Distinguished Service Award Winner
Loralee MacLean

Hello everyone. 

I am very touched that my colleagues chose to nominate me for this award and I would like to thank the alumni committee for considering I am worthy of receiving it.  By now, my colleagues, the alumni committee and probably the speech department are well aware of how uncomfortable I am in being in the spotlight. Yet here I am...

I would like to clarify a couple of things mentioned in the nomination that were actually not completely accurate…

Firstly, I can take no credit for making the baked goods mentioned in the nomination but was rather just the delivery person who brought in my daughter’s creations… and my purpose was to selfishly share the calories with my colleagues and not just with my waistline!

But more importantly, all that has been achieved over the years in the AAC Clinic and in the UofT SLP AAC Course has been done by teams of dedicated people of whom I have had the privilege to work with both past and present. They have and continue to see the value of what AAC can provide to people who are struggling to communicate either face to face or in written form. These include the multidisciplinary AAC team members I’ve worked most directly with, but also all the SLPs and multidisciplinary team at Bickle Centre, my SLP colleagues throughout Toronto Rehab, the many AAC experts in Ontario, as well as our patients and their families and facilitators. Nothing is achieved in isolation and that is especially true in AAC. Without the support of many people, success is a struggle. 

I’ve seen AAC evolve a lot over the years, moving from mainly low tech displays and very simple signaling devices, to clunky and hard to use dedicated speech output systems to mobile devices we now all use daily; from using switches as the only alternative access option to now having speech recognition, eye gaze and brain interface technology. I’ve seen some of the myths about AAC start to be dispelled but we still have a way to go…. These include “AAC is the last resort option”, “it will stop the person from learning to or regain their ability to speak” and that “AAC is only for individuals with no speech and/or significant access issues”. AAC has become more mainstream… because if you text, post photos on social media, or respond with emojis, you are using AAC. 

Imagine what your life would be like if you were unable to say what you wanted or couldn’t use your phone or computer anymore? That is just a small part of what our clients face every day. Their courage and willingness to try new things in the face of what they are dealing with is humbling and inspiring at the same time. 

I foresee that more and more clinicians will need to become AAC experts because of how much we are relying on alternative modes like texting, emailing and social media to communicate. That’s one of the reasons why I and the many professionals, clients and family members (current count is 16) are willing to share their expertise, time and stories to the next generation of SLPs in the AAC Course. I hope we have all been able to convey that AAC is about the person first and the tool or technology second... That it is about fitting the technology to the person and not the person trying to fit to the technology… That there is no one answer fits all… That it is not about asking for a cookie or needing to go to the bathroom, but rather being able to ask their loved one how was their day, to work in meaningful careers or to send texts asking someone to pick up some pizza on the way home. 

So, for those of you starting or early in your career or even for those a bit further along, I can only wish for you what I have been so lucky to experience. That you have people around you who are motivated and motivating, that you are regularly challenged to find new solutions for the people you serve and that you can say to people “I really like what I do”.

Thank you and have a good night.