just.

00:18:03
Just about the entire sort of bottom half of that main island in Fiji. And so they've got me as a consultant for AAC, they've got an Australian consultant for their feeding clinic. And it's just absolutely taking off. And it's just so exciting to be a part of this sort of beginnings of speech therapy for that entire half of the country.

00:18:23
Yeah, that was very similar to my experience, specifically in Cambodia. They were trying to create the profession. So it was like a collection of individuals who were doing training and they were trying to create a education program for this within the country. And so it sounds like it was very similar to your experience in a lot of ways. One thing that I didn't realize when I started going and doing work abroad with AAC, you know, on this podcast and in the work that I do, I'm always advocating for high tech, robust AAC and I quickly realized that it's not.

00:19:07
While that is obviously what we would love to strive for for all individuals, it's not always a realistic expectation given you know, the countries that I've been in and the resources that they've had. You know, some schools don't even have outlets. So I'm like OK, how would we charge this high tech speech generating device? And so I'm curious what your experience was in Fiji as far as you know, high tech versus low tech and what that experience was like for you because that was definitely like a, a shift in kind of what I was thinking through the lens, I was thinking through. And also just what I was teaching, you know, they just didn't have access to the resources that we do have in the United States and you know probably in New Zealand.

00:19:51
So what was your experience there as far as, you know, light tech versus high tech?

00:19:58
Yeah, yeah. In New Zealand we're very quick to sort of hand out a whole lot of iPads and apps because they're all amazing and it's fantastic technology and we've got the funding for all our high needs kitties to be able to do that. And in Fiji, iPads are just unattainable for most families, and there's no way to get funding for them either. In Fiji, as far as I know so far and so it would be families self funding base, which means if anything goes wrong it's unlikely they'd be replaced and obviously that's a whole other barrier. So I'm trying at the moment to sort of shift that thinking away from high tech, which was a massive, like culture shock for me, especially as a speechy because that's pretty much what you learn.

00:20:44
AAC is all these like wonderful gizmos and gadgets and coming in and trying to implement like really basic core boards for these guys was so interesting to see.

00:20:56
Yeah, yeah, that was my experience too. And I was like, huh, I was like I need to rethink the way that I'm presenting this information. And and I did bring a few tablets and iPads that had been donated and did give them to some of the students. So the. The trips abroad that I take, I oftentimes will reach out to all my families in my practice and just say, hey, I'm looking for iPads that you know, you're willing to donate and oftentimes the the response is really great, but making sure that they have the infrastructure and you know, all those things kind of in place.

00:21:36
And it was definitely a learning experience in Cambodia, also in Nepal. So it just had me thinking like I'm sure that was probably similar to you in Fiji, just rethinking the way that we're really making these recommendations and paper based AAC is a really great resource for you know individuals and it doesn't come with all the strings attached as far as.

00:22:03
Funding and support and repair and all the things that you know can be more challenging with high tech AEC. Exactly. And even within some of those really small villages in Fiji, if you're giving out things like core boards, that village doesn't have access to laminating like let alone iPads and eye gaze and all of that great stuff. So it's really sort of educating the speech therapist on a whole package of things that these kids can use. So it's not like 1 core board that's going to get a little bit mangled over the time and you're going to have to revisit to give them more and more.

00:22:41
It's coming out with an entire toolbox of have things that we can take out to villages that kids might need to use, and they're learning and then chatting with their families at home and the whole thing, which is just so different from what we do here because we've got access to all of these things just at our fingertips.

00:22:59
Yeah, you just kind of mentioned speaking to families. Tell me a little bit about that. Element of your trip. And also, you know, the broader question of how do we make sure that we're being culturally responsive when we are going into, you know, a foreign country foreign to us at least and helping to support the local communities. What was that experience like for you as far as trying to make sure that you're really supporting the culture and you are, you know, being really cognizant of that?

00:23:32
Yeah, yeah. I had an interaction with one family that absolutely touched my heart while I was there where they had a small child who was very, very clearly autistic, but she just doesn't have the resources to diagnose any of these sort of neurotyp, neurodivergent sort of things. And so they had no idea that that's the word that we use to explain what's going on with your child. And that's something I taught them, and that everything he's doing is completely normal for an autistic child. And that was so exciting for them to hear that he's not the only one because he is the only one in their village and that's all that they had ever known.

