AAC in the Cloud - Highlighted Sessions

The Development of an Assessment Tool to support AAC Practitioners -- The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC

I worked with children who were non-verbal and minimally verbal 20+ years ago. There were so many things I didn't know that I wish I had and many people still don't believe now that I know would have made kids I worked with who had no communication have much more communication.

Suzanne Martin

2020

This session will summarise the origins of The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC and will be useful for AAC Practitioners who want to develop their knowledge of this Assessment tool. A case example will be presented where the Profile was used to assist practitioners working in local services.

Sorting Through Tactiles for Literacy & Communication: What Are They & How Do You Use Them?

Kelly Fonner and Donna McNear

2024

This session explores the uses of tactiles, which are growing as an effective instructional strategy. Tactile representations are used for access to literacy and learning, and as a representation of language in both expressive and receptive communication. Presenters will explore two main teaching considerations supporting integrating the use of tactiles or reviewing their use: (1) What are the properties of tactiles? and (2) How do we use them?

ABCs & AAC - Alphabet Books and AAC Implementation

Kelly Fonner

How I Learned to Read -- the experience of an AAC user

ABC books connect literacy to communication & give us a purpose to chat. There are a large variety books that can provide a prompt for a lesson, an opportunity for a child to read to themselves, or an engaged time for a parent to read with their child.

Cristian Rosas

Eye Tracking for Communication--The Who, the What, the How

Yesterday I posted on Facebook, took my medicine, went to class, answered emails, and went out to eat. I can do this because I can read and write. I can read my medicine bottle, my Facebook feed, my class books, emails, and the menu at the restaurant. It was hard to learn to read. I will tell my story about learning to read and how I read and write now.

Lana Ridge

New Kids on the Block -- AAC for Starting Clinicians

Samantha Novick

Helping Families Build AAC Teams Through Collaboration

Heather Roach

2024

Explore effective collaboration strategies for AAC users, families, educators, and healthcare professionals. Gain insights from a seasoned special education teacher and parent of an AAC user. Learn to create personalized action plans integrating education, therapy, and medical goals. Empower families to advocate effectively and build cohesive AAC teams, leaving with practical tools for inclusive AAC support.

Tips from Parents of Kids Who Use AAC Systems

Kelly Fonner & Moms

Communicating Care Needs Using AAC

Kelly is excited to bring together this panel of Mothers who have children of a variety of ages (from preschool to young adults) who use AAC Systems. Each Mom will give their "Top 5 Tips" from their unique, experienced based perspective on AAC.

Randi Sargent, Say it w/ Symbols

AAC for Caregivers: When aging parents or a spouse suffer speech loss following a stroke, surgery, progressive illness or dementia, life at home gets very stressful. This presentation provides an overview of how to use no tech/low tech Augmentative Communication Aids to help individuals get their care needs met at home, in the hospital and out in the community.

Comparing & Contrasting 6 Common Robust AAC apps

Christine Baudin

STE'A'M Partnerships Make Robust Language Systems Available for Toddlers

This presentation will compare and contrast 6 common and robust AAC iPad apps. 3 sentences will be inputted in each app revealing just how intuitive each is. Although every feature of each app will not be able to be discussed, key features of each app will be reviewed.

Gemma White

We All Worship Together – Making Places of Worship Accessible to All

3D printers create amazing Items supporting multisensory teaching and home made keyguards. Create visual, sensory and tactile cues to exploring and understand the language system. Let’s face it not everybody has a 3-D printer….it’s about partnerships: local high schools, generous engineers, community colleges. Come learn about 3D printing and AAC and see how I came up with novel ways to teach robust language systems to toddlers.

