In this solo episode, Sarah discusses her experience learning about AAC, including the challenges of information overload, the focus on AAC education on theory instead of practice, and what’s on the other side.of AAC Overwhelm. By the end of this episode, you’ll have and idea of how to navigate learning about a new area of clinical interest (with a less overwhelming process).

Key Topics

Some things to keep in mind:

Our scope of practice is so big, it’s OK to be a generalist
We can’t know it all
There is a point of diminishing returns where researching MORE won’t help and we truly need to stop researching and start acting - and see what works for our particular caseload. It’s OK to stop researching.
Decisions aren’t forever - this is what we are TRYING; and we will take data along the way so if it isn’t working, we will adjust, I’m not fully committing to just one system or method
Utilize your community - in this case I asked around and no one was really doing AAC evals, or else if they were I would have honestly referred out for the AAC eval but at least for now that’s just not an option.
Finally, if an area of practice is making you feel STRESSED ask yourself - what do I need to know this week (or this month) for this learner? I’m all about taking courses, and continuing education - but sometimes we do too much.
Remember - sometimes we need to manage energy and dial down the research in order to be present with our students, watch them and learn from them and where they are at right now, and if needed get answers to specific questions (courses, asking an SLP friend, asking on social media if you have a group where it’s safe to do that, etc) rather than trying to tackle the entire disorder area at once