The Ten A.A.C. Commandments
So as I come to a close of my Storytelling Fellowship with Making Contact I am thankful for the great experience I had with the program staff on making my radio piece. As part of my fellowship I was able to record my first rap song with an A.A.C. twist on it. It is over a familiar Biggie beat. Here it is: If you like my song be sure to tune in to listen to my radio segment about the public’s perception of people who use A.A.C....
Ya Basta: How Zapatismo has influenced the US
The Zapatistas are a group in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico working to bring democracy to their country and their local communities. 20 years after their founding, the group’s influences has spread far beyond Mexico’s border through music and art. On this edition of Making Contact producer Alejandro Rosas explores how Zapatismo has influenced those in the U.S. –including himself. Special thanks to Claire Schoen and the...
Come raise your voice at Making Contact’s National Poetry Slam Social Justice Open Mic
Have a poem about prison reform, gentrification LGBTQ rights, women’s right to choose or other crucial social justice issues? We want to hear it! Making Contact has partnered with the National Poetry Slam to produce this special open mic highlighting the power of thoughtful, truth telling, community focused poetry. We’re producing a radio show on the social justice power of writing that will be heard on over 140 stations around...
My Krip-Hop Performance: Insights of a Spoken Word Artist Who Use A.A.C.
Two weeks ago I had the privilege to perform in the Krip-Hop Nation Bay Area Mini-Tour that honored Bay Area musical pioneer, Joe Capers. Joe Capers was a talented musical producer from Oakland who was blind and worked with the likes of MC Hammer and En Vogue when they were starting out in their careers. Leroy Moore, also a co-founder of Sins Invalid, organized this Mini-Tour together bringing together artists with disabilities from...
The politics of speaking with an automated A.A.C. voice
As a person who has used an A.A.C. device for most of my life I have become used to speaking with a computerized, automated voice. So when I encounter people in public, they barely hear my natural voice since I cannot speak words eligibly due to my cerebral palsy. People then identify my voice with the voice of the A.A.C. device, which poses a few political and philosophical questions. For example, is my voice tied to A.A.C....
A Talk with Samuel Sennott, Co-creator of Proloquo2go
A couple of weeks ago I had a pleasure and opportunity to interview Samuel Sennott, the co-creator of one of the first Augmentative Alternative Communication (A.A.C.) apps, Proloquo2Go. Mr. Sennott, an assistant professor at Portland State University, expounds upon in our interview how he entered the A.A.C. field, the story behind developing Proloquo2Go, and what he thinks the future of A.A.C. technology will be. Please view our...
