Learning PODD
PODD is taught through a structured set of workshops, delivered by presenters certified by Gayle Porter. Here is what each one covers and the order they come in.
How PODD training works
Every course is delivered by a certified PODD presenter, and presenters are approved to teach specific workshops rather than all of them. That means what is available near you depends partly on which presenters cover your region.
Courses build on each other. The two-day Introductory Workshop is the foundation, and the more specialised trainings assume you have done it first.
Start here
If you are new to PODD, this is where everyone begins — families, therapists, teachers and support staff alike.
Two days
PODD Introductory Workshop
The foundation course. How PODD organizes language, how the direct access communication books are structured, and how to use aided language stimulation to model language for a communicator. Includes hands-on practice with real books and video examples of children using them.
Participants usually leave with their own Introduction to PODD manual.
Two days
Introductory Workshop with an autism focus
The same foundation course, with the examples, case material and implementation strategies oriented toward autistic communicators and the teams supporting them.
An alternative to the standard Introductory Workshop, not an addition to it.
Building on the Introductory course
These two require the Introductory Workshop first. They go deeper rather than broader.
One to two days
Alternative Access and Alternative Presentation
For supporting communicators who cannot point to symbols directly, or who need the display itself adapted. Covers eye-gaze, coded access, partner-assisted scanning and combination access, along with the presentations designed for people with vision needs.
Requires the Introductory Workshop.
Five days
Advanced PODD Workshop
An in-depth course for practitioners already using PODD, going well beyond implementation into customization and complex cases. Delivered by Gayle Porter, or alongside her.
Requires the Introductory Workshop.
For teams, services and families
Shorter sessions aimed at particular groups, rather than at people learning to implement PODD from scratch.
One day
Whole Service PODD Overview
For an entire organization considering PODD — leaders, teams and support staff — covering what adopting it across a service actually involves.
One day
School PODD Workshop
Focused on classroom reality: embedding PODD in the school day, supporting teaching assistants, and keeping the system consistent across staff.
Varies
Communication Partner Workshop
For the people who talk with a communicator every day — family, aides, siblings. About modelling and responding rather than building or customizing books.
Two to four hours
Community-based Workshop
A short introduction for community groups and families who want to understand what PODD is before committing to a full course.
Varies
Page Sets for Speech Generating Devices
Electronic PODD specifically: how the device page sets work and why they are deliberately not identical to the matching paper book.
What to expect on the day
Formats vary by presenter and host, but most PODD workshops share the same shape.
- Hands-on practice with real communication books, not slides alone
- Demonstration models of different PODD layouts to handle and compare
- Video of communicators using the system in everyday situations
- Printed materials to take away and use afterwards
- Many courses offer continuing professional development hours — check the individual listing
Ready to train?
See what is scheduled across the United States and Canada, or bring a certified presenter to your own organization.