Framing the Future: Smart Frames for Innovation and Inclusion in AAC
2025-10-28 08:30 - 09:30 (America/Toronto) | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 58
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify current gaps in training and awareness among SLPs, audiologists, and vision specialists regarding the use of smart frames as assistive technology.
2. Describe the functional benefits and limitations of smart frames for individuals with communication and physical disabilities, based on survey and case study findings.
3. Discuss implications for interdisciplinary collaboration and future AAC research involving co-design and user-driven innovation with smart frames.

Taboo or Not Taboo: Supporting Authentic Expression in AAC
2025-10-28 08:30 - 09:30
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Session ID: 111
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify at least three examples of how restricting access to “taboo” vocabulary can impact communication autonomy and social participation for AAC users.
2. Describe strategies for reframing clinician and caregiver roles to support safe, inclusive vocabulary access in AAC systems.
3. Apply at least two tools or approaches from the session to facilitate authentic expression and reduce gatekeeping in AAC practice.

How autistic children respond to instructions containing prepositions: Comparing four augmented input conditions
2025-10-28 09:00 - 09:30
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Session ID: 71
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Explain the rationale behind the use of augmented input and identify and describe the four augmented input strategies used in the study.
2. Apply insights from the study to inform clinical practice and future research.
3. Analyse differences in participants’ responses across the four conditions of augmented input.

“Déjame expresarme” Taller sobre habilidades de los interlocutores.
2025-10-28 09:00 - 10:00
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Session ID: 37
Objectives:
1. Knowledge: knowing what the main barriers are in augmentative communication that AAC user students encounter in their daily lives.
2. Analysis: be able to analyze the barriers, design and promote actions aimed at training and awareness in AAC, in their respective environments
3. Application: to know dynamics and strategies that can be used to train regular interlocutors in secondary school
4. Application: Create an international network of AAC users and interlocutor trainers

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe and analyze the main barriers in augmentative communication that students using AAC face in their daily lives.
2. Promote actions aimed at AAC training and awareness in their respective environments.
3. Describe dynamics and strategies that can be used to train regular communication partners in middle school.
4. Create an international network of AAC users who train communication partners.

Advocating for Improved Assessment Practices for Students Who Use AAC: Guidelines for Establishing Fair Testing Practices
2025-10-28 09:00 - 10:00
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Session ID: 54
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Provide a rationale for developing individualized Fair Testing Practices for students who use AAC;
2. Describe key considerations for test accommodations and/or modifications related to the testing environment and test materials;
3. Identify issues related to reliability and validity; and,
4. Discuss at least three options for adjustments to test administration procedures and how those should be documented.

Bridging Crisis and Community: Research, Relief, and Outreach in Disaster Response
2025-10-28 09:00 - 10:00
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Session ID: 57
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Evaluate the impact of AAC accessibility in disaster preparedness.
2. Describe two resources available to aid in communication during times of crisis.
3. Identify three contributions made by USSAAC’s Disaster Relief Committee that assist in community disaster readiness.

Bridging the gap: A mixed method study on shadow teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding AAC in inclusive schools in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
2025-10-28 09:30 - 10:00
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Session ID: 86
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the shadow teacher’s current knowledge, and attitude toward AAC
2. Identify key barriers to effective AAC practice
3. Propose targeted training strategies for AAC implementation
4. Evaluate policy implementation for AAC access in LMIC inclusive education context

Embodied Communication as Early AAC: Gesture, Motor Features, and the Foundations of Symbolic Expression
2025-10-28 09:30 - 10:00
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Session ID: 114
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
This study explores how motor-based gesture analysis can support early identification of AAC potential and inform system design.
We examine how the structural features of gestures—such as rhythm, trajectory and transitions between body parts—serve as indicators of communicative intent and symbolic capacity.

Shifting Gears: Using AAC to Drive Self-Determination
2025-10-28 09:30 - 10:30
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Session ID: 9
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Analyze and describe 3 ways that Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness contribute to achieving self-determination.
2. List and describe the 4 Ps of AAC and discuss their significance in promoting self-determination.
3. Identify and describe at least 2 roles of communication partners and AAC users in developing the elements of self-determination.

