AAC Institute Update!
September 2009
*** 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 eleven (11) items. Please forward to others with
an interest in AAC. Others can register for email updates at the AAC Institute
web site. http://www.aacinstitute.org
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1)
Welcome back to school and free CEUs!
Whether
you’re an SLP starting a new school position that involves working with students
using AAC or a faculty member planning for your AAC course, the AAC courses
at our Self-Study Program (SSP) may be just what you need. Our SSP courses prepare you for delivering evidence-based
AAC clinical practice that is language-based. Over the years we have heard from several faculty
members who have assigned our courses as class requirements, and students
receive the benefit of including the Certificate of Completion in their portfolios.
If you’re a practitioner or educator, remember that
many parents are taking our courses to support building the language competence
of their children who rely on AAC interventions.
AAC Institute is an IACET CEU provider, and we
provide this service at no additional cost to you – the CEUs
are free! IACET CEUs
are recognized by ASHA, RESNA and other professional organizations. Check out the numerous CEU activities at our
website at the link under Upcoming Events. http://www.aacinstitute.org
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2)
Applause - US signs the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
On Thursday 30 July 2009, the
The
A link to the UN Convention
is: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml
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3) Don’t
forget to check the AAC University and Research Directory
The 2009-10 academic year is underway! Even
though you’re a researcher in the field of AAC and not attending the Third Annual CAAC Research Conference at the
This is a friendly call to
all AAC faculty and researchers that it may be time to consider any updates to
your entry on the University and
Research Directory. If you are a NEW
instructor or researcher, please visit the site to see if your university is
listed, and then create an entry if you don’t find information about the AAC
activity happening in your department.
ISAAC (International Society for Augmentative
and Alternative Communication) and AAC Institute have collaborated on the
development of the University and
Research Directory. This international
directory includes contact and content information on universities and
other organizations engaged in AAC research around the world. Searches of the
directory can be based on selected search criteria in the areas of topic,
measurement and research methodology, and participants.
The University
and Research Directory can be accessed through the web sites of both
organizations: http://www.isaac-online.org and www.aacinstitute.org.
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4) Around the Water Cooler
& Parents’ Corner
Be sure to read both guest
columns for September as you wait for October’s postings. Dr. Bob Segalman
contributed an article titled The Journey
to Painless Legs detailing the difficulty with medicine and aging with
cerebral palsy. Back to school signals a
time for IEPs, and Dr.
Please, share these resources
with your families and consumers and encourage parents to sign up to
participate on the AACParentsgooglegroup managed by
Robin Hurd. Also, you might be
interested in reading the article written by Robin and published by ASHA in the
June edition of Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication titled
AAC and the IEP.
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5) Your Input Needed: Telephone Assistance Service Survey
The
FCC is encouraging Bob Segalman to gather information
on a new free telephone assistance service (except for the usual long-distance
charges) especially designed to help people with speech disabilities, who use the telephone either with AAC or their own voice.
Video-Assisted Speech-to-Speech (VAS) will allow you to go to a website and
signal a Communication Assistant (CA) that you want to make a phone call. Your
computer will need a microphone and a video camera. You and the CA will see
and/or hear each other; s/he will watch you type on your device or be able to
use visual cues from your lips, facial
expressions, etc. and will wait patiently, so that you will have plenty of time
to type or speak. The CA will ensure that the other party waits until you
signal “go ahead” and keep them on the line before they begin to respond. The
advantage of VAS over traditional STS is the visual input that you and the CA
receive from each other.
Would
you please answer the following survey to help the FCC determine how VAS can be
best designed to best benefit the speech disability community?
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=t3HGpOp64VgVtqxeGqArQg_3d_3d
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6) Attending
a fall conference?
Get the most out of attending
a conference by asking the right questions.
We’ve prepared a convenient handout to take along to encourage you to
raise your hand or probe for more information while visiting the conference
exhibit hall. This year’s round of fall
conferences will be starting soon, and organizers do their best to select
qualified presenters and plan a scientifically-based program. However, you can maximize the value of
attending by ensuring you gather the evidence you need to make data-driven AAC
decisions.
