#TalkingAAC 2026: Full Schedule

Act now! We reach capacity and sell out every year. Registration closes Wednesday, October 28, 2026 — or sooner if capacity is reached.

Ticket Options

#TalkingAAC: Pre-Conference Workshop
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | 12:00–4:00 PM
Kellogg Center, East Lansing, MI
- Choose one 4-hour workshop
- Cost: $100
- Full details click here
#TalkingAAC: Two-Day Conference
Thursday & Friday, November 5-6, 2026
- Build your schedule for this two-day event
- Cost: $300
- Price includes breakfast, lunch, & parking
- Full details click here

NOTE: To attend all 3 days, you must purchase both a Pre-Conference Workshop ticket and a Two-Day Conference ticket.

Registration & Session Planning

All registration and session planning will be handled via Sched:

Click the green Log In or Sign Up button below to access Sched.
Then proceed to purchase your ticket(s).
After you’ve purchased your ticket(s), you can plan which sessions you’d like to attend.
New to using the Sched app? To take a tour click here
Need to update your app to this year’s conference? In the Sched app, go to My Account > Change Events> type in the name of the event #TalkingAAC 2026
A new Guest Buyer option lets you purchase tickets for others without creating a SCHED account. Once ticket(s) are selected, choose Continue as Guest.

Ticket Purchase - Error Message

If you receive an error message when purchasing your ticket, please contact TalkingAAC at [email protected] or 517-299-5200 for assistance.

⚠️ Please do not attempt to purchase again, as this may result in duplicate tickets.

Refunds & Ticket Transfers

Refunds available up to 10 days before the event. Sched & Stripe fees are non-refundable.
Ticket transfers (e.g., to a coworker) may be approved before October 28, 2026.

Stay Informed

Watch for updates from #TalkingAAC and Sched with session details and reminders as the event approaches.

Questions?

www.talkingaac.org

[email protected]

517-299-5200

9:45am EST

Designing Flexible and Differentiated PL Experiences With Stepping Into AAC

Thursday November 5, 2026 9:45am - 11:00am EST

Lincoln

Limited Capacity seats available

Designing meaningful professional learning opportunities for AAC can be intimidating and overwhelming. There’s so much to cover, and it is all important!

Stepping Into AAC is a compilation of 20-weeks of FREE resources to guide families through learning about and becoming informed members of their learner's team. It includes AACtion steps, videos, newsletters, and supplemental print materials for the journey. However, Stepping Into AAC resources can be utilized in customized ways to support the AAC learning journey of teams and professionals, while taking into account time constraints, attrition, and the varying needs of team members.

This session will begin by providing an overview of the content and organization of Stepping Into AAC materials, as well as a framework for using Stepping Into AAC print and video materials to help teachers, clinicians, and paraeducators strengthen their AAC practices. Participants will be introduced to examples of differentiated learning paths, as well as supplemental resources for rich and engaging PL planning, such as action and reflection activities, AAC practice, and story vignettes. Additionally, an AAC Topic Map that aligns AAC implementation topics with specific Stepping Into AAC content, will be shared making it easier to identify and use materials to meet specific needs of teams and audiences.

Stepping Into AAC considers five elements of communication partner learning: technology, knowledge, skills, habits, and community. Each sample learning path includes materials that address each of these 5 elements. Learning paths build on one another in an alternative to the 20-week format that allows for flexibility and responsiveness of AAC PL in environments that must balance frequent staff changes, with meaningful ongoing learning opportunities for seasoned team members. Participants will have the opportunity to explore PL planning resources and action plan around supporting their school or team.

Presenters

Michaela Ball, M.S., CCC-SLP

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 →

Tabi Jones-Wohleber

SLP, Communication AACtualized, LLC

Tabi Jones-Wohleber currently works as an AAC-focused SLP supporting families through the WV Birth to Three program. She previously worked as a school-based Assistive Technology Team leader for 17 years. Tabi created the widely shared Model as a MASTER PAL training series, and has authored chapters on AAC implementations in various texts. Tabi has worked with Angelman Syndrome family organizations in multiple countries, and presents on AAC-related topics at local, state, national, and international conferences... Read More →

Thursday November 5, 2026 9:45am - 11:00am EST
Lincoln

General Session

12:00pm EST

Protecting Students' Legal Rights to Effective Communication

Thursday November 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:15pm EST

Lincoln

Limited Capacity seats available

Effective communication is a fundamental human right and a foundational aspect of learning and participating in the community. Access to communication supports is protected by the IDEA, ADA, and Section 504.

