Name: Pre-Conference Workshop: Neurodiversity Affirming AAC for All?: A Workshop on Historical Contexts, Current Practices, and Future Possibilities
Start: 2025-11-