KUSAAC

The KU Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication

In 2021 I founded the KU Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (KUSAAC), a student group on campus. While this is not either classroom or clinical learning, KUSAAC was created to provide educational opportunities for students. The idea for KUSAAC originated from opportunities that I had as the AAC Lab Fellow to share with students about AAC and the Russell Pardee AAC lab on campus. Students were frequently asking me, "How can I get more involved?" or "How can I learn more?"

I was elected the first president of KUSAAC. In this role I helped to organize events that allowed students opportunity to have hands on experiences with AAC technologies, hear from professionals regarding experiences with AAC and collaboration, and most importantly hear from AAC communicators about their perspectives and experiences. One of KUSAAC's goals is to celebrate AAC evidence based practices by building students' strong foundational knowledge of AAC. Yappy Hour was a fun event for students to try all the latest technology, but discussions during Yappy Hour included how one device is different from another and which features might work for different client profiles. These discussions lay the foundational knowledge of the practice of feature matching technology to clients based on the client's needs.

Below I have outlined some educational opportunities that KUSAAC facilitated for KU students.

• Yappy Hour: During Yappy Hour events students were able to spend time in the Russell Pardee AAC Lab having hands on experiences with AAC technologies. Different devices were set up around the lab with an executive board member facilitating the device, answering questions, and demonstrating unique features. Students were encouraged to try communicating using the different systems, and got entered into door prizes if they went to all the stations.

• KUSAAC Keynote-Perspectives of AAC Communicators: This was the main event of KUSAAC's celebration of AAC Awareness Month in October. The KUSAAC Keynote features an AAC communicator to share their perspectives and experiences.

• Q&A with Device Regional Consultant: These events allowed students to have opportunities to ask questions about what role a regional consultant has on an AAC team and what it's like working for an AAC company, but also allows for students to experience an form of a professional meeting between an SLP and a sales rep. The purpose of these events was to make these meetings less intimidating and to demystify part of the AAC world.

• Virtual Movie Screening: In collaboration with the KU chapter of the National Student Speech-Language Hearing Association, KUSAAC hosted a virtual movie screening of the movie This is Not About Me. This opportunity gave members from both organizations an opportunity to listen to the perspective of a an autistic non-speaking young adult and the difficulties she faced when she was denied access to communication. A informal discussion of the film was led by two KUSAAC board members following the movie.

Another example of educational opportunities provided by KUSAAC came in the form of a monthly newsletter. As president, I was in charge of compiling resources, writing sections, and formatting the newsletter. The KUSAAC Digest was sent out to members monthly.