Virtual Pittsburgh AAC Language Seminar Series (PALSS)
Virtual PALSS will cover a range of topics over the course of 3 days using a variety of formats including lecture, breakout activity sessions, and hands-on follow along instruction with devices/software. Each day includes a lunch break and several short duration breaks. Registered participants will receive a detailed agenda.
Registration Fee: $224.00
DAY 1 – (10AM – 5:30PM EST)
Core Vocabulary
Language Acquisition
Communication Partner Training
UNITY® Language System – Hands-on Time
DAY 2 – (10AM – 5:30PM EST)
Guest Speaker Presentation (Details Below)
DAY 3 – (10AM – 5:30PM EST)
Recognition Memory and Motor Automaticity
Language Development in the Classroom
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Conversation with Chris Klein (individual who uses a UNITY® system)
PASS Software Training
Natural Polysemy
Guest Speaker Presentation:
AAC Intervention Strategies for Beginning Communicators and Facilitating Team Buy-In
Lindsey Paden Cargill, MA, CCC-SLP
This session will cover AAC intervention strategies for beginning communicators, including individuals on the autism spectrum, and how to establish and maintain buy-in from parents and other professionals. As an increasing number of young children are prescribed high-tech speech generating devices, teachers, parents and clinicians are left to determine best programming practices, vocabulary selection, teaching strategies and how to gain buy-in from other team members. Many of these answers can be found in the processes of natural language development and the principles of the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) program. Current clinical practice shows that natural language development processes can be mirrored in AAC language development from the earliest cause and effect stages through the development of grammatical structures, even for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. In the earliest stages of language development (in natural speech or using AAC), beginning communicators learn new words by connecting motor movements to their resulting auditory signal to the natural reaction they receive. The session will include discussions about the sensory and neurological foundations of language development, vocabulary selection, goal setting, intervention strategies and evidence-based strategies for establishing and maintaining buy-in from parents, teachers and other professionals. Theories and concepts discussed will be supported by video evidence, hands-on activities, and group discussion.