Scroll down to the What
to Ask at Conferences handout at http://www.aacinstitute.org/AACInstituteInformation/CurrentHandoutDocuments.html
or better yet stop by the AAC Institute booth for a handout.
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7) Join us at Closing
the Gap!
It wouldn’t be fall if we
weren’t in
Come to the AACI booth to
meet the parents and pick up information to make this another great conference. Remember to ask about how to get your free CEUs, too.
Closing the Gap is a proud
sponsor of the AAC Institute!
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8) See you in the
You’ll
be blown away at the Town hall Meeting on AAC, Where do we go from Here?
All AAC stakeholders are invited to participate in the discussion to
identify the current barriers to consumers getting AAC. Let’s work together to overcome them.
Join
the discussion on Thursday October 29 @ 12:00-1:00 pm. ATIA runs October 29-31 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center,
Schaumburg (
We’re
pleased to recommend attending session AAC-27 on Matching Children & AAC:
Collecting Evidence on Language Competence presented by
ATIA is a proud sponsor of
the AAC Institute!
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9) ASHA
Convention –Talk Jazz
Plan to attend the 13th Annual Edwin and Esther Prentke AAC
Distinguished Lecture given this year by Mr. Bac Shelton, session #1534 titled: A Multicultural Life and AAC: From Vietnam
to Mississippi. Mr. Shelton presents on 11/20/09 @ 9:30-10:30 am in
room 262,
Come by the AAC Institute exhibit booth and meet our family volunteers. See the new products and materials available to support AAC assessment and intervention, and ask about a demonstration of LAM and PeRT.
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10) Consumer AACtion Points: Only 3 AAC Language Representation Methods
How language is represented and generated using an AAC system is
one of the most important concepts to understand, because of the impact on language
use and AAC performance. Language can be
defined as a system of communication using sounds, symbols and words to express
a meaning, idea or thought. Essential of
our use of natural language is the systematic usage of a system of symbols that
refer to linguistic concepts to express meanings. Why is this important? The answer is, because an AAC language
representation method (LRM) must be a systematic use of a symbol system that
includes the characteristics of a natural language.
Only
three (3) AAC LRMs exist today
that adhere to this definition: 1) the
use of the alphabet or alphabet-based methods; 2) single meaning picture
symbols; 3) multi-meaning icons or semantic compaction.
Some people confuse the display technology or user interface with
the LRMs, since a tendency exists to focus on
technology features and appearances.
Let’s take for example, the use of single meaning picture symbols. Regardless of whether the single (1) meaning picture
symbols are located on a 10, 20 or 120 overlay or display, the LRM is
unchanged. The LRM also remains
unchanged if the display is a visual scene.
Why? The single meaning symbol is
embedded within the context of the scene, e.g. kitchen, bedroom, park, but
still only represents one word or message when selected. When a message –sentence – is selected from a
row of symbols, grid-type display or visual scene, the LRM still is identified
as single meaning pictures.
The use of pre-stored messages or sentences - individual remarks, comments
or scripted sentences around a given topic – are identified as the Method of
Utterance Generation (MUG) called “pre-stored utterances.” The counter to pre-stored utterances is SNUG
– spontaneous novel utterance generation.
These two methods of utterance generation can occur when someone is
using any of the three AAC LRMs.
Others may suggest that LRMs may be
updated with new technology. Don’t let
yourself get confused. Your evaluation
of an AAC system depends on how you identify the availability of and access to
the LRMs on a manual board or in the language
software.
For more information, please consider taking the Self-Study Program
course on AAC Symbols and Language
Representation Methods.
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11) 2009 Sponsors
Forty five (45) 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,
Exceptional
Parent, i-CREATe,
Max
International, Prentke Romich Company,
Semantic Compaction Systems, Spectrum Training systems, Inc..
Silver level sponsors include Arizona Department of Education & Arizona Technology
Access Program and
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