AAC intervention research and practice mostly focus on teaching individuals to use their device to make requests, but there’s more to communicating than just expressing immediate wants and needs. This presentation will use a storytelling format to share the results of a study where researchers set out to develop an AAC narrative intervention (Story Champs AAC Expansion Pack) to help three students with autism improve other communicative functions.
The AAC narrative intervention involved an SLP delivering 9-12 sessions (30 minutes each) in the homes of the participants in English across 4-5 weeks. Each session involved a lesson plan with explicit steps for: modeling a regular story, pointing to and naming icons, reading a simplified story and modeling the language targets in the story (1 noun, 1 adjective, 1 verb) using the child's speech generating device (SGD), using least-to-most prompting to support the student’s retell with fading illustrations. The researchers then examined several outcomes: (1) does the AAC narrative intervention improve students’ ability to retell the key parts of a story?, (2) do students improve multi-symbol use during intervention lessons?, and (3) do parents think the intervention was feasible and acceptable so its use could extend beyond sessions with a speech-language pathologist or school special education teacher?
Data was collected using total story grammar use in retelling modified PreK CUBED-3 Narrative Language Measures: Listening forms at the end of every session, the start of the next session, and at follow-up. Parents recorded children’s spontaneous use of SGD outside of intervention sessions. Results found that in as few as 9-10 sessions, students made large and significant gains in story retell and multi-symbol use-- key prerequisites for other communicative functions like personal storytelling. Parents loved the program and planned to embed the activity into their child’s home routine! Examples of the intervention's components will be shared in the presentation.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) doesn’t end with school. This session explores how Grid can support teens and adults as they transition into jobs, relationships and independent living. We’ll go beyond language development to highlight tools for self-advocacy, hobbies, scheduling, building and maintaining relationships, and expressing authentic, personal thoughts, whether about love, frustration, or dreams. Attendees will learn how to leverage Grid to support autonomy, identity and meaningful participation in the transition from school to adult life. They will gain practical solutions to support meaningful connection fostering autonomy and enrichment in life beyond the classroom no matter the skill or access needs of the individual.
Take your TD Snap skills beyond the basics in this interactive session focused on advanced features, hidden tools, and time-saving workflows that can make communication and customization more efficient. Participants will explore practical strategies for maximizing TD Snap, including:
Saving, sharing, and syncing in TD Snap
Using Boardmaker Player within TD Snap
Importing pagesets and individual pages from Pageset Central
Using the built-in YouTube player
Integrating iOS Shortcuts and smart speakers
Troubleshooting tips and practical solutions
The session will connect these features to real-world applications, highlighting ways to increase independence, improve access, streamline device management, and create more engaging communication opportunities across settings. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to bring their own device with TD Snap installed to follow along, explore features, and practice new skills. Interactive discussion, troubleshooting, and Q&A will provide opportunities to apply strategies and share ideas. Whether you are supporting a new communicator or looking to deepen your own expertise, you’ll leave with practical techniques, resources, and confidence to make the most of TD Snap in your everyday practice.
Our family and school communities are dealing with a lot of heavy topics these days. We are so rooted in trying to problem solve, that when we speak with one another, we aren’t truly listening to what the other person is saying … instead we are trying to solve the problem we believe they are presenting. When people feel unheard, it leads to avoidable conflict and discord among parents and school communities. What if instead of rushing through every conversation like it’s a problem to solve, we learn to truly listen to one another? Effective school and parent relationships are built on trust. Listening for deep understanding; the “why” behind what is being said, is a powerful tool for building mutual understanding, strengthening relationships, and fostering collaboration.
As our schools continue to focus on literacy development, we still experience gaps for some of our neurodiverse students who may have issues surrounding both areas. Professionals debate the best strategies for support while the outside world focuses on “standardization” and whether tools for support are “cheating.” Ironically, AAC in all forms can be utilized to enhance literacy development and takes into account gaps where even neurotypical students may have difficulty communicating ideas.
This presentation focuses on how the integration of AAC does actually assist students in both literacy and communication. We will spend time with both hardware and software in an effort to add a layer of consistency in how these areas can be reinforced allowing for students of all abilities to engage to the best of their own abilities while understanding the range of abilities in their peers.
We will start by looking at “hardware” on the no-tech, low tech, and mid-tech sides of AAC. Through the use of these tools in a more holistic manner and with a differentiated purpose can augment how all students are developing their skills. By looking at items like static communication boards and platforms as well as both single-message and multi-message communicators, we can begin to redesign how these are being used with the impact of reaching more students. We will also touch upon how various reader pens can move that approach to literacy along as the students develop their core skills.
We will then approach “software” and look at how it can be that support in multiple manners as well. We find that there are a lot of programs that meet specific needs. Those are very effective in the cases of an individual. However, there are also other programs that can be used by larger groups of students with the intent of creating support structures that meet the demands of higher levels of education necessary for life beyond school. We will have time for brainstorming, interacting with devices, and questions so that the attendees can walk out of the session with ideas that can be incorporated immediately.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) applications provide robust instructional tools that can support student access, participation, communication, and independence across academic environments. While AAC systems are often viewed primarily as tools for expressive communication, many also contain built-in features that can be leveraged to support literacy, classroom engagement, organization, and self-advocacy. Understanding how to integrate these tools into daily instruction can help educators and service providers create more inclusive learning opportunities for students who use AAC. This interactive conference session will examine the use of Unity AAC, with emphasis on integrated tools that extend beyond core vocabulary access. A brief introductory review of Unity will be provided for participants who are less familiar with the system; however, the session will not focus on reviewing or practicing Unity vocabulary. Instead, participants will engage in structured small-group exploration of selected Unity features and discuss how these tools can be incorporated into classroom instruction and educational routines. Each small group will examine specific features, identify potential instructional applications, and consider how the tools may support student engagement, academic achievement, and independent participation. Unity tools to be explored include Notepad, Whiteboard, Photo Album, Place Cursor, Share to Apps, and Voice Assistants. Through guided discussion and collaborative problem-solving, participants will analyze how these features may be used to support literacy development, written expression, note-taking, comprehension, classroom participation, organization, social interaction, and student self-advocacy. Groups will also discuss potential barriers to implementation and generate practical strategies for overcoming those challenges in a variety of educational settings.
Following small-group discussions, participants will share their observations, ideas, and implementation strategies with the larger audience. This whole-group debrief will provide an opportunity to learn from multiple perspectives, exchange best practices, and develop a broader understanding of how Unity tools can be used to support students across diverse academic environments. Attendees are encouraged to bring an iPad with the Unity Discover app installed, if possible; a limited number of devices will be available for participant use during the session.