00:24:16
But to know that there was children out there in the world exactly like him and that we can help, and that this is not the end of everything, and he can grow up and he can get a job. And all of these big things that they just thought were entirely closed off for this little boy. And I think just putting language to what they're already seeing is so exciting for them. And the other thing with him was that they were convinced that what was happening was a learning difficulty when he was showing me. He's so intelligent and he's so smart.

00:24:48
He just doesn't have the expressive language to share that. So they were like, no, we'll only teach him English. That's important. We'll only teach him English. And I was like, well actually he can learn your local dialect, he can learn all these things.

00:25:02
So we printed out, they wrote down for me the different words that they used for different things. I was putting on his choice board. And I had it in their Fijian dialect and English so that the local Fijian people could understand what he was saying when he was showing them little visuals and cards. But then also it was in English as well to promote their literacy learning.

00:25:22
Yeah, that's awesome. And I love how you touched on kind of the bilingual piece, cause often times, you know, there's a need for both languages and being able to kind of communicate with native speakers and support both languages. It's definitely a myth that we need to focus on English. And I feel like that's a very common experience even, you know, in the United States with families who are like just focus on English, just teach them English. We just want them to know English and you know.

00:25:50
Often times we can be supporting both languages and that's the preferred way to help support a family and A and a child. And so I'm happy to hear that you were able to kind of do both of those things at once. I'm curious what was your experience as far as the mindset around children with disabilities, because I think that my experience also is very different. The the mindset around having a child with a disability at IS is very different in other parts of the world. And so I'm just curious what your experience was in Fiji with that.

00:26:31
Yeah, yeah. So I found personally the biggest shock to me was that the way Fiji in sort of mainstream schools work is still very rote learning where you sit down and you look and you listen and if you can't do that, you're in a special school. And so, so many of the kids I was seeing in special education schools over there, kids who would be in mainstream school in New Zealand and could definitely learn. But it's just the way the culture was teaching sort of reading and writing and things that if they couldn't sort of sit down and listen for that long during the day, they're in a special school. So it was really educating around not all of these kids have big disabilities and that they can't function in society and that they're going to really struggle for the rest of their life.

00:27:22
And it was just a lot of education around. They are really special and they are going to sort of thrive in the future. But we just have to give them the right tools to use. Because a lot of them, I did feel that most of the parents who were talking to me are like, Oh, my daughter would never get a job and I'm like, but she's amazing at drawing, can't she be an illustrator or work in animation or. And those are things that they had sort of never thought of, like big picture for, yeah.

00:27:54
Yeah, I think there's a lot of limiting beliefs around, you know, people with disabilities. And I think that was also my experience, particularly in Nepal. There were so many kids in these special needs classrooms that just were. I feel like obviously struggling with communication, but like we're so bright and able to learn. Like you said with this this other student you're thinking about, there was no real learning disabilities going on.

00:28:24
It was just like a lack of expressive language and, you know, really helping to empower. Families and also kids on the round. The mindset, I think is something that is really important and it's it's kind of the work we we have to do at the end of the day in AAC anyway. Like there's oftentimes roadblocks to success because of limiting beliefs about what students who are complex communicators. Can do what they know.

00:28:52
And so I think that those limiting beliefs are kind of sometimes a roadblock and if we can empower families that it might look a little different. But you know this child is able to learn and learn how to communicate. I think that can be one of the best gifts that we can give a a family and and a student.

00:29:14
Yeah. And another sort of big teaching moment that I had when I was there was sort of explaining that communicating is so much more than speech, so much more than what we do with our boys and teaching teachers and parents that every time a child is handing you an apple and you know they want you to cut it up, that's them communicating to you. They don't have to say help me cut my apple with their voice. They can hand it to you. And you know that.

00:29:40
And I think just putting sort of those teaching moments in place was so eye opening for so many people who I met because a lot of them read the speech therapist title and are like she's going to make them talk. And so it was this whole thing around. I'm not going to help them to talk, but it can help in the future. But right now what we're doing is looking at different ways that they can communicate, which is a whole new sort of term and idea and way of thinking and mindset for so many people that I meet.

