aac institute

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AAC Institute Update!

26 July 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 nine (9) items. Please forward to others with an interest in

AAC. Others can register for email updates at the AAC Institute web site.

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1) See you at our Symposium!

There are only a couple weeks before the 7th annual symposium on AAC and

Evidence Based Practice in Pittsburgh, PA. Don't miss it! The topic is

Entering a State of Independence: AAC, Evidence and Empowerment. Families,

professionals, and individuals who use AAC will be coming together to

discuss achieving quality of life goals. Regardless of your role in the AAC

community you'll find value in participating in the discussion of the steps,

tools, and resources that support successful transitions toward

independence. The event takes place at the Sheraton Station Square in

Pittsburgh from 9:00 am - 5:30 on Thursday, August 6th, 2009. Registration

information is available at http://www.aacinstitute.org/Symposium. If you're

a professional, please share news about this event with your families. CEUs

and ACT 48 hours are offered at no extra charge. Stay for PEC (next item).

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2) Come to the Symposium and stay for PEC@

Read Beth Anne Luciani's guest Around the Water Cooler column that sets the

stage for this year's Pittsburgh Employment Conference (PEC@) titled

Depression and Loneliness: Serious Theme, Real Life. Then, mark your

calendars for August 7-9, 2009! PEC@ has always targeted real-life issues

for people will disabilities and this year's theme of Employment:

Overcoming Depression and Loneliness is no exception. CEUs and ACT 48 hours

are offered at no extra charge.

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3) Consumer AACtion Point - Therapeutic Interchange - what did you say?

Have you ever experienced therapeutic interchange with your health care?

Would you know if you did? Therapeutic interchange is the widespread

medical practice that puts profit ahead of health and means that the

hospital is switching prescriptions and potentially other durable medical

equipment. As reported by CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson,

hospitals make what's called a " market share " deal with a pharmaceutical

company to switch another company's drug for theirs and the hospital is

given a deep discount. In this arrangement the hospital's task is to get

almost all of the patients who need that type of drug on the drug

manufactured by the company with the agreement. Some may feel that this is

a cost savings practice to health care. Don't be confused, the only ones

benefiting from therapeutic interchange are the health care agencies and the

companies. Many times the drugs being switched are inappropriate for the

patient, don't achieve the expected outcome and have even caused deaths. In

a recent court case, Merck, a drug company manufacturing Pepcid (an antacid)

recently agreed to pay back taxpayers $650 million for such deals.

What does this have to do with AAC? Whenever the AAC system of your choice

or the AAC system recommended by a professional is switched, you may have

inadvertently experienced therapeutic interchange. Any potential practice

that compromises your ability to achieve your maximum potential or the

potential of a family member should be questioned. If you are told you need

to switch your AAC system to another manufacturer, you're now empowered to

address therapeutic interchange.

Finally, your speech-language pathologist (SLPs) is one of the primary

professionals who can protect you from therapeutic interchange and advocate

on your behalf if such an agreement is being practiced. SLPs having to

advocate for clients who are told that their preferred AAC system has been

switched, may wish to inform the health care administrator of the Merck

action.

AAC consumers and practitioners should be watchful of pharmaceutical sales

practices gaining acceptance in AAC. Consumers should never be expected to

compromise their full life experience - communication is too important!

Reference: Motivated to investigate this practice from a report on CBS

Nightly News with Couric on March 7, 2008 at

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/07/eveningnews/main3919164.shtml.

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4) Grassroots Movement against Preferred Providers

Does your frustration increase when you realize the insurance company has an

established preferred provider agreement with an AAC manufacturer different

from your chosen device? Are you a consumer, family member, or

speech-language pathologist who has been asked to make a switch to an AAC

system from the preferred AAC manufacturer?

Contact AAC Institute (support@...) if you need help to appeal

this policy. Do not allow funding agents to override comprehensive AAC

assessments and in the process reduce the communication performance and life

experience of individuals who use AAC. The AAC Institute position statement

on this practice can be found at

http://www.aacinstitute.org/funding/PreferredProviders.html. Include a copy

of the position statement in your appeal. Others have, and have been

successful in overturning this policy.

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5) Congratulations to Bac Shelton

Congratulations go out to Bac Shelton for receiving this year's Prentke

Distinguished lecturer award at ASHA. The 13th Annual Edwin & Esther

Prentke AAC Distinguished Lecture is being held on Friday, 20 November at

the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Mr. Shelton was born

in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States as a child. He has cerebral

palsy and relies on AAC to achieve his goals. Mr. Shelton has given numerous

regional and national presentations on AAC from the perspective of an end

user with a multicultural background. Mr. Shelton's speech will be

available for viewing on the website after his presentation. Go to

http://www.aacinstitute.org/ashaprentkelecture.html to learn about former

lecturers and the contributions of Edwin and Esther Prentke to the field of

AAC.

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6) Student Researcher Seminar at CAAC Research Conference 2009

Plan ahead to attend the Third Annual Clinical AAC Research Conference on

October 1-3, 2009 at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

A special CAAC student breakfast and seminar coordinated by Lyle Lloyd will

take place on Saturday morning. This is an opportunity for students

interested in a career in clinical research to interact informally on a

variety of clinical research topics with researchers in the field.

http://www.aacinstitute.org/CAAC

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7) Around the Water Cooler

Have you ever thought about being an author? Would you like to contribute

your thoughts or opinions about a special topic related to AAC in order to

improve the life experience of people who use or could benefit from AAC

assistive technology? Are you an AAC team member who could encourage

someone you know who using AAC to express their point of view on an

important AAC issue? Chapple, ConsumerNet manager, is seeking

potential guest columnists for the monthly Around the Water Cooler

editorials. If you are interested in writing a column please contact

at dgchapple928@.... requests that you provide your full

contact information and a title with a few sentences about your chosen

topic. Your ideas about solutions are strongly encouraged. Just click on

AAC ConsumerNet at our homepage to find Around the Water Cooler.

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8) Welcome to New Sponsors

We value the sponsors helping to support the various initiatives of AAC

Institute. AAC Institute would like to express our gratitude by welcoming

the following:

New Gold Level Sponsors include Max International.

New Bronze Level Sponsors include Center for Autism and Related

Disabilities; Disabilities Books; Hope and Light foundation.

New Honorary Sponsors include Tardive Dyskinesia Center.

Please, take the time to learn about the difference these sponsors are

making to improve the quality of life for people who rely on AAC.

http://www.aacinstitute.org/sponsors.html

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9) 2009 Sponsors

Forty (40) 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, and Spectrum Training systems, Inc.

Silver level sponsors include Arizona Department of Education & Arizona

Technology Access Program and Indiana Assistive Technology Act. For a

complete list of sponsors, including links to their web sites, click on the

" Sponsors " link on the AAC Institute home page.

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