What happens when you walk into a classroom to coach AAC implementation and realize one staff member was hired last week and the other has been there for fifteen years?
This session follows one SLP's journey from well-meaning but directionless classroom visits to a structured, flexible and collaborative coaching model built around a simple but powerful shift: before the AAC learner can build skills, the communication partner has to. At the heart of the model is a defined set of communication partner skills (or competencies) but what makes it work is who gets to choose. When staff can see their own gaps and select their focus area, coaching stops feeling like an observation and starts feeling like ownership.
AT/AAC Teacher Specialist, Canyons School District
Michaela Ball is a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) who works to support teachers and SLPs in the Canyons School District in Sandy, Utah and serves on the district’s Utah Assistive Technology Team. She began her journey working in film as a production sound recordist and now uses... Read More →
Friday November 6, 2026 10:00am - 11:15am EST Lincoln
