Using Social Media for Good

 

Most of us have a smart phone these days.  And most of us use social media sites, such a Facebook or Twitter.  For better or worse, we are often glued to online content.  While there may be a surplus of cute kitten pictures and Gifs, social media can also be used to support AAC.

Facebook, for instance, contains many AAC groups where one can interact with parents and professionals.  These include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:

  • AAC for the SLP
  • AAC – Alternative Awesome Communicators
  • AAC Through Motivate, Model, Move Out Of The Way
  • Research in AAC

If you have a Facebook account, you can request to join these groups.  Many device and app manufacturers also have support pages on Facebook.  This is often the quickest way to get an answer to a nagging technical problem.

With a Twitter account, you can “follow” many professionals in the fields of AAC and assistive technology.  Their “tweets” often provide links to articles and printable resources.  But that’s not all.  Twitter Chats are now a thing.  By following a hashtag, you can see and respond to questions in a live, online brainstorming session. Some examples include:

  • #ATchat
  • #UDLchat
  • #USAAChat

Kathryn Helland

Kathryn is a certified speech-language pathologist and works with children and adults with complex communication needs. She has been with the TechOWL team since 2015 and is currently working on her doctorate. She would like to examine how to best support AAC users in higher education.

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