SETC webinar
“In this book study, we will engage with both the content and the author in a way that informs our implementation of AAC in home and school settings and helps us connect with students with complex communication needs and their caregivers in a genuine way.
Sessions:
Week 1: What Matters/Believe in your Why
Week 2: Grief
Week 3: Diagnosis and Prognosis
Week 4: Access
Week 5: Celebrating the Individual
Week 6: I see you in there
Week 7: Except and Accept
Week 8: Early Adopters
Book Description:
This book is a collection of personal stories of people I have come in contact with over my life but mostly over the last 23 years of my career as a Speech-Language Pathologist who specializes in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). For those that don’t know that vocabulary, I usually explain my job by saying “think Stephen Hawking.” He is the most famous person I can think of that used AAC to communicate, and he is also the best example of a person who is highly intelligent but struggles to communicate verbally. He is a hero because he very publicly debunked that verbal ability and intelligence must go together.
My road to this career was anything but straight. I had the honor of attending the University of Washington for my Bachelor of Science degree in speech and language. I then attended Western Washington University and received a Masters of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology. Right from the start, I realized that even those in my field struggled to define what it is we “do.” Are we scientists or artists?
The field of speech and language cannot agree as to whether or not the degree is an Art or a Science. Whole colleges have decided it’s an art. Other colleges feel strongly that it is a science. Some that are more drawn to the educational and pediatric population, often consider it a Masters of Art. Those on the more medical side of things, and possibly more focused on adults, have often labeled this a Masters of Science. What is communication? Is it a science? Is it art? What is the facilitation of communication… The role of the actual therapist? Is that a science? Is that an art?”
