In this special training video, two members of the AssistiveWare team discuss the relationship between AAC parents and professionals. Amanda Hartmann is a Speech Language Pathologist specializing in AAC who lives and works in Australia. Pam Harris is an active member of the AAC community and the parent and caregiver for her adult son, Josh, who has used AAC for nearly 30 years. They live in the United States. Together, they identify and tackle potential barriers that get in the way of successful communication support. They explore how we build relationships to solve the problems, keeping the best interests of the AAC user at heart.
From Australia to the USA, how did you create this training video?
Pam: “Technology makes it easy. Amanda and I have been working together on exciting social media projects for several months now - like our Facebook Live events and biweekly chats with adults who use AAC. We share a passion for supporting our community by listening and engaging.”
Amanda: “Pam and I had many insightful and interesting conversations as we brainstormed the content for this training video. We laughed and cried over stories and experiences. Even from either sides of the world, we have been able to bring this presentation together.”
What will be discussed in the video?
Pam: “I hope parents take away a stronger understanding of how important their role is on their child's AAC team. We hope they gain confidence and new advocacy skills. And move forward with a renewed commitment to protect their bond with their child.”
Amanda: “This video is all about how we build trust and collaborate. Things are always better when we talk about things using the same language, and this is the message we want to convey through this video. We will also go over more practical things; how this can look in day to day life”.
Who is the video for?
Pam: “This webinar is sure to provide practical takeaways for all parents whose children have a teacher or therapist.”
Amanda: “This is actually a niche video, in the sense that it explores a very specific topic: the partnership between parents/professionals is one of the most common barriers in allowing the AAC user to succeed. Building strong relationships is the key to providing quality support. An experienced therapist may already have the skills to do that, but a new parent may not. So this video is actually for everyone. We’re trying to look at it from all perspectives and see how both parties can work well together”.
This video is now available on Vimeo. Browse through the rest of our training videos by visiting our Resources page.