Naomi Herman

Using CoughDrop Goal/Data/Reporting Tool for More Quality IEP Outcomes

How to not just build ramps but to include all people in all aspects of the life of a faith community (especially AAC users)

Brian Whitmer

Categories and Motor Planning and Pragmatic Function, Oh My! Understanding Organizational Set-Ups for AAC Systems

Beth Poss & Kelly Fonner

Lighting Talks (& Hack Night on Slack)

If you have ever been confused about the ways that vocabulary robust AAC systems are put together, this is the session for you! Follow us down the Yellow Brick Road of AAC to explore the organizational features of some of the most popular robust systems. We will examine the rationale of different ways that vocabulary is organized as a way to structure an AAC system and the implications of the organization on communication success.

Supporting Emerging Communicators

Anyone who wants can do a 1-5 minute session on anything they'd like to share! More details in the Slack chat channel.

Jenna Williams

Tell me More -- Descriptive teaching methods for instructors of AAC users

Tips and tools for working with the emerging communicator!

Nicole Wingate & Angie Sheets

Managing Multiple AAC Clients from your CoughDrop Management Dashboard

“Tell Me More” will provide instructional tools to utilize while developing teaching models for AAC users. Descriptive teaching poses inquiry phrasing that elicits responses that may be composed through of core vocabulary but still challenges the academic content presented. Descriptive teaching helps teachers meet the demands of State standards/assessment while respecting the domain of AAC users.

Steven Helland

Powerful insights from Adult AAC users that challenge how we practice AAC

Amanda Hartmann

Meet the iPad-based ProSlate – A Funded AAC Device with Your App of Choice!

In 2018, AssistiveWare embarked on a project to create support materials for users of text-based Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC). After conducting a comprehensive literature review, we realised how little specific support and knowledge there is. Following this we conducted interviews with a range of AAC users and their supporters, including users with developmental disabilities and Autism, acquired physical disabilities, aphasia, and traumatic brain injury. The insights and knowledge gained from the group of AAC users changed many assumptions we had made about AAC.

Clayton Smeltz of FRS Solutions

Home Grown – Planting Seeds for AAC Growth

Hannah Foley, Sarah Gregory, & Joanna Holmes

What's New With CoughDrop

Communication opportunities are everywhere. While therapeutic AAC intervention may be valuable to provide clients with foundational skills, it is certainly not the only way to encourage skill development in those with AAC needs. This session will explore manageable and accessible strategies for selection and implementation of AAC systems at home.

Brian Whitmer

The Meaning of Voice -- The Lived Experience of SGD Users

We're always making changes to CoughDrop, based on new research and what we learn from our users. Come see how new integrations, built-in modeling ideas and other new features keep making CoughDrop better and better!

Kathy Howery

AAC and the Transition to Adulthood

What is the meaning of voice in the life of a young person who speaks using a SGD? This presentation provides a glimpse into the lived experience of people who use speech generating devices, drawing upon their first hand accounts. “Giving voice”, both literally and metaphorically, will be explored.

Kathryn Hellend

What are Tangible Symbols? Use of these AAC Supports Across Settings

This presentations will run through steps, concerns, and consideration regarding students who will be transitioning from school-based services to adulthood. Adult vocabulary, funding, and resources will be considered.

Emily Macklin

Literacy and Learners with CCN Using UFLI

Learn what makes a "good" tangible symbol including considerations when making them that I have found to be successful. Demonstrating how this form of AAC can be powerful tool to provide access to AAC, not just in school, but also at home and how they can be used to facilitate and open doors for community interactions.

Kate Ahern

Eye Gaze Access for Autistics

Saoirse Tilton

Visual Supports Using LessonPix

Eyegaze AAC is often primarily considered when a disability affects the use of hands, arms or multiple limbs! When thinking of eyegaze most people think of ALS, cerebral palsy or similar disabilities as they are well known for impacting motor and coordination! rarely if ever considered for autistics, however many autistic speak at length about the brain body disconnect where our bodies don't listen to our brains, this ranges from person to person but is widely discussed and well known in the autistic community, the brain body disconnect effect motor movements, speech coordination ect. However despite it being widely discussed by autistics. As well as Spoken a fair bit about by many non speaking autistics eyegaze still doesn't seem to be looked at as an AAC access method for autistics

Bill Binko

AAC for Families -- Stories of Ourselves: Fun With Family Photos

Deanna Wagner

AAC and Heritage Language

To improve AAC skills, it helps to write for an authentic audience. Organizing and marking up photos can be a fun family activity. It provides opportunities for commenting, asking/answering questions, and using the alphabet. Once photos are organized, they can be used in the AAC app to set a topic or share a memory.

