Vicki Haddix & Janine Peca (Part 2): A Neuroaffirming Approach to Overstimulation and Sensory Needs

This week, we share Part 2 of Rachel's interview with Vicki Haddix and Janine Peca! Vicki Haddix is an AAC Specialist and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Memphis who teaches their course on AAC for the Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Janine Peca is an autistic adult who recently went through Memphis’s CSD program and is now an SLP. Janice shares about a recent presentation she made about neuroaffirming practices, including a fascinating portion on what it feels like to be overstimulated. Vicki shares about how she improved her class design by giving choices to students whenever possible.

Before the interview, Rachel and Chris talk about Rachel’s recent two-week vacation to Spain and France and Chris’s Roadtrip to ISTE! Rachel and Chris discuss using Google Translate to translate between languages in real time, scanning pictures for text translation and text to speech, the Wonderfully Inclusive Scavenger Hunt at ISTE, and more!

Key ideas this week:

🔑 Supporting sensory needs can be very motivating for AAC users, but are not always considered when deciding on motivating language for emergent communicators. Janine shares about the sensory strategy communication board she made for herself for when she feels overstimulated and has difficulty formulating language.

🔑 Labeling certain behaviors as a “meltdown” or “tantrum” carry the implicit meaning that it is done for attention. When an autistic person reacts to overstimulation with a particular behavior, we should consider that this behavior may be physically necessary for them at that moment.

🔑 During a period of overstimulation, we can connect with an autistic person in a neuroaffirming way to find out if there is something we can do to help, such as saying, “I notice you are doing a lot of hand flapping, and I wonder if you are feeling a lot of stimulation. Is there anything I can do to help?”

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