by Camille Stewart, MA, SLP (speech-language pathologist); NWACS board member
reading time: 4 minutes
The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of NWACS. No endorsement by NWACS is implied regarding any device, manufacturer, resource, or strategy mentioned.
Roary’s Talker book cover (Amazon link)
Roary's Talker is a children's book written by local author and SLP, Emily Holmes. It is illustrated by Kate Lackey. In Roary's Talker, Roary the Dinosaur uses a talker to tell others what she wants, needs, thinks, and feels. Roary's Talker celebrates allowing everyone a voice in all the spaces where we exist. I interviewed the author, Emily, to learn a little more about her inspiration for Roary's Talker and her journey and passions as an SLP.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you decide to become a speech-language pathologist? And when did you first start learning about alternative and augmentative communication systems?
About me: I have a neurospicy brain, so I am a person of many interests. I love learning new things and creating, so some of my hobbies include quilting, crocheting, crafting, writing, and reading. I've lived in 6 different states and am loving the Pacific Northwest.
When I was in high school, I loved most of my classes, so the idea of choosing a career path was daunting. I became excited about learning languages and wanted to learn ASL. The only way to take ASL at Florida State (where I did my undergrad) was to be a Communication Science and Disorders major, so I declared CSD as my major and took a Comm Dis intro class. I loved it and stuck with it. I went on to Purdue for grad school and have gone on to work in schools, a hospital, and now a private practice.
I started learning about AAC in undergrad/grad school, but didn't really get much exposure until I was working with students. We had a great assistive tech team that taught me a lot in the school system. When I worked at a community hospital, I had the resources to take more continuing education, work closely with other SLPs passionate about AAC, and learn with patients and their families to navigate a variety of systems. I always learn the most from AAC users. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with AAC.
What inspired you to write the book?
I have always wanted to write children's books. After hearing another SLP talk about her journey to becoming an author and eventually a publisher (Shari Robertson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Dynamic Resources), I finally found the courage to do it.
I have worked with families for years to help incorporate AAC into daily routines. Yet I find that for a lot of my AAC users, the only time they have their device is when they come to speech therapy sessions. I wanted to write a book about an AAC user who takes their talker everywhere to communicate to normalize using AAC devices everywhere in the community.
How did your character, Roary, come to be?
I love dinosaurs and enjoy that kids know t-rexes for their roar. AAC systems give and/or support the voices of each and every user, so I wanted to give the main character a name that would give a nod to that.
What was the process like to go from wanting to write a children’s book to actually doing it?
Once the idea for the book came to be, I reached out to my friend, Kate Lackey, who is an elementary school art teacher and a fabulous artist. I asked her if she had any interest in illustrating. It turned out that she also had always wanted to make a children's book! We started collaborating on ideas and sending pages back and forth for months.
Once we had all the pages, we formatted everything and opted to self-publish.
We went through the copyright process, bought our ISBN, and published through IngramSpark and Amazon KDP. Then the whirlwind of spreading the word began and we were delighted by the support of so many people.
Do you have any other favorite books that you like to read with your clients who use AAC systems?
Don't Push The Button by Bill Cotter (All the books in this series are favorites! Interactive and so fun)
A Day with No Words by Tiffany Hammond and Kate Cosgrove
Books with repetitive structures: Brown Bear, Brown Bear; The Napping House; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; Go Away, Big Green Monster; etc.
Roary does a lot of things with her talker. What is one of your favorite things that she does with it in the book?
I love how Roary uses the "Rain, rain, go away" song to talk about the rain, because talking in song lyrics is one of my favorite communication forms.
What message do you hope to convey through your book to young readers and their families and teachers?
AAC devices are a manifestation of a user's voice and belong everywhere that people belong.
Your voice matters and what you have to say deserves to be heard.
Why do you think it’s important to introduce AAC to children in a fun and relatable way, such as through a storybook?
Communication is fun! It doesn't have to be all requests all the time. Using storybooks where the main character uses their voice to greet others, make sound effects, direct action, comment, sing, express frustration, request continuation/discontinuation, share stories, etc., helps remind us how fun and creative communication can be.
AAC is such a unique way to teach literacy skills, so using storybooks can help explore that deeper.
How do you hope the book will impact the way children view communication differences in their peers?
My hope is that this book will help children see that verbal words are only one form of communication. And that differences are beautiful.
Thank you Emily for taking the time to share with us about your journey. As well as for your contribution to adding more inclusive books depicting AAC into our world!
