Beth Frick Semmler
Host of AAC Chats
Bethany Frick Semmler is the AAC Research and Outreach Coordinator in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Penn State. She graduated from The Ohio State University with her PhD in Speech and Hearing Science. She received her B.S. in Spanish and Communication Sciences and Disorders from Missouri State University and an M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from The Ohio State University. During the Masters program, Bethany was part of the Leadership in Education and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program. Her research is focused on early language learning on augmentative and alternative communication and features on speech generating devices.
Beth Frick Semmler has hosted 10 Episodes.
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Episode 10: Accessible Literacy Strategies for Emerging Communicators
November 30th, 2024 | Season 1 | 43 mins 28 secs
Dr. Tim DeLuca joins us today to discuss the application of universal design for learning model to guide making literacy and word reading accessible for emerging communicators who may benefit from AAC.
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Episode 9: Family-Centered Services in AAC
October 31st, 2024 | Season 1 | 30 mins 22 secs
Karla Armendariz, a doctoral student at Penn State, joins us to discuss an online training module on the AAC Learning Center that discusses Family-Centered Services.
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Episode 8: Training Healthcare Providers to Support Children's Communication in Inpatient Rehabilitation
September 30th, 2024 | Season 1 | 52 mins 39 secs
Dr. Jessica Gormley joins us today to discuss her study investigating the effect of a mobile training for health care providers on providing opportunities for communication of choices for children in the inpatient rehabilitation setting.
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Episode 7: Supporting Practitioners During Alternative Access Assessments
August 29th, 2024 | Season 1 | 1 hr 2 mins
Dr. Heidi Koester joins us to discuss her study that investigated user needs while designing an app for alternative access assessments. Project team members for this study were Susan Fager, Tabatha Sorenson, Erik Jakobs, and Jessica Gormley. These user interviews informed the creation of Access Navigator which is an app meant to scaffold alternative access assessment for practitioners.
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Episode 6: NDBIs and AAC Interventions for Children on the Autism Spectrum
July 30th, 2024 | 32 mins 22 secs
Dr. Lauramarie Pope, an assistant professor at Auburn University, joins us again today to talk about the research that has been completed in NDBIs and AAC interventions.
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Episode 5: AAC Interventions for Children with Multiple Disabilities
June 28th, 2024 | 43 mins 5 secs
Dr. Savanna Brittlebank, an assistant professor at University of Illinois, joins us again today to talk about the research that has been completed looking at AAC interventions for children with multiple disabilities. This scoping review was the foundation of her doctoral dissertation work, which we also discuss.
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Episode 4: Working with Children with Cortical Visual Impairment
May 30th, 2024 | 40 mins 2 secs
Dr. Tara McCarty, an assistant professor at Penn State University Harrisburg, joins us today to talk about how to support children with cortical visual impairment (CVI) through her work with interviewing parents of children with CVI and a peer training to support interactions with children with CVI and their peers.
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Episode 3: Racial Disparities in Access to AAC Intervention
April 28th, 2024 | 29 mins 5 secs
Assistant Professor at Auburn University Lauramarie Pope joins us to discuss her recent article investigating access to AAC services. She found that black children with developmental disabilities had a decreased access to AAC intervention services when compared to their white peers.
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Episode 2: Framework for increasing AAC competency for pre-service SLPs and clinicians
March 31st, 2024 | 26 mins 3 secs
This episode explores the conceptualization of a framework to guide developing AAC competence in pre-service SLPs. It can also be used for in-service SLPs as a guide to enhance their AAC competence.
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Episode 1: Targeting Decoding Skills on AAC Devices with Adults with Down Syndrome
January 18th, 2024 | 26 mins 26 secs
In this episode, Christine Holyfield, PhD, CCC-SLP explains her newly published article describing how a decoding feature in the Transition to Literacy program affects single-word reading.