Growing AAC Professionals: AACessible Literacy: Emergent Literacy Resources for the AAC SLP

It’s graduation season here in the U.S. and there’s no better time to celebrate the graduates and those future professionals who have developed a passion for AAC. In today’s post, Krista Davidson introduces us to her student, Madie Kroehler, who generously shares the work she did for an independent study on AAC and emergent literacy.

Enjoy!

Growing AAC Professionals: AACessible Literacy: Emergent Literacy Resources for the AAC SLP

This month I am excited to bring you a post from one of our first-year graduate students, Madie Kroehler! Madie participated in an Independent Study with me this Spring. After discussing numerous possibilities for topics, we settled on AAC and literacy. We met every other week to consult on her readings and research. What evolved from those initial discussions culminated in something quite impressive. And with that, I’ll let Madie tell you in more detail how the project developed…

The final project for my independent study grew from the idea that I wanted to learn more about the relationship between literacy and AAC. Being an “out-of-field” graduate student, I had little exposure to this topic and knew that this would be crucial information as I worked toward my goal of being a pediatric/AAC SLP. Under the supervision of Krista Davidson, I was given freedom to explore this broader area of practice to better my understanding before more clearly defining the specifics of my project. The early weeks of the semester were dedicated to gathering information. I sorted through foundational research (largely meta-analyses and systematic reviews) covering a broad range of topics centered on AAC and literacy. I examined research on literacy instruction and curriculums, various populations of AAC users, technological tools, and more. Additionally, I acquired a highly recommended text, Comprehensive Literacy for All by Karen A. Erickson, Ph.D., David A. Koppenhaver, Ph.D. and joined informative social media groups run by professionals in the field to learn current perspectives and practical tips (Facebook: AAC for the SLP, AAC and Literacy, AAC SLCN Literacy. Instagram: @aactipstricksandtools). As I gathered research, I began to consider the diversity of information available, the breadth of evidence, and the time-consuming nature of sorting through it all for busy SLPs who are working to implement practical, evidence-based therapy. From this realization came the idea to put together a centralized source of evidence-based literacy resources, tools, information, and ideas for SLPs working with people who use augmentative and alternative communication.

Because the overarching topic of literacy in the context of AAC was all-encompassing, I narrowed my central focus to emergent literacy. Specifically, I was interested in the transition to literacy and the early stages of literacy acquisition. We considered a variety of mediums (printable document, presentation, etc.) but finally decided on creating a website with the intention of increasing impact and accessibility. With the final project defined and a foundation of research accumulated, I then went to work sorting through the gathered information to consolidate quality resources. I chose the categories of resources based on our goal to increase the accessibility of evidence-based practice and streamline the search process for working SLPs. Relevant within-device features, comprehensive websites, instructional programs and apps, helpful handouts, and community resources were all chosen based on their ability to contribute to useful evidence-based practice. After choosing a resource, I summarized the information it provided and potential areas of application it could offer. The collection of resources gathered was far from exhaustive, but rather they were gathered with the intention of easing information access for clinicians. In the end, I gained a wealth of knowledge regarding emergent literacy learning for AAC users, and even more about how to search an evidence base to find practical ways to implement therapy. More than that, I hope the AACessible Literacy website will be beneficial to SLPs’ efforts to support their students with complex communication needs and their journey to emergent literacy skill acquisition.

The site can be accessed here: https://sites.google.com/view/aacessibleliteracy/home

About the Guest Authors

Madie Kroehler is a graduate clinician and MA student in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Iowa. She can be reached at madison-kroehler@uiowa.edu.

Krista Davidson is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Iowa. She can be reached at krista-davidson@uiowa.edu.