Pre-Service Training in AAC: Lessons From School Staff Instruction
The article is designed to provide speech-language pathologists with information they can use in designing hands-on augmentative & alternative communication (AAC) partner training programs directed toward speech-language pathology graduate students and instructional staff working in schools. First, the article develops a rationale for the need for such instruction. Next, it details necessary elements of such training programs described in the literature. Then, the authors detail the increases in instructional staff use of partner-augmented input following their implementation of a program based upon one of these training approaches. Last, the authors present the lessons they learned that can be applied to the design and implementation of graduate training opportunities in AAC.