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AAC Institute Update!

September 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 eleven (11) items. Please forward to others with an interest

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

http://www.aacinstitute.org

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1) Welcome back to school and free CEUs!

Whether you're an SLP starting a new school position that involves working

with students using AAC or a faculty member planning for your AAC course,

the AAC courses at our Self-Study Program (SSP) may be just what you need.

Our SSP courses prepare you for delivering evidence-based AAC clinical

practice that is language-based. Over the years we have heard from several

faculty members who have assigned our courses as class requirements, and

students receive the benefit of including the Certificate of Completion in

their portfolios.

If you're a practitioner or educator, remember that many parents are taking

our courses to support building the language competence of their children

who rely on AAC interventions.

AAC Institute is an IACET CEU provider, and we provide this service at no

additional cost to you - the CEUs are free! IACET CEUs are recognized by

ASHA, RESNA and other professional organizations. Check out the numerous

CEU activities at our website at the link under Upcoming Events.

http://www.aacinstitute.org

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2) Applause - US signs the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons

with Disabilities

On Thursday 30 July 2009, the United States signed a United Nations (UN)

treaty enshrining the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people.

The signing by U.S. Ambassador Rice marked a dramatic shift from the

previous administration, which refused to take part in negotiations on the

treaty.

The United States joins 141other nations who have signed the UN Convention

on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The signing of the UN Convention

sends an important message that this country is committed to equal rights

for people with disabilities, in the United States and around the world, and

symbolizes President Barack Obama's commitment to upholding human rights

through international agreements

A link to the UN Convention is:

http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml

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3) Don't forget to check the AAC University and Research Directory

The 2009-10 academic year is underway! Even though you're a researcher in

the field of AAC and not attending the Third Annual CAAC Research Conference

at the University of Pittsburgh this October, you may be interested in

checking out the agenda and preparing to submit to next year's conference.

AAC Researchers should stick together or at least be networking as the field

builds the evidentiary base to support AAC clinical practice.

This is a friendly call to all AAC faculty and researchers that it may be

time to consider any updates to your entry on the University and Research

Directory. If you are a NEW instructor or researcher, please visit the site

to see if your university is listed, and then create an entry if you don't

find information about the AAC activity happening in your department.

ISAAC (International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication)

and AAC Institute have collaborated on the development of the University and

Research Directory. This international directory includes contact and

content information on universities and other organizations engaged in AAC

research around the world. Searches of the directory can be based on

selected search criteria in the areas of topic, measurement and research

methodology, and participants.

The University and Research Directory can be accessed through the web sites

of both organizations: http://www.isaac-online.org and www.aacinstitute.org.

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4) Around the Water Cooler & Parents' Corner

Be sure to read both guest columns for September as you wait for October's

postings. Dr. Bob Segalman contributed an article titled The Journey to

Painless Legs detailing the difficulty with medicine and aging with cerebral

palsy. Back to school signals a time for IEPs, and Dr. Katya Hill wrote a

Parents' Corner article on The IEP, Power Distance Index, and Parent

Empowerment.

Please, share these resources with your families and consumers and encourage

parents to sign up to participate on the AACParentsgooglegroup managed by

Robin Hurd. Also, you might be interested in reading the article written

by Robin and published by ASHA in the June edition of Perspectives on

Augmentative and Alternative Communication titled AAC and the IEP.

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5) Your Input Needed: Telephone Assistance Service Survey

The FCC is encouraging Bob Segalman to gather information on a new free

telephone assistance service (except for the usual long-distance charges)

especially designed to help people with speech disabilities, who use the

telephone either with AAC or their own voice. Video-Assisted

Speech-to-Speech (VAS) will allow you to go to a website and signal a

Communication Assistant (CA) that you want to make a phone call. Your

computer will need a microphone and a video camera. You and the CA will see

and/or hear each other; s/he will watch you type on your device or be able

to use visual cues from your lips, facial expressions, etc. and will wait

patiently, so that you will have plenty of time to type or speak. The CA

will ensure that the other party waits until you signal " go ahead " and keep

them on the line before they begin to respond. The advantage of VAS over

traditional STS is the visual input that you and the CA receive from each

other.

Would you please answer the following survey to help the FCC determine how

VAS can be best designed to best benefit the speech disability community?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=t3HGpOp64VgVtqxeGqArQg_3d_3d

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6) Attending a fall conference?

Get the most out of attending a conference by asking the right questions.

