ISAAC Conference

The Enhancing Peer Networks Project: Promoting Social Communication and Peer Relationships for Elementary-aged Students with Limited Speech
2025-10-28 08:30 - 09:30 (America/Toronto) | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 8
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe factors that impact social communication, engagement, and relationships with peers for elementary-aged students who use or could benefit from AAC
2. Summarize research methods and findings from the Enhancing Peer Networks Project, including the impact on social and communication outcomes for students with limited speech and their peers
3. Discuss the experiences of peers without disabilities as they play, interact, and become friends with their classmates who have limited speech within the Enhancing Peer Networks Project

Innovation, Inclusion, and Advocacy in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in India: A Gap Analysis in Implementation
2025-10-28 08:30 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 100
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Discuss the need for systematic advocacy and urgent demand for training to address structural inequities with community-based support,
2. Discuss the urgent need for policies for professionals, teachers, parents, and users, especially those based in rural areas,
3. Discuss the critical need for affordable, context-sensitive AAC innovations across underdeveloped states.

An Investigation of SLP Knowledge Related to Assessment and Management of AAC in Persons with Aphasia: A Survey Study
2025-10-28 08:30 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 42
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify the current level of knowledge and confidence among speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in assessing and managing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for persons with aphasia (PWA).
2. Describe key factors that influence the successful implementation of AAC interventions in individuals with varying types and severities of aphasia.
3. Analyze gaps in professional preparation and training related to AAC use in clinical practice with PWAs.
4. Propose strategies to improve AAC-related clinical decision-making through targeted professional development and evidence-based practices.

Supporting Gestalt Language Processors Who Use AAC Using Evidence-Based Practice
2025-10-28 08:30 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 33
Objectives:
Participants will be to:
1. List the three components of evidence-based practice.
2. Identify neurodiversity-affirming strategies to support autistic people who use echolalia and scripts to communicate.
3. Describe an individualized approach for promoting the language development of autistic people who use AAC.

Partnership in research: A learning process for people who use AAC and researchers
2025-10-28 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 64
Objectives:
Participants will be able:
1. Summarize lessons learned so far about forming partnership in AAC research.
2. Describe the different roles and phases as described in the Involvement Matrix.
3. Formulate personal goals to improve their own co-research practices.

Communicative abilities and stress in caregivers of individual with Angelman syndrome: role of familiar resilience
2025-10-28 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 49
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Assess the resilience and adaptation of families of persons with Angelman syndrome.
2. Examine the stress and burden experienced by primary caregivers of personas with Angelman syndrome.
3. Describe how family resilience and adaptation influence the link between communication abilities in individuals with Angelman syndrome and caregiver burden and stress.

Linguistic constraints in AAC systems: A structural analysis of lexical and syntactic design in devices used by children with Cerebral Palsy in Uruguay
2025-10-28 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 45
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Define key lexical and syntactic features of high- and low-tech AAC systems used by children with complex communication needs.
2. Explain how the structure of AAC systems may limit users’ ability to construct grammatically complete messages.
3. Discuss the impact of AAC system design on the development of language, narrative skills, and literacy.

Making Blissymbolics accessible
2025-10-28 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 30
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Define the basic structure of the Blissymbolics system
2. Describe how Blissymbolics can aid children in solving communication tasks
3. Explain how to make Blissymbolics accessible for aided communicators using speech generating devices

The experiences of speech and language pathologists in the selection of graphic symbol collections for students with autism spectrum disorder
2025-10-28 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 16
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Summarize factors related to Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) that can be considered when selecting the optimal collection for clients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
2. Summarize factors related to clients and their families that can be considered by SLPs when selecting the optimal collection for clients with ASD.
3. Summarize factors related to graphic symbol characteristics that can be considered by SLPs when selecting the optimal collection for clients with ASD.
4. Reflect on their own practices when selecting graphic symbol collections for their clients with ASD to improve the quality of assessment and intervention.

How AAC change my life?
2025-10-28 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 5
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the communication challenges faced by individuals with cerebral palsy and how AAC addresses those challenges.
2. Identify the emotional, social, and educational impacts of using AAC from the perspective of a full-time user.
3. Explain the role of support systems in AAC success and the importance of listening to user voices when designing communication tools.
4. Apply inclusive communication strategies to better support AAC users in personal, educational, or clinical settings.

