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Pre-Conference

Let's Get Interactive!† Creating On-screen Activities with Boardmaker Software Family
Do you use Boardmaker to create printed activities? Do you want to take these activities to the computer and make them interactive? Have you dabbled with Boardmaker Plus but want to learn more? This is the session for you! Understand the benefits to presenting students with on-screen activities and the features to allow you to create interactive, cross-curricular instructional materials and therapy tools. Learn about new features, tools and resources to help make your work easier. This session will help you get interactive and bring your symbol-adapted activities to life!

Day One – September 23, 2009, Breakout Sessions

Keynote Sessions
Our Keynote will be delivered by Joanne M. Cafiero, Ph.D..

Accessible Literacy Learning from Penn State and Mayer-Johnson
Presented by Lori Geist, MS, CCC-SLP and Marleah Herman-Umpleby, MS, CCC-SLP
Teaching individuals with disabilities to read is absolutely critical to their success. Researchers Janice Light and David McNaughton at Penn State have developed an instructional program for teaching basic reading skills to students with disabilities. This unique program was found to be highly effective in controlled research with individuals with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, multiple disabilities, and developmental apraxia. Mayer-Johnson has worked closely with the researchers to make this program available for everyone. We will demonstrate both a paper-based system and software-based automated tutoring system that will take the guesswork out of teaching reading to your students with disabilities.

Successful Alternate Assessment: Strategies for an Efficient and Effective Process
Presented by Lisa Kehoe, MS and Kristin Whitfield, MA, CCC-SLP
Have you found yourself spending too much time adapting mandatory state testing for your students with special needs? Not sure how your non-verbal and physically impaired student can respond to test questions? Do you have questions about how alternate assessment can fit in with the rest of your instructional program? This session is designed to help you better understand how you can present and administer alternate assessment to your students in an efficient and effective manner. We will discuss best practice strategies in the areas of teaming; UDL; alignment of standards, IEP goals, and alternate assessment; and use of AAC during assessment. Examples of the strategies will be provided and time will be allowed for group discussion.

Building the Inclusive Classroom
Presented by Dawn Smith, M.Ed.
This session will provide an overview of how Inclusive Classrooms will be successful by: developing a warm and welcoming classroom environment, modifying the level of support for each student individually, adapting materials and activities, and creating organizational resources. Participants will discuss teaching strategies, behavior techniques, and past lessons of success or failure.

Classroom Success through "This Week’s Activity"
Presented by Sharon Maack, MA, ATP
The implementation of "This Week’s Activity" by teachers and support staff has remarkably impacted communication skill development in AAC users in an educational setting. Over the past seven years, technology use has increased over 70% throughout the school day. Using popular authoring software, this unique delivery of instruction provides language-rich activities created and used in a consistent instructional format. New activities are provided on a weekly basis to encourage opportunities for technology integration and active learning into the classroom curriculum. The model outlined with "This Week’s Activity" facilitates academic, literacy, language, and functional communication skill development for students with varying abilities.

AAC and Autism: Case Studies in Developing Successful Communication
Presented by Linnea McAfoose, MA, CCC-SLP
Approximately 25%-50% of all individuals with autism are likely to have a communication disorder that makes them functionally non-verbal. Many of these individuals with autism could benefit from high tech AAC. The use of AAC can provide individuals with autism a way to engage socially, expand their educational opportunities, advance their receptive language skills and provide a tool for higher levels of self regulation and behavior management. This session will look at 3 students with Autism Spectrum Disorder who use AAC. Case studies of each student will be presented. Strategies used to build communicative competency and literacy skills using AAC systems will be discussed. Video vignettes will be used to illustrate successful communicative and literacy experiences.

Writing Goals for AAC
Presented by Bryan Gold, M-SLP, CCC-SLP
This session will provide a variety of suggestions on writing goals for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Participants will examine ways to incorporate AAC into existing language goals and determine corresponding objectives (or benchmarks). Suggestions for ensuring consistent goal measurement and potential goal areas will be discussed. Sample goals for AAC users will also be provided.

Day Two – September 23 2010, Breakout Sessions

Keynote Sessions
Our Keynote will be delivered by Patricia Wright, Ph.D, MPH.

