Literacy, Learning & Communication Virtual!

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Literacy, Learning & Communication Virtual is a unique conference featuring nine breakout sessions available on-demand anytime from September 22 - October 25 and weekly live keynotes, featured speakers and Q&A sessions. Each of the live sessions will be available on-demand for at least one week after their original air-date. If you live in the Rockville, MD, Salt Lake City, UT, or Villa Park, IL areas you can reserve a seat to attend the sessions happening in your city.

Keynote

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Cracking the Code Through Literacy
Our Keynote will be delivered by Joanne M. Cafiero, Ph.D..
Dr. Cafiero will describe the research, rationale and critical importance for providing robust literacy interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Complex Communication Needs. Evidence-based applications of “literacy for communication” interventions will be described including tools, strategies and data collection systems.

Featured Speakers

Visual Supports and Book Reading. Who? What? How? and When?
Presented by Pati King-DeBaun, M.S. CCC-SLP
The use of symbols supports with the context of book reading has become a popular technique in supporting the literacy instruction of children with complex communication needs. Participants will develop an understanding of how to use symbol supports within book readings, when to fade symbols, what supports and techniques can be used to replace symbols and scaffolding techniques to move students on a literacy continuum from little engagement with literacy based materials to students who are initiating engagement and becoming readers. Participants will gain a better understanding of knowing when their non-speaking students are silently reading and how to measure and teach comprehension skills. Anyone interested in teaching literacy and communication skills to individuals who use augmentative communication (AAC) will be interested in these support strategies and how they can use it to design other programs for this population.

Q&A Session on Literacy Research
Presented by Dr. Janice Light & Dr. David McNaughton
By the week of October 4, registrants will be sent a link to view a 1.5 hour pre-recorded session that Dr. Janice Light and Dr. David McNaughton of Penn State University have given on their Literacy Research. Our conference attendees will have the unique opportunity to leave questions on the Conference Community that Janice and David will answer during a 30-45 minute live Q&A. This question and answer session will be available on-demand for the rest of the conference.

Autism: Promoting Success in Life
Presented by Patricia Wright, PhD, MPH, National Director, Autism Services at Easter Seals, Inc.
TBA

Panel Discussion
Panel Members TBA
We are gathering a group of AAC device users, parents, educators and clinicians to give honest answers to any questions that you may have. In August the panel members will be announced and conference attendees can begin leaving questions on the Conference Community. The group will answer as many questions as possible during the live, two-hour session and the content will remain available on-demand for the rest of the conference.

Break-out Sessions

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.

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 TBA
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.

A Dynamic AAC Goals Planning Guide: Addressing Communicative Competence across Ability Levels
Presented by Holly Schneider, MA 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.

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.

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.