AAC Awareness Month Update 2012
www.aacawareness.org
Faye Warren, B.F.A.,
ISAAC Executive Board
Sarah Lever, A.A.
Judy C. Bailey, M.Ed.
Everyone Communicates
Introductions
Faye Warren, B.F.A., Executive Board, International Society for
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC), Chair
of Projects relating to People Who Use AAC (PWUAAC); Chair,
ISAAC Task Force on AAC Awareness.
E-mail: warrenfaye@yahoo.com
Sarah Lever, A.A.International Society for Augmentative and
Alternative Communication (ISAAC), Projects relating to
People Who Use AAC (PWUAAC); Former Chair, ISAAC Task
Force on AAC Awareness.
E-mail: sarahlever@carolina.rr.com,
Website: http://slever.net
Judy Bailey, M.Ed., Everyone Communicates; Co-Chair, ISAAC
Task Force on AAC Awareness; TASH Communications
Committee; Member of ISAAC, TASH, AutCom, CCACaptioning.
E-mail: judybailey@aol.com ,
Website: www.everyonecommunicates.org
Blog: www.everyonecommunicates.blogspot.com
AAC Month 2011
Focus on Fundraising for
AAC -Power of Communication
Relays around the world,
held at high school or
college tracks with
sponsors for participants
who run, walk, or roll (in
wheel chairs)
www.aacawareness.org
Bookmark for download
AAC Awareness Month 2011 Goals
• Provide public education, seek media coverage
• Encourage mentoring and access to role models
• Continue website with AAC and literacy
resources and online AAC collection
• 3rd annual 24-Hour AAC chat on skype (Oct.)
• Continue presence on Facebook, Skype, Twitter
• Monthly Augcom chats on skype (4 hours) when
possible, if there is interest
October Is AAC Month!
• We sent announcements about AAC Month and
events to parent and advocacy groups, university
special education programs on severe disabilities,
speech language pathology or AAC courses, student
newspapers at many universities
• We posted links and announcements on Facebook
which were shared by FaCE, Everyone
Communicates, and others
• Websites embedded our videos and links (e.g.
teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com)
Website & Online Collection 2009-2012
www.aacawareness.org
• Essays, stories in print, multimedia, video by
people who use AAC
• Videos on AAC Campaigns - ISAAC & Dubai
• AAC advocacy songs for communication devices
• AAC Aids (Language Mates)
• Quizzes
• Awareness activities, videos, links, updates
• Reports on events
Here are some events held
in October 2011 for
International AAC Month
(Let us know if we missed your event.
We would love to know about it!)
Talk, Walk and Roll – Faye Warren
October 29, 11 a.m. –
1 p.m. in Orlando,
Florida, to share
information and raise
funds for AAC.
Great story in the West Orange Times!
http://www.wotimes.com/articles/2011/10/26/news/top_stories/news02.txt
ISAAC Canada &
Kilometres for Communication
Kerr Wattie, Skye
Wattie, and Gail
Fisher-Taylor
From May through August,
2011, Skye cycled from coast
to coast, accompanied by
Kerr in a bike trailer for some
parts of the journey. They
met with people who use
and support AAC in 25
events across Canada and
raised funds for AAC.
http://kilometresforcommunication.com/
Walk for a Voice, CAAC, University
of Pretoria, October 21, 2011
http://web.up.ac.za/pdfs/9755_AAC%20Awareness%20month.pdf
Power of Communication Relays,
Durham, UK – Michael Reed and Friends
Coffee Shop Communication
Challenge & Kit, PECS Australia
• Task analysis
• Pictures
• Communication Board,
sentence strip, sample
sentence
http://www.pecsaustralia.com/aac.php#
ComTEC Open Day for AAC
Awareness Month
Independent Living Center, NSW
October 31, 2011 –
Morning Tea plus AAC info
http://www.ilcnsw.asn.au/news?news_year=2011#news
Communication and Learning Fair, Memphis
Chapter of AAC Awareness Month Committee
Saturday, October 1 at the Children’s Museum of
Memphis from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Resources focusing
on speech language, hearing, communication,
learning, development, health and well-being.
Learn about and experience:
• Speech-language milestones
• Developmental milestones
• Hearing screenings
• Augmentative communication demonstrations
• Using iPads and iPods for learning and
communication
Hope to see you there!
Reception for poet, artist, author
Roy Bedward, Oct. 24, 2011
For those in the Madison WI area come meet Roy Bedward, poet,
artist and author, who also types to
communicate. Sequoya Branch
Public Library, Monday, Oct. 24,
2011, 7 p.m. Sponsored by the
Autism Society of Greater Madison,
Wisconsin.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/
Roy-BedwardEnterprises/294935137974
Augmentative Communication in
Practice Scotland ACIPS
AAC in Action, U. of Indiana, School
of Educ., Speech & Hearing Dept.
Weekend Day
Camp for young
people who use
AAC
Group activity focused
on core vocabulary in a
local community-based
classroom.
http://education.indiana.edu/tabid/16089/Default.aspx?xmid=42710
Second Annual 24-Hour AAC
Internet Chat, Oct. 26, 2011
Chatting about AAC
and sharing
resources on Skype,
Facebook, Twitter,
and blogs with
people around the
world. 24 Hours of
AAC promotion!
All day and all night!!
