Michael Myers in a Mat Man shirt, holding a box of crayons

It’s coming.  The end of summer.  The end of lazidacial mornings of drinking coffee on the porch in my pajamas with the dog at my feet.  Orientation is around the corner.

Whether you are entering the school doors for the first time or the 12th time, first day anxiety is creeping its way into your head like a bad 80s horror character.  

I like to picture my first day anxiety anthropomorphically, like Michael Myers with a Mat Man shirt on holding a box of crayons.  Chi chi chi, wah wah wah. He sits on my shoulder, like DeadPool on the overpass, coloring an IEP calendar. I ask, he answers.

Wonder what the caseload is going to be like this year?

Comparable to planning a trip to the hairy edge of Saturn

From under what hellish mountain of paperwork will I be shoveling this year?

Somewhere in height between K-2 and Everest

How will I get everything done?

By medicating

How many times will my schedule change? 

If a train is traveling at 80 mph and 30 people are walking in the opposite direction, how many cats would it take to fill the Lake Eerie?

Do I need a swear jar at work? 

Probably

When will I have lunch?

Whenever you damn well please, as long as you can eat it under 3.2 seconds

Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do.  I love my students. I love my co-workers.  But I still struggle with making each year manageable.  So now that I have completed my masters, I want to get back to writing.  It helps me process the day to day quirkiness that is school-based therapy.  

The work-wife (I’ll get into that in a later post) and I thought we would do a podcast about topics, trials, and tribulation of how to survive school-based service provision.  But for now, I think I will start here. Any maybe, just maybe you will come for the ride. Check out the scenery, share your experiences, or just nod your head in solidarity.

Learning On the Go: Podcasts and Webinars and You Tube, Oh My!

I love to learn and share what I have discovered with others, hence the blog.  And there is ALWAYS something new to share.  This time, I wanted to divulge some of the favorite ways I learn on the go.  


Podcasts: 
Podcasts are digital audio files available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically. (Thank you Google for the definition).  With the Podcast App on an iOS device, you have access to an immense amount of downloadable information.  But be aware of your internet connection during the downloading process.  If you are not in a wifi zone, downloading will eat your data on your phone.  I download and update at home before I leave for work and then just hook it up to my blue tooth in the car to listen.  Here are a few of the podcasts in my listening bank:

• A.T.TipsCast: SLP Chris Bugaj provides tools and tips for implementing assistive technology in the K-12 setting

• Assistive Technology Update- Wade Wingler at the INDATA Project of Easter Seals Crossroads of Indiana hosts a weekly series that highlights the latests news and technology as it  relates to assistive technology and those who use them

• Accessibility Online Webinars Series- Accessibilty Online is a collaborative training program between the ADA National Network and the US Access Board providing webinars and audio conferencing discussing topics related to accessibility.

• Accessible Technology Webinar Series- The Great Lakes ADA Center discusses the access issues related to technology and communications technology, especially at the workplace and social media level.

• ADA Audio Learning Series- The Great Lakes ADA Center provides in-depth information related to the American with Disabilities Act.

• The Web Ahead- Though this is an IT forum, host Jen Simmons dedicated 3 shows specific shows (#64, #69 and 77#) related to Accessibility and WCAG- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Webinars: 
A webinar is a live meeting that takes place over the web. The meeting can be a presentation, discussion, demonstration, or instructional session. Participants can view documents and applications via their computers, while shared audio allows for presentation and discussion (again, thanks Google for the definition).

If you have wanted to stay in your pajamas while drinking your coffee AND getting continuing education credits, webinars are the way to go.  Generally, less than 2 hours in duration, and hopefully interactive, webinars often go through Power Point slides while hosting a discussion via a feed of some sort.  Here are some I have venues I have taken advantage of:

• Center for Technology and Disability Institute: Provides an array of FREE webinar and post-webinar chats on assistive and instructional technology concepts for special education.  You may receive a certification of participation for your records.

• AOTA:  The American Occupational Therapy Association has webinars and online course that are approved for Continue Educational credits.  They range in price and if you are a member, sometimes they are discounted.

• RESNA: The Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America provides courses related to all sorts of assistive technology related information from powered mobility to positioning and augmentative alternative communication.  There are Member and Non-Member prices.  They are also accredited to provide CEUs.

• ABLENET University: AbleNet, a well known source for a variety of therapeutic and educational products, has a collection of live and recorded FREE webinars.  You may receive a certification of participation for your records.

