#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.
Parking - Overnight Guests-: Upon checking into your hotel, you will receive a parking pass. Please display this pass on your dashboard.
Parking - Non-Overnight Guests: You will not need to use the parking kiosks. Instead, you will find signage at and near the registration table with a QR code to register your vehicle. Please have your license plate number ready for this process.
VERY IMPORTANT: All attendees driving to the Kellogg Center will need their license plate number. Please consider carpooling to reduce the number of vehicles on campus. Please be mindful of this process and do not register your vehicle more than once per day. We appreciate your cooperation in following these parking guidelines. If you have any questions, please contact info@talkingaac.org. The #TalkingAAC Team will be available during registration to assist you in this process.
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.

Event Instructions or Terms and Conditions

#TalkingAAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established for continued education.

5. REFUNDS & TICKET TRANSFERS

Refunds are available up to 10 days before the event. SCHED & STRIPE fees are non-refundable.
Registration transfers (changing the name on the registration to a coworker, for example) may be considered before October 28, 2024.

6. CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS & HOURS

SCECH will be offered for educators licensed in Michigan.
While ASHA CEU’s are not provided to SLPs for this course, participants will be given an ASHA "Verification of Attendance" form to self-track these hours.
Every attendee will receive a certificate of attendance.

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

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), Hamilton County ESC

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

104 A/B

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
104 A/B

Mindset

12:15pm EST

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

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

Big Ten C

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
Big Ten C

Mindset

1:45pm EST

All Hands-on Deck for AAC: A Learning Lab

Thursday November 7, 2024 1:45pm - 3:00pm EST

Centennial

Presenters

Mary Katherine Dally

MS CCC SLP ATP (SLP and AT Consultant), Hamilton County ESC

Jamie Cain-Nimtz

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

Teresa Clevidence

MS CCC SLP (SLP and Intervention Specialist)

Elizabeth Willig-Kroner

MA, CCC-SLP, Hamilton County Educational Services Center

Thursday November 7, 2024 1:45pm - 3:00pm EST
Centennial

Mindset

1:45pm EST

Empowering Families with AAC in Early Intervention (Mini Session)

Thursday November 7, 2024 1:45pm - 3:00pm EST

Big Ten C

Presenters

Tabi Jones-Wohleber

MS, CCC-SLP

Thursday November 7, 2024 1:45pm - 3:00pm EST
Big Ten C

Mindset

8:15am EST

Confessions of an Over Prompter: How to Stop Prompting and Start Fostering Autonomous Communication

Friday November 8, 2024 8:15am - 9:30am EST

Auditorium

Early in my career supporting emergent communicators, I relied on the prompt hierarchy to guide me. Unfortunately, the outcome was often students who were completely dependent upon me to show or tell them what to say. What I was doing wasn’t resulting in autonomous communication, which I knew was the goal, and I needed to change. In this session we will explore the reasons why we rely on prompts when teaching AAC and how prompting can interfere with autonomous communication. We will also apply basic knowledge of prelinguistic skills (engagement, joint attention, motivation, etc.) and expressive language development to determine appropriate goals and strategies for emergent communicators. Finally we will discuss strategies to assist prompt dependent AAC users to reduce their reliance on prompts and begin to generate their own messages by choosing motivating, open ended, student led activities.

Presenters

Kristen Strong

AAC Consultant, Oakland Schools

Friday November 8, 2024 8:15am - 9:30am EST
Auditorium

Mindset

9:45am EST

Looking to the True Experts in AAC to Enhance Professional Learning and Student Growth

Friday November 8, 2024 9:45am - 11:00am EST

Big Ten C

Providing professional development and community engagement opportunities related to AAC centered around real-life experiences and neurodiversity affirming practices in the school setting fosters engagement, belonging, and inclusion. This presentation is created to provide ideas for building capacity, challenging limiting beliefs, and creating meaningful relationships by collaborating with AAC users to share real-life AAC experiences with staff, students, and families with a goal to increase communication partner competency and capability. This presentation will discuss incorporating AAC user perspectives when developing evidenced-based professional development opportunities for professional and paraprofessional staff. We will discuss the impact we’ve seen, shifting the perspective of “Speech-Language Pathologist as the expert on AAC” to acknowledging that the true experts are AAC users themselves. Mateo Moreno, an AAC user since the age of 4, in collaboration with Bre Hof and Jordan Murray, school-based speech-language pathologists and AAC consultants, will discuss the why. Mateo will share his perspective on why AAC users should play a big role in the conversations. As the only AAC user growing up in his school district, he knows how important it is for learners to meet mentors and for peers to learn how to communicate with their friends who just happen to talk differently. His presentations serve as a springboard and help make the professional advice stick. Plus, educators see what’s possible when the entire team works together to support emergent AAC users. Bre and Jordan will outline the impact collaboration with Mateo has made on staff mindsets and the data we’ve seen as part of an ongoing journey to build an AAC community that supports each other in our rural setting.

Presenters

Breanna Hof

Speech Language Pathologist, Gratiot-Isabella RESD

Bre Hof is a school-based speech language pathologist and AAC consultant for the Gratiot Isabella RESD here in Mid-Michigan. Her special interests in the field include AAC assessment, inclusion, literacy access for all, and child-led play based therapy. While not working, Bre enjoys... Read More →

Jordan Murray

AAC Consultant, Gratiot-Isabella RESD

Jordan Murray is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) consultant with Gratiot-Isabella RESD. Most of her experience includes working with students who have complex communication needs in the school setting. Her experience includes evaluations, therapy, family coaching... Read More →

Mateo Moreno

Mateo Moreno: Mateo Moreno has used AAC since the age of 4. Today, he’s a confident young adult eager to talk with new people and spread awareness about AAC. He enjoys talking with families and professionals about his experiences. He served as keynote speaker for the #TalkingAAC... Read More →

Friday November 8, 2024 9:45am - 11:00am EST
Big Ten C

Mindset

12:15pm EST

AdvocAACy

Friday November 8, 2024 12:15pm - 1:30pm EST

Big Ten C

First written in 1995, revised in 2016, the Communication Bill of Rights is an important document created by the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities (NJC), that outlines 15 fundamental rights for all communicators. While many professionals who support complex communicators, are familiar with these rights, how many AAC communicators are aware of the rights afforded them along with the teams making decisions that impact them? How do we empower AAC users to self-advocate and AAC professionals to advocate for those who use AAC?
Let’s take the Communication Bill of Rights off the wall and put it into practice.
Initial results for those who use AAC were increased:

Participation in social settings
Engagement in the classroom
Asking more questions to gain information
Frequency and use of a variety of communicative functions
Opportunities to develop meaningful skills and
Happiness, joy, and connectedness.

Professionals who support those who may benefit from AAC carry the power to influence others. We will discuss the many ways they can create change within their spheres of influence. Participants will be encouraged to identify their advocacy style and explore practical and promising ideas to use as they better the experience of the communicators they support.

Presenters

Deidre Dobbels

M.S. CCC-SLP/L

Deidre Dobbels is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Speech Language Pathologist at Northern Illinois University where she guides Graduate Students through clinical experiences with clients who have Complex Communication Needs and use AAC. Prior to her appointment at NIU, Deidre... Read More →

Friday November 8, 2024 12:15pm - 1:30pm EST
Big Ten C

Mindset