Observer-Reported Outcomes of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Intervention in Children with Developmental Disorders
2025-10-28 23:00 - 23:30 (America/Toronto) | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 102
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the development and validation of a culturally relevant observer-reported outcome measure designed to evaluate the impact of AAC interventions in Indian early-intervention contexts.
2. Describe the importance of multidisciplinary training and coordinated implementation in enhancing AAC use across home, school and therapy settings for children with developmental disorders.
3. Assess the significance of consistent reporting across different communication partners (SLPs, educators and parents) and its implication for tool reliability and intervention effectiveness.

Facilitators and Barriers of using a Generic Communication Toolkit in a Singapore Acute Hospital
2025-10-28 23:30 - 2025-10-29 00:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 22
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe facilitators for successful AAC implementation in acute neurology hospital care settings.
2. Describe barriers for successful AAC implementation in acute neurology hospital care settings.
3. Discuss specific practice implications for AAC use in the acute hospital setting in Singapore.

Strategies to improve the knowledge and skills of Japanese special needs school teachers in teaching and supporting AAC
2025-10-28 23:30 - 2025-10-29 00:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 39
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the state of special needs education in Japan
2. Discuss the transfer of AAC knowledge and skills to less experienced teachers
3. Develop strategies for adapting AAC to students with physical disabilities.

Development and evaluation of a non-electronic Sepedi graphic symbol-based AAC system for use with preliterate children
2025-10-28 23:30 - 2025-10-29 00:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 110
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. describe HCD principles and the HCD process;
2. discuss how the HCD process and HCD principles can be applied to the design of a GS-based AAC system;
3. identify the benefits of the HCD process in designing a culturally and linguistically appropriate GS-based AAC system for marginalised groups.

Effective elements in the communicative treatment of children with complex communication needs
2025-10-29 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 25
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Define the effective elements in the communicative treatment of children with CCN, including AAC-strategies.
2. Describe the process of translating research results into a practically applicable product for parents and professionals.
3. Discuss issues regarding what the product looks like and the practical applicability of the developed product.

Development of the communication–related quality of life tool for aided AAC communicators - “COMMQUAL”.
2025-10-29 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 29
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the process of co-developing an accessible CrQoL assessment tool (COMMQUAL) for adults with acquired communication disorders who use AAC.
2. Discuss the importance of participatory research involving aided communicators and clinicians in tool development.
3. Identify essential accessibility features that support inclusive assessment for individuals with cognitive, linguistic, and physical challenges.
4. Explain the clinical implications of implementing the COMMQUAL in speech-language pathology assessment to enhance person-centered therapy.

Talking Scrubs: Could AAC on scrubs save lives?
2025-10-29 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 38
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe a novel translation of AAC into health settings and how the co-design of people with communication disability, health professionals, AAC experts/speech pathologists and disability health researchers have worked together to ensure best practice translation.
2. Discuss the significance of cultural translation of AAC into fundamental life settings such as health.
3. Discuss what counts as, and who owns, AAC. Is AAC restricted to the domain of AAC system developers and allied health (especially speech pathology) and or are there other unexpected professional stakeholders that might be invited to creatively operate in this space?
4. Explain the vital significance of poor communication access in health settings as specific to the evidence of preventable deaths of Australians with disability.

Bridging the AAC Implementation Gap for Children in Asia: A Review of Barriers and Breakthroughs
2025-10-29 08:00 - 08:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 105
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify key facilitators and barriers that impact the successful implementation and adoption of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) services for children with diverse developmental conditions across various Asian contexts.
2. Summarize actionable recommendations for improving AAC implementation, including strategies for professional training, resource development, public awareness, and policy integration within Asian healthcare and educational systems.
3. Recognize critical gaps in current research concerning AAC in Asia, specifically pointing towards areas such as long-term efficacy, cost-effectiveness, user perspectives, and the development of culturally and linguistically appropriate protocols.