Our futures: What UK AAC users want to support our future lives, a project led by AAC users with AAC users.
2025-10-28 09:30 - 10:30
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Session ID: 87
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. IDENTIFY ways to understand what education and training needs AAC users have and want to achieve their future goals
2. CONTRAST what AAC users want for their future education and training needs with what others perceive AAC users need
3. COMPARE their own thoughts and ways of working to support AAC users to establish what they want and need to achieve their own future goals

Asking the Parents: Does trialling powered AAC change parental expectations and perceptions?
2025-10-28 10:00 - 10:30
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Session ID: 70
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Consider some of the existing research around parental expectations and the use of AAC
2. Identify facilitators and barriers that supported implementation during the trial
3. Reflect on their own decision-making processes and to identify knowledge and training needs

Core Vocabulary Research and Implementation for Students with Communication Support Needs: A Cross-linguistic and Developmental Perspective
2025-10-28 10:00 - 10:30
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Session ID: 88
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the stability of core vocabulary patterns across different ages in Hebrew-speaking children and apply these findings to inform AAC vocabulary selection.
2. Compare core vocabulary similarities between two different linguistic contexts: Hebrew and English and apply these findings to cross-linguistic AAC design.
3. Evaluate implementation strategies that combine teacher professional development with SLP-led core vocabulary instruction for students with intellectual disabilities and autism.
4. Identify the language-specific components (function words) that differ from universal core vocabulary and apply these findings to cross-linguistic AAC design.

Creating a More Inclusive Rehab: AAC Access for Adults with Acquired Injuries
2025-10-28 10:00 - 11:00
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Session ID: 21
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify ways that augmentative and alternative communication can benefit adults with acquired injuries in inpatient and outpatient settings.
2. Describe how a patient’s communication needs change throughout their recovery and across the continuum of care.
3. Describe the ways that augmentative and alternative communication can assist in promoting patient independence and self-advocacy.
4. Discuss implementation of various communication options for a variety of diagnoses.

Empowering Communication Through Eye Gaze and Access Technologies: Innovations in AAC for Individuals with Complex Needs
2025-10-28 10:00 - 11:00
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Session ID: 27
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the technical principles of eye gaze access and how understanding these principles may change how you position and evaluate clients using eye gaze.
2. Demonstrate the ability to assess, select, and customize eye gaze AAC systems based on individual user needs, including motor, cognitive, and visual considerations.
3. Analyze new and emerging technologies and evidence-based practices in eye gaze AAC to support improved communication outcomes across diverse clinical populations.

Bridging evidence-based feature-matching with a "single preferred AAC system" within schools
2025-10-28 10:00 - 11:00
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Session ID: 124

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify 6 components of feature matching described by Schlosser’s PESICO template.
2. Compare and contrast 3 aspects of the stakeholder perspective of classroom educators and school system administrators within the feature matching process.
3. Describe 3 AAC features required for the intervention of aided language input across a classroom or whole school environment.
4. Compare and contrast how any two AAC systems best match to the needs of the user, environment, stakeholders, and intervention.

The effects of unaided alternative and augmentative communication interventions on communication in children with autism spectrum disorder
2025-10-28 10:30 - 11:00
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Session ID: 84
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the effects of unaided AAC on expressive, receptive, and social communication in children with ASD.
2. Discuss the implications for clinical practice with children with ASD using AAC.
3. Identify current research gaps and future directions in unaided AAC intervention for children with ASD.

Communication Matters: Setting up a Mentoring Programme for, and run by, AAC users.
2025-10-28 10:30 - 11:00
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Session ID: 91
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Define what an AAC Mentor is.
2. Identify two or more other skills that can benefit qualified AAC mentors.
3. Discuss two or more positives and negatives of running an AAC Mentoring scheme.
.

Alzar la Voz: Desarrollar la Autodeterminación
2025-10-28 10:30 - 11:00
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Session ID: 115
Objectives:
1. Esta presentación aumentará el conocimiento de los participantes sobre el desarrollo de habilidades de autodeterminación en usuarios adultos de CAA.
2. Como resultado de esta presentación, los participantes aprenderán cómo implementar el cuestionario “Framing a Future”, una herramienta que permite establecer diferentes objetivos en varias áreas de la vida de un usuario de CAA.
3. Como resultado, los participantes comprenderán el valor de contar con un sólido grupo de apoyo entre pares en la comunicación, para que un usuario de sistemas aumentativos y alternativos (CAA) pueda desarrollar habilidades de autodeterminación.
4. Como resultado, los participantes comprenderán cómo el planteamiento de objetivos a futuro afecta emocionalmente a un usuario de CAA.

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Discuss the development of self-determination skills in adult AAC users.
2. Explain how to implement the “Framing a Future” questionnaire, a tool that helps set goals across various areas of life for AAC users.
3. Discuss the value of having a strong peer support group in communication, enabling AAC users to develop self-determination skills.
4. Describe how future goal-setting emotionally affects AAC users.

Communication Matters - Tips, Tools, & Strategies for the RCMP on a National Scale
2025-10-28 10:30 - 12:00
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Session ID: 74
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the key components of the current Communication Matters pilot project.
2. Discuss the development of a national education initiative for the RCMP, based on the guiding questions.
3. Identify strategies and tools that support effective communication between law enforcement and individuals with communication disabilities.
4. Identify barriers and possible solutions to accessing law enforcement services.

