2025 AAC Workshop: Communication Pathways: Equipping Educators with Tools for Classroom Success
Friday, February 28
8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. CT

Location: Room 233, Vanderbilt Commons, Vanderbilt University

For speech-language pathologists, special educators, other professionals in related fields, students, parents, and family members. This workshop will be offered for 0.6 ASHA CEUs (intermediate level; professional area). Credit will only be offered for those individuals who participate in the entire workshop.

This annual workshop will discuss various forms of augmentative and alternative (AAC) devices and how to program them (or teach others to program them) to get the most effective use from each.

Presentation Information:

This full-day interactive workshop empowers preservice and practicing special education teachers and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to cultivate robust communication environments in classrooms for students with complex communication needs. Divided into two half-day “excursions,” participants will explore actionable strategies, tools, and resources to enhance communication skills and literacy for their students. The program combines immersive learning, practical applications, and ongoing professional development supports to maximize participant impact.

Morning Excursion: Classroom Communication Goals Grid
Participants will delve into the Classroom Communication Goals Grid framework, with a focus on addressing the key checkpoints:

• Communicating Wants & Needs: Identifying strategies to empower students in expressing basic desires and needs effectively.
• Promoting Social Interaction and Information Exchanges: Encouraging meaningful peer interactions and personal expression to foster belonging and autonomy.
• Supporting Language Development: Building foundational and advanced skills in vocabulary, syntax, and grammar to unlock full communicative potential.
• Enhancing Academic Engagement and Literacy: Integrating communication tools to improve academic participation and literacy skills.

Interactive activities include completing portions of the Goals Grid for case studies, creating communication passports, and identifying natural opportunities for communication within classroom routines.

Afternoon Excursion: Classroom Communication Checklist:
The focus shifts to evaluating and expanding classroom communication supports using the Classroom Communication Checklist. Key components include:

• Conducting self-assessments of current supports.
• Creating individualized communication toolkits tailored to diverse classroom needs.
• Developing actionable implementation plans to ensure effective AAC integration in all aspects of classroom life.

Participants will engage in collaborative discussions, checklist completion, and resource prioritization exercises to enhance their planning and advocacy skills.

Interactive Workshop Components:

• Workbooks: Both sessions include a workbook designed to reinforce learning through self-reflection, skill practice, and action planning.
• Pitstop Pro Email Follow-Up: Participants receive curated resources and next steps to extend their learning beyond the workshop.
• Quiz & Certification: A concluding quiz ensures mastery of workshop concepts. Successful completion generates a certificate suitable for professional learning requirements, including ASHA standards.

Join us on this journey to transform classroom communication and unlock the potential of every student!

Presenter Information:

Vicki K. Clarke, M.S., CCC-SLP, is the CEO of Dynamic Therapy Associates, Inc., and Director of DTA Schools, a division of DTA Inc, supporting both individual students and system-wide focus on the development of augmentative communication skills, supports and best practices in special education programs. Mrs. Clarke is a speech language pathologist and specialist in the area of augmentative and alternative communication.

Additional professional activities include professional consultation and training through publications, workshops and presentations at local, state and national conferences in the areas of AAC, speech language pathology, special education and autism.

DISCLOSURES: Mrs. Clarke is a co-owner of Dynamic Therapy Associates, offering private therapy, school-based contracts and AAC related products. Mrs. Clarke consults pro bono for various speech generating device manufactures, app developers (educational, AAC and speech pathology related). She regularly shares information and resources regarding special education, AAC, speech pathology and Autism on social media. In her capacity as a AAC evaluator and school district consultant, Mrs. Clarke is given access to almost all AAC apps and long term loans for speech generating devices from Tobii Dynavox, PRC Saltillo, Lincare, Control Bionics and Ablenet.

NOTE: Parking on Vanderbilt University is very limited. Please consider carpooling if there are multiple attendees from your institution. Parking spots may be requested for $20 per spot.

Registration Fees -- Online registration closes Monday, February 24

For information on paying by check or purchase order, contact Kate Carney.

Co-sponsored by:

• Department of Special Education, Vanderbilt Peabody College
• Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center
• Vanderbilt Consortium Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Training Program
• Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

Questions?

For more information, call (615) 322-8240.