Resources and Implementation Ideas to Strengthen Support for Beginning AAC Users
2025-10-29 08:00 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 61
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Explain each type of Stepping into AAC resource and how to access those
2. Describe how to utilize the multimedia materials with families of beginning AAC users
3. Discuss ways to utilize the materials to facilitate improved use of AAC support strategies in clinical and educational settings

Defining AAC
2025-10-29 08:00 - 09:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 82
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe how AAC is currently defined and conceptualized
2. Discuss the need for a unified, universal definition of AAC
3. Discuss how to move forward with definition of AAC

“ComuniCAAdos: comunidad virtual de usuarios de comunicación aumentativa y alternativa en español"
2025-10-29 08:30 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 26
Objectives:
1. “Como resultado de esta actividad, el participante podrá:
2. Conocer un modelo de grupo virtual, donde se promueve la construcción de comunidad, identidad y apoyo entre usuarios de CAA.
3. Identificar estrategias para facilitar encuentros accesibles, motivadores y significativos entre usuarios de CAA.
4. Describir experiencias que pueden transferirse a otras comunidades, escuelas, organizaciones o grupos que buscan promover la participación real de personas con CAA.

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe a virtual group model that promotes community building, identity, and support among AAC users.
2. Identify strategies to facilitate accessible, engaging, and meaningful meetings among AAC users.
3. Describe experiences that can be generalized to other communities, schools, organizations, or groups seeking to promote real participation of AAC users.

Innovative customized solutions for communication needs in India
2025-10-29 08:30 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 104
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Discuss Designs and Ideas for AAC Innovation in low-resource settings.
2. Discuss Community-led resource development for group use.
3. Explain the importance of training professionals and family members to implement and use AAC.
4. List tips for successful transition and transferring skills to high-end solutions.

Tomi Bartzenko - My Personal Journey to Independence
2025-10-29 08:30 - 09:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 121
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Discuss the rights and abilities of people with disabilities to live independently.
2. Describe how AAC can make it possible to live a full life and experience autonomy that is meaningful, empowering and fulfilling.

Let’s look before we leap: a thoughtful approach to AI and AAC
2025-10-29 08:30 - 09:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 35
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify different types of ‘AI’ as applicable to AAC.
2. Compare the risks and benefits of different types of ‘AI’ in general.
3. Identify general risks and benefits of ‘AI’ to AAC-specific examples.

Sharing Your Voice: Inclusive Methods for Involving Participants with Speech Differences in Communication Research
2025-10-29 09:00 - 09:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 34

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify and implement specific methodological adaptations that enable meaningful inclusion of people with speech differences in research studies, moving beyond token participation to genuine engagement.
2. Describe strategies to ensure informed consent to include individuals with learning disabilities in research while maintaining ethical standards and research integrity.
3. Explain the application of accessible data collection techniques, including visual scaffolding and modified response formats, that can significantly improve both the participant experience and the quality of research data when working with people who have communication differences.

Communication Partner Profiling Among Primary Caretakers of Children who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
2025-10-29 09:00 - 09:30
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Session ID: 69
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the variability in AAC-related skills among caregivers, and identify key areas where support and training is needed.
2. Analyze the barriers faced by caregivers, such as limited training, device unfamiliarity, and lack of support in naturalistic or community settings
3. Discuss the importance of personalized, family-centered AAC interventions that consider the cultural and contextual needs of each communication partner

Life notebooks, life story books and AAC. A lifelong project.
2025-10-29 09:00 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 73
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Analyze the cognitive and emotional factors that make interaction support necessary for people who use AAC
2. Describe how memories are created and how to retrieve them
3. Explain how the traces of one’s life are the foundation of identity and self-determination
4. Choose the appropriate form of support for the individual
5. Choose, with the individual, the elements to include in the support
6. Explain to professionals and parents the importance of these supports

Self-advocacy skills for AAC users
2025-10-29 09:00 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 90
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify the 5 steps needed to learn to self-advocate.
2. Apply these 5 steps to their own life to understand their own self-advocacy skills currently.
3. Formulate their own plan to become a confident self-advocate.

Providing Co-Treatment Services for Children who use AAC: Perspectives from Occupational Therapists and Speech-Language Pathologists
2025-10-29 09:30 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 23
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. List three potential reasons for pursuing a co-treatment approach for children who use AAC
2. Describe four key themes derived from interviews with SLPs and OTs at one institution in the Midwest United States
3. Discuss three collaborative strategies that clinicians can apply when working together to support children who use AAC

Handshake - using arm movement as an AAC switch
2025-10-29 09:30 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 50
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the handshake system.
2. Discuss the potential for using intentional limb movement as an AAC switch.
3. Evaluate whether the handshake system could be of potential benefit for people who cannot currently access AAC.

