Kathy Look Howery

Kathy received her PhD in Special Education from the University of Alberta in 2017. Her doctoral research drew upon hermeneutic phenomenology to seek to understand what is it like for young people with complex communication needs (CCN) to speak with (or is it with) speech generating devices. She is currently an educational consultant and a teaching in the Teaching Students with Complex Communication Needs Master’s Certificate at the University of Alberta. Kathy is thrilled to be sharing information about AAC whenever and wherever she can. She began her career over 40 years ago focusing on finding ways for students with the most complex needs share their voices in the world. Since that time Kathy has worked in a variety setting including schools for students with significant disabilities, inclusive preschool programs, specialized AT clinics, and several school jurisdictions across Alberta. From 2004 to 2008 Kathy was lead for Assistive Technology for Learning Initiative of the Alberta Government. She has developed and taught numerous graduate level courses and was instrumental in the creation of the Teaching Students with CCN (TSCCN) Certificate at the University of Alberta. Kathy is current President of ISAAC (International Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication) Canada and has been a board member of the Alberta Chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children. In addition, she has held positions on the Inclusive Learning Network of the International Society of Technology in Education (ILN/ISTE), and on the leadership team of the Universal Design for Learning -Implementation Research Network (UDL-IRN). Kathy provides ongoing consultation to Alberta school jurisdictions in supporting children and youth with CCN in developing communication, language and literacy skills, UDL, and inclusive education. Most recently Kathy is working under contract with Alberta Education as part of the Provincial Wide Low Incidence team with primary responsibility in the area of complex communication needs and is teaching in TSCCN Certificate.

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