Heather Roach, AAC Experience

This is PODD — Early days.

She was three years old. This was taken about a month before our first PODD training. I was not a trainer, I was a mom with a book I had just printed and a whole lot of hope.

In this clip you’ll see me modeling through her PODD (Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display) book. I wasn’t following a script. I was following her lead. No special setup, no structured session, just a moment in our day that was worth taking the time.

PODD is designed to be used exactly like this. Real moments, real language, real life.

You’ll also notice she isn’t showing clear accept or reject movements yet, we were just learning her first book. What you will see is her leaning toward the book and her face lighting up. That’s attending, one of the first and most important goals in AAC. She was engaged. She was interested. She was in.

I want to be honest about something. The training and connections I’ve made with other PODD trainers and families changed everything. Not just for how I supported her, but for how I understood what we were even working toward. If you’re in the early days and it feels uncertain, that’s because it is and that’s okay. You don’t have to have it figured out before you start, and you don’t have to figure it out alone. I’ve been exactly where you are. If you need someone in your corner, my DMs are open.

Eight years later she still often reaches for her PODD book over her device. Not because her device isn’t valuable, but because she loves having a communication partner. There is something about a non-electronic system that opens a different kind of connection.

I want this series to be helpful for your real life whether you’re a family just getting started, a school team, or a practitioner supporting one. Drop a comment and tell me what you most want to see next. A specific part of the book? A real life modeling moment? A question you’ve been afraid to ask? I’m here for all of it and if you need more direct support, reach out for information on my consultations and trainings. 🤍

This is PODD — Early days.

She was three years old and we were using a 12 expanded functions Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display (PODD) partner-assisted visual scan (PAVS) book to look for animals together. I’m modeling or narrating what we’re searching for, moving through the book, showing her how it works.

At this point we were working on accept and reject movements by modeling them, but she didn’t have anything consistent yet. We were watching every tiny movement, wondering what meant something and what didn’t. You’ll notice her starting to lean forward in this video. We didn’t know it yet, but that lean was the beginning of her yes. And honestly, depending on her body, consistency isn’t always guaranteed even now. This is part of why verbal referencing has been so important throughout her life. By naming what we see out loud, she can access a range of movements and her communication partners learn to recognize all of them. It’s not about having one perfect movement. It’s about building a system that works with her body wherever it is that day.

We didn’t have it all figured out. We were in the thick of it, doing the next right thing and hoping it was adding up to something. And yes, at the time we did add unicorn and alicorn to the animal list.

It was.

I’ve recently started sharing more of our personal journey because she’s old enough now to have more say in what I share and because I know how lonely and uncertain those early years can feel. If you’re watching this and your child doesn’t have consistent movements yet, or you’re not sure if what you’re doing is working, keep going. Model anyway. Watch anyway. It matters even when you can’t see it yet.

This is the first in a series of videos sharing what our PODD journey has looked like from the beginning. If there’s something specific you want to see or a question you want answered, drop it in the comments. 🤍

My camera roll is full. 🤍

Except it’s not videos I can delete. It’s her learning to walk independently. It’s equine therapy, gait trainers, core words hooked to the wall, partner assisted scanning, and a PODD (Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display) book that finally gave her a voice that matches everything she has always had to say. It’s thousands of moments that looked small from the outside and meant everything to us.

She has worked so hard. We have worked so hard. And every single video is proof. This is the behind the scenes of a kid who is thriving. It’s beautiful and it’s hard and it’s worth it.

As a consultant I talk a lot about the process - the systems, the strategies, the implementation. But behind all of it is a kid who shows up every single day and earns every milestone. My daughter is the reason I do this work, and these videos are the reason I will never stop.

Delete nothing. She earned every single one. 💙

If this journey resonates with you or you’re in the thick of your own, I’d love to support your family or team. Send me a DM or visit the link in my bio.

She had a secret. We’d been talking about aquariums and she wanted to go back.

This clip shows partner assisted visual scanning in action: section → column → item. We only point to items (no need to say them aloud because she’s got the receptive language). Two distinct movements give her control of the timing of the scan: her yes (accept) is a head nod, leaning forward, or eyes moving up and down. Her no (reject) is a head shake or glancing to one side and back — movements that have been refined and shared with her communication partners over the last 8 years.

