(LIVE Rejected 2025 – Dec 13 10am EST) AAC Essentials: Breaking Myths & Building Skills for Meaningful AAC Support

Supporting nonvocal or limited language learners is a part of many of our daily roles, but could outdated practices be holding us back? This training is your chance to refresh your approach and make a bigger impact. Through visuals, interactive activities, and practice opportunities, you’ll gain the tools and confidence to support AAC users in meaningful and effective ways.

What to Expect:

• Debunk AAC Myths: Challenge outdated ideas and understand the truth behind effective AAC implementation.

• PECS vs. High-Tech AAC: Discover when and why high-tech AAC options often surpass traditional PECS approaches.

• Actionable Strategies: Learn how to introduce AAC in low-pressure, individualized, and meaningful ways.

• Core vs. Fringe Words: Explore the importance of core vocabulary and practice strategies for building language across settings.

• Interactive Activities: Engage in skill-building exercises to help you feel prepared to support AAC users confidently.

This training includes 50+ pages (!!!) of visual resources to help you bring what you’ve learned back to your team and confidently advocate for AAC best practices. 

Learning Objectives:

• Participant will define Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and identify at least five examples of AAC in practice.
• Participant will respond with advocacy when a team member presents a known AAC myth by explaining current best practices.
• Participant will compare teaching approaches of PECS and high-tech AAC, including when each method may be most appropriate.
• Participant will demonstrate effective strategies for introducing and modeling AAC, including aided language input, teaching core vocabulary, and using the “Word of the Week” framework.
• Participant will be able to coach a team on implementing AAC strategies in practice using the approaches and visual resources provided during the training.

Morgan Van Diepen is a BCBA with over 15 years of experience in ABA, working closely with families, educators, and neurodivergent self-advocates. She is the co-founder of ABA Visualized and the self-published author of a bestselling book collection that ranks among the top titles in Behavioral Disorders in Special Education and Parenting Children with Disabilities. Morgan has presented at national conferences and developed custom trainings for clinical organizations and school districts. She remains committed to making behavior expertise more approachable, compassionate, and accessible to those who need it most.