Episode 354: Brie Norton & Lynsey Phillips: Creating a Culture of Learning Language Using Augmentative/Alternative Communication
Description:
In this episode, Chris talks with Lynsey Phillips and Brie Norton, two AAC leaders in Northwest Arkansas who have built a powerful, practical framework for AAC implementation across settings. They share how their partnership, spanning private practice and public schools, helped move AAC from isolated “expert-driven” work to a shared responsibility model that includes educators, peers, families, and community partners.
The conversation highlights how peer training can promote AAC acceptance, reduce perceived device stigma, and expand authentic participation, plus how their community initiative AAC Cares creates accessible, communication-rich events in real-world spaces like parks and museums. They also share what’s next: launching a local Switched chapter to expand access to adapted toys and accessible play.
Key Ideas This Week:
AAC Thrives When Responsibility Is Shared
Lynsey and Brie describe shifting away from a siloed “expert model” toward shared ownership across everyone in a learner’s life including teachers, families, related service providers, and peers. They emphasize that collaboration time is not “extra”; it directly supports IEP and therapy goals by removing barriers in real environments.
A Simple Teacher On-Ramp: Why AAC, How It’s Organized, and 3 Key Jobs
Lynsey and Brie break down a repeatable way to bring general education teachers into AAC support: start with why the learner uses AAC, teach navigation and word-finding, and then coach three core responsibilities which are see me/see my AAC (bring it), model without expectation, and recast/cast back to the device.
Peer Training Builds Normalization and Belonging
When peers learn to communicate using AAC, AAC becomes less “novel” and more like a normal part of classroom life. Lynsey and Brie share that a powerful side effect is a reduction in common complaints like “everyone wants to play on the device” because the classroom culture shifts to: “all forms of communication are accepted.”
Community Partnerships Make Accessibility Real
Through AAC Cares, they design free, inclusive events with three anchors: communication, connection, and accessibility. Their partnerships (including with cultural spaces like museums) create opportunities not only for families to gather, but for community organizations to learn what access can look like in practice.
Links Mentioned In the Episode
Transcript of the Episode
Please Note: This transcript was generated using speech recognition & AI tools reviewed by a human; it may contain some grammatical and/or spelling errors.
00:00:07 Chris
Welcome to the Talking with Tech podcast.
00:00:09 Chris
My name is Chris Bugaj, and I'm joined today with Lindsay Phillips and Bree Norton.
00:00:13 Chris
How's it going, guys?
00:00:15 Lynsey
We're good.
00:00:15 Lynsey
We're excited to be here.
00:00:17 Lynsey
Super happy to be here.
00:00:18 Chris
We are excited to have you.
00:00:20 Chris
All right, so let's start off with our classic question, which is, who are you and what do you do?
00:00:26 Lynsey
Well, I'm Lindsay Phillips.
00:00:28 Lynsey
I am an AAC program director at a private pediatric outpatient clinic.
00:00:34 Lynsey
in Northwest Arkansas.
00:00:36 Lynsey
There are some rural areas around here and we serve quite a big area.
00:00:42 Lynsey
We have ages birth to 21.
00:00:45 Lynsey
We're actually adding a adult program right now that's in process.
00:00:51 Lynsey
And I work mostly with AAC users.
00:00:53 Lynsey
I spend one day a week doing
00:00:56 Lynsey
implementation, evaluation, training, supporting families, and then working with outside providers or public providers like Bree.
00:01:05 Lynsey
And I also like to do webinars, and I am a university professor at the University of Arkansas, where I teach the AAC class.
00:01:18 Lynsey
And then most recently, Bree and I started a consulting business called Phillips and Norton Consulting, where we do AAC consultations.
00:01:27 Lynsey
We support other providers with developing their own AAC programs, and then we do workshops as well.
00:01:34 Chris
Awesome, awesome.
00:01:35 Chris
And Bree.
00:01:36 Brie
Yes, so I work for a public school in this area, Bentonville Schools, where I provide district-wide support for our AAC users.
00:01:44 Brie
We're a rather large school district with 20,000, about 20,000 students, with 11% of those being special education students.
00:01:52 Brie
And we have over 200 AAC users.
00:01:55 Brie
We like to, I have to throw that in there.
