Webinars

 

ISAAC hosts many informative and well-attended webinars each year.

Registration for live webinars is open to everyone.

All webinars, unless otherwise indicated, are recorded and will be made available for later viewing. Most are archived for members only. You can see the members only archive here.

Become a member of ISAAC to watch all of ISAAC’s webinars!

 

 

Upcoming webinars

 

Building Positive Relationships with Direct Support Professionals/Personal Care Attendants: Recommendations from AAC Users

April 3, 2024

7:00-8:00 p.m. EDT

                                         photos of Davide McNaughton, Tracy Rackensperger, Lance McLemore, Hannah Springfield

Presented by: Lance McLemore, David McNaughton, Tracy Rackensperger and Hannah Springfield

 

About the presenters

Lance McLemore provides support to the RERC on AAC. He graduated from the University of Alabama, Huntsville with a Bachelor of Arts in studio art and philosophy. He has used AAC since college. He is a recipient of the Prentke AAC Distinguished Lecture Award. He serves as a Research Investigator for the RERC on AAC Consumer Forum Research Team

David McNaughton, Ph.D. is a Professor of Special Education at Pennsylvania State University. His teaching and research focus on the development of effective educational programs for individuals with significant support needs. He is especially interested in how AAC design and support to achieve important educational and vocational outcomes. He is a Project Co-Leader of Training and Dissemination for the RERC on AAC.

Tracy Rackensperger, Ph.D. currently serves as the Public Service Assistant within the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia. She leads the Institute’s AAC activities and oversees projects related to the employment of people with disabilities. She has published scholarly works regarding augmentative communication and has personally used AAC for over 40 years. She is a Project Co-Leader for Training and Dissemination with the RERC on AAC.

Hannah Springfield is a graduate of the University of Georgia and is currently working for a medical research company. She also provides direct support to Dr. Rackensperger on business and extreme sports trips. She is an aspiring medical student and hopes to become a doctor. She serves as an advisor on the RERC on AAC project activities concerning DSPs.

 

Seminar description

Support professionals such as Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) play vital roles in the lives of many users of AAC. DSPs and PCAs enable many AAC users to participate in such areas as education, employment, communication, community events, transportation, health care, safety and security, friendships and relationships, leisure, and faith communities. AAC users must have access to DSPs and PCAs who can support them appropriately. This webinar highlights findings of an ongoing research project (https://rerc-aac.psu.edu/2024/01/07/communication-with-direct-support-professionals-the-experiences-of-aac-users/ ) regarding the experiences of AAC users in working with DSPs and PCAs. We will share what we learned about how effective communication with support professionals can enhance participation in independent living and community activities for AAC users. Recommendations derived from the findings will be discussed as well.


Moderated by:
Alison Pentland


SLPs who are USSAAC/ISAAC members may have their participation in this webinar reported for ASHA CEUs at no charge. Non-members must pay a $25 reporting fee.

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs (Introductory level; Professional area).

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define the role of support professionals in the lives of people using AAC
  2. Describe ways support professionals can assist AAC users in community
  3. Describe ways support professionals may hinder AAC users in community
  4. Share strategies for building positive relationships with support

Time ordered agenda:

5 minutes: Introduction of speakers, USSAAC and topic

5 minutes: The importance of DSPs and PCAs in the lives of people using AAC

15 minutes: How support professionals can assist people using AAC to participate in their communities

15 minutes: How support professionals may hinder people using AAC from participating in their communities

15 minutes: Strategies for building positive relationships with support professionals and enhancing AAC users’ community participation

5 minutes: Q & A

 

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) CEUs in speech-language pathology and audiology are awarded by the ASHA CE Registry upon receipt of the CEU Participant Form from the ASHA Approved CE Provider, USSAAC. CEU Participant Forms are available online at Registration. ASHA CEUs are provided to full registrations. This program is offered for .1 ASHA CEUs (Introductory Level, Professional Area).


ASHA Disclosures:

Speakers

Financial:

Lance McLemore and Hannah Springfield are paid by the RERC on AAC.

David McNaughton is a salaried faculty member at Pennsylvania State University, and part of his salary is paid by RERC on AAC.

Tracy Rackensperger is a salaried faculty member at the University of Georgia and is compensated by the RERC on AAC.

Nonfinancial:

Lance McLemore, Hannah Springfield and David McNaughton have no nonfinancial disclosures to report

Tracy Rackensperger is the president of USSAAC.


