Lauren is a speech pathologist with over 10 years of experience specializing in AAC. She received a Master's Certificate in Assistive Technology in 2018. She owns and operates the private practice Inspire Connections Therapy LLC, located in Twinsburg, Ohio and contracts with the state early intervention program. Her practice focuses on all things AAC and early language skills. Lauren is a paid speaker and has presented for conferences and workplaces on AAC topics.

Financial Disclosures

• profits from each sale of this course from Early and Bright Online Learning
  
• creates, designs, and sells other physical and digital products through TPT and Inspire Connections Therapy, LLC and profits from these sales
• is a paid speaker on topics related to AAC and gestalt language development for school districts, state organizations, Speech Therapy PD, and Meaningful Speech
• has acted as an affiliate and received commissions for other courses related to AAC, gestalt language development, and speech-language pathology from AAC Ally and Meaningful Speech

Nonfinancial Disclosures

• offers free resources for those interested in AAC in exchange for an email address

• Created for SLPs who work with toddlers and preschoolers.
• Includes two hours of professional development and a digital course workbook
• Access to over 40 printable handouts on AAC to support your therapy objectives and parent coaching practice
• Instructions for obtaining FREE copies of some of the most popular AAC apps through various partner programs
• Three case study examples with a step-by-step breakdown of the communication needs, evaluation process, and device selection
• The price is $125.
  
  

1. Students will be able to design an individualized AAC system that includes all forms of AAC including no-tech, lite-tech, mid-tech, and high-tech AAC.

2. Students will be able to describe AAC implementation strategies for AAC with toddlers and preschoolers

3. Students will be able to state the five steps in the AAC evaluation process.

4. Students will be able to explain the research and benefits of AAC to caregivers and provide support for common challenges.

Requirements for Satisfactory Completion

Students must do the following to earn a certificate for professional development:

1. Watch all of the self-paced video modules and reach 100% completion of the course.
2. Score 90% or higher on the course completion quiz. This 10 question quiz is untimed and can be taken as many times as needed.

I am a seasoned SLP with 10+ years of experience and two years of as an owner of a private practice specializing in early intervention. I had yet to come across a course that I felt really helped me understand AAC and I finally found it. As an EI SLP, I found this truly helpful since it is specifically designed for the EI population. I liked the course content, appreciated the video examples, and thought the course workbook to be very well organized. I also enjoyed the supplemental materials.

I highly recommend this course to all EI SLPs wanting to feel confident in supporting little language learners through AAC.

This course is phenomenal for all SLPs wanting to learn about AAC.

It has a fantastic coursebook as well. In this course, you learn about different types of AAC, how to evaluate, how to do funding, and how to back up your decisions to parents/other team members when questions arise! You can pull up the coursebook pages and bring them to your meetings to inform others about why and how you came to your decisions as well as the importance of AAC!

The AAC in EI course is exactly what I needed to support communication with parents, staff, and other professionals regarding AAC. I found this course to be incredibly comprehensive and appreciate the inclusion of all of the visual handouts that can be used to support carryover and caregiver buy in.

Even if you consider yourself knowledgeable in AAC, this course is still beneficial as it covers what most don't, such as performing AAC evaluations, how to get funding, additional resources (AAC Goals and Case Studies), and problem solving when various barriers occur. If you are thinking twice about whether or not this course is worth it, DON'T!

As an SLP who honestly did not learn much in her AAC class in graduate school, I found this course to be extremely useful! I love how the AAC devices/apps were broken down, along with a brief video modeling these.

I appreciate the parent coaching tips on how to apply the use of AAC with their child daily. The consistent use of AAC is so crucial for the client to learn, so I found it helpful when the top challenges were discussed, as well as ways to support and help the families through these challenges. If you're a SLP, looking for a more in-depth and informative course on AAC, I highly recommend this! 

This course was exactly what I needed to support my growth as a speech-language pathologist providing AAC services to the littles! I found the course to be extremely well done and provided a wealth of information regarding specific robust language systems and implementation! The workbook has incredible reference guides that will surely make a difference in my clinical practice!

This is the perfect introduction to AAC with Early Intervention! The workbook and handouts are beautiful, excellent, and easy to understand. The video content is to the point and each word is valuable. It is provided in short segments, so there is time to absorb the key points of each. After taking this course, I feel confident in encouraging the families I work with to start to trial AAC systems at a much earlier point in their child's language journey than I would have previously. I also have an improved sense of how to get started with modeling vocabulary for toddlers through AAC. Thank you.