Kate Ahern

Kate Ahern, M.S.Ed., is an accessible education teacher, consultant, and author with over two decades of experience specializing in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has developed and facilitated workshops internationally, advocating for communication rights, disability justice, and trauma-informed education. Her work has been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2024 knAAC Open AAC Lifetime Achievement Award. Kate is the founder of AAC Voices Online and Ahern Academy, where she provides literacy and communication instruction to non-speaking learners with complex communication needs. She also develops web based tools for the AAC community.

ASHA Financial Disclosures: Kate Ahern is the founder of AAC Voices Online and creator of Accessible Letters Tool (ALT) and ReaderBee. Both tools are free to users. She retains intellectual property rights to both tools but receives no direct financial benefit from their use.

ASHA Non-Financial Disclosures:
Kate Ahern has a professional relationship with the content of this session as the developer of both tools discussed.