#TalkingAAC 2024: Full Schedule

NEW FOR 2024!

Pre-Conference Workshops - Select ONE 4-hour Pre-Conference workshop that will be held IN-PERSON on Wed, November 6th, 2024 from 12 pm - 4 pm at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, MI. To attend all 3 days of the conference, you must purchase BOTH one Pre-Conference Workshop ticket and one IN-PERSON 2-day conference ticket. (Please note Pre-Conference Workshops will not begin until 12 Noon on Wednesday, November 6th to provide out-of-areas additional travel time to East Lansing.) Pre-Conference Workshop Registration $80
Networking Event - For those attending a Pre-Conference Workshop or arriving in East Lansing early, please join us on Wednesday, November 6th, at 7 pm EST in the auditorium at the Kellogg Center for a free viewing party of the film This is Not About Me sponsored by AssistiveWare. This documentary follows the story of Jordyn Zimmerman who shares what it is to be autistic and non-speaking. Light snacks will be provided with time to connect with the #TalkingAAC community.
ON-DEMAND Content - A new, separate asynchronous learning option has been added this year with FOUR (4) ON-DEMAND 75-minute, pre-recorded sessions. BONUS: All IN-PERSON attendees will also receive access to this recorded content included with their 2-day conference registration! The ON-DEMAND sessions will be accessed through the Sched registration portal. Recordings will be available beginning at the end of the conference on November 8, 2024 through December 31, 2024. There will be NO live-streaming of sessions in 2024. On Demand Content Registration $60
Swag - #TalkingAAC merchandise will be available on-site for purchase.
Streamlined Registration - Conference registration, ticket sales, and your in-person 2-day conference session planning guide will all occur in one platform this year - Sched. Below, click the green "log in" box if you have a Sched account already or click the green "sign up" box to create a new Sched account, then proceed to purchase ticket(s). 2-Day In Person Conference Registration $265

MEALS, PARKING, & LODGING FOR 2024!
1. Breakfast - a light continental breakfast will be available on Thursday and Friday at no additional charge.
2. Lunch - participants will receive a lunch and drink on Thursday and Friday at no additional charge.
3. Parking - is expedited and included with your registration fees.
4. Lodging - for lodging information, view the 2024 #TalkingAAC lodging options document for a list of hotels with blocks reserved and discount lodging codes for this conference. For those attending a Pre-Conference Workshop, please note sessions will not begin until noon on Wednesday, November 6th to provide out-of-town/state attendees additional travel time to East Lansing.

As the date for this conference approaches, you will receive updates from #TalkingAAC and SCHED. Stay tuned for additional session information!

In late October, you will select your sessions and plan your conference agenda.

Questions? Check out www.talkingaac.org or email info@talkingaac.org

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9:45am EST

All Hands-on Deck for AAC: A Learning Lab

Thursday November 7, 2024 9:45am - 11:00am EST

Centennial

The world of AAC is always changing and knowing what access methods, language apps and accessories out there can be a big job to navigate. Wouldn’t it be great to learn from a hands-on course to experience types of AAC from low-tech to high-tech, trial access methods and collaborate with team members from OTs to teachers and SLPs? Through this hour and a half course small teams will be given four real-life case scenarios and explore over 25 different AAC devices from robust low-tech systems to high-tech devices. Case scenarios include preschool to high school students with complex communication needs and a range of access methods. Problem solve and build a total communication approach for your client while being led by a group of AT consultants with different backgrounds and experiences. Trial different access methods from switch scanning to head pointing and eye gaze and consider mounting for AAC access throughout the day. We will collaborate and review different total communication plans and options as a group and discuss potential data collection ideas to show progress and growth. Don’t miss out on this hands-on course to review, learn or explore the world of AAC.

Presenters

Mary Katherine Dally

MS CCC SLP ATP (SLP and AT Consultant)

Mary Katherine Dally, M.S., CCC-SLP, ATP, has served as the SLP on an ALS clinic focusing AAC evaluations, voice banking and no-tech/low tech communication. She then worked as a solutions consultant for a communication device company, traveling the West side of Ohio. Currently, Katherine... Read More →

Jamie Cain-Nimtz

OTR/L (Occupational Therapist and AT Consultant), Hamilton County ESC

Jamie Cain Nimtz, OTR/L is an occupational therapist with Hamilton County ESC as an Assistive Technology Consultant and direct service provider. She is currently working as a direct service provider within HCESC’s Early Learning Program and consults as an AT Consultant for the Southwest... Read More →

Teresa Clevidence

MS CCC SLP (SLP and Intervention Specialist)

