ISAAC BUILD AAC
312 Dolomite Drive, Suite 216 M3J 2N2

[WORLD OF AAC PROFESSIONALS] Strength of ISAAC is in its members. Meet Ellyn, member of ISAAC BUILD committee... Ellyn Cassey Chua is a speech-language pathologist based in the Philippines. She graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila in 2013 and taught undergraduate students in the same institution for 6 years. In addition to classroom teaching, she supervised interns rotating at an NGO-funded cleft of the lip and palate clinic, a university outpatient cl...inic, and a nursing home. She also did private practice focused on providing services to children and adolescents with hearing Impairment, intellectual disability, and autism, as well as adults with neurologic conditions. She became interested in AAC some time in 2013-2014, when there was an opportunity to collaborate on a Tagalog core board with a then-PhD-student at the University of Pittsburgh (Dr. Thomas Kovacs, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire). To enable her to better serve individuals with complex communication needs, she took UP Manila's AAC certificate course (remotely taught by Terese Manalansan, a Filipino speech-language pathologist based in New Jersey) and became one of the first seven AAC-trained SLPs in the Philippines. Her interest in the field was further strengthened by her consequent work as the local coordinator of the TinigAAC project (http://tinigaacproject.com/), the service arm of the aforementioned certificate course. Seeing the need for AAC solutions that are appropriate for the local setting, she sought further training in conducting AAC research. With a scholarship from the Department of Science and Technology, she was able to take and complete the MSc AAC program of the University of Dundee. Ellyn is now rendering her return service at UP Manila, where she teaches topics on AAC, clinical writing, typical cognitive and linguistic functioning, acquired cognitive-linguistic disorders, etc. Her research interests lie in designing AAC systems in Tagalog and other Philippine languages, exploring local AAC service delivery issues, and exploring the cognitive-linguistic demands of existing AAC solutions for people with aphasia and dementia.

Con mucho gusto queremos compartirles este maravilloso proyecto del Grupo Académico de ISAAC Español: seCuenciAA de webinars en el que a través de 6 webinars,... expertos en el area de la CAA, hablarán de aspectos importantes como mitos, evaluación, posicionamiento, herramientas, tecnologías e intervención. Estos webinars se ofrecerán de manera gratuita a todos los miembros de ISAAC, así que ya saben, regístrense para poder acceder a este y todos los beneficios que nos da pertenecer a esta maravillosa comunidad de familias, profesionales, investigadores y desarrolladores de tecnología. Los esperamos en nuestro primer Webinar este 19 de marzo. https://isaac-online.org/engl/members-only/isaac-webinars/

I am Carla van Nieuwenhuizen from South Africa. I am a proud AAC user. This has opened a world of communication to me. I am unable to speak normally and I rely on my AAC device and communication board completely. My greatest wish is that every disabled person would have access to a facility that could assist them in getting an AAC device like I did. If it wasn't for The Department of Communication at the University of Pretoria I would never have been able to break the sil...ence and frustration of not being able to communicate. A world of possibility is now at my feet. So please, if there is anyone out there in the world that can assist by funding or donating a device to someone in need, please don't hesitate. It can be the miracle that person needs. Greetings out of South Africa

https://en.aac2020.assistfoundation.eu/ Third International Conference on Augmentative and Alternative Communication which will be held ONLINE on 20-22 November 2020. The working languages of the conference are English and Bulgarian. The Conference is targeted not only towards professionals who work with people with disabilities but also towards the families and the people with disabilities themselves.

You are invited to register for a free online workshop/webinar on the process of developing and sharing health related education materials for COVID19 hosted by... the Centre for AAC, UNICEF and Future Africa (University of Pretoria). 3 CPD points will be available on completion of an online questionnaire after the webinar. This event will take place on the 27th of October from 3pm to 5pm. Book your place now by registering at https://ju-se.zoom.us//u5clc-yqqjMtG9BLOuUwpsUJHz7BXvYn6ljP See more

This week's free Wednesday webinar has Professor Janice Murray talking about 'AAC and Clinical Decision Making', with a focus on identifying appropriate symbol ...communication aids for children who are non-speaking. Wednesday 7th October 4.00-4.30pm. #AACAwarenessMonth. #AACaware20 https://www.callscotland.org.uk/professional-lear//WEB177/

THE CM SESSIONS Don’t miss our LIVE social session CM Bingo on Thursday with Francesca & Afonso. Bingo cards will be emailed in advance. Eyes down for a fu...ll house !!! https://communicationmatters.org.uk/what-w/the-cm-sessions/ #CMsessions #AACAwarenessMonth #SaveCM

THE CM SESSIONS This Thursday Prof Gloria Soto will be exploring the principles of a culturally and linguistically responsive approach to AAC and the existi...ng evidence supporting that course of action We look forward to seeing you all there! https://communicationmatters.org.uk/what-w/the-cm-sessions/ #CMsessions #AACAwarenessMonth #SaveCM