Putting Two Heads Together – Supporting AAC Users in the Classroom

On October 21, 2022, SET-BC and the New Westminster School District joined together to do a hands-on workshop for EAs, LSTs, Teachers and other SD40 Staff on the topic of “Supporting AAC Users in Schools.” SET-BC Educator Jessy To was honored to be invited to co-present with SD40 SLP Andrea Lalic for this unique collaboration.
Andrea and Jessy put their heads together and, in that process, learned from one another’s perspective – one through the lens of an SLP and the other through that of a teacher. From both these viewpoints, they then presented on how to best provide practical Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) solutions in the school or classroom and how to implement these solutions successfully for students with inclusion in mind.
It was important to the presenters that the participants leave with some practical knowledge on how they can put AAC theory into practice everyday in their schools. They designed this hands-on workshop to allow participants to practice modelling AAC and to plan when and where they could implement AAC during a typical student’s busy school schedule.
We believe shared informative endeavors like the one Andrea and Jessy delivered for the New Westminster School District will help open new doors and inspire future partnerships amongst SET-BC Educators and other School Districts. Maintaining strong collaborative working relationships and continuing to build capacity to support students with diverse needs in BC school districts is a key part of our mandate at SET-BC.