We've prepared a convenient handout to take along to encourage you to raise

your hand or probe for more information while visiting the conference

exhibit hall. This year's round of fall conferences will be starting soon,

and organizers do their best to select qualified presenters and plan a

scientifically-based program. However, you can maximize the value of

attending by ensuring you gather the evidence you need to make data-driven

AAC decisions.

Scroll down to the What to Ask at Conferences handout at

http://www.aacinstitute.org/AACInstituteInformation/CurrentHandoutDocuments.html

or better yet stop by the AAC Institute booth for a handout.

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7) Join us at Closing the Gap!

It wouldn't be fall if we weren't in Minnesota. Closing the Gap (CTG) is

working with AAC Institute parents to create some exciting opportunities for

family participation at CTG. Stay tuned for announcements about getting

families involved as conference attendees and building networks for consumer

supports. www.closingthegap.com

Come to the AACI booth to meet the parents and pick up information to make

this another great conference. Remember to ask about how to get your free

CEUs, too.

Closing the Gap is a proud sponsor of the AAC Institute!

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8) See you in the Windy City: ATIA - Chicago

You'll be blown away at the Town hall Meeting on AAC, Where do we go from

Here? All AAC stakeholders are invited to participate in the discussion to

identify the current barriers to consumers getting AAC. Let's work together

to overcome them.

Join the discussion on Thursday October 29 @ 12:00-1:00 pm. ATIA runs

October 29-31 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center,

Schaumburg (Chicago), IL. The ATIA 2009 Chicago Conference Advance Program

is now available at www.atia.org.

We're pleased to recommend attending session AAC-27 on Matching Children &

AAC: Collecting Evidence on Language Competence presented by Katya Hill

from the University of Pittsburgh, but also our Executive Director. See us

outside the exhibit hall to pick up information about earning CEUs for the

conference - they're free! Ask about our new products too!

ATIA is a proud sponsor of the AAC Institute!

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9) ASHA Convention -Talk Jazz

Plan to attend the 13th Annual Edwin and Esther Prentke AAC Distinguished

Lecture given this year by Mr. Bac Shelton, session #1534 titled: A

Multicultural Life and AAC: From Vietnam to Mississippi. Mr. Shelton

presents on 11/20/09 @ 9:30-10:30 am in room 262, Ernest N. Morial

Convention Center.

Come by the AAC Institute exhibit booth and meet our family volunteers. See

the new products and materials available to support AAC assessment and

intervention, and ask about a demonstration of LAM and PeRT.

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10) Consumer AACtion Points: Only 3 AAC Language Representation Methods

How language is represented and generated using an AAC system is one of the

most important concepts to understand, because of the impact on language use

and AAC performance. Language can be defined as a system of communication

using sounds, symbols and words to express a meaning, idea or thought.

Essential of our use of natural language is the systematic usage of a system

of symbols that refer to linguistic concepts to express meanings. Why is

this important? The answer is, because an AAC language representation

method (LRM) must be a systematic use of a symbol system that includes the

characteristics of a natural language.

Only three (3) AAC LRMs exist today that adhere to this definition: 1) the

use of the alphabet or alphabet-based methods; 2) single meaning picture

symbols; 3) multi-meaning icons or semantic compaction.

Some people confuse the display technology or user interface with the LRMs,

since a tendency exists to focus on technology features and appearances.

Let's take for example, the use of single meaning picture symbols.

Regardless of whether the single (1) meaning picture symbols are located on

a 10, 20 or 120 overlay or display, the LRM is unchanged. The LRM also

remains unchanged if the display is a visual scene. Why? The single

meaning symbol is embedded within the context of the scene, e.g. kitchen,

bedroom, park, but still only represents one word or message when selected.

When a message -sentence - is selected from a row of symbols, grid-type

display or visual scene, the LRM still is identified as single meaning

pictures.

The use of pre-stored messages or sentences - individual remarks, comments

or scripted sentences around a given topic - are identified as the Method of

Utterance Generation (MUG) called " pre-stored utterances. " The counter to

pre-stored utterances is SNUG - spontaneous novel utterance generation.

These two methods of utterance generation can occur when someone is using

any of the three AAC LRMs.

Others may suggest that LRMs may be updated with new technology. Don't let

yourself get confused. Your evaluation of an AAC system depends on how you

identify the availability of and access to the LRMs on a manual board or in

the language software.

For more information, please consider taking the Self-Study Program course

on AAC Symbols and Language Representation Methods.

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11) 2009 Sponsors

Forty five (45) 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, 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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