Episode #130: Tech Tips For Autistic Learners with Joan Green

Technology can feel intimidating, but there are so many tools available on your common devices that you might not even consider using them in therapy. Joan Green is an SLP, assistive technology specialist, and online tech advisor. In this episode, she shares 10 tech tips that anyone can use to utilize technology and enrich your therapy sessions. 

As SLPs, it’s important for us to know and understand the assistive apps and accessibility features available, especially functions that are useful across the lifespan. As Joan explains these tips, she shares examples, scenarios, and easy ways to integrate these technology features into therapy with various ages.

Ten Tech Tips:

1. Maps: show your learner about their neighborhood, city or other places they might be interested in.
2. Photos: This can be a leisure activity by looking through photos or even a way to communicate by snapping pictures and sending them.
3. Calendar: scheduling and visual calendars like the iOS or Google Calendar are great tools that can be used across the lifespan.
4. Speech to text: visual power of words; let your learner see the words they are speaking.
5. Text to Speech: This feature can make any digitally written word become read aloud.
6. Captions: this is an important accessibility feature, available for free on most devices and audio platforms.
7. Video Calls: this can help with visual cues in a phone call format and empower individuals to make calls.
8. Smart Assistance: Alexa, Siri, and Google can all be used with voice commands and can be empowering to impact action and have voice recognition.
9. Engaging activities with fun learning apps: these are great ways to use side by side with accessibility devices for joint attention, Joan recommends Khan Academy Kids on iOS and Android.
10. AAC devices and apps: these devices and applications can give your learner a voice, or assist when speech may be stressful in certain circumstances.

Joan offers a ton of information on technology and some awesome ways she helps professionals in the field. Be sure to download the free PDF for today’s listeners to learn all about these 10 tech tips and check out her platforms online.

#autism #speechtherapy

Today’s Guest:

Joan Green is a highly experienced speech-language pathologist, assistive technology specialist, and online tech advisor. With nearly 40 years of experience, she is deeply passionate about helping individuals of all ages and abilities by leveraging personal technology tools to enhance communication, learning, and participation in meaningful life events. Joan offers 1:1 coaching sessions to families and organizations, as well as creates online courses and webinars to help empower students, employees, parents, and elderly adults to improve engagement and achievement. She is also the author of four books on how technology can assist with communication, cognition, literacy, and learning. With a focus on connecting and helping colleagues and families worldwide, Joan is committed to streamlining the use of apps, devices, accessibility features, and other emerging tech tools and resources to support reading, writing, thinking, organizing, and communicating. Originally from Buffalo, NY, Joan received her formal graduate education at Northwestern University and now resides in Montgomery County, MD, where she continues to dedicate her career to helping individuals overcome barriers and improve skills with innovative technology solutions.

What’s Inside:

• 10 tech tips for your therapy sessions today.
• Understanding important accessibility features.
• How can simple, everyday tech be used in therapy?
• How to incorporate devices into therapy?
• How to utilize AAC devices and apps for different situations.

Mentioned In This Episode

—10 Tech Tips to Enhance Communication
—Innovative Speech Therapy
—IST Tech Savvy Solutions Public Group | Facebook
—Amazon.com: Assistive Technology in Special Education: Resources to Support Literacy, Communication, and Learning Differences

Save $100 on our autism courses!
—Toddler/Preschool Course 
—School- Age Course
—The Advanced Language Learner

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