00:30:12
Yeah, I mean, that's something I do in my own practice is like often times families that come to me and they're so discouraged that there's not. You know, a lot of communication. And I'm like, no, no, there's actually a lot of communication. Like look how savvy this student has become in getting their needs met by, you know, handing you the remote. And you know, we just, I think.

00:30:32
Families especially become so accustomed to kind of decoding that communication that they forget that it is communication. And then we can come in and teach specific language around it. So, you know, it's more universally understood and we can kind of keep building those skills out. And so I think that just in general is a really powerful thing for families, just kind of showing all the ways kids are communicating because often times it can feel like, well, they're just not communicating well. We can't just look at.

00:31:02
Verbal speech as the only indicator for communication?

00:31:05
Yeah, exactly. And that was a huge belief that sort of across the ball and Fiji. And I feel like I don't encounter it so much here in New Zealand because a lot of them have ideas around what their child's communication looks like. And that language is but more commonplace in our culture here than it is over there. Totally.

00:31:26
So, Emily, you had reached out specific with a specific request to talk about a social media account because you're embarking on this cool journey adventure. And so I. I wanted to kind of talk about that, which is not something we often times talk about on this podcast, but I think people would be interested so we can shift over. You might have like questions and and ideas and we can kind of brainstorm and troubleshoot in real time here because I would love to see a social media account from you about your adventures and help support families and especially this idea of supporting families abroad. I love global AAC initiatives and I think the more information that we can share with.

00:32:09
Families who might not have access or consistent access to resources, the better. Which is kind of why. What's funny is that actually that traveling to Cambodia sparked my online business, which maybe people don't know that. But before I went to Cambodia, I had no real idea or inclination to start a YouTube channel, to start an Instagram and Facebook and all the things that I've done. And it was that trip to Cambodia where I spent time working in, you know, this.

00:32:39
Clinic working alongside of families. And the families were like, we don't want you to leave. Like they're doing so well. And I thought, huh, I'm like, how can I, like, make an impact in places that are not just Los Angeles? And that's what sparked my YouTube channel.

00:32:53
And I was like, I'll make YouTube videos, like that feels like a really good thing. And then that has kind of spawned into then getting asked to do a podcast about AAC. And you know, all of those things happened because of that trip to Cambodia. So I think it's definitely something worth kind of sharing and talking about. So let me just start off by asking like, what's your vision like?

00:33:12
What's your idea? Like what is like, you know, motivating you to kind of document this journey?

00:33:19
Yeah. So as much as it's sort of about Fiji and what I'm doing there, I think what originally sparked the idea for me was in New Zealand trying to find resources for parents that show parents what to do. Like yes, you've got this AAC device, we've got all this lovely what is modelling out there? And but then they're like, but how do I read a book to my child? How do I or could use it at dinner time?

00:33:48
And I thought so perfect to have all of that online so readily accessible. And when I was in Fiji it just like throat like pushed that even more because they were all looking at these cardboards and they're like, yeah, we know how to point to the pictures, but what do we do now? Where does it fit in the classroom? So sort of my idea, my dream is to do shared book reading online where I can have AAC devices and model storybook reading for parents and model that sort of stopping through the book and having a conversation about it. We don't just have to use language that's in the story, and these are all things that parents do really naturally with typically developing children.

00:34:31
But as soon as you've got a child who you're not sure about or has AAC in place, everyone sort of clams up and it's like, I don't know what to do when you do really instinctively know exactly what to do as a parent and it's all exactly the same. And I think just having sort of someone online in that space to prove that to them would be really interesting and really helpful for parents sort of all over the world really.

00:34:56
So where are you on that journey? Have you started an Instagram? Because I know that's what you had. When did you reach out? You reached out a couple of months ago.

00:35:04
Yes. Yeah, I've been sort of a bit busy, but I have slowly started an Instagram. I'm just creating a space in my home at the moment where I've got a whole lot of AAC tools that I can use online to show parents how to use them. Because there's so many out there. You can't just have like one or two.

00:35:24
You've got to demonstrate them all If you're going to do it, go boots in. So yeah, I've started an Instagram. It doesn't have any videos up yet, but they are slowly on their way, which is very, very exciting, yeah.

