AAC Institute Update!
14 January 2008
*** AAC Institute is a 501c3 not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to the most effective communication for people who rely on AAC (augmentative and alternative communication). One service of AAC Institute is to provide periodic announcements of interest to those involved in the field of AAC. Approximate average frequency of messages is one every two months. Archived past announcements can be found at the web site. If you wish to be removed from the AAC Institute announcement list, simply reply with a message to that effect. ***
This update has ten (10) items. Please forward to others with an interest in AAC. Others can register for email updates at the AAC Institute web site.
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1) Attending the ATIA Conference?
AAC Institute provides CEUs without cost for the upcoming ATIA conference
being held January 30 - February 2, 2008 in Orlando, Florida. Since the AAC
Institute is an IACET CEU provider, any AAC or assistive technology professional
or stakeholder can earn CEUs for any session offered at the conference. Plan
on stopping at the AAC Institute booth outside the exhibit area for information
about earning and keeping track of your CEUs.
Don’t miss Robin Hurd’s presentation on "AAC and the IEP: Building Toward Mastery" from 10:30 am - 11:30 am on Saturday, February 2, 2008.
Be an informed ATIA participant: Don’t forget to pick up a handout on “What to Ask Conference Presenters” and “What to Ask AAC Manufacturers” to maximize your participation at ATIA. These items can be downloaded from http://www.aacinstitute.org/UpcomingEvents.html.
ATIA is a proud sponsor of the AAC Institute!
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2) Sixth International Symposium on AAC Evidence-Based
Practice (EBP): Literacy, Language and AAC
New: By popular request, a poster session has been added to the Symposium
agenda being held on June 13 & 14, 2008 at the Sheraton Station Square
in Pittsburgh, PA. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2008 and the Call
for Posters instructions can be found at http://www.aacinstitute.org/Symposium/2008/PosterSession.html.
Any stakeholder is invited to submit a proposal that reflects applying external
(research-based) evidence, internal (clinical-based) evidence and/or personal
evidence related to literacy, language and AAC.
This announcement we are highlighting Rose-Marie Gallagher, M.Ed.. one of our guest speakers at the Symposium. Rose-Marie has been involved in Special Education for 22 years as a special educator, inclusion teacher, and as the parent of a child with multiple disabilities. Rose-Marie’s presentation is Words Their Way: Expanding Literacy for AAC Users. You can read more about Rose-Marie’s contribution to the area of literacy and AAC since she is the guest author for January’s Parents' Corner column titled Advancing Literacy for AAC Users.
The agenda and registration form can be found at http://www.aacinstitute.org/Symposium. CEUs are available to attendees through the AAC Institute at no cost.
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3) Clinical AAC Research Conference
New: Student Scientific Paper Award has been added to the CAAC Research Conference.
Student recipients receive a certificate and a $400 honorarium for first place
and $200 for second place. The deadline for submission is May 1, 2008. The
criteria of the award sponsored by the AAC Institute can be found at the conference
site.
Mentors may want to encourage students to attend the special student sessions being coordinated by Lyle Lloyd at the Symposium. This is an opportunity for students to interact informally on a variety of clinical research topics with researchers in the field.
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4) Considering the CSUN Conference?
New: AAC Institute will be providing the CEUs without cost for any interested
attendee for all sessions at the Technology & Persons with Disabilities
Conference on March 10-15, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA at http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf.
CSUN is a proud sponsor of the AAC Institute!
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5) Resource to Support a Comprehensive AAC Assessment
New: Considering AAC Language Representation Methods Flipbook. How language
is represented and generated using AAC interventions and systems is one of
the most important factors influencing communication competence. This tool
facilitates the interaction with the AAC client and family members on this
topic. It is available as a free download for DIY or can be purchased assembled.
Go to www.aacinsitute.org and look under Products.
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6) i-CREATe 2008
The 2nd International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive
Technology will be held in Bangkok, Thailand 13-15 May 2008. The conference
will feature Assistive Technology (AT) and Augmentative and Alternative Communication
(AAC) Fundamentals courses for the rapidly growing interest in technology
for people with disabilities in this region of the world. These workshops
will provide information for participants to develop a personal plan of study
to build clinical competence in these areas. Additional information can be
found at http://www.start-centre.com/i-create2008/index.php.
CEUs are available to attendees through the AAC Institute at no cost.
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7) You can help make a difference!
Consider using GoodSearch.com when conducting your Internet searches. Certainly,
you’re using the Internet to search for evidence to support decisions.
Every GoodSearch search initiated at the AAC Institute site earns a small
cash contribution that is used to support efforts that benefit the field of
AAC. Look for the GoodSearch.com logo on the AAC Institute home page to start
any of your searches.
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8) Consumer AACtion Point
Achieving the maximum communication rate on an AAC system is one of the most
important outcomes desired by individuals who use AAC. A frequent question
(FQ) on various AAC-related list serves is about strategies that claim to
enhance communication rate. Word prediction was once thought to have the potential
to significantly improve communication rate over spelling and other methods
using an AAC system. In fact, some AAC systems still identify word prediction
as a rate enhancement strategy. Since one of the FQs received by the AAC Institute
is about this issue, we recently added a resource at the web site that included
studies on word prediction.
To date the evidence indicates that in various conditions with various user groups word/character prediction used in current AAC devices showed no significant benefit in increased rate over spelling letter-by-letter. However, for some individuals the reduction in keystrokes provided by word prediction is considered a benefit. In other words, when deciding about using word/character prediction that is commercially available today, regardless of the feature configuration, choose the feature for keystroke savings NOT rate enhancement. Research continues to look at ways to increase the benefit of this strategy, so be informed about advances as they become commercially available is important. Individuals who rely on AAC will always want to know how this and any other feature effects their personal performance.
We invite you to read the evidence to be fully informed about this feature when making a decision about an AAC system. At our home page click on Word Prediction Research under the What’s New column. If you're interested in this, also consider taking the AAC Symbols and Language Representation Methods Self-Study Program course. The course and CEUs are free.
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9) 2007 Sponsors
Twenty eight (28)organizations are now AAC Institute sponsors. They include
AAC manufacturers, continuing education activity organizers, publishers and
others. Gold level sponsors include Assistive Technology Industry Association
(ATIA), California State University – Northridge (CSUN), Closing The
Gap, Prentke Romich Company and Semantic Compaction Systems. Silver level
sponsors include Mayer-Johnson, Inc. For a complete list of sponsors, including
links to their web sites, click on the "Sponsors" link on the AAC
Institute home page.
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