Top Tips: Communication and Learning for Individuals with Autism
Presented by Bethany Diener, MS, CCC-SLP and Lisa Kehoe, MS
This session addresses tools/techniques for communication and learning for individuals with autism. Tips will include Least Dangerous Assumption, symbol use, Partner Augmented input, schedules, visual scenes, behavior support options, language elements and leveraging special interests.

Turning Word Fun into Word Mastery: Application of Technology to Support Balanced Literacy
Presented by Lori Geist, MS, CCC-SLP; Yuichi Tamano, MS;Maureen Donnelly, M. Ed.
Participants will define the core principles of balanced literacy instruction, identify how they are adapted in the realm of special education and apply Word Fun activities with the larger scheme of balanced literacy. We will discuss instructional design and curriculum plannining in terms of future choices/planning. This session will provide an overview and detailed examples of strategies and technology supports for applying Pat Cunningham’s Four-Blocks. A range of student-specific examples will be provided.

An Implementation Success Story in Progress
Presented by Bethany Diener, MS, CCC-SLP, Lee Burklund, MHS, CCC-SLP, and Cheryl Jurkacek, MHS, CCC-SLP
The challenges of implementing use of AAC in the classroom are well known. Simply having the desire to provide the best educational environment for augmented communicators does not make it happen. We must gain knowledge and, more importantly, put that knowledge to use. A special education cooperative in Illinois took on this challenge. Brief training on four communication partner techniques (positive communication environment, partner augmented input, prompting hierarchies and sabotage) was provided to classroom staff using instructional video and role play as well as handouts to reinforce knowledge, ongoing feedback and access to repeated instruction. Changes seen in staff members' skills and the students' communication following initial training will be discussed during this session as well staff feedback, necessary supports and subsequent training efforts to expand skills. Presentation of a portion of a training module and video examples will be used to encourage participants to take on this challenge in their own environment.

A Dynamic AAC Goals Planning Guide: Addressing Communicative Competence across Ability Levels
Presented by Holly Schneider, MA, CCC-SLP and Vicki Clarke, MS, CCC-SLP
Are we addressing comprehensive communication goals for the broad spectrum of individuals using AAC? To determine what tools an individual will need within their communication system, help them interact as independently as possible, develop language and literacy in a systematic way, and identify support needed from communication partners, we must address goals within appropriate communication ability levels (Emergent, Context-Dependent or Independent) and across the constellation of linguistic, operational, social and strategic skills.

How can we plan for implementation of identified target skills? In order to break down the task into manageable parts, we will introduce a Dynamic AAC Goals Planning Guide. This guide provides organized structure for documenting and analyzing the significant communication characteristics of daily activities (communication partners, environmental support and current communication strategies), prioritizing for targeting specific skills and an AAC Goals Grid outlining a proposed hierarchy of linguistic, operational, strategic and social competencies for the AAC user across communication ability levels. Through demonstration and video examples, participants will learn how to utilize this tool to measure and document growth for the broad spectrum of AAC users and as a means to review and discuss current skills, progress and objectives for today and tomorrow.

Literacy Activities to Address Behavioral and Social Skills Goals
Presented by Enid Hurtado, CBA
Your literacy learning toolkit includes symbol-supported activities such as adapted books and curriculum activities, visual organizers, self-monitoring activities, and maybe even a picture dictionary. Why not use literacy tools like these to create visual supports that facilitate the success of students’ social skills and behavior goals? This session discusses and demonstrates how literacy tools can be used in conjunction with behavior intervention and social skill programs to support your students in achieving their goals in these areas. Engaging activities provide the opportunity to apply the information to your own real-life situations and gain a better understanding of the information.

A New Kind of Pencil: Supporting Beginning Writers
Presented by Lori Geist, MS, CCC-SLP; Yuichi Tamano, MS; Maureen Donnelly, M. Ed.
Participants will define the role of writing development within the context of emerging literacy, and how different students need different 'pencils' depending on their needs. This session will highlight that new technologies make it so that all students can produce and process print in increasingly efficient ways. Presenters will give examples of a variety of low and high tech supports that have helped students be successful writers.