You Tube:
Yes, you can watch Talking Animals (which I do, and I am proud of it) but did you know you can often find tutorials on assistive technology devices and strategies?  Just search the device you are looking to get help on, and chances are someone has created a video.  Or subscribe to YouTube channels like:

• INDATA Project: Easter Seals Crossroads provides video reviews and how-to tutorials on a variety technology

• ATinNH The A.T. Macguyver herself, Therese Willkomm and staff provide how-videos on low tech  adaptations.

On Line Modules:
Sometimes you can find courses that chunk out information a little at a time, like on-line modules. 
Assistive Technology Internet Modules: Each module gives you information with pre and post- topic quizzes.  And you can earn continuing ed credits.

So, if you are looking to broaden your knowledge base in the comforts of your own home, or on the go, try your hands at some of these resources.  And if you know of any good sources of information, please share in the comments section, and I would love to add it to my list!

OTMommy spOTlight on: Wade Wingler, Turning the Table on the Host of Assistive Technology Update

When I finally decided to work on my ATP (assistive technology professional) certification, I had already begun listening to Wade Wingler, at the INDATA Project, host of The Assistive Technology Update to get my "weekly dose of the latest information to keep (me) up to date in the ever changing field of assistive technology". I had even reached out to him for some advice at various points in time, because who better to guide me in the right direction than an established ATP. Fast forward 2 years, and nearly 200 episodes later, I wanted to turn the interview table on Wade and celebrate his upcoming 200th episode.

Thanks Wade for participating in this little interview for my blog.  I really just wanted to be able to give a shout out to you and your program since it was (and still is) the way I keep informed on current trends in the field, helping me provide the best service to my students, as well as fostering my passion for Assistive Technology!  

Your formal background is in sociology.  How did you find yourself working in the field of Assistive Technology, and at the INDATA project?

At the time I started working for Easter Seals Crossroads, I was preparing to go to graduate school for a masters degree in social work.  Frankly, I wasn’t accepted to grad school the first time around and needed a job!  Because I wanted to be a social worker and I had been writing computer software since I was 8 years old, a job that worked with people with disabilities and their technology needs seemed to be a decent way to spend one year while I was waiting to get into graduate school.  That one year detour turned into almost 22 years of the greatest career I could have ever asked for.

What inspired the idea of starting Assistive Technology Update?

A few years ago, our program experienced some significant funding cuts in the midst of political wrangling.  One of the parts of our program that was cut was our annual assistive technology conference.  I wanted to create something that would give people in Indiana a glimpse into the AT conference experience in a more affordable way.  The format of Assistive Technology Update is designed to capture a snippet of a conference experience, on a weekly basis, in a half-hour show.  We feature news stories and app reviews which are similar to visiting an expo hall at a conference.  We also include interviews with thought leaders in the field of AT, which is a little bit like attending an educational session at an AT conference.  Secondarily, I always wanted to be a radio personality when I was a kid and this project has let me scratch that itch.

Flashing back to October 28, 2011, the date of the first-released podcast,  did you ever think it would reach as far and wide as it has, for as long as it has?

No.  I honestly didn’t think it would grow as much as it has.  Because it was originally intended to replace a portion of the AT conference in Indiana, I hadn’t imagined the show growing to serve a worldwide audience.  We now have listeners in over 150 countries and I hear from people from almost every part of the globe.  I also didn’t expect the show to go from a very cheesy, three minute show to something more professionally produced and comprehensive in format.  

Of your nearly 200 episodes, which was your favorite interview and why?

Funny you ask.  On March 27, 2015 we will release episode 200 of Assistive Technology Update and, during that interview, I am asked that very question by radio personality, and our guest host, Danny Wayne.  I don’t have a single favorite episode, but we will play excerpts from three episodes that were particularly memorable.  The first is an interview with John Williams, the man who coined the term “assistive technology.”  The second was with a group of AT pioneers from Mongolia in which we talk about how their work has been helpful in getting the most basic AT in the hands of people in that country.  The last was a two-part interview with Bob Heil, the only non-musician ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Bob has a passion for sound, electronics, and helping kids with disabilities to be HAM radio operators.  Bob also has been the “sound guy” for musical legends like Joe Walsh, The Eagles, Carrie Underwood, and Stevie Wonder.

Tell me about the new AT Q&A Podcast.

We are about to record the very first episode of that show.  It’s been created in response to the wide variety of AT questions that we get here at Easter Seals Crossroads on an almost daily basis.  I was recently in a staff meeting when some of our senior AT specialists were kicking a question around and I found myself enchanted with the conversation.  It occurred to me that there might be people who would like to be a fly on the wall when some really smart AT professionals were talking about these kinds of questions an answers.  From that conversation, the idea for the show was born.

