What is #TalkingAAC?
#TalkingAAC is a professional development project focused on enhancing educational opportunities within Michigan and surrounding areas. The goal is to increase knowledge, skill, and awareness around the topic of augmentative/alternative communication (AAC).
Our Vision
Our vision is to continue engaging the #TalkingAAC community in an ongoing conversation about high-quality supports for those learning to communicate using AAC, while continuing to learn from those who use AAC on a daily basis.
Our Mission
We believe that communication is an inherent human right; one that is currently denied to many people. Our mission is to break down barriers by providing knowledge, skill, and shared personal experience with AAC to get more people talking about AAC and talking with AAC.
Our Purpose
Purpose #1
Improvement in local schools’ capacity to support complex learners, evidenced by increased knowledge base of teachers and staff
Purpose #2
Improved student outcomes as measured by better access to and implementation of meaningful communication supports.
We strive to amplify the voices of those who may be otherwise silenced.
While we are advocates and allies to the AAC community, the #TalkingAAC team recognizes that we cannot fully understand the lived experience of people who use AAC and their families.
Our goal is that the #TalkingAAC learning community will develop a richer sense of the lived-experience of people who use AAC and their families, including those who may represent different gender, race, ethnicity, or neurotype than their own.
We acknowledge that diverse and inclusive voices have a positive impact on our own learning, as we strive to support diverse students and families in the community.
Our Beginning
The #TalkingAAC Project started in 2013 with an idea born from conversations between Laura Taylor, Robin Pegg, and Rachael Langley.
Eaton RESA partnered with Alt+Shift to present this conference - first known as the Michigan AAC Conference - beginning in May 2014 through May 2016. From 2017-2019, Eaton RESA continued to organize and present the #TalkingAAC conference each fall.
In 2019, the planning team expanded to welcome representatives from 6 collaborating districts: Kent ISD, Macomb ISD, Wayne RESA, Oakland Schools, Muskegon Area ISD, Livingston ESA, and Northwest Education Services.
In December 2022, #TalkingAAC launched as its own organization, independent from any school district. Since this time, #TalkingAAC is now a non-profit organization managed by a volunteer board of directors.
While Robin Pegg, Laura Taylor, and other committee members have moved onto new adventures, their contributions to the foundations of this project are both valued and appreciated.
