Ep. 21: Five Mistakes to Avoid When Introducing AAC
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What is the purpose of this episode and who are the hosts?
What's up everyone and welcome to Making the Shift.
We're an SLP couple from California with three boys and a passion for finding better ways to support autistic kids.
I'm Chris. You might know me as Speech Dude. I'm a neurodivergent high school SLP and the creator of the Dynamic Assessment of Social Emotional Learning and I specialize in crafting neurodiversity affirming IEPs through my online course.
And I'm Jessie, a sensory integration trained SLP, owner of a top-rated clinic in Los Angeles, and the creator of the Inside Out sensory communication programs for parents and therapists. Join us weekly to learn neurodiversity-affirming ways to support social-emotional development and regulation in autistic kids.
Are you ready to make the shift?
Let's do it. hello everyone welcome to making the shift
that's what we're doing we are making the shift every day of our lives and so are you because you're here and that's what it's about right
that's right and i was just gonna say you could just tell we had a rough day by looking at my face
right now but sometimes tired I had a somewhat rough day, but it's back to being in calm waters. The waters were a little choppy there for a little bit in the boat, but we're starting to return back to the harbor.
Yeah, we had a whirlwind of a day, which started with my OB called me this morning and said he was reviewing our ultrasound, which was yesterday, and that it looked like there was asymmetry in the ventricles of the brain of the baby. And he said, it's nothing to worry about right now. We want you to see a specialist. And I wasn't really worried until he said, We want you to see a specialist in the next couple of days. You know, that was what I
was thinking, like, we
have some time. And then the office, the specialist office, which is gosh, what kind of specialists are they? Genetics, I guess.
Yeah, that's exactly what they are.
So they called and they actually got us in this afternoon. And then it was just the craziest experience that we had a meeting with them with a genetic counselor. And they told us that there were, they say one or multiple cysts.
Yeah, they said they're really tiny.
cysts in the baby's brain which was news to us so they were saying that like with the cysts if they also find asymmetry which they were going to do another ultrasound today then that we would have to probably do an amnio
something
synthesis is that what it stands for long word where they test the dna of the baby and the amniotic fluid and then we could i don't know it was just a whole thing it was very scary because they were talking about like all the things that could go wrong and like if there were going to be any chromosomal differences and all of this. So but they said, you know, we won't know anything until we do the ultrasound. So then we do the ultrasound, which did you love that doctor? I thought she was amazing.
That was my first ultrasound perspective here, like since March of 2020, when the world shut down. It's been challenging for me to be able to be able to be admitted into these rooms for health and safety reasons, but they were okay with it now. And so I got to go to my first ultrasound. So for baby Jack, I didn't have any of those opportunities other than FaceTime. So it was a really good experience. I mean, today was a rough experience that ended
up. But that doctor, she was so amazing. She was this older woman. It was like she didn't need to be working because she was so old, but you could just tell she loved it so much, right?
Yeah.
So she said that there are cysts, which is just fluid. She did not see any asymmetry, which was really good. And... The cyst, she said, can be very normal. A lot of times people, babies will have them and then they'll just disappear. But it's really, it wasn't something we had to worry about. Now I'm going back in a month.
Why is total communication essential for neurodiversity‑affirming practice?
And so, yep, that boat's coming right back in because the outcome of it was much better than what we had projected or what we had initially told. But it
was like an hour of terrifying genetic counseling followed by a super quick ultrasound for us to assure us that things were like looking pretty good.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the purpose of this episode and who are the hosts?
0:08–4:38
2
Why is total communication essential for neurodiversity‑affirming practice?
4:38–10:02
3
What are the five common mistakes when introducing AAC?
10:02–14:19
4
Why is waiting too long to introduce AAC a mistake?
14:19–18:12
5
Should AAC always start with low‑tech tools like PECS?
18:12–21:17
6
How can restricted access to an AAC device hinder progress?
21:17–25:51
7
Why is presuming competence important for AAC learners?
25:51–28:21
8
How does modeling and autonomy support successful AAC use?
28:21–31:06
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
Ep. 125 How to Run Successful Social Groups
Ep. 124 Building Rapport Isn’t Enough...How Therapists Become Part of the Intervention
Ep. 123 Not Seeing Progress in Speech Therapy? Start Here.
Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)