00:35:37
So tell me what, what, what? Do you have any questions? Do you have? I mean, I definitely have. I have a lot of experience in growing a platform online and I'm happy to help kind of answer any questions that you have and help support that process for you.

00:35:52
Do you have a vision on specific, specific content? I mean, you kind of shared like shared reading and kind of showing in action what it looks like, but what? What else?

00:36:05
What other details do you have ironed out or are you thinking about that? To be fair is pretty much as far as my thinking has gotten. I had this big hope and dream that I was going to have all this lovely free time. Turns out not so much. But so yeah, I guess my biggest question is how to get started and how to sort of grow that following, because that's the biggest obstacle is actually getting out there and finding the families who need it online and also for them to be able to find you as well.

00:36:43
So one thing I like to think about with any type of content, right, 'cause we're talking about creating content that resonates with people, which that could be on Instagram, that could be a blog, that could be a YouTube channel, could be a TikTok, right? It could be literally anything. But one thing I think is really important when you're thinking about social media and trying to kind of build a following is the content has to be really strong and it has to be very specific. And so one really great exercise is trying to get to the bottom of who is your ideal follower? What does that person do?

00:37:18
What age are they? Are they, you know, interested in specific things? Where do they shop? Like get as granular as as possible? Because when you're creating content, you really want to be speaking directly to someone.

00:37:33
And of course there's going to be kind of peripheral people who are like, yeah, I like this too, but when you get really. Clear about your messaging and who you're talking to. It really shapes what you create and you know. To give an example from my own journey, I was very conflicted in the initial stages of my online business. Am I focusing on parents or am I focusing on SLPS and?

00:38:00
I didn't have a good idea. I knew that, like, I was really great at supporting parents because that's what I do in my private practice, right? And that's what I was doing, you know, in Cambodia and Nepal, like I was working with families and that was with kind of the genesis of the YouTube channels, like how can I help support families? But what's funny is that as I started creating content and I thought my audience was families. I realized that actually all these SLP's kept kind of like following me and following my work and like I had, you know, early on I had a Facebook group and it was so it was four families and so many SLP's were joining it.

00:38:39
And so I just like. I kept trying to create content for families and I kept realizing that actually it's just a lot of SLPS who are interested in this. And so I ended up pivoting and realizing too that if I can teach other speech language pathologists, I can make more of an impact on families. So you know I I think that it's it's really important to kind of have a clear vision as to who you're you're kind of creating content for, but also having the flexibility to pivot. And like, I feel like I did a good job of eventually pivoting.

00:39:10
I wasn't like, so stuck on families. And to be fair, I have a lot of families at home. I work too. But I would say most of my audience is SLPS. So I think that just getting really clear about who you're speaking to could be helpful.

00:39:25
Do you have an inclination as to like your specific ideal follower?

00:39:32
Yeah, I think my sort of ideal follower is any parent of a child who uses AAC who is just feeling a bit stuck. Like, yeah, we've got a device, but we're to next. And I think, I think that we're to next is going to be my big focus like using it during the day and showing videos of like I can order at a cafe I can even. Like reading a story, I can do my grocery list and like sort of showing it in real life settings. For parents who now have these devices and are just feeling a bit stuck, what is your preferred platform?

00:40:18
I'm definitely an Instagram user. Yeah, I really haven't sort of delved into the world of YouTube and yeah.

00:40:27
Yeah, yet. Yeah. Well, I once was told at a business conference by a speaker, not directly, but the speaker was talking to the whole group. And it was like, because. Because that's a big question, right?

00:40:42
There's Tiktok, there's Twitter, there's Instagram, there's Facebook, there's LinkedIn, there's YouTube, There's literally so many things. And this person was just like, where do you find yourself? You know, throughout the day, like that's where you should start because like there's a reason that you're hanging out on Instagram versus Twitter, right. And so I thought that was really good because we don't have to feel like we do it all. Like, I'm not, I'm not a Twitter person.

00:41:08
Chris is. Chris, my Co host on this podcast is huge on Twitter and is always tweeting. In fact, he like, we sat down at an ATA maybe a year or two ago at an AT chat and I learned all about Twitter. I'm still not the best at tweeting, but I'm learning. But it's not worry.