We name what we’re seeing out loud because when proprioceptive input is limited, verbal referencing helps her know what her body is doing and gives her time to respond. In this video, her first response takes 12 seconds. Twelve seconds of staying present and quiet with no additional prompts, no verbal clutter, just wait time. It is one of the most important and most underused tools in a communication partner’s toolkit.

You’ll also notice her laugh and smile mid-scan — we don’t count that as a yes. A laugh might mean “ha, that’s funny”, pure delight or even that she’s uncomfortable. We always keep accept and reject movements separate from emotional expression so her communication stays clear and fully in her hands.

And then real life happened. Our dog lost it when the mail came. And we kept going. Paused, managed the chaos, came back, and recapped where we were because what she has to say is worth the extra time. This is why I encourage families and school teams to reconsider when they tell me they’re trying to find the perfect setup, the perfect time. Communication doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. It happens in real life, with dogs and doorbells and everything in between.

A PODD (Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display) system + a smart communication partner means you can hold the context, ride the interruptions, and get to the message. Every time.

Her secret was worth it. 🐠

If you’re a family or school team navigating partner assisted scanning or PODD implementation, send me a DM or visit the link in my bio.

This is what putting a PODD (Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Displays) book together looks like. This also highlights one of the most asked questions I get: how do you actually use the lists?

Lists hold the vocabulary that makes a PODD book personal to your AAC user. Think about what that looks like in real life - family members and close friends, favorite foods or restaurants, medications and medical procedures, teachers and therapists, current TV shows or books, sports teams, vacation spots, inside jokes. Any of the extra “fringe” vocabulary. Anything that matters to your person that doesn’t belong on a core page or doesn’t fit.

Each starts with a template printed for each page needing a list, then the topic is added to the top. Each list includes directions for how to support your AAC user through it, whether you’re visually scanning down the page together or reading items aloud. It also describes your user’s specific yes/no or accept/reject movement so anyone picking up the book knows exactly how to partner with them.

And when life changes? You update the list. New teacher, new medication, new obsession. The book keeps up.

This is what goes into every book I send out the door, whether it’s a trial book or fully personalized. Making sure every detail is right before it lands in your hands.

This is a one-page book so it gets coil so pages flip all the way around. Two-page books get comb so both pages stay flat as one big display.

Interested in a PODD book for your AAC user? Send me a message or visit my website linked in bio to get started.

Lists in PODD (Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display) books are one of my favorite features! I filmed this after updating some medical vocabulary ahead of an EEG last summer, and it’s a great example of lists in action. Having these conversations ahead of time is really great for helping our kids feel more comfortable on hospital stays. For those who were worried when they first saw this, yes we took a break from hospital stays this summer! Lists grow with your child through every season of life and every experience. That’s the magic.

Ever wonder why PODD books use different bindings?

One-page PODD books get coil binding because the pages need to flip all the way around — flat on a tray, held up for eye gaze, folded back completely. Coil makes that possible.

Two-page books use comb binding instead, because both pages need to stay flat and aligned together as one big communication display. You can also swap out pages easily if something needs updating, huge win for a book that gets used all day every day.

This one is a trial book heading out this week! 📬 Binding tip if you’re doing this at home: once it’s punched, line up all the rings on one side and get the coil started on that edge. Then just wiggle the book slightly while you twirl the coil through, it walks right on.

She told me she didn’t know what dad was doing.

Using partner assisted scanning, she communicated “do… I don’t know” and I knew exactly what she meant because I watched her eyes. She was looking toward where dad had just walked inside.

That’s what a communication partner does.

We hold the context. We fill in the meaning. We make the message whole. Without a present, attuned partner, that moment disappears. With one? It becomes a real conversation.

So I answered her: “Your dad went to get more to eat.”

Message sent. Message understood. Message answered. That’s connection. And notice how easy it is to add to lists in real time. Chinese food went straight on the list as we talked. Her language growing in the moment she used it.

March 2024

That’s a wrap on elementary school!

The end of the year brings so many emotions, and for most families it’s a rush of excitement with field trips, celebrations, end-of-year events. We get all of that too. But there’s also the quiet (and not-so-quiet) advocacy happening in the background.

Will the field trip be inclusive? Is the elevator actually working? Did someone order the bus with the lift? Are services and supports still in place even as everyone’s energy starts to run low, including the people responsible for our kids?

For families like ours, the joy never stops. But neither does the work. All of the excitement lives right alongside the advocacy, the stress, the follow-up emails, and the wondering. And yet — moments like this one? This is my why.