00:01:56 Lynsey
I have 199.
00:01:58 Brie
I really have to rub it in.
00:02:00 Lynsey
And she thinks it's so impressive that she hit the 200 mark.
00:02:04 Brie
So I provide district-wide support for those students.
00:02:09 Brie
So they have a speech pathologist in their building that serves their IEP minutes, and I'm that other layer of support for them to achieve authentic communication.
00:02:17 Brie
So I spend a lot of my time training anybody that will listen, all those communication partners, coaching our teams, facilitating collaboration with outside providers and families, and then troubleshooting when we hit barriers.
00:02:31 Brie
In addition to that, I also support assistive technology across our district.
00:02:35 Brie
And I recently started providing LAMP trainings through the Center for AAC and PRC Sawtillo.
00:02:41 Brie
So that's been a fun little addition.
00:02:43 Brie
And then I've enjoyed getting to travel throughout the state with Lindsay and present and help people build their programs.
00:02:48 Brie
So it's been really cool.
00:02:50 Chris
Awesome, awesome.
00:02:51 Chris
Bri, the day job, it sounds like you and I do the exact same thing, but you're in Arkansas and I'm in Virginia, right?
00:02:58 Chris
Yes.
00:02:58 Chris
You said Bentonsville, is that, am I saying that right?
00:03:01 Brie
Bentonville, Bentonville.
00:03:02 Brie
So we're in Northwest Arkansas.
00:03:04 Brie
We're the location, we're corporate headquarters of Walmart.
00:03:07 Chris
That's what I was going to say.
00:03:09 Brie
Yeah.
00:03:09 Chris
I was like, that's why I know it, right?
00:03:12 Chris
I put the S in there, but.
00:03:14 Lynsey
For sure.
00:03:15 Chris
Fun fact, my wife's brother, so my brother-in-law and his wife used to live there.
00:03:22 Chris
We never got to visit, but we often had conversations with them.
00:03:25 Chris
Yeah, it's great.
00:03:26 Chris
It's great.
00:03:27 Lynsey
It's a very beautiful place.
00:03:28 Lynsey
And we actually, and we can talk about this later, but we actually have some really cool resources here that are kind of unique, having these larger corporations and they bring in a lot of
00:03:41 Lynsey
interesting ideas and other professionals that we've been trying to partner with.
00:03:46 Chris
Awesome.
00:03:47 Chris
Yeah, I would love to hear all about that.
00:03:49 Chris
But let's come back to that corporate partnership in the larger context of what we're going to talk about today, which is it sounds like you have this thriving AAC coordinated effort happening.
00:04:02 Chris
Tell us a little bit about that.
00:04:03 Chris
And really, you're involving general ed in this too, right?
00:04:06 Chris
It's not just in special ed programs.
00:04:08 Chris
So let's talk about that.
00:04:11 Lynsey
Let's, to give you a little bit of context, Maria and I have been working together for over a decade now.
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00:59:47 Lynsey
That's pncconsulting.com.
00:59:50 Chris
Gotcha.
00:59:50 Chris
And then they can sign up for the newsletter to get on your e-mail list, right?
00:59:53 Lynsey
That's right.
00:59:54 Brie
Thanks to Lindsay.
00:59:55 Brie
You're welcome.
00:59:56 Lynsey
Yep.
00:59:57 Brie
I will e-mail you back.
00:59:58 Lynsey
Don't worry.
01:00:02 Chris
thank you, guys.
01:00:02 Chris
Thank you for all of this time and for all the work you're doing and for sharing it with everybody, because I think a lot of people can learn from the work you're doing and say, hey, well, if they're doing it there, we can do it here too.
01:00:11 Chris
And that's how the movement grows.
01:00:13 Chris
So thank you.
01:00:13 Lynsey
I hope so.
01:00:14 Lynsey
Thank you, Chris.
01:00:15 Lynsey
I feel likewise.
01:00:18 Lynsey
You know, all the work you've been doing, I've definitely learned from over the years and really appreciate all of that you guys are doing.
01:00:26 Chris
Yeah, I appreciate that.
01:00:27 Chris
All right.
01:00:28 Chris
See you later.
01:00:28 Chris
Thanks.
01:00:29 Lynsey
Thanks.