By David Chapple In 1996, I had been out of college for about two years. I met my future wife Kate at the Pittsburgh Employment Conference (PEC) for augmentative communicators. The conference was for individuals who use communication devices. I was from Ohio and she was from Texas. Our eyes met and we just knew, it was lo...

By Jo-Marie, children’s author, Adi’s World book series Life’s a journey. Live your dreams! Jo-Marie In my imagination all deciduous trees are hollow. Many of them have communities of tiny beings living inside of them. I hope you decide to visit this fantasy world. Book One: Adi’s World Have you ever...

By Sandy Baldwin, M.S., CCC-SLP, Regional Consultant for PRC I’ll never forget the day I scheduled an appointment in the park to meet the family of a handsome, energetic 6-year-old boy. This special young fella, whose diagnosis was autism, used no verbal speech, but there was an obvious connection between Elisha and...

By Laura Townsend Kane As a lifelong introvert, I have diligently avoided encounters with strangers, and have often fought back mini panic attacks at the thought of “small talk” at parties or gatherings. Being open with strangers does not come naturally to me. Oddly, this is the case for all of my immediate family me...

_By Beth Ahmad, , M.A., CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist Regional Consultant, PRC The “Model, Model, Model” Mantra Here’s an all-too-familiar story… I met with a team of a student who uses an Accent 1000. This student has had the device for over a year now, but the team tells me, “He’s not interested in...

By Abigail Brown Sometimes when I get down about the things I can’t do on my own. Like having my very own car and be able to drive myself anywhere I want to go. Oh to have that independence, how I long for it. But I have come to the realization many times now that I’ll never probably have a car or even a drivers lice...