The host of the show is Brian Norton, manager of clinical assistive technology.  Regular panelists will include Mark Stewart who is the team lead of our cognitive/mobility team and Belva Smith who leads our vision/sensory team.  We also plan to have a fourth chair on a regular basis in which we will have various subject matter experts lend their perspective as well.

The show will be released twice a month and can be found on iTunes, Stitcher, or on the web at www.ATFAQshow.com

Now it’s your turn to answer: Tell me your favorite story about a AT….

Just one?  I can’t limit it to just one.  I’ll give you a couple:

I have amazing experiences each summer at a camp that we host for non-verbal kids.  We call it gadget camp and it’s amazing to see a group of young people, all augmentative communication users, interact with each other, go fishing, have water balloon fights, and make friends.

Not long ago I met an older, recently retired college professor who was losing his vision and had decided that he no longer offered value to the world.  He hadn’t wanted to retire and was clearly distraught that he wasn’t able to work in the same ways he had in the past.  As someone who teaches AT at the college level, I was immediately able to relate to him as an instructor and was also able to point him to resources that were able to help him go back to work and regain his confidence.  But, during that conversation, I specifically remember the moment when he exhaled, rather loudly, and said “Wow.  Maybe I’m not washed up after all.  Perhaps I could at least do something instead of sitting at home in front of the television wishing I could see what is on the screen.”  Moments like those make it worthwhile.

With technology changing exponentially, where do you see the field of AT in 5 years?

Based on my predictions, which mirrors what most of the guests on my show tell me, I think we will see much more mobile, much more integrated assistive technologies available at much lower costs.  I’ve seen that trajectory in my career and expect it to continue.  I also expect to continue to see more universal design and main stream technologies created with accessibility built-in.  The lines between what is considered assistive and mainstream will continue to converge and blur.  

From automatic coffee pots to smart phones, to GPS technology, to iPads, we live in a world in which each of us takes technology for granted every single day.  It is my hope that people with disaibliites will also be able to take technology for granted because it’s created in a way that is accessible to everyone.

And if anyone would like to reach out to you or the INDATA project, what would be the best way to contact you?

Email: wwingler@eastersealscrossroads.org

Twitter: @INDATAProject

Facebook: www.EasterSealsTech.com/facebook

Make sure to check out and subscribe to Assistive Technology Update as well as ATFAQ though iTunes to get your fix of new and upcoming technology information. You can also get great tips on tons of different devices from Easter Seals Tech Team when you check out their You Tube Channel. And if you have a question about assistive technology, you can tweet it along with the hashtag #ATFAQ, and maybe it will be answered on the the new podcast.

Congratulations Wade and the rest of the team at Easter Seals Crossroads and the INDATA project for highlighting, informing and entertaining for 200 episodes!

OTMommy spOTlight on : Chris Bugaj, the Practical and Fun Host of ATTIPSCAST

When I dove into assistive technology, head first, a colleague had directed me to A.T.TIPSCAST, a podcast providing over 460 quick and easy AT Tips available for all learners to use in the school setting. Since then, I have enjoyed listening to Chris Bugaj share his knowledge and experiences, often incorporating them as soon as I walk in the door at my school. Of course, I have now also read his book and attended a webinar, using his advice and strategies to improve the life of my students. Let's just say, he's quite the guru of Practical and Fun ways to integrate strategies and technology into the classroom. So this is kinda like a professional Wayne's World moment....

Thanks again Chris for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for the post!

1. Your shared experiences make me want to work for Loudoun County School System!  Have you always been in education?

Yes, in fact, I’ve worked my entire professional career in LCPS. I started there in 1999 and haven’t ever felt the need to leave. I’ve looked, applied, and even interviewed other places since I started but the grass never appeared greener anywhere else.

2. You’ve been an SLP for how many years, now?  What inspired you to focus on assistive technology?

I was the speech-language pathologist for Hillside Elementary School for 3 years. In that time the school had an autism program and a program for students with intellectual disabilities. I also worked extensively over the summers with students receiving extended school year services, wasn’t afraid to share my opinions and strategies at staff meetings, and occasionally demonstrated how I was using technology to manage my caseload. In 2002, LCPS hired a full time assistive technology person. She created a team of volunteers but lobbied administration to create a dedicated team. Our director of special education saw the need and established the team.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to be on the new AT Team. For one year, my fourth year with the district, I split my time. In the mornings I did speech-language services in a preschool classroom and in the afternoons I worked with my teammates to establish the district’s AT Team. I found it incredibly rewarding to be trusted with such a tremendously important task. We all dove right in!