Enhancing professionals’ knowledge and self-efficacy in AAC assessment using a co-designed training program: Comparing the effectiveness of two online training methods
2025-10-29 09:30 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 72
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1) Summarize online training methods.
2) Explain challenges faced in the training of professionals who work with AAC.
3) Determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of using an online training program to develop professionals’ knowledge and self-efficacy in AAC assessment.

Inclusion in AAC Research: Lessons Learned from Four Collaborative Research Projects
2025-10-29 09:30 - 11:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 80

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify three key benefits of collaborative approaches to inclusive research
2. Identify three key challenges to collaborative approaches to inclusive research
3. Identify three key supports to collaborative approaches to inclusive research

Empowering Self-Determination for AAC Users: Strategies to Promote Inclusion and Advocacy
2025-10-29 10:00 - 10:30
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Session ID: 6
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify and explain the core components of self-determination and their relevance to AAC users
2. Describe evidence-based strategies for integrating self-determination practices into AAC interventions across various contexts
3. Demonstrate the ability to design AAC supports that facilitate goal-setting, choice-making, and self-advocacy for people with complex communication needs
4. Evaluate the role of communication partners in promoting or hindering self-determined actions among AAC users and propose methods to enhance supportive interactions

Special education teachers experiences with implementing Augmentative and Alternative communication systems using the Goal Attainment scaling method.
2025-10-29 10:00 - 10:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 43

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe experiences using GAS to implement AAC goals.
2. Apply recommendations in regard to AAC and GAS implementation.
3. Describe experiences with working in teams, when learning to use GAS.

The words we use: exploring speech and language therapists' reflections on semi-speaking as a communication identity.
2025-10-29 10:00 - 10:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 52
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe semi-speaking as a communication identity from this research study.
2. Identify factors which may offer opportunities and challenges for practice when supporting autistic individuals who may not always have access to speech (semi-speaking/ part-time AAC user).
3. Examine one’s own practice in relation to neurodiversity, the neurodiversity paradigm and semi-speaking.

Communicative competence and use of communicative functions among young aided communicators in the home environments
2025-10-29 10:00 - 10:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 79
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe a checklist for evaluation of communicative functions and communicative competence, designed for completion by parents and teachers.
2. Discuss parental observations of communicative competencies and communicative functions in children who use aided communication.
3. Explain the need for supporting children using aided communication in developing a broad range of communication skills through opportunities for more varied and complex expressions.

Speaking Up: Building Self-Determination
2025-10-29 10:00 - 10:30 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 116
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Implement the “Framing a Future” questionnaire, a tool that allows different goals to be set in various areas of an AAC user’s life.
2. Explain the value of having a strong peer support group in communication, so that a user of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems can develop self-determination skills.
3. Discuss how future goal setting emotionally affects an AAC user.

Literacy for All: Innovative and Inclusive Practices in AAC
2025-10-29 10:00 - 11:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 13
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify the core components of comprehensive literacy instruction for students with complex communication needs, as outlined in Comprehensive Literacy for All by Erickson and Koppenhaver.
2. Describe 3 strategies for adapting shared reading, independent writing, phonics, and word study to support students who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
3. Demonstrate how to create accessible, inclusive literacy environments using evidence-based tools and techniques such as aided language input, alternative pencils, and partner-assisted scanning.

Conocimiento y uso de los SAAC dentro del entorno escolar en España: Barreras y facilitadores encontrados por docentes y familias de alumnos usuarios de SAAC
2025-10-29 10:30 - 11:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 28
Objectives:
1. Conocer cuál es el estado actual sobre el uso y conocimiento de los SAAC dentro del entorno escolar en España.
2. Aprender a detectar los problemas más comunes en el proceso de implementación de los SAAC en las escuelas y aquello que facilita su implem

Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Discuss the current state of AAC use and awareness in school environments in Spain.
2. Describe the most common problems in the AAC implementation process in schools and the factors that facilitate its implementation.

How We Do It: Selection & Programming of Stage Two Gestalts for GLPs that use AAC Based the NLA Framework
2025-10-29 10:30 - 11:00 | Online (Zoom)
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Session ID: 65
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe characteristics of non- or minimally-speaking people that could indicate GLP status.
2. Identify three examples of a stage two utterance within the NLA framework.
3. List three considerations when selecting and programming stage two gestalts into a robust, high-tech AAC system.
