Navigating the Road to AAC Success: Assessment, Goal Development, Collaboration & Meaningful Implementation in Schools

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) services in schools require more than selecting a device—they require comprehensive assessment, meaningful goal development, collaborative implementation, and integration across the school day. Navigating the Road to AAC Success provides school-based speech-language pathologists with practical tools and strategies for moving from AAC assessment to effective implementation. Participants will explore formal and informal assessment, feature matching, the Dynamic AAC Goals Grid–3 (DAGG-3), AAC report writing, IEP present level statements, functional IEP goal development, progress monitoring, and data collection. Through case studies, report-writing templates, and practical examples, participants will learn to translate assessment findings into meaningful educational outcomes. The course will also address collaboration with teachers, families, and educational teams; classroom integration; aided language modeling; and strategies for generalizing AAC skills across settings and communication partners. Participants will explore literacy-based AAC intervention, including Building Bridges and other evidence-based approaches for supporting communication and literacy development in complex learners.