Overview

Are you passionate about advocating for AAC best practices ensuring that every student has a voice? This presentation will allow AAC professionals working in the school setting to identify their leadership styles to “advocate without tears.” Whether you are a connector, an advocate, a messenger, a noisemaker, a good troublemaker or a little bit of each, you will leave this presentation armed with strategies to lead the charge in providing high quality AAC experiences while maintaining positive colleague and administrative relationships.

Learning Objectives

1. Discuss five or more common obstacles to implementation of AAC best practices in the school setting.
2. Identify seven leadership styles that can lead to positive educational change for AAC users and programming.
3. Describe five or more techniques to use when advocating for AAC best practices while maintaining strong relationships with all stakeholders.

Strand(s)

Augmentative and Alternative Communication; Leadership

Target Audience

Administrators; AT Specialists; Communication Specialist; Curriculum and Instruction; Educators; Family Members; Instructional Technologist; Media Specialist; Occupational Therapists; Paraprofessionals; Rehabilitation Counselor; Speech-Language Pathologists; Special Education Educators

Experience Level

Intermediate

Primary Life Cycle Addressed

Birth – Pre K; Elementary - Secondary (K-12); Higher Education

Session Delivery Format

In-person presentation with live-stream

Course Schedule

This course was given at the ATIA 2024 Conference on Friday, January 26 from 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM (EST)

Continuing Education Credits

For Satisfactory Completion and Continuing Education information, please visit: ATIA Online Education CEUs

This course is offered for the following CE Provider Credits:
ACVREP; AOTA; ASHA; CRC; IACET
For: 0.10 CEU Units or 1.0 CEU Hours

Speaker/s:

Deidre Dobbels

Northern Illinois University School of School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders, Clinical Assistant Professor

Biography

Deidre is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Speech Language Pathology at Northern Illinois University, School of Allied Health and Communication Disorders where she guides graduate students through clinical experiences with AAC users. With more than 20 years of experience serving students with complex communication needs in the school setting, she is a passionate advocate for robust AAC and inclusive practices. Deidre is the author of "Power Words 16" a multi-media core vocabulary curriculum for early childhood educators utilized by over 1,000 SLPs across the US. Deidre moderates a social media group called Creative Speech Therapy and presents frequently on AAC, Language Development and Disorders, and literacy throughout the country.

Relevant Financial Relationship: Yes
Salary from Northern Illinois University

Relevant Non-Financial Relationship: Yes
Member of ASHA - American Speech Language Hearing Association; Former member of NEA/IEA - National Education Association/Illinois Education Association