Continuing Education for AAC

Additional resources to deepen your capacity to help

Everyone can benefit from learning more about AAC! Below are a collection of learning resources and continuing education tools you can use, for yourself or for others, to keep getting better at AAC for years to come!

Topics

Support Resources

Utah Assistive Technology Teams (UATT) support school LEAs and IEP teams to evaluate, acquire, and manage assistive technology for students with disabilities. We support and coordinate with multi-disciplinary educational and rehabilitation teams to train students, caregivers, educators, and service providers in the use of assistive technology in education and in the major life functions of students with disabilities.

Important Topics

Communicative Competencies - there is more to communication than just knowing which words to say. Janice Light proposes 5 competencies, or skills areas, that AAC users need support to develop: Operational, Social, Linguistic, Strategic and Emotional.
Autonomy and Self-Determination Theory - AAC users may not be able to accomplish full independence, but with support they can develop autonomy and be in control of their lives by making choices and directing the experiences around them.
Revisiting the Prompting Hierarchy - The prompting hierarchy is a legacy tool still used in many settings to try to provide the "right" level of support to help in choice-making and communication. Forcing someone to do something with their body is not appropriate, but there are other considerations around this hierarchy as well.
OWL - Observe, Wait, Listen and The Power of Waiting - Wait times are an important part of communication, and people who use AAC may need their support team to learn to wait longer than they are used to. OWL is one strategy to help teach this important skill.
CAR - Comment, Ask, Respond - CAR is a strategy for helping to create communication opportunities when reading together. It can help encourage participation without making it feel like a high-stakes assessment.

Online Lessons

Stepping Into AAC is a collection of free weekly lessons and projects to help families of AAC users get started and learn effective support strategies.

Project Core provides free, self-directed professional development modules on a variety of AAC topics.

The AAC Academy offers paid, certified lessons on AAC topics and strategies.

AAC In The Cloud

AAC in the Cloud is an annual virtual conference covering the latest topics and strategies in AAC. Presenters include AAC users, therapists and practitioners, parents, and providers. All sessions are recorded and made available online, so there are hundreds of sessions available on a range of topics. Viewers can track which sessions they have watched and submit a certificate of participation for CEU credit hours.

Conferences and Meetups

Temple University hosts weekly virtual meetups for AAC users discussing topics like AAC strategies and use, introductions to new technology, etc.

ImpAACt Voices hosts monthly AAC meetups for AAC users 14 years or older. Sessions include hearing from other AAC users, and also just open-ended social time.

Talking With Tech AAC Podcast is an online weekly podcast focused on various AAC topics related to using technology to improve and facilitate communication. They also have a collection of discussions with AAC users to help highlight their perspectives.

Closing the Gap is an annual in-person conference focused on improving the of various assistive technologies including AAC.

ATIA hosts an annual conference in-person in Florida focused on various assistive technologies including AAC.

School-to-Community Transition Support

See our Transition Resources page for more information.