Teresa Clevidence is an educator and speech language pathologist whose life’s work is to help children with disabilities learn more, do more, and be more. She has worked in the field of education for the past 30 years as a classroom teacher, intervention specialist, speech language... Read More →

Elizabeth Willig-Kroner

MA, CCC-SLP, Hamilton County Educational Services Center

Elizabeth Willig-Kroner is a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and Assistive Technology Consultant at Hamilton County Educational Services Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. She provides school-based speech language services and acts as a consultant to assist other clinicians with developing... Read More →

Thursday November 7, 2024 9:45am - 11:00am EST
Centennial

Mindset

9:45am EST

Turning a Wish into a Working Document

Thursday November 7, 2024 9:45am - 11:00am EST

Clinicians often find that successful use of AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) in schools involves more than evaluating and acquiring a device. Successful implementation requires a detailed analysis of how best to meet a student’s communication needs in various settings, while still honoring the student’s multimodal communication efforts. An implementation plan can greatly facilitate this process.

This session will offer teachers and SLPs an example of creating a comprehensive communication implementation plan. This plan, which has been piloted and revised over five years, was created to ensure that all steps, strategies, actions, and resources for successful AAC outcomes are documented and acknowledged across communication partners and settings. The form is based on current research and clinical best practices and weaves together concepts from Joy Zabala’s SETT Framework, The Lippitt-Knoster Model for Managing Complex Change, The Participation Model (Beukelman and Mirenda), and the Zone of Proximal Development. It also encourages evidenced-based practices including: Aided Language Stimulation, Communication Competencies (Janice Light), communication partner training, functions of communication (Janice Light), robust communication tools, core vocabulary, Descriptive Teaching Method (Gail Van Tatenhove), and debunking AAC Myths. Most importantly, this plan incorporates personal preferences and insights from the AAC user and familiar communication partners. This presentation will offer several case studies demonstrating how the thoughtful construction of an implementation plan can encourage evidence-based practices and support teams in identifying the routines needed to implement the AAC tool with success.

Presenters

Mary Giunta

M.A.CCC-SLP

Mary Giunta has thirty years of experience as a speech pathologist who has had the privilege of working in the area of AAC. Previous work settings included hospitals, outpatient clinics and early intervention. Since 2008, Mary's main role has been focusing on assisting school teams... Read More →

Thursday November 7, 2024 9:45am - 11:00am EST

Mindset

12:15pm EST

Taking Imperfect Action: AAC in the Early Childhood Special Education Classroom

Thursday November 7, 2024 12:15pm - 1:30pm EST

The purpose of this presentation is to share our team’s experience implementing both low and high tech AAC in our preschool classroom while providing a safe space for an open and honest discussion with attendees to learn from everyone in attendance. When our current preschool special education team came together two years ago, we were overwhelmed with the level of communication needs in the classroom. There were between 20-24 students in our district Early Childhood Special Education classrooms, and all were non- or minimally speaking. Every caregiver listed communication as their primary concern at an IEP. We were experiencing a significant increase and escalation in behaviors as a direct result of these communication concerns. Our team knew that we needed a more comprehensive and robust approach to support communication, and we were overwhelmed thinking about how to move forward. We were intimidated by all of the ideas and information coming from seasoned professionals or experts at conference presentations, consultants, and every SLP/Early Childhood/ASD/parent account on Instagram telling us what we should (or shouldn’t) be doing to create the ideal communication-focused classroom. We decided to jump in, knowing that mistakes would be made as we continued to learn.

With the support of our county’s assistive technology and ASD consultants, we determined which supports we would use (108-icon county-wide core board and speech generating devices) and decided to focus our efforts on these areas:
Training of all staff
Modeling without expectation across all classroom activities
Supporting and involving families

The presentation will go into detail about what each of those areas looked like for us and how moving forward to just get started impacted our classroom, students, and their families. In each area, participants will be encouraged to share their thoughts, experiences, and ideas with the expectation that no one is the “expert,” and we can all learn from each other.

Presenters

Laura Begley

AT Consultant, Wayne RESA

Laura Begley has worked in Center-based public schools for seven years as a Speech-Language Pathologist. She worked closely with students who are on the Autism Spectrum, as well as students who are Moderately-Cognitively Impaired, Severely-Cognitively Impaired and Severely-Multiply... Read More →

Shannon Hilliker

CCC-SLP, Woodhaven-Brownstown School District

Shannon Hilliker (she/her) is an SLP working in early childhood with the Woodhaven-Brownstown School District, located in southern Wayne County, Michigan. Laura Begley is an SLP working as an Assistive Technology Consultant for Wayne RESA.

Thursday November 7, 2024 12:15pm - 1:30pm EST

Mindset