Fundamentals of AAC Assessment and Intervention
Recorded Course – 0.8 ASHA CEUS
Presented by Katie Threlkeld, M.S. CCC-SLP
Whether you work with adults or peds…
And whether it’s in the schools or nursing homes…
There’s one thing that every single SLP can agree on.
Access to communication MATTERS.
Voice matters.
And building the knowledge, skills, and confidence to give our patients/clients access to Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) changes lives.
That being said, if you’re ready to learn AAC from A to Z, then you’ll be absolutely delighted to check out this course…
Join Katie Threlkeld as she dives into AAC systems, assessments, funding strategies, and intervention guides for children and adults with communication impairments in her eight-hour course, Fundamentals of AAC Assessment and Intervention.
Growing your AAC skills can help you give your patients the power to do things like…
Give informed consent to medical procedures
Make end-of-life decisions
Remind their loved ones how much they care about them
Write and send emails
Integrating biofeedback technologies to objectively measure adherence
Get extra fancy and control Bluetooth devices (e.g. turn on lights, change TV channels, listen to music, etc…)
After this course, you’ll be able to…
- Obtain free AAC assessment tools
- Obtain free AAC intervention tools
- Better understand (and feel more comfortable with) the funding process
- Describe components of the AAC assessment process for both peds and adults
- Identify different AAC intervention strategies for both peds and adults
- Describe when to use different strategies to meet individual needs (e.g. visual strategies, motor considerations, cognitive abilities)
- Explain features of alternate access methods
- Understand customization and modification strategies (the fun and personalized parts!)
And don’t worry, Katie is bringing well over a dozen case studies to put all this information into relevant, clinical context!
“This course aims to address AAC from the basics all the way to more advanced content. Everything from early intervention for complex pediatric patients all the way up to AAC for end-of-life decision-making communication.”
~Katie Threlkeld
Katie is a doctoral candidate at the University of Missouri in the Health & Rehabilitation Science program with a research focus on motor speech disorders and auditory-perceptual assessment. Specialized in motor speech disorders, AAC, and aural rehabilitation, Katie has developed proficient skills in these clinical areas, providing assessment and treatment for patients across the lifespan. She serves on the ASHA SIG 2 (Neurogenic Communication Disorders) Professional Development Committee.
Katie has presented at the state and national level on topics related to motor speech disorders, AAC, and aural rehabilitation. She is the Educational Program Developer at Forbes AAC, is a mentor for the Medical SLP Collective, and has teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate level.
One thing we love about Katie is how she not only brings experience and research to the discussion, but she also emphasizes the importance of perspective and empathy.
“A lot of these patients in my experience are in a period of grief in terms of what they've just experienced. And I think AAC sometimes can kind of open up that door to say, ‘Yeah, there's potential. I can move forward. I can recover, and have the opportunity to communicate and participate in the decisions that are being made in terms of my health.' And so I think that's really important.”
-Katie Threlkeld, Episode 246 of Swallow Your Pride Podcast
Are you ready to become the AAC guide your patients and colleagues have been searching for?