The AAC-RERC is a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center that functions as a collaborative research group dedicated to the development of effective AAC technology. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) refers to ways (other than speech) that are used to send a message from one person to another.

 Recent activities ...

 aac-rerc logo

2012 State of the Science Conference in AAC: 
AAC-RERC Final Report

The AAC-RERC partners prepared a comprehensive report on the final outcomes of the State of the Science Conference held in Baltimore, MD on June 28,  2012.

janice at sosc

2012 State of the Science Conference in AAC:
Presentations

Melanie Fried-Oken, Janice Light, Susan Fager, and Jeff Higginbotham presented at the State of the Science Conference hosted by the AAC-RERC. The presentations are available as   webcasts and on YouTube.

Assistive Technology Research Symposium
Melanie Fried-Oken will be presenting on The AAC-RERC 2012 State of the Science Conference Report at the ATIA/RESNA Research Symposium in Orlando Florida on January 30, 2013. This all-day event will address critical research issues facing the AT research, manufacturing, and vendor communities.

billy

Adapted Computer Access

As demonstrated in this YouTube video, AAC-RERC partners at InvoTek worked with a client to enable computer access via eye-movement.

 Cover of book

Daring to Dream
Diane Bryen and colleagues have developed a Kindle text to support transition planning for adolescents and adults with complex communication needs.

 

picture of man with safe laser

RESNA Student Design Competition
David McNaughton has worked with Maureen Linden and Doug Gayton to create the RESNA Student Design Competition website.  Updated information on the 2013 competition has now been posted

woman using aac

AAC and Aphasia
In this new webcast, Melanie Fried-Oken provides data and video evidence to demonstrate the benefits of AAC Interventions for Persons with Primary Progressive Aphasia

 ISAAC logo

 

ISAAC 2012
AAC-RERC partners presented at ISAAC 2012 in Pittsburgh, July 30 - August 2. Check this page for conference presentation handouts.

facebook oval

Join us on Facebook
The AAC-RERC is on Facebook! Please friend our page to receive updates on AAC-RERC activities, and information on new resources


youtube logo
 

AAC-RERC YouTube Channel

We have put copies of some of our most popular webcasts on our YouTube channel,  including Disaster Preparedness for People with CCN, AAC for Persons with Primary Progressive Aphasia, and Supporting Communication for People with Minimal Movement.

 client with aac device at bank machine

E-Learning Resources
Barbara Collier and Sarah Blackstone (ACCPC) have developed free, online e-learning modules designed for organizations on improving access to goods and services for people with communication disabilities. ACCPC has also developed a document that describes what people with CCN should expect from organizations that are compliant with human rights legislation. 

picture of certificate of completion

Webcasts and Certificates of Completion
The AAC-RERC provides 19 free webcasts on a variety of AAC topics. In order to support the use of the webcasts by university faculty, we have developed on-line quizzes that can be used in conjunction with the webcasts. Students who successfully pass the quiz (80% or higher) can print a certificate of completion, and email their score to an instructor.

eblast logo

E-Blast

To receive our e-blast with regular updates from the AAC-RERC, please send an email to aac.rerc@gmail.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.  

 

 

Recent Presentations and Publications

Beukelman, D., Fager, S., King, J., & Hux, K. (November, 2012). AAC for adults with Acquired Neurological Conditions: Today & tomorrow. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta, GA (handout),

DeRuyter, F. (February, 2013). Emerging developments in augmentative and alternative communication. Presentation at CSUN, CA. (handout)

Light, J. (November, 2012). Building communicative competence with individuals who require AAC. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta GA (handout)

Light, J., Drager, K., & Currall, J. (November, 2012). Effects of AAC technologies with "Just in Time" programming. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta GA.(handout)

Light, J., Drager, K. Currall, J. & Roberts, B. (November, 2012). Preservice training of speech-language pathologists in evidence-based AAC services (handout)

Light, J., Drager, K., Wikinson, K., Finke, E., Currall, J., Roberts, B. (November, 2012). The Penn State AAC Leadership Project: Doctoral Training in AAC. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta, GA (handout)

Min, H., Higginbotham, D. J., Lesher, G., & T.F. Yik, (November, 2012). Exploring the contribution of conversational context in word prediction. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta, GA (handout 1, handout 2)

Schlosser et al., (November, 2012). A comparison of instruction-following cues in children with autism. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta, GA (handout)

Schlosser et al., (November, 2012). Effects of animation on iconicity of symbols by SLP students. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta, GA. (handout)

Thiessen, A. & Beukelman,D. (November, 2012). Visual attention of people with aphasia when viewing visual scenes. Presentation at ASHA, Atlanta GA.

David McNaughton

Content for this website is developed and maintained by David McNaughton (Penn State University)

W3c logoValid XHTML 1.0 Transitional