Too often, however, students may be shut out of access to robust AAC. Students may be presumed incapable of benefiting from AAC; may be forced to try ineffective alternative interventions before AAC is provided; or may be offered AAC that does not actually enable the same range of rich communication that other students enjoy. Schools may also offer an AAC device without committing adequate time and resources to teaching the student how to use it or adapting AAC supports to students' needs.

This presentation will help participants better understand schools' obligations to provide effective communication and AAC supports under federal laws.

Presenters

Sam Crane, J.D.

Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy, CommunicationFIRST

Sam Crane, JD (she/they), is CommunicationFIRST’s Director of Policy & Legal Advocacy. She is an attorney and disability advocate with over ten years of policy advocacy experience and is licensed to practice law in Washington, DC. Sam’s advocacy work has included promoting access... Read More →

Thursday November 5, 2026 12:00pm - 1:15pm EST
Lincoln

General Session

1:30pm EST

Beyond the School Walls: Navigating AAC Access and Rights in Adulthood

Thursday November 5, 2026 1:30pm - 2:45pm EST

Lincoln

Limited Capacity seats available

Effective communication is a fundamental human right and a foundational aspect of learning and participating in the community. Access to communication supports is protected by numerous disability rights laws.

Students transitioning to adulthood may experience barriers to continued use of AAC. The supports they received in schools must now be provided through other sources, which may include Medicaid, Vocational Rehabilitation, and/or employers and institutions of higher education. Navigating these new and often poorly-coordinated systems can be difficult for young adults and their families.

This presentation will help participants better understand the new laws and systems that protect access to AAC during the transition to adulthood and beyond, and how professionals can help students prepare for and navigate these changing frameworks.

Presenters

Sam Crane, J.D.

Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy, CommunicationFIRST

Thursday November 5, 2026 1:30pm - 2:45pm EST
Lincoln

General Session

3:00pm EST

AAC Storytime for All: Create Your Own Community Based Instructional Opportunity for AAC Users, Caregivers and Future Clinicians

Thursday November 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST

Lincoln

Limited Capacity seats available

The purpose of this session is to encourage SLPs to create an AAC Storytime program in their own communities. The presenter will detail how she started and has maintained such a program operating out of Riverview Public Library for the last 2 years.

The concept is simple: Every month, around a dozen AAC users (both preschool and elementary aged), using a variety of AAC programs, come to participate in a 45-minute interactive storytime event at the library. They are paired with volunteers from local universities who are studying to be speech pathologists. The SLP facilitating the event reads a story and leads the group through language-rich activities.

Despite a simple concept, there are many considerations for execution. This presentation will break down these considerations, including how to source a location, generate participants and volunteers, training volunteers, and lesson planning for books and activities. The presentation will discuss the relative time commitment, and discuss ways to reduce the workload, including use of a database of free resources for those looking to follow a similar format. These resources include a monthly "to-do" list, themed lesson plans for books with activities and material list, training power point for the student volunteers, spreadsheet templates to organize participant information, and low tech communication tools to support every book.

This topic has relevance and impact for multiple groups. Through a dedicated AAC Storytime, AAC users will be provided with an ongoing community enrichment opportunity tailored to their unique communication needs. It serves to benefit their literacy skills, in addition to peer socialization with other AAC users.

The parents/caregivers of the participants will have the opportunity to learn and practice their language modeling alongside hands-on support from the student volunteers. This will allow them to learn their child's system and use it in a way that they may not have had the opportunity to before.

Finally, the student volunteers will have the opportunity to be hands on with AAC in a nurturing environment before entering the work-force. It will serve for some as their first exposure to AAC, and for others as on-going practice and experience. Their future caseloads will benefit from their increased familiarity and comfort with varied AAC systems and their implementation.

Presenters

Alison Ortega, MA, CCC-SLP

Owner, Speech Pathologist, OrtegaTalks LLC

Alison Ortega is an SLP working primarily in the pediatric outpatient setting. She is a proud Wayne State alum (linguistics BA, speech-language pathology MA). If she had to pick an AAC app to use personally, it would be LAMP. Her AAC Storytime program is dedicated to her late grandmother... Read More →

Yunuen Vargas

Student Volunteer, OrtegaTalks LLC

Yunuen Vargas is a first-generation, bilingual student at Eastern Michigan University and an Early On family trainer. She supports early communication through evidence and play-based strategies with a strong focus on culturally responsive practices and equitable access to AAC.

Thursday November 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Lincoln

General Session

8:30am EST

Enhancing AAC Intervention Through Music: A Music Therapist’s Approach for SLPs

Friday November 6, 2026 8:30am - 9:45am EST

Lincoln

Limited Capacity seats available

AAC devices are only as effective as the environments in which they are used. While SLPs lead AAC implementation, communication does not happen in isolation—and some powerful opportunities for language learning are happening in music therapy sessions! This session highlights how to harness those moments to support communication.

