Rethinking AAC Assessment and Decision-Making

Not sure where to start with AAC assessment? Hallie chats with Alyssa Croll, AAC the SLP, an SLP and assistive technology specialist for a very large school district. With more than 10 years of experience, Alyssa is also a public speaker and consultant who offers practical, nuanced AAC solutions grounded in the reality of school-based practice. Together they talk about why a standard starting app and grid size can work, how to tell exploring from keyboard smashing, and how a “coach-the-coach” model gets staff on board so AAC gets used all day. Plus, free apps and trainings to help you get started.

Bullet Points to Discuss:

* barriers that can affect AAC assessment

* Making AAC assessment more individualized and functional

* Practical clinical reasoning in real-world AAC assessment 

Here's what we learned:

• Barriers like unclear starting points, limited apps, and little staff buy-in can derail AAC assessment, so plan for the people, not just the device
• Individualized assessment starts with what a student already communicates, then adjusts the system to fit, since assessment is ongoing
• Practical clinical reasoning means choosing a starting point and adjusting from there, not searching for the perfect system

Learn more about Alyssa Croll:Email Address: [email protected]

Website: aactheslp.com

Social: IG & Tik Tok @aactheslp 

Other links: 

https://preview.convertri.com/15900828-68cd-4cbf-9f4c-188cf89ea750

Freebie - include this on the docs so we don’t need to copy and paste from this document (note for podmachine editor)

https://aactheslp.myflodesk.com/abandonment 

Learn more about Hallie Sherman and SLP Elevate:

📝 Website: https://speechtimefun.com/

🎲✨ Check out the Secondary Secret Podcast here! https://www.speechtimefunpd.com/secret-podcast-signup

📘✨ Grab your copy of The Secondary SLP Roadmap here! https://www.speechtimefunpd.com/stf-book

🎤✨ The Speech Retreat is Back! Learn more and register here!

https://www.speechretreat.com ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 

Freebie:

https://www.slpmadness.com/shop/p/freespeechtherapydescribingprobe

https://www.slpmadness.com/iep-goal-bank 

Subscribe today and get access to my secret podcast filled with my juicy secrets for planning with ease for secondary speech students. 6 quick episodes that you can quickly listen to and feel refreshed and inspired! https://speechtimefun.com/secondarysecrets