SHOUT made “Only God Could
Hear Me” available free online for
October 2011 AAC Month
International AAC Awareness Month Międzynarodowy
Miesiąc AAC/Poland/Zamość 2007-2011
Video shows five years of
AAC presentations and
plays with characters who
use AAC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yy
hFKrW4Ks
Other AAC Awareness Events
• Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto–
AAC Awareness activities, hands on activities
• Custom Boards app on sale until Oct. 31, 2011 in celebration
of AAC Awareness Month (50% off) by Smarty Ears
http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/customboards/id463344117?mt=8
• New app released: Language Lab: Core Words by
PRC http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/language-lab-corewords/id474446989?mt=8
Sale for AAC Month 2011
• Custom Boards app is on sale until Oct. 31, 2011 in
celebration of AAC Awareness Month (50% off) by
Smarty Ears
http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/customboards/id463344117?mt=8
Announcements of AAC Month
• Communicate PA
http://communicatepa.wikispaces.com/message/view/Home/44470456
• Liberator http://www.liberator.co.uk/
• Sticky Fingers Pre-School, Vigo Village, Communication
Trust Newsletter
http://www.stickyfingerspreschoolvigovillage.com/ecat-news.html
• Peninsula Specialist School, Victoria
http://www.peninsulaspecialist.vic.edu.au/image/bggn/Issue_15_sep_23.pdf
Peninsula Specialist School, Victoria
http://www.peninsulaspecialist.vic.edu.au/image/bggn/Issue_15_sep_23.pdf
How many people need AAC?
The American Speech and Hearing Association
(ASHA) reports that “Several studies suggest
that 8 to 12 people per 1,000 experience
severe speech impairments that require AAC”
(augmentative and alternative communication
methods). That averages to
1 person per 100.
http://www.asha.org/research/reports/aac.htm
The Challenge:
What will help to bring about
progress on global, national,
state, local and
personal levels?
At least 23 Countries Have Participated in Story Contest
and/or Reported on AAC Awareness Events 2008-2011
(ISAAC has members in 57 countries)
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Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
China
Cyprus
Dubai-United Arab Emirates
Egypt
Finland
France
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Germany
India
Ireland
Italy
Malta
Norway
Poland
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
Ideas for AAC Month 2012
Share a story… mentor… teach…
advocate… lead… perform… and show the
world what is possible with an effective
communication method of one’s choice!
2012 AAC Month Task Force
• AAC Online Collection of stories, writings, poems, songs,
multimedia entries, and videos by people who use AAC
• Bookmark and signs to download and print
• Present at ISAAC 2012, get input from members
• 4th Annual 24-Hour AAC Read-a-Thon / Online chat on
Skype, Facebook and Twitter starting on October 17 at
8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (USA) – nonstop 24 hours
• Publicize AAC events around the world through the
website and social media
• Coordinate information and efforts with chapters
Social Media for 2012
• Website for AAC Awareness Month -www.aacawareness.org
• Facebook -- International AAC Month
• Twitter -- hashtag #AACchat
• Blog www.aacawarenessmonth.blogspot.com
Invitation
To
People who use AAC
to submit
writings, videos,
multimedia entries
to the
Online Collection
for 2012
Second Annual 24-Hour AAC
Internet Chat, Oct. 17, 2012
Chatting about AAC
and sharing
resources on Skype,
Facebook, Twitter,
and blogs with
people around the
world. 24 Hours of
AAC promotion!
All day and all night!!
Remember the power of Role Models & Mentors
President Obama meets with members of the disability community.
Note: Bob Williams is at the head of the table.
Behind the Scenes: Summer At The White House Part II
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/2009/08/behind-the-scenes-summer-at-the-white-house-part-ii.php?img=15
Mentors and Role Models
• Make sure that individuals who use AAC or
who might benefit from AAC get to meet
mentors and role models who use AAC
effectively.
• Invite role models and mentors to make
presentations, to teach, to demonstrate, to
talk about communication and also about
other topics that aren’t related to AAC.
More ideas for AAC Month Events
• Work together with people who use AAC to share information, to
organize and conduct training and events (festival, fair, seminar,
AAC book or poetry reading, Silent Tea or Coffee Break, AAC quiz,
communication technology expo)
• Host a film on AAC with discussion including people who use AAC
• Sponsor a public reading of the Communication Bill of Rights (and
film it to share)
• Plan a Power of Communication Relay and information fair to raise
funds for communication devices – See Faye Warren’s video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ati_34FcEAs
• Visit, read, and share the online AAC Writing and Video Collections
www.aacawareness.org.
Project Ideas for 2013
• Promote people who use AAC as mentors and role models
• Internet and media coverage of people using AAC to reach general
public
• Ongoing contact between the AAC Awareness Month task force and
chapter heads and members
• Ask chapters what resources and supports would help them in advocacy
• Involve more people who use AAC in all aspects of ISAAC
• Turn the “AAC Month” into a year-round campaign for AAC and literacy
• Increase the use of social media
• Build alliances with organizations associated with various disabilities and
disabling conditions to highlight the power of AAC technology, training
and support
We need your ideas!
• How could we support your efforts in 2013?
• What would you like to be involved in for 2013?
• How might we all work together more
effectively in 2013?
• How do we get the message about the
importance of AAC to the general public?
Resources
• International AAC Awareness Month website:
www.aacawareness.org
• International AAC Month on Facebook
• International AAC Awareness Month blog
https://aacawarenessmonth.blogspot.com
• ISAAC: www.isaac-online.org