Parents' Corner
AAC Family Out and About at Closing the Gap
Robin Hurd
This year at the Closing the Gap Conference in Minneapolis, families were able to participate in several activities designed to make the experience of attending a conference even more fun and informative.
On Friday night, families met at the pool for some swimming and informal visiting time. It was great to meet other parents who are raising or have raised kids with complex communication needs. While a couple of families with young children swam and visited with those of us there without our children, several parents of teens and young adults talked about the transition to adulthood and ways for their adult children to continue to enjoy literacy and learning experiences. As always, it was wonderful to meet other parents and learn from and laugh with them.
On Saturday, we had several events going on at once. Several exhibitors agreed to take part in a scavenger hunt in the exhibit hall. Look at the smiles!
Parents and professionals in AAC also had opportunity to meet and visit. This gave parents a chance to ask questions and gather specific information important to them. It also gave a chance for parents to get some direction about what things in the exhibit hall might be especially important for them to look at. During this time, young children had the opportunity to play in a supervised area.As always, the AAC Institute booth was available during the whole conference for parent questions. We were able to meet several new parents and get them acquainted with on-line resources available for families who use AAC. We also provided some tips on how to make the conference as useful as possible and how to keep from being overwhelmed by all of the information.
Family Out and About was a lot of fun for me. ? I know that it was also a great opportunity for the other families involved. A big thank you to all of the volunteers, exhibitors, and venue staff at the Sheraton that made this event possible. Keep posted for more family events at conferences in the future!
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