AAC Learning Center

Educational resources for AAC

Access Technology for AAC and Adults

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Adult with safe laserIn a recent podcast for Speech Uncensored, Dr. Susan Fager discussed her research on access and communication technology, and how the work she is completing translates to clinical practice. Susan also covered the progression from low tech to high tech AAC that a patient may experience across their recovery stages. Dr. Fager provided case studies to illustrate creative problem solving and overcoming obstacles to provide patients with a means to express themselves.

Supporting Communication of Individuals with Minimal Movement

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Susan Fager, Ph.D. CCC/SLP Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, Lincoln, Nebraska
David Beukelman,Ph.D. CCC/SLP University of Nebraska, Lincoln Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, Lincoln, Nebraska Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Webcast Description For many years we have provided AAC services to people with minimal movement capability. Their medical conditions include brainstem stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Guillan Barre’ Syndrome, and chronic myasthenia gravis. As with others who rely on AAC, these people are multi-modal communicators in that they use high and low technology options depending upon the situation and the listener. High technology options include commercially available devices as well as technology under development. During the past year, we have provided presentations related to our work in this area at RESNA, the World Congress on Disability, and ATIA. In this webcast we present the content of those presentation through an interactive discussion format.
Additional Resources Slides and handouts
  • Transcript of presentation (pdf)
  • Transcript of presentation (txt)
  • Powerpoint slides as a handout (pdf)
A 10-item quiz based on the content of this webcast, is available at the AAC Learning Center Moodle. You will need to register at the AAC Learning Center Moodle in order to complete the quiz. Upon successful completion of the quiz, you will be able to download a Certificate of Completion.
This webcast was produced as part of the work of the AAC-RERC under grant #H133E080011 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)

“Barely getting warmed up”: My use of AAC to achieve big bold dreams

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Webcast description

Godfrey Nazareth describes his use of AAC to pursue his goals in work and society

First shown at the RERC on AAC State of the Science Conference in Arlington, Va, on July 13, 2018.
Text and photos by Godfrey Nazareth (video editing by David McNaughton)

Please cite as:

Nazareth, G. (2018, July 13). “Barely getting warmed up”: My use of AAC to pursue big bold dreams. Retrieved from https://aac-learning-center.psu.edu/2018/10/10/barely-getting-warmed-up-my-use-of-aac-to-achieve-big-bold-dreams

Additional resources

The sky is only the beginning: Living life without limits (webcast)

Building a better BCI: The value of input from people with complex communication needs

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Webcast Description

Greg Bieker had a brain stroke 20 years ago, and currently works as an expert consultant with the Brain Computer Interface (BCI) research team at Oregon Health & Science University. He has presented at the International BCI Meeting. Greg provides input from a User Centered Design perspective that informs system development and evaluation. In this interview with Dr Melanie Fried-Oken, Greg describes his communication strategies and his role in working with the Oregon Health & Science University BCI research team.

First shown at the RERC on AAC State of the Science Conference in Arlington, Va, on July 13, 2018.

Please cite as:

Bieker, G. & Fried-Oken, M. (2018, July 13). Building a better BCI: The value of input from people with complex communication needs. Retrieved from https://aac-learning-center.psu.edu/2018/10/09/building-a-better-brain-computer-interface-the-value-of-input-from-people-with-complex-communication-needs/

The sky is only the beginning: Living life without limits

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Godfrey Nazareth

Webcast Description

Godfrey Nazareth is a biomedical engineer who makes use of AAC to communicate with others. In this presentation (including a question and answer session) with a graduate class in augmentative and alternative communication at Penn State University, Godfrey describes his experiences as a person with a diagnosis of ALS, and his use of AAC to support his life as a husband, a father, a medical researcher,  avionics expert, and airplane pilot.

Godfrey is also a co-leader of the RERC on AAC Dissemination and Training Team, and has played a key role in the RERC on AAC Student Research and Design Competition.

Additional Resources

Transcript as pdf 

The contents of this website are a joint offering of Penn State University and the RERC on AAC. They were developed, in part, under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90REGE0014) to the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (RERC on AAC). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
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