AAC & Language Seminar Series Team

Bruce Bruce Baker, AM, LHD, (Hons. caus.) (1943-2020), the creator of the Minspeak® language system, spent 40 years developing and teaching in the field of AAC. The Virtual AAC & Language Seminar Series team hopes to continue to share his work and language-first message.

“If you sow language, you will reap communication.”

Debbie Witkowski, MA, CCC-SLP will begin the seminar with an in-depth, research-based discussion on language development and core vocabulary as it pertains to AAC. She will also discuss various methods of representing vocabulary with an AAC system. Debbie will provide a hands-on tutorial of the Unity^® 84 Sequenced software to enable participants to become familiar with the inherent linguistic structures. She will also present a discussion on the use of the descriptive teaching method as a means of getting better outcomes in the classroom for students who use AAC. This discussion will include a look at Common Core State Standards and creating classroom success through all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Tracy Kovach, PhD, CCC-SLP will present information on communication partner training, as well as information related to Bruce’s initial understanding and conceptualization of the development of motor automaticity as it relates to a visual language representation system for AAC. In addition, Tracy is the coordinator of our Minspeak Learning Community that participants will learn more about during the seminar, along with the way in which they may become members of this community and have access to a variety of seminar resources.

Russell Cross, BSc. (Hons.), DipCST, MRCSLT. will explore the power of multi-meaning icons and core vocabulary, including how assigning multiple meanings to pictures is a natural linguistic occurrence. He will also provide participants with the opportunity to learn features of the Unity^® software through hands-on demonstration using the PASS software, including therapy strategies and tools. He will demonstrate the Realize Language™ tool as a method of analyzing data and getting better outcomes.

In addition to the team, day 2 of each virtual seminar event features a nationally recognized guest speaker! The range of topics covered by guest speakers varies, so be sure to check the schedule!