Moderator

Financial:

Betsy Caporale has no financial disclosures to report. Nonfinancial:

Betsy Caporale is Director of Professional Affairs, USSAAC.

 

To register for this Webinar please go to the following link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN     dGnReQaSG6rSeFl9Y4r8w

PLEASE NOTE: Only the first 150 attendees to log into the webinar will be guaranteed spots.

 

Download the flyer

 

USSAAC Education Committee

Betsy Caporale, Kate DeJarnette, Nicole Gallagher, Richard Hurtig,
Mili Mathew, Michelle Phillipy, Wendy Quach, Sharon Redmon

 


 

Tabletop Games to Build Social and Communication Skills

April 16, 2024

7:00 – 8:00 pm EDT

 

                                               photo of Darla Burrow

Presented by: Darla Burrow

 

About the presenter:

Darla Burrow (she/her) is a nonspeaking autistic writer and librarian from Ottawa, Ontario. She is the eLearning Administrator for The Ottawa Hospital and a vice president with ISAAC Canada. She has a Masters in Library Science from the University of Toronto, and is the author of the tabletop roleplaying game “Dear Great Cthulhu, PLEASE Stop Giving Me Superpowers”, which explores queer and disabled identity through the lens of cosmic horror.

Webinar description:

Tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs) are experiencing something of a renaissance in terms of their therapeutic value. At their core, RPGs are shared storytelling experiences which use rules and specific roles to moderate the narrative. These games offer safe, controlled environments for players to socialize and explore fantastic scenarios in. There is no risk to the players if their character says or does something wrong, which allows them to experiment with their actions.

Each player generally takes on the role of a single character, who they design, and takes part in a story run either by another player (often called a game master, or GM) or by the group in cooperation (generally referred to as GM-less games). Actions happen both by description and by using the game’s rules, often involving rolling dice, but sometimes with other randomizers such as playing cards, or without any randomness at all. This allows for characters to take actions that their players might not be capable of, which can be incredibly empowering for players.

I will be highlighting both the value of these games as tools to help other AAC users build communication and social skills, as well as how to facilitate, assist, and set up AAC using players for success. This will also include discussion of a number of games to look at and ways in which they can best be set up to ensure involvement by AAC users at all levels. Solutions and strategies will be discussed for different AAC setups, as well as providing concrete examples for how to do so.

 

Moderated by:  Karen Congram

Webinar objectives:

1) Participants will become familiar with the medium of tabletop roleplaying games.

2) Participants will examine the use of these games from the perspective of AAC use and AAC users.

3) Participants will think critically about the potential for implementing these games, how to go about selecting the best fit, and how to use them to create an encouraging social environment.

 

Time-ordered agenda:

5 minutes: Introduction of Speaker and topic – Moderator 

5 minutes:  Objective-Overview – Moderator 

5 minutes:  What are Roleplaying Games (RPGs)?

10 minutes:  Incorporating AAC into RPGs

5 minutes:  Game Vocabulary

15 minutes:  5 RPGs to Start With

5 minutes:  Other Applications

5 minutes:  Conclusion and Summary – Presenter(s) 

5 minutes:  Q & A – Presenter(s), Moderator 

 

Disclosures:

Financial:

There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Non-financial:

There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

 

To register for this Webinar please go to the following link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0fh4L-CtQiOJXeEe44ODCQ

 

 


Information about ISAAC webinars

ISAAC has, over the course of the past number of years, developed a significant capacity to host informative and well-attended webinars. This has been done in close collaboration with our friends and partners at both ISAAC-US (USSAAC), AAIDD and, more recently, ISAAC-Canada.

Important Update:

Beginning in January 2021, the majority of archived webinars will be moved to a new location in the Members Only area portion of our website.  (A number of webinars will continue to be publicly available here.)

What this change means is that now only members will be able to access the majority of our archived webinar recordings.

Registration for the majority of upcoming new webinars will be available from within the Members Only area, and a valid ISAAC member ID number will need to be entered at time of registration.

It is our hope that many of the people who have benefited from attending or viewing our webinars will become members of ISAAC in order to continue to enjoy this significant membership benefit. 

For information on becoming a member of ISAAC, click here

Thank you!

 

Information on ASHA CEUs for USSAAC webinars can be found on the USSAAC website, here

To request from ISAAC International a hosted or sponsored webinar, please return this form-fillable PDF with details of your proposed webinar and preferred time slot, to franklin@isaac-online.org.

Please note:  A copy of the form MUST first be downloaded and saved to your local computer prior to completing.

 

 

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