00:41:25
I spend most of my energy and time. I do a lot on Instagram and we do a lot on Facebook and and some things on Tiktok too. But I think that it makes sense to kind of stick with what you know and what you like.

00:41:37
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I know that Tiktok is huge at the moment, but as soon as I downloaded it, I found myself scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and they're not going to bed and so I just had to delete it. So I'm not on Tiktok anymore, but it's definitely I feel and this sort of like modern world Tiktok is the way to reach people really quickly with a really quick message, yeah.

00:42:01
Yeah, I'm curious if you have you thought through? Like the audience, as far as geographic location, like are you interested in connecting with families abroad? Are you, you know, have you thought through that? Like what does that look like? And what's like the social media stitch in in Fiji?

00:42:18
Did you get a pulse?

00:42:21
Yeah. So in Fiji, huge Facebook users, everyone wants to add you on Facebook as soon as they meet you, which is so different from here because we're like an Instagram, Snapchat kind of nation. And I feel like the rest of the world is more that like Instagram route. Now we've sort of moved on a bit from Facebook. But I really like the fact that if I did create an Instagram page, and that's the way when all your content gets automatically shared to Facebook.

00:42:49
So it could be a Facebook page that I don't really have to manage, but my Fiji and followers could follow. And then it's all sort of 1 Exciting Thing, yeah.

00:43:00
Yeah, I think that it's also social media is very, very specific generationally. So I think that, you know, more like young people are on, of course, like Snapchat, but also like Instagram, I think older. Generations are more inclined for Facebook. And so it's just like knowing that and that's where, again, knowing who your audience is really is important and knowing if you want to do Instagram like who who's hanging out on Instagram and also who's not, right. So yeah, I think that just getting clear about that makes a lot of sense.

00:43:34
Let's talk a little bit about the. So let's Instagram is the preferred platform. What? What do you envision as far as content creation, 'cause you had already mentioned, like, I like think maybe I bit off more than I can chew. Or like I didn't realize how busy I was going to be.

00:43:51
And I have to tell you from personal experience, it is a lot to manage a, you know, Instagram account that people follow. And the more people that follow you, the more pressure you feel to keep generating content. And also like my. Direct messages like people who reach out, and I love everyone who's listening. I love when you reach out.

00:44:13
I really it's it's it's awesome for me because I'm able to help support you. You guys ask me questions and that's really helpful and that's how I get ideas for more content. But it's a lot, it's like a lot of extra work and I am so lucky I have a team of people that can help me with it. So let's talk a little bit about what feels manageable for you, especially like if you're going to be kind of going to a new country and doing something different like. What does that look like?

00:44:40
Yeah. So I guess my sort of original idea came from this shared reading with children who use AAC. And I was thinking, like, if once a week I read a different book, and then throughout the book families can take what I use in that session and then do that as well. And I guess my idea is sort of grown and grown and grown to the point where I'm almost like it could be like vlog, almost of like my week. And every time I used AAC.

00:45:08
And yeah, I can use my verbal speech, but AAC has a place everywhere. So maybe if I just took it with me to the grocery store and filmed a quick video, I can paste them all together and then it's not outside of what I'm already doing.

00:45:24
So I like that the integrating with what you're already doing because we don't have to do this extra thing, we just need to start recording the things that we are doing so. I think that makes a lot of sense from like a time management standpoint. I also think that it's helpful to plan it out a little bit because you're going to start realizing very quickly like some things land and some things don't. And so I think one of the tricks with social media is knowing and testing what is working and what's not. So like for my.

00:46:00
You know, my Instagram for example, we realized quickly that we need to shift over to doing reels because reels are really the only thing people have a lot of visibility on. Sometimes swipe through posts and things like that can can get some visibility, but for the most part it's like reels and using trending audio like the little arrow on an Instagram. You know, audio is something that just helps with visibility because you can have the best content in the world, but if people aren't seeing it, then you know you're really kind of stuck and. And so I think that just like knowing some of those specific hacks to the specific platform and knowing those things change like very, I was very against reels in the initial stages. You can ask my team, They're like, Rachel, you think you need to do reels.