Pre-Conference Celebration
2025-10-27 12:00 - 17:30 | Online (Zoom)
ISAAC Virtual Event 2025 Pre-Conference Celebration
October 27, 2025
12:00 pm – 5:30 pm EDT
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Join us for the ISAAC Virtual Event 2025 Pre-Conference Celebration on October 27, 2025, 12:00 pm – 5:30 pm EDT.
The Pre-Conference Celebration is free and open to everyone, members and non-members, but you must register in advance.
Members of ISAAC’s LEAD Committee have planned an exciting program. It’s free and open to everyone. You do not have to be a member of ISAAC to participate in the pre-conference events.
All events will be in the same zoom meeting room from 12:00pm to 5:30pm EDT. All events will have chat monitors and readers. There will be a break of approximately 15 minutes between each event.
Prizes
Drawings for ISAAC 2026 memberships will be at the end of each event.
Bingo: the first winner of 5 in a row will receive a swag prize.
Register now!
Agenda
Celebration Opening Remarks
12:00 pm
Community Forum
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Hosted by Kevin Williams.
Discussion topic: “Share an experience when an AAC system was thought to be possessed or did something unexpected and surprised you.”
AAC Poetry Slam
2:15 pm – 3:45 pm
Hosted by Dr. Lateef McLeod
Using the AAC Awareness Month theme as inspiration (“inclusion, innovation, and advocacy within AAC”), participants are encouraged to use one, two, or all three topics in their poems of any style. Multiple short poems are preferred to keep the flow going while everyone has a chance to share. The slam is open to anyone in the AAC community, but we will prioritize people who use AAC when sharing.
Poems can be of any form, under 5 minutes in length.
Community Game Session: AAC Themed Bingo
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Hosted by Patrick Regan and members of the USSAAC Awareness Committee.
During the community game session, we will play bingo with pictures of past and present AAC systems from around the world. This event is open to the entire community, allowing everyone to share, reminisce, and interact.

https://bingobaker.com#68c19b296fbf35fc
The card can be printed and marked manually, or played online.

ISAAC LEAD COMMITTEE
Esther Klang (Chair), Patrick Regan, Chelsea Hagen, Jamie Preece, Emma Sullivan, Lateef McLeod, Kevin Williams
daretolead@isaac-online.org

ISAAC Virtual Conference 2025 Opening Ceremonies
2025-10-27 11:00 - 12:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Join ISAAC for the Virtual Conference 2025 Opening Ceremonies!
It’s free and open to everyone, members and non-members, but you must register in advance.
Register now!
Agenda
Opening remarks
ISAAC President Yonit Hagoel-Karnieli
Conference logistics and announcements
ISAAC Executive Director Franklin Smith
Keynote Speaker
Alyssa Hillary Zisk
Scroll down to see Alyssa’s biography.

Prize Draw!

ISAAC Singapore – A New Chapter in Changing Times
2024-10-30 23:00 - 2024-10-31 00:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1033

Objectives:
1. Describe ways to engage various stakeholders in building awareness of AAC in the larger community.
2. Describe ways to engage with community partners to create inclusive events and spaces, with and for AAC communicators and their families.
3. Identify ways for AAC Communicators and their families to be actively involved in planning activities and events.

Moderator: Sarah Yong

Beyond the borders of speech: Music and touch at the core of social interaction
2024-10-30 23:00 - 2024-10-31 00:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1027

Objectives:
1. Explain the fundamental importance of embodied interaction in all social communication.
2. Describe a variety of ways in which social interaction can be fostered through forefronting diverse modalities.
3. Implement collaborative activities that include the participation of diverse social communicators.

Moderator: Irene Hunter

AAC, How we got here and where we are likely to be in 20 years
2024-10-30 22:00 - 23:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1032

Objectives:
1. Describe early AAC devices (simple and technical) and understand how technology had advanced what is possible.
2. Name at least two key unmet needs of all AAC users that we currently cannot address.
3. Describe new capabilities that will be possible in the future for meeting unmet needs.
4. Identify research areas needed before we can realize future potentials.

Moderator: Adrianna Noyes

AAC Across the Lifespan: A Parent Panel Discussion
2024-10-30 20:00 - 22:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1042

Objectives:
1. Describe one resource for parents as they serve as educational advocates.
2. Name 3 challenges AAC users often face when transitioning from school services to adulthood.
3. Name 2 benefits of involvement in the AAC community for AAC users and their families.

Moderator: Michelle Phillippy

ISAAC's Journal: Augmentative and Alternative Communication
2024-10-30 11:00 - 12:00
Session ID: 1047

Objectives:
1. Identify the role of the AAC journal in ISAAC.
2. List the current issues and priorities for the journal.
3. Identify at least three topics the journal has covered.

Moderator: Michelle Phillippy

Ditch the Therapy Script: Using AAC for Dynamic & Engaging Language Learning
2024-10-30 11:00 - 12:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1046

Objectives:
1. Describe at least two ways AAC can provide flexible language opportunities for young learners.
2. List two or more ways AAC can be used to support receptive vocabulary for learners with a variety of learning needs.
3. List two or more examples of how vocabulary and grammar can be represented through AAC.

