Author: Beth-Anne Luciani
Description: In this webcast, Beth Anne describes her experiences as a student at California University of Pennsylvania. Beth Anne has worked hard and developed an outstanding support team in order to pursue her dream of a college education. The webcast also includes commentary from faculty who have taught Beth Anne, as well as the insights of family members, academic advisors, and staff from the Office for Students with Disabilities at “Cal U”
Focus: Higher Education & AAC
Description: Chris Klein is a graduate of Hope College, and is an active advocate and educator in the field of AAC. Chris was born with cerebral palsy, and uses augmentative communication to help support his work with BeCOME AAC, (Building Connections through Mentoring and Educating about AAC), be a motivational speaker, and be an active member of his community and local church. Chris strives to live his life to the fullest.
Focus: Social Communication
Author: Tracy Rackensperger
Description: Tracy Rackensperger describes the importance of AAC supports for her many employment, independent living, and recreational activities, and areas in which she would like to see improvements in AAC technology.
Author: Michael B. Williams
Description: Michael B. Williams (MA), a long time practitioner of the art of augmented communication, uses historical biography to elucidate many of the key social and technological issues in AAC today.
Focus: Advances & challenges in AAC from a consumer perspective
Description: Any emergency situation, whether it be a flood, a fire, an earthquake, a tornado, ice-storm or the loss of electrical power, puts people with complex communication needs at risk. In this presentation, Pamela Kennedy describes her experiences as an individual with complex communication needs and as a survivor of the Grand Forks flood of 1997. She also describes 7 steps for emergency preparation that are critical for all individuals with complex communication needs.
Focus: Personal Perspective
Description: Godfrey Nazareth is a biomedical engineer who makes use of AAC to communicate with others. In this presentation (including a question and answer session) with a graduate class in augmentative and alternative communication at Penn State University, Godfrey describes his experiences as a person with a diagnosis of ALS, and his use of AAC to support his life as a husband, a father, a medical researcher, avionics expert, and airplane pilot.
Focus: Adult Consumer Perspective
Author: Melanie Fried-Oken, PhD
Description: Melanie Fried-Oken describes her research on AAC intervention for people with primary progressive aphasia.This webcast include both data and video from the research study, as well as videos by individuals with primary progressive aphasia (and their family members) discussing their experiences with primary progressive aphasia, and the positive impact of AAC. The webcast provides evidence, from a controlled experiment, that AAC is an important and valid intervention for people with progressive aphasia in clinical and natural settings.
Focus: Adult Consumer Perspective
Description: Dana Nieder describes the impact of early access to AAC for her daughter, Maya.
Focus: Parent Perspective