00:46:44
I was like, no, we're not doing reels. Like we're just, I was very much stuck and like, no, I don't want to do reels. And it was at the time where everybody was like doing those, like dancing ones, like pointing at the screen with like text popping up. I was like, that is not my vibe. That is not something I ever see myself doing.

00:47:01
And so I was very against it. And sure enough, like we started seeing our engagement drop, our visibility drop, like everything was just like kind of tanking to the point where I was like, OK, well, looks like we're going to do reels. And then I figured out how to do reels in a way that resonates for me. So I didn't have to be pointing at text flying on the screen. I could just share my ideas and quick, easy to digest chunks.

00:47:25
And so I think that that was something that was helpful for me, I'm thinking. Thinking about your vlog idea, though, and it feels like, I love this idea, I love that there's a theme, right? One thing with social media is that, like when people are thinking about you, like or thinking about your content, like, they want to have something to anchor into. And it's like, oh, Emily, that you know, that speech therapist who creates videos with shared reading in AAC. It's like very specific.

00:47:54
But then when people are like, oh, I'm going to share this, this, you know, this person's content with this family. And then people know where to find that specific content, right? Like it's 1A one stop shop and and then you have lots of things for people to kind of look at and see.

00:48:09
So I think that there's definitely a value in having something very specific and predictable. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I've seen like a few different platforms where it's like here and there, they do like 1 shared book reading, but then that's the only one on their platform. And I'm like, it's all well and great having, like the skills and techniques, but so many families want to see it across all the books. And then you get older children who are now understanding and reading chapter books.

00:48:38
And it's like, how do you get that involved with AAC? As a parent, how do you chat about that with your children?

00:48:44
I also think that. As much as you don't necessarily know or like YouTube yet, it feels like something that would be really good to also post on YouTube. Because one of the problems with social media is that it's hard to search content. It's not super searchable, right? I have to scroll and you know, see like where was that one thing versus YouTube.

00:49:06
I'm able to search like Pete the cat Emily, right? Like and I'm able to find something on a YouTube channel. It also is just easy to eventually add to a. Blog or a website or something like that. Whereas like you know I'm I've been known in a few instances to be sharing like an Instagram rail in a presentation and I'm always like feels a little awkward.

00:49:28
So I'm like team like we need to put this one on YouTube, so we'll. Transfer some of our reels from Instagram that performed really well and that people really resonated with and we'll put them on YouTube as a way to kind of share in an easier format to to search. And also just, I think that there's a professional element, like when I, like, showed up and was at a speaking event, I was like, here's my Instagram reel, I felt kind of like. Is this the best thing to be doing? And people were fine with it, but I just think having a YouTube channel, especially for people who are like, I don't do Instagram, I don't know, everyone does YouTube, right?

00:50:02
We've all watched a YouTube video, so I think that it's more universal. So just food for thought there. As far as, like when you are creating these, you know, videos for Instagram, it could be worthwhile to also put them on YouTube.

00:50:15
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah 'cause in my professional life I find myself searching for things on YouTube all the time because it's so much easier to say it with a video than it is to sort of type out exactly what you mean for every family. Yeah.

00:50:31
OK, I'm trying to think. Do you have any other questions for me about social media or just in general and things you want to brainstorm?

00:50:41
I guess sort of my the biggest worry is I'm very indecisive and even with my own personal Instagram sometimes I'm like, I love a black and white photo today and tomorrow I like a coloured photo and it's all a little bit hodgepodge. So I'm just sort of wondering like how do you pick a theme and sort of stick to it so that's your brand and people know that this is Emily's logo, This is what we look for when I I don't even know if I'm going to like that logo the next day like.

00:51:07
It's a great question. That's a really good question. And just to share another personal story, my own logo was such a journey because I first of all hired a graphic designer and was like, here's, here's what, here's my vision, here's the color scheme that I want, here's all the things right, everything that goes into a branding kit, fonts, colors, and then I. You know, really tried to give specific information as to what kinds of logos I liked and what I didn't, and I ended up spending so much money with a graphic designer. And the irony is that I actually ended up designing my own logo.