Janet Callahan

Literacy Connections -- Reading, Writing and AAC

A Heritage Language is a language that is not the dominant language, typically learned or used at home, by people who have cultural ties to that language. Through our family’s journey to achieving fluency and a working AAC device in an endangered language, this presentation will address common issues.

Beth Poss & Kelly Fonner

Implementing Dasher for the First Time in an AAC App

For students AAC communicators, the development of literacy skills are essential to unrestricted access to ALL the words. Too often, Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening are taught in isolation. In this session, participants learn ways to connect and integrate reading, writing and language into instructional routines across the student day.

Brad Jordan

Overcoming Barriers to Communication

Dasher is a fluid, continuous gesture text entry system implemented for the first time in an AAC app in Predictable, as an access method. It is accessible via direct touch, as well as head and eye tracking, and features a letter prediction engine.

Jill Senner/Matt Baud/Shelley Harris

¡¡Encuentra el tesoro!! Recursos y estrategias para alfabetización emergente en español

Providing successful home, school, and community communication experiences for individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can be challenging, particularly in environments that do not easily allow for use of high-tech AAC systems. This webinar will provide participants with an overview of innovative strategies collaboratively developed by family members and therapists to overcome environmental and positional barriers to communication. This "show and tell" will highlight some of the creative adaptations that have allowed children and young adults to communicate in bed, in the shower, horseback riding, swimming, and more!

Claudia Marimón R. & María Soledad Cuesta G.

Fostering Independence of AAC Users in ALL Areas of Life

La evidencia confirma que las personas con Complejas Necesidades de Comunicación necesitan aprender a leer y escribir. La búsqueda y creación de materiales y recursos para apoyar la alfabetización integral de lectores y escritores emergentes, nos invita a compartir recursos para las necesidades de estudiantes y adaptadas a español.

Naomi

Intro to CoughDrop AAC- Enabling Parents to Model on any Device and Platform. -Beyond the Device Mentality

I am going to look at home, school, community, friends and special events and how the user can be as independent as possible with the support of others.

Scot Wahlquist

Plain Language for AAC -- What It Is and Why It Matters

Donnie TC Denome

Giving CoughDrop a Second Look - What You Haven't Seen CoughDrop Do Before

Plain language is a type of writing that uses clear, simple words and sentences. Plain language can help people understand a piece of text better. You should use plain language when writing and talking about AAC. This presentation will teach you the basics of writing in plain language. This presentation will talk about how to write about AAC in plain language.

Brian Whitmer

The Amazing Race to the 3 Cs -- Collaboration, Core Vocabulary, Communication

CoughDrop has added some great new features over the last 18 months, all focused around helping communicators and their support teams be more successful. Check out what we've done around goals, modeling support, messaging, integrations, etc.!

Angie Sheets & Nicole Wingate

Using Eye-Tracking to Access Predictable

Gabrielle Flahault

Helping Patients Preserve Their Vocal Legacy

Predictable is a text-to-speech app designed for people who are literate but don't have the ability to speak. In 2020, we introduced three innovative access methods relying on Apple technology. This year, we worked with Irisbond and integrated the first iOS eye-tracking solution!

Elisabeth Nuboer

AAC is Everything, Everything is AAC -- Why Guided Access & Other Methods of Locking Tablets Remove Autonomy

This session is geared mainly toward clinicians

tuttleturtle

Communication in the Community

To many, there's AAC apps for communication, and other devices for everything else. But, we use other apps (on the same device!) for communication, and AAC as non-communication assistive tech. The lines between AAC and everything else are fuzzy. Denying this, and locking us into one app is harmful.

Sarah Weber