3. I know I can describe the times I felt totally validated when I was working a student who demonstrated success; you know, when they finally get the picture exchange concept during a sensory based play experience or when that non-verbal kiddo says “cool” for the first time.  Can you share one of your most fond therapeutic moments?

There are so many! It’s hard to choose, but these are probably the two moments that stand out.

1. BIG PUMPKIN LIVE - When I was the SLP at the elementary school one of the books I used regularly in lessons was BIG PUMPKIN. It’s about big, strong, capable monsters trying to get a pumpkin that is stuck in the ground off the vine in time for Halloween. In the end, it’s a tiny, weak, but clever bat that figures out how to solve the problem. A student with autism with social and verbal expression goals had read the book with me. Later in the month at the Fall Festival assembly I directed some teachers through a live adaptation of the story. Teachers dressed like characters from the book and performed it live as I told the story. At the end of the play, before the crucial scene where the bat flies in with the winning idea for how to get the pumpkin off the vine, I stopped the show, turned to the audience and asked, “What do you think they should do to get the pumpkin off the vine.” The first grade student with autism immediately raised his hand. I ran to him, jumping over Kindergarteners in a single bound, and shoved the mic in his face. Then I asked, “Do you know what they should do?”

With all the confidence in the world the boy grabbed the mic, pulled it to his  

mouth and yelled, “They should work together!”

b. One summer as a speech pathologist I worked with a middle school student with some of the worst articulation difficulties I'd ever seen. He worked on his family's farm daily in near isolation. He was shy, embarrassed, worrisome, friendless, and nearly unintelligible. On the last day of our summer together his grandmother told me that he told her that he felt like I had helped him so much that he wanted to buy me something with his own money. They went shopping and he bought me this plaque. I’ve kept it ever since.

4. What prompted you to write the book and create the A.T.TIPSCAST?

Our assistive technology team was established. It was working. We had pushed the boulder of establishing our presence with policies and procedures up the mountain. The task changed from creating a team to maintaining the team. Being part of building the AT Team was the single most fulfilling thing I’d done in my professional career. I realized that I enjoyed the building and creating part of the experience. We made something that wasn’t there before. Once it was made the question became, what should I be a part of making next?

At the time I was commuting 2 hours a day and listening to many podcasts. When I went searching for podcasts on assistive technology I found the pickings to be slim. That inspired me to try my hand at it. I ran it past my wife, who was nothing but encouraging, and off to work I went in the evenings producing the first few episodes of the A.T.TIPSCAST. The excitement of making something has been there ever since!

As for the Practical (and Fun) Guide to Assistive Technology in Public Schools, Sally Norton-Darr, the co-author of the book, and I were presenting at our very first national conference, FETC (The Florida Educational Technology Conference) in Orlando. Our presentation was called Chew the P.H.A.T. Policies and How-To’s in Assistive Technology. The presentation was designed around our service delivery model, which at the time, was pretty unique in the country. The night before the presentation I had the idea to incorporate Disney references on just about every slide and invite people to yell out the movie titles when they saw the reference. I ran it past Sally about an hour before the presentation. She loved the idea and we jumped in altering slides.

The presentation was a huge success with a great amount of audience participation and interaction. At the very end a man came up to us and asked us if we’d ever considered writing a book on the subject. I said, “Absolutely!” and Sally agreed. That man was Jeff Bolkan, a managing editor for the International Society on Technology in Education. I had just launched the A.T.TIPSCAST the previous month and there I was with Sally writing the book! Like the presentation, the A.T.TIPSCAST, and everything else I try to do, we wrote the book in a very unique style with the hopes that it would be engaging to reader. We didn’t want the book to feel like a chore to read. By using fun analogies to zombies, leprechauns, pirates, robots and more we thought it might be something that would keep readers turning the page instead of falling asleep.

5. You are coming up on your 150th podcast milestone soon.  When you started it, did you ever think it would be as widespread and popular as it is?  Are you going to do anything special to celebrate?

I don’t know how widespread and popular the podcast really is. The underlying message of the show is that the technology we use for students with disabilities is really technology that could be used to for everyone. Sometimes I think just the fact that the term “assistive technology” is in the title keeps general educators from discovering it and the show is as much for them as it is for anyone.  Still, I had no idea anyone would ever listen to the show and to this day the number of downloads vary wildly per episode. I do have an idea for the 149th and 150th episodes, but it is going to take some time to pull those together. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of it.

