TALC Services
Technology & Language Center, PC. is a tele-AAC practice serving children, teens, and young adults with complex communication needs.
Tele-AAC is a form of telepractice, a method of offering services using videoconferencing tools like Zoom, specifically for individuals using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and their teams.To learn about what AAC is, who uses AAC, and how AAC affects speech development, click here >
For answers to your most frequently asked questions about tele-AAC services, watch our 5-minute video.
A transcript of the video is also available here.
The nature and speed of Betsy’s progression in therapy through telepractice has been remarkable. Being able to access therapy in her natural environment via telepractice has resulted in a dramatic improvement in her ability to use skills learned in therapy at home. As the primary caretaker for Betsy, I have also benefited greatly from learning how to facilitate Betsy’s communication at home and across settings by learning with Betsy during telepractice speech therapy at home. Having telepractice therapy has also allowed Betsy’s brother and dad participate in therapy sessions for the first time in 17 years! Therapy no longer feels like something that is separate from “real life.”
AAC Evaluation
AAC is not one-size-fits all. There are literally hundreds of apps, speech-generating devices, and light-tech strategies available to help children who are unable to communicate effectively using their speech. Selecting an appropriate communication system requires a feature-matching assessment in which “the skills of the nonspeaking individual are matched to the features of a given AAC system” (Glennen & DeCoste, 1997, p. 153). In fact, the National Joint Committee for the Communication of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) states that “it is important that a clear picture of the individual’s current capabilities and needs are considered in order to select communication devices, communication techniques, and the symbol systems or symbol sets.” Find a copy of the TALC feature-matching checklist on our Free Resources page. Click on the video to learn more about the assessment process.
Therapeutic Services for Use of a Speech Generating Device
Learning an AAC system is like learning a second language. Simply giving a child a board or device will not make him or her a communicator any more than simply getting a piano will make him or her a musician or getting a basketball will make him or her an athlete. It is unrealistic to expect a child to spontaneously begin using an AAC system from the first day he or she receives it. In therapy, we use evidence-based techniques in activities designed to help your child meet his or her individualized goals.
AAC Mentoring Program for Professionals
Build capacity in your clinic or school district by improving your therapists’ knowledge and skills in AAC. In these once-monthly, hour-long, grand rounds style team meetings, your therapists present clinical problems in AAC by focusing on difficult or puzzling cases. Our mentors facilitate clinical problem-solving and offer input regarding cases to improve clinical outcomes.
SMoRRES® Training Program for Parents
This program starts with a private or group, 3-hour webinar where parents will set goals for the training, learn why modeling is so important, verbally rehearse the SMoRRES® ingredients to successful modeling, see videos of other families modeling AAC at home, and practice modeling using their child’s communication board, book or device. Ten in-home virtual coaching sessions are also required. For more information on the SMoRRES® Training Program, please visit our SMoRRES® page.
Workshops, Lectures & Webinars
We regularly present a variety of SMoRRES® and other AAC-related topics in the Chicago metro area, around the world, and online. To see a list of our upcoming presentations or a list of some of the selected presentations we have conducted in recent years, visit our Presentations page.