00:51:48
So my logo, the R, is actually my signature. And we, you know, created different versions of it. So like a circle. And you'll see like Rachel Madel, like that whole thing on a lot of our resources and, you know, on my Instagram and things like that. So I spent a lot of money to design my own logo, but it had to be the part of the process, right?

00:52:11
I was like, no, no, no, no, no. OK. OK, this is exactly what I want. And to be fair, my graphic designer did take my signature and my vision and she kind of made it come to life. But it was such a process.

00:52:23
And so I think just like getting really clear about what you're looking for and then just something that feels good. Event like I haven't thought about my logo in years, you know, like I just kind of like figured it out and I'm like, here we go. I do think branding is very important. And I think when you're thinking about social media or really anything, where you're trying to make an impact. Having a look and a feel creates again, something for people to anchor into and it also looks way more professional.

00:52:52
When you go on Instagram accounts and you're like, oh, same color, same vibe, I know what to expect. It's like you could see a post from that person, not even see their face or their name and be like, oh, like that looks like Rachel Madel, right? Like that's the goal. And so I think that having that, getting, getting all the information that you need to feel good about the brand and what that looks like is a little bit of a journey. But once you have it.

00:53:14
I think it just helps with continuity and just has a professional look And you know, branding is important and like that's why all of the biggest, most successful companies have a really strong brand and that stuff really matters. And so I think just getting really clear with yourself about like what you are, what you like, what you don't like potentially, you know, hiring a graphic designer, there's AI think there's a a platform called a fiver. And basically it's, you know, a lot of artists who go on that site and you can be like, I'm looking for this specific thing, and then people can create images for you and you can decide which one you like and pay for the one that you like. And so that's a resource I've never used specifically, but I know it exists and can be helpful. There's also, just like Canva, I feel like has so many templates that you could probably like.

00:54:04
Poke around on Canva and like don't even necessarily need a graphic designer but I think getting clear about like colours and things like that fonts can be really helpful. Yeah, yeah definitely yeah. Because I myself like gravitating towards certain things. But then like I'll look at it the next day and be like oh why? Like, I know I'm.

00:54:25
I'm indecisive too. There's definitely things and and if you look at my. Specifically my, my social media, it's evolved over time. Like we've kind of stayed within the parameters of our brand, but so many things have shifted and changed and we've actually played around with different fonts. And like generally speaking, we have the same color scheme, but not always like we kind of do muted pastel colors, Yellow, pink and teal are kind of the colors within my brand and white, but.

00:54:53
We kind of play around. We have lavender, we have like other colors. So we there's there's flexibility to play around. And it's been, yeah, interesting. If you look through, if you go through the archives of my own Instagram, a lot of things have shaped and evolved over time.

00:55:07
And I think that's possible. I think just generally speaking like keeping the same look and feel is is an important piece. Yeah, yeah, definitely OK Anything else? Any other burning questions or ideas?

00:55:21
You sort of touched on it before, but people sort of reaching out through social media because that's obviously really important. When you are on a platform like any of these platforms, people reaching out and asking questions, do you find yourself answering every single one, or are there specific ones that you pick out or like? How do you manage that when there's so many people who are now following you?

00:55:45
It's a lot. I feel really bad because sometimes it takes me a long time to get back to people. But I I mean, sometimes people reach out and I'm just like, oh man, like I can't respond to this like and and typically it's just like. When people ask me questions that they could Google, I'm just like like I'm not, I'm not responding to that because I I, I I genuinely want to help people. And if people reach out to me and ask very specific questions, which they do, they're like, I have a 5 year old autistic student, you know, and they give me this whole profile, right?

00:56:18
I'll read through it and I'll typically send back an audio message. That's a way for me to just spend less time. I can just quickly share some thoughts like look into oh you're looking for. Professional development with AAC Check out AAC in the Cloud. It's a free online conference that happens every year.

00:56:36
Project Core has some good modules, you know, go to the Practical AAC. It's an amazing blog. And then like, I'm done, you know? And so it does take me a while, But, you know, it's not like I always think about this 'cause I'm like I I do spend a lot of time kind of responding to people and and especially people e-mail me and all those things, but. Often times it's people that are so passionate about helping this specific child or student that they're working with and they spend so much time sharing every detail with me and I'm like, I just have to like help, right?