Moderator: Kirsi Neuvonen

The Guide to Communication with Hospitalized Patients
2024-10-30 11:00 - 12:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1019

Objectives:
1. Explain the sequence in which the six main elements of the Guide framework are most effectively used.
2. Identify three types of patients that the Guide can be applied for.
3. Describe three purposes for which the Guide can be used.

Moderator: Jaime Van Echo

Reading and Writing in People with Aphasia Who Benefit from AAC
2024-10-30 11:00 - 12:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1003

Objectives:
1. Apply meaningful principles to classify people with aphasia who may benefit from AAC.
2. Describe differences in reading and writing between Stored Message and Generative Message categories within the AACF.
3. Generate ideas about specific types of AAC tools and strategies for identified communicators with aphasia.
4. Identify appropriate treatment goals for identified types of communicators with aphasia who may benefit from AAC.

Moderator: Elisa Wern

Caregivers of Children using AAC: What Are Their Experiences?
2024-10-30 09:00 - 11:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1036

Objectives:
1. Identify at least two changes in caregiver stress characteristics over the past 20 years.
2. Describe at least three characteristics of caregiver experiences across varying stress levels.
3. Discuss at least three strategies for family-centered AAC services based on caregivers’ shared experiences of stress.

Moderator: Anne Marie Renzoni

Comprehensive Literacy Instruction and AAC: From Emergent to Conventional Literacy
2024-10-30 08:00 - 11:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1023

Objectives:
1. Identify 4 questions used to determine the appropriateness of a focus on emergent or conventional literacy for individual learners.
2. Identify 3 or more emergent literacy instructional routines.
3. Identify 5 important areas to address in conventional literacy instruction.

Moderator: Kathryn Haughney

AAC as language - What is not researched
2024-10-30 08:00 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1011

Objectives:
1. Describe AAC as an atypical language form.
2. Explain the processes underlying typical and atypical language development.
3. Identify thematic ideas for AAC research.

Moderator: Elisa Wern

How to make partners model AAC - challenges and success factors from 20 years research and practice
2024-10-30 08:00 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1040

Objectives:
1. Describe Akktiv – a comprehensive partner training program.
2. Discuss evidence with regard to partner based interventions.
3. Describe the challenges in instructing different types of communication partners.
4. Describe how to implement aided language input using universally designed AAC.

Moderator: Kirsi Neuvonen

Bringing AAC Service Delivery into the 21st Century
2024-10-30 08:00 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1001

Objectives:
1. Identify three (3) challenges individuals with CCNs and their families face when seeking AAC services.
2. Discuss three (3) benefits of teletherapy as a form of AAC service delivery.
3. Describe how one AAC Clinic shifted from traditional in-person AAC service delivery to a teletherapy model during COVID-19.
4. Discuss three (3) key considerations when implementing tele-AAC services.

Moderator: Anna Erba

Young adults should not be learning to self-advocate
2024-10-29 23:00 - 2024-10-30 00:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1034

Objectives:
1. Explain what self-advocacy and self-direction of supports look like with and for AAC Communicators and their families.

Moderator: Michelle Phillippy

Communication without Borders: Emotion Work & People with CCN
2024-10-29 23:00 - 2024-10-30 00:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1004

Objectives:
1.Explain the Cycle of Negativity and how it contributes to the practice of emotion work for people with CCN.
2.Describe the ways in which society marginalises people with disabilities, and how people with CCN perform, suppress, monitor and pretend emotions for the benefit of others.
3.Describe how emotion work contributes to a person’s mental health.

Moderator: Irene Hunter

Building Writing Autonomy: Supporting Developing Writers with Idea and Language Generation
2024-10-29 21:00 - 23:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1012

Objectives:
1. Discuss different supports for language and ideas to be used with developing writers.
2. Identify which supports for language and ideas to use with developing writers at different groups on the Writing with All Tools Continuum.

Moderator: Michelle Phillippy

A Collaborative AAC Peer Support Model
2024-10-29 21:00 - 23:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1022

Objectives:
1. Describe peer support models that are available now, within and outside AAC fields.
2. List what criteria make a good peer support model within AAC.
3. Describe how successful AAC peer support models might be integrated into independent living and AAC practices.

Moderator: Adrianna Noyes

USSAAC’s Speaker Connection: Amplifying Our Voices
2024-10-29 20:00 - 21:00 | Online (Zoom)
Session ID: 1044

Objectives:
1. Describe characteristics of USSAAC’s AAC Speaker Connection that have led to hiring AAC users in educational, training, advocacy, and professional development events.
2. Explain the benefits to AAC users and other groups that result from amplifying AAC voices across professional and educational settings.
3. Identify ways in which the AAC Speaker Connection is contributing to more diverse and equitable employment in public speaking and educational settings.

Moderator: Elisa Wern