Despite increased access to AAC systems, many individuals still lack consistent, meaningful opportunities to use them across environments. Music therapy sessions naturally incorporate rhythm, repetition, predictability, and high levels of engagement; elements that align closely with principles of language development and AAC best practice. However, these opportunities are often underutilized or not translated into other therapeutic contexts.

This presentation will demonstrate how AAC is actively used within music therapy sessions to support communication development. Through video examples, participants will observe how aided language modeling, core vocabulary, and communication opportunities are embedded into musical experiences in functional and meaningful ways.

The primary focus of the session is on practical application. Participants will learn specific, transferable strategies that can be used beyond music therapy, including:

Using familiar songs to target core vocabulary
Structuring predictable routines to support participation and initiation
Embedding AAC into highly motivating activities
Increasing opportunities for modeling and communicative attempts

These strategies are designed to be immediately applicable within speech-language therapy sessions, regardless of musical background. No prior musical experience is required, and strategies will be presented in a way that is accessible and achievable for all clinicians.

In addition, the session will address how SLPs and music therapists can collaborate

Presenters

Shelley Anderson, MT-BC

Assistive Technology Specialist and Music Therapist, Notes 2 live By LLC

Shelley Anderson, a Board-Certified Music Therapist who specializes in AAC and assistive technology. She works with individuals on Indiana’s Medicaid waiver, founding the state’s only waiver-funded AAC parent training program to empower families as confident communication partners... Read More →

Friday November 6, 2026 8:30am - 9:45am EST
Lincoln

General Session

10:00am EST

From "Wing It" to Intentional: A Communication Partner Skill-Building Collaborative Journey

Friday November 6, 2026 10:00am - 11:15am EST

Lincoln

Limited Capacity seats available

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.

Presenters

Michaela Ball, M.S., CCC-SLP

AT/AAC Teacher Specialist, Canyons School District

Friday November 6, 2026 10:00am - 11:15am EST
Lincoln

General Session

12:15pm EST

From Therapy Hour to All-Day AAC: A Hybrid In-Person and Telepractice Model for Life Skills Classrooms

Friday November 6, 2026 12:15pm - 1:30pm EST

Lincoln

Limited Capacity seats available

For students with complex communication needs in life skills classrooms, AAC is most effective when it is woven throughout the school day, not isolated to therapy sessions. Yet many districts, especially those in rural or underserved areas, struggle to provide consistent, expert-driven AAC support due to staffing shortages, geographic barriers, and limited classroom-based AAC training. The result is too often the same: AAC devices that sit unused outside of therapy time, classroom staff who feel uncertain about how to support communication, and AAC users whose access to a robust language system is limited to a few minutes per week.

This session shares a hybrid service delivery model designed to close that gap. Built and refined by Interact Therapy, the model combines virtual SLP expertise with in-person classroom support so that AAC implementation extends across the full school day. Presenters will share findings from a 12-week mixed-methods case study in a rural public school district, including a 42% increase in student AAC usage, 70% of participating students showing more independent communication attempts, and 100% of classroom staff reporting improved confidence in supporting AAC. This work was selected as a 2025 ASHA Convention Centennial Session for its potential to shape future practice in telepractice and AAC service delivery.

Beyond the data, attendees will leave with practical tools developed through the project, including a staff competency checklist, a weekly planning template, and a communication opportunity matrix that maps AAC use across classroom routines. The session will include time for small-group discussion of common implementation barriers and table-based work applying the tools to attendees' own settings.

This session is especially relevant for school-based SLPs, classroom teachers and paraprofessionals, district administrators, telepractice providers, and AAC specialists. Family members and AAC users are warmly invited; their perspectives on what truly all-day AAC access looks and feels like are central to the work this model supports.

Presenters

Marleah Herman-Umpleby, MS CCC-SLP

Co-Owner, Speech Pathologist, Interact Therapy

Marleah Herman-Umpleby, MS, CCC-SLP, is an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Online Speech-Language Pathology Program at West Virginia University, where she leads online graduate education and teaches courses in AAC, speech sound disorders, and clinical practice. She... Read More →

Stephanie Ekis, MS CCC-SLP

Co-Owner, Speech Pathologist, Interact Therapy

Stephanie is an SLP with a passion for helping individuals realize their full potential. With over 30 years of experience, Stephanie has provided assessment and treatment for children and adults with complex communication needs. With a specialty in augmentative and alternative... Read More →

Friday November 6, 2026 12:15pm - 1:30pm EST
Lincoln

General Session