Our sessions at ASHA 2025
Back to the evidence: Recalibrating AAC modeling practices
Presenters: Erin Sheldon, David Niemeijer, and Rachael Langley
Our field continues to evolve our understanding of how to support early AAC users. AAC modeling has become our go-to instructional strategy, despite relatively low uptake from communication partners. Many of us try to encourage adoption with “core word of the week” calendars and instructions to model only “key” words in a message.
This session will scrutinize the efficacy of these strategies based on insights from the original research literature on aided language input and on caregiver practices of infant-directed speech. Next, we will propose improvements to current modeling practice to better align it with this literature. Participants will leave with practical strategies to support their clients and communication partners.
Novel Approaches to Measuring AAC Linguistic Competence
Presenters: David Niemeijer, Alyssa Hillary Zisk, and Erin Sheldon
This session explores how to measure multiple dimensions of linguistic competence for language produced with AAC systems. We analyzed anonymous language use data from over 30,000 symbol-supported and text-based AAC systems. We identified methods to measure the syntactic, semantic, morphological, and phonological components of linguistic competence while respecting AAC user privacy. The most robust measures were based on the syntactic diversity and lexical diversity of spontaneous novel utterances (not including pre-programmed phrases). The morphological diversity and percentage of correctly typed unique words (phonological) also address aspects of linguistic competence. The methods are insensitive to language sample size and can be used for both emergent and advanced users.
Enhancing SLP Impact: Integrating AAC into the Classroom
Presenters: Carolyn McCoy, Nicole Case, and Rachael Langley
Clinicians are expected to provide more support to growing caseloads, but with less time and resources. Our job is to teach a range of AAC systems, build vocabulary, support meaningful participation, scaffold access to the curriculum, and foster social connection. We need to change how we work if we will pull all this off! This session will explore real-world practical examples of how we support AAC learners in regular classrooms. We will demonstrate how we use AAC to help students deepen their understanding of concepts, increase engagement with content, and support problem solving. Best of all, we’ll share how we have increased our capacity as clinicians by embedding AAC in the regular classroom, as a Tier 1 universal support.