Voices Across Borders: Inclusive and Culturally Grounded AAC Innovations in Arabic-Speaking Countries
2025-10-28 11:00 - 11:30
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Session ID: 2

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify key challenges and barriers to AAC implementation in Arabic-speaking countries, including cultural, linguistic, economic, and systemic factors.
2. Describe the current state of awareness, training, and access to AAC among professionals, families, and users across the Arab world.
3. Evaluate culturally responsive and inclusive strategies for improving AAC accessibility and effectiveness in Arabic-speaking countries.
4. Formulate actionable recommendations for advocacy, policy reform, and professional development that support advancement of AAC services in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts.

Empowering Marginalized Voices: Inclusive AAC Strategies Through Technology and Community-Based Advocacy
2025-10-28 11:00 - 12:00
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Session ID: 10

Objectives:

Equity in Expression: Hot Topics and Bold Moves in AAC Practice
2025-10-28 11:00 - 12:00
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Session ID: 14
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Explain why an AAC User should be given access to a large grid size with icons in consistent places
2. Provide 3 reasons why an AAC User might stim on their device
3. Explain why an AAC User should be given access to vocabulary related to slang, humor, and health

AAC in the Mainstream: Innovative Approaches to Inclusion and Access
2025-10-28 11:00 - 12:00
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Session ID: 94
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe strategies to help instruct students in a general education setting on using AAC with peers in various classrooms.
2. Identify possible candidates in various settings to implement and participate in an inclusion program.
3. Summarize an outlined plan to implement an inclusion program in their own setting.
4. List activities targeting social skills to create connections between general education and special education populations.

Supporting the Mental Health and Wellness of Children and Youth with AAC at School: What are we doing? What needs to be done?
2025-10-28 11:00 - 12:00
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Session ID: 108
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Discuss the unique challenges faced by students who need AAC and how these challenges might impact their mental health and wellbeing.
2. Identify three current approaches to supporting mental health and wellness for children and youth who need AAC while reflecting on further actions that may be needed.
3. Describe strategies and steps that school stakeholders can implement to help to ensure students who need AAC are meaningfully included in mental health and wellbeing initiatives.

The Remarkable Impact of Hiring AAC Users as Paid Speakers
2025-10-28 11:00 - 12:00
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Session ID: 117
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify key benefits of hiring AAC users as paid speakers.
2. Describe strategies for accessible and empowering speaking opportunities that center AAC user autonomy and lived expertise.
3. Explore approaches to partnering with AAC users in a way that respects communication needs, preferences, and professional contributions.

Using adapted Q-Methodology to elicit the preferences of persons with aphasia regarding communication strategies to support end-of-life decision-making
2025-10-28 11:30 - 12:00
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Session ID: 95
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
Upon completion of this presentation, delegates will be able to:
1. Explain the importance of AAC strategies in supporting persons with aphasia to make end-of-life decisions;
2. Describe Q-Methodology as a research strategy to elicit the views of participants;
3. Describe how AAC adaptations to Q-Methodology can facilitate the participation of persons in need of AAC in research aimed at eliciting their views

Speech-Language Pathologists Approach to Goal Writing for AAC: A Survey Study
2025-10-28 20:00 - 20:30
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Session ID: 17
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identity linguistic, operation, social, and strategic goals that may be used for children who use AAC.
2. Describe the results of a national survey of speech-language pathologists that explored goal writing practices.
3. Discuss the clinical implications of the results of the national survey of speech-language pathologists relative to goal writing for AAC services.

Look at my photos: establishing common ground in photo-mediated multimodal interactions involving a child with complex communication needs
2025-10-28 20:00 - 20:30
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Session ID: 32
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify multiple communication modalities utilized by the child with CCNs in interactions to negotiate and establish common ground.
2. List multimodal strategies professionals can strategically use to promote participation and autonomy in therapy.
3. Describe the role(s) of photos in multimodal interactions involving the child with CCNs.

Tale of Two Districts: Including Everyone & Adopting a Universal Language System Approach
2025-10-28 20:00 - 20:30
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Session ID: 78
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe what is meant by a universal first approach to providing AAC supports and services across a school district.
2. Describe the thinking that resulted in each district choosing PODD an the universal language approach.
3. Identify three benefits that the districts identified when reflecting on their journeys.
4. Explain why a developmental evaluation approach was appropriate for this type of systematic implementation of AAC.

Decolonizing AAC
2025-10-28 20:00 - 21:00
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Session ID: 3
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. List at least 3 things every clinician or educator should be asking clients and families about their language use
2. Describe at least 3 cultural differences between mainstream American culture and Indigenous cultures of North America
3. Identify at least 2 ways to include languages other than English in their work with clients.
