How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog, 2022

The author, Christina Hunger, is a speech-language pathologist.  Upon acquiring her puppy, Stella, she began to draw connections between her job and her new pet.  She wondered if dogs could use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices that she used with toddlers with significant delays in language development to communicate with humans?

Christina put her theory to the test with Stella using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word “outside” when clicked.  A few years later, Stella now has a bank of more than 30 word buttons and uses them individually or together to create near-complete sentences.  The book chronicles this journey.

Reviewed by Carol Campbell, PhD

Vice President for Education

Southwestern Union Conference

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