00:57:12
Like I just, I feel obligated to help because you know, it's not like I run like a fitness blog and like people are like please help me lose, you know, £10. It's like they're like please help me. Help this student learn how to connect and communicate with the world you know. And so I do feel obligated often times to respond. Sometimes if I keep seeing a theme, I'll that's when I'll create a real or I'll I'll go on my stories and say like, hey, here's a question.

00:57:40
And if I do that, it's typically because many people have asked that question or similar questions. So it does also guide my content. I like when people reach out with questions because when I keep seeing the same question, I'm like, OK, this is an area where people need more information or they feel. And so it really helps drive the content in a lot of ways. Does that help you answer your question?

00:58:00
Yes. Yeah, no, definitely. I think there's like, the idea of this becoming this really big platform is a little bit overwhelming at the moment, 'cause I'm not a huge social media user, but I just think there's so much space out there for these things and for really specific ideas like you what you were saying. And even if it's just one person who sort of sees it and understands it and it helps them, that's amazing. Like that's all we want.

00:58:24
Yeah, totally. No, you're you're so right. Like being able to make an impact in the work that we do in this field is really, really valuable and. Yeah, I mean, I think it's easy to feel overwhelmed by all the things, but it's important to just take it one step at a time. And, you know, there's different ways to kind of handle all the things that could potentially be overwhelming.

00:58:47
I mean, you'll hear advice like you have to post every day and like you have to post in your stories six times a day. Like, no, you don't. Like, you don't have to post that much. Like I post once a week usually. Sometimes we'll post more than that.

00:59:01
You know if you post more will you gain traction faster? Sure, but it doesn't have to be that right like. So I think just take it one step at a time and and also like figure out like. You know, is this fueling you or is it draining you? Because sometimes people, like, have these ambitions and they're like, it's just just draining.

00:59:20
I don't enjoy it. I don't want to do it. And maybe that means you need to pivot or do something different or, you know, figure out some type of solution. But ultimately it should be inspiring and empowering and and exciting. And generally speaking, I'd say that's what.

00:59:36
I'm not a big social media person in general. Like in my personal life, I hardly ever post or do anything on social media. But for work, it's been just so amazing to see the impact we've been able to have with creating content on. Online. And that's really exciting for me because I I mean, I get, I get messages from people saying, like I shared this reel during my console with a family and they like, it really resonated.

01:00:00
I'm like, I love that you're sitting on Instagram together with a family, like during a console watching me talk about whatever it is that I'm talking about. Like that is wonderful. So it does fuel you when you have you see the impact of the work that you do. No, definitely. Amazing.

01:00:18
Emily, it's been such a pleasure having you on today, sharing your experience. I'm so excited to see all the things that you do. Before we we hop off, where can people find you? We've been talking about an Instagram account. Like, do you have one set up yet or are you going to have one set up?

01:00:31
Like what does? What's your? What's your handle?

01:00:34
Yeah, so I've got one set up. It's Emily dot the dot speechy. So. Pretty clear who I am, what I do, but so far there's not a whole lot on there. I promise it will come in time.

01:00:47
But yeah, everyone, everyone, do a solid and go follow Emily on Instagram. If you're an Instagram user, we're excited to see all the things that you do. Definitely keep me posted about Fiji. I'm really excited to see part of that journey. Hopefully on your Instagram.

01:01:04
I know I'll be following along. And of course, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. I'm so excited to about all the work that you're doing and it's really making such an impact in a community that really needs support. And I'll be excited to kind of hear all the steps along the way. And yeah, we'll definitely have to to keep in touch about your your journey.

01:01:26
Oh sure, definitely. And for anyone else who is out there who is thinking or has the space to go overseas and work abroad in any other countries, IA 100% recommend it. Definitely do it because you grow so much as a professional.

01:01:40
I completely agree with that sentiment. I've learned so much travelling and working abroad. So if you have that spark, I would definitely just start emailing people. That's what Emily and I did, and it worked out pretty great For talking with tech. I'm Rachel Mehta, joined by Emily Taylor.

01:01:56
Thank you guys so much for listening and we'll talk to you guys next week.