Christina Schmidt: Empowering Families Through Culturally Competent AAC
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What is cultural competency and why is it essential for AAC?
Welcome to Talking with Tech, I'm your host Rachel Madle, joined as always by Chris Bouguet. Hey Chris!
Hey Rachel. Well, we've got a listener feedback question to to review today and talk about and And see what we have to say about it. So are you ready? I'm ready. Let's go. I am a longtime fan of your podcast and an SLP in early intervention in the state of Michigan. I currently work in our birth to three program known as Early On. As a part of our program, we provide birth to three supports for twenty different school districts in our county. We have been working really hard to create supports and structures for an early-on AAC team and working through creating a system that supports our primary service providers in educating and implementing AAC. Not all service providers are SLPs. Our team is doing an incredible job in a variety of ways, however, we keep coming back to one question.
This question was brought up on the podcast in the interview with Kristen Hughes and Amy Kennedy. You, Chris, talked about the importance of matching the light tech board with what the district is mainly using for high tech. In this case, it was Lamp Words for Life. Where we are struggling is we have created an early on core board. But when our children turn three, they transition back to their local school district for services. Some of our three to five services have systems they prefer, such as TD Snap or Lamp Words for Life, but others do not. With twenty different districts, are we way off base creating our own? And should we be matching the core that we think the child may use if they move into their local student school district's programming after three?
Something we are also getting kickback on from the district is that if we are matching the program for the child in early on To what they are using in the classroom for three to five special education supports. Then There is a level of predetermination before the IEP takes place. Just curious your thoughts. I know every state offers different 0-3 supports, and that this may not be a question for the general masses, but it is something that we seem to be debating regularly and would love your input on. So what do you think?
Um this reminds me of a few slides in one of our talks,
Chris. 'Cause
we actually
I would disagree here in the sense that It actually is a great question for the general masses, in fact. Um, it's not just specific to this organization or early intervention. So many SLPs and teachers are using core boards and resources that they've made themselves. Um, and so, you know, I think the question comes down to The idea of motor planning and supporting AAC long term, um, which I think was kind of embedded into this question, but not explicitly stated. Um, so if we're starting off with a core board that we've made for all of these schools. And then the students transition, the idea is that we've did so much great modeling and support with one specific AAC system and then we're moving to something different.
And so we've lost the motor plans that we could have been learning and we're not necessarily thinking, um, long term if we know that the system's going to change one day.
Totally.
Totally. I was like, and drop the mic. No. So, I mean, I think that this is like a really big challenge that a lot of clinicians face, and I I think that if we're really doing our part and we know how long it takes for students to learn motor planning and to practice using an AAC system, then we have to be thinking long term and we have to be thinking designing with the end in mind. Um and I think based off of this question If we know that many of the AAC systems that are used in this district or are T D snapper lamp, then Why are we not using screenshots of those systems in order to support students who might be transitioning from a paper-based AEC to high tech um, you know, down the line?
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um all that makes sense and you know that's exactly what I'm thinking too. Let me uh yes and that. Um I'm gonna start at the end of this question here where it talks about predetermination.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is cultural competency and why is it essential for AAC?
0:08–9:52
2
How does Christina Schmidt define and address implicit bias in AAC practice?
9:52–18:41
3
What strategies help clinicians build trust with culturally diverse families?
18:41–27:22
4
How can speech‑language pathologists incorporate dialects like African American English into AAC systems?
27:22–38:16
5
What practical questions should clinicians ask families to honor their cultural and linguistic identity?
38:16–47:15
6
Which resources and checklists does Christina recommend for improving cultural competence?
47:15–57:02
7
How can parents and caregivers advocate for culturally responsive AAC support?
57:02–1:06:02
8
What are the key take‑aways for creating inclusive, culturally competent AAC programs?
1:06:02–1:13:01
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Talking With Tech AAC Podcast
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Episode 356: The State of the Podcast
Episode 355: Building an Inclusive Playground and Community
Episode 354: Brie Norton & Lynsey Phillips: Creating a Culture of Learning Language Using Augmentative/Alternative Communication
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