Home Training Conferences AAC Talks 2025 AAC Talks 2025—AAC Without Limits: Voices, Stories, and Possibilities Session 4A - A Guide to Matching AAC Practice with the Needs of AAC Communicators
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Session 4A - A Guide to Matching AAC Practice with the Needs of AAC Communicators

Speaker: Kelly Fonner

Session Description:
Making decisions about implementation plans and strategies for students who are AAC communicators or potential AAC communicators can be daunting.  In the field of assistive technology, and more specifically, the area of AAC: Augmentative & Alternative Communication, we teach and practice the process of feature matching when it comes to making decisions about assistive devices, tools, and apps. But we don’t often think about it as applied to the strategies that we use. When supporting AAC communicators, too often staff and family members “fly by the seat of their pants” in figuring out how to develop communication skills with their child/student who uses an AAC system. Whether a student uses that system full- or part-time, take a deep breath and know, yes, there are a wide variety of planning and support processes to follow. Just as the number of AAC systems increases, there too are a growing number of strategies and practices to follow, some very specific to the tool, some more global. Come to this session that will give you a way to match the strategies of the practice to the needs of your AAC communicator in your environment.

Objectives:
  • Identify at least three key components of the feature-matching process and apply them to AAC strategy selection for individualized student needs.
  • Create an AAC implementation plan that includes at least five specific strategies to support communication across school, home, and community settings.
  • Demonstrate the ability to use at least two evidence-based planning tools, such as the Participation Model, to gather information and guide AAC decision-making for students.
Speaker Bio:
Presenter of Kelly FonnerKelly Fonner, M.S.Ed., is a special educator and AT consultant who has been a para-educator, teacher, instructional media specialist, and assistive technology specialist in EI, K-12, university, and statewide settings. Kelly has done presentations in the field of AT/AAC for over 40 years across the US and internationally. She is a leadership member of QIAT, WI AAC Network, an ATIA Conference Adviser, and is a co-author of the QIAT books.