6. What does the future hold for the Bugajs? Perhaps a traveling education show with your wife, Melissa, discussing special education, and your kids commenting on how to use multisensory media to get projects done?

Absolutely! There are definitely future plans for my wife and I to present even more in the future. We present together as often as we can because we have a lot of fun together! As for the kids, that is also something we’ve discussed. Every year our school district puts on its own educational technology conference in June called ActivLoudoun Plus (#ALP15). We’ve been discussing the kids being co-presenters showing the fun technology we use to complete our school assignments.

As for me specifically, I was just asked to join Bruce Baker, creator of Minspeak, on a two week presentation tour of Australia and New Zealand. I’ll be headed to the Land Down Under and the Land of the Long White Cloud this summer to talk about implementing core vocabulary into the classroom. Also, Melissa gets to fly out and join me for a few days as well! We can’t wait, Mate!

7. As a school based therapist struggling to get administration to acknowledge the knowledge and experiences of the in-house therapists and teachers, what advice do you give to people like me to help them develop their own AT Team? (besides buying the book!)

Do remember the character Mad Eye Moody from the Harry Potter series. His key phrase was “Constant Vigilance!” Stay at it. Keep banging that drum. Also, remember that in order to truly sell the idea of the team you need to convince administration that it will save money in the long run. Administration will see the money it will cost to pay a team of professionals. It’s your job to show them the money they’ll save by having those professionals in place. Less non-adoption of technology, less abandonment, less wasted therapy time, less wasted money on technology that isn’t used, less time on training, and so forth. Explain how a team will reduce the amount of headaches they have to deal with on a weekly basis. Show them that you’ll start the process of assistive technology consideration by thinking about what’s already in the environment and attempting to solve problems using least restrictive solutions. Lastly, put the responsibility on yourself to make the change. Don’t get frustrated that the administration isn’t doing what you know is right. Chances are they want what you want, but the barrier is often tied to the purse strings. Knowing that, you can focus on getting some really sharp scissors to cut those strings.

8. What is your favorite app (and it doesn’t have to be AT related)?

ATEVAL2GO, of course!

But, I’m also a fan of Timehop - for remembering all my old posts, Up *synced to my UP24 band)- for tracking my steps and calories, and, in the summer, Zombies, Run! which is a clever way to get me out the door and on my feet by being chased by a horde of zombies.

Finally, my absolute app, of all time, is the podcasting app. There is SO much free content out there that is really interesting to me I never have time for it all.

9. What are the top five items in your therapy tool box?

Back in grad school I saw a classmate spend all weekend making a super fancy board game to play with a kid. I whipped up my crappy little board game in under an hour. We went in to our respective therapy sessions and both kids came out smiling from ear to ear enjoying themselves. I realized early on that the best therapy is making connections with people, not the tools or gadgets you have in your backpack. If you’re genuinely enjoying yourself then the student will too and then they’ll make progress. What are my top 5 items?

• A smile coupled with a laugh
• Patience
• Dice
• Video Camera
• Sense of Humor

10. You are a very busy person! On top of a family man, you are a speech therapist, author, blogger, podcast host, TedTalker, Webinar-er, App Developer and national presenter. Am I missing anything?

I try to workout and run every now and again. Back in 2009 I weighed close to 200 lbs. On my son’s first day of Kindergarten I changed my eating patterns and started exercising. Since then I’ve lost about 55 lbs and have managed to keep it off. I’m pretty proud of that.

On top off all of that, I really enjoyed writing the children’s stories with my wife. Night Light Stories has been a really fun, rewarding ride for us! Our other responsibilities have prevented us from keeping up with it at this time but it is something I hope to get back to soon because I really enjoyed creating those stories for kids of all ages!

11. And if anyone wants to get in touch with you, what is the best way to contact you?

Website: http://attipscast.com

E-mail: attipscast@gmail.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/attipscast

I can't thank Chris enough for taking time out of his zombie-running, podcast-producing, therapy-giving schedule.  I highly recommend heading to iTunes and subscribing to A.T.TIPSCast to learn quick and easy tips on your drive to work that you can implement once you get there. You can also find videos on Chris’s You Tube channel for you visual learners. And if you want to learn how to be constantly vigilant and develop your own AT Team in your district, consider reading The Practical (and Fun) Guide to Assistive Technology in Public Schools, available through ITSE publishing. It's informative and entertaining. Don't forget to check out his TEDx Talk "Disability-led innovation for the masses" and Night Light Stories.