The PSU AAC Community thanks Godfrey Nazareth!

Godfrey Nazareth recently returned to PSU for the Fall seminar, “Working effectively with individuals who require AAC, and their families.”
Godfrey has a MS in Biomedical Engineering and is himself an expert user of AAC with more than a decade of experience in the research and development (R&D) of medical and AAC devices.  He currently volunteers as a research engineer/scientist with multiple institutions to support the development of innovative and breakthrough ideas into becoming commercial products for children with medical needs.  He is also a part of the RERC on AAC with the R&D projects and as Co-Leader of the Training and Dissemination efforts with David McNaughton and Pam Kennedy.
A number of students noted how his expertise has informed both his own communication strategies, and has had far-reaching impact in support of others.  Jamie Ragsdale commented, “Godfrey’s ability to use his biomedical engineering background to not only create his own individualized communicative systems, but to contribute knowledge and research to support others in their vast communicative needs, is inspiring.”  Lee Buenviaje noted, “I think that the fact that he played a major role in developing his own AAC device has been a big contribution to how successful his communication skills are.”
Students were also touched on emotional levels, as  Merissa Ekman commented, “His sense of humor was fantastic and reminded me that even when things seem challenging that if you keep a positive outlook, and a little humor,  you can make it through…”  Alyssa Gato felt that this also applied to her role as a speech-pathologist, ” It showed me how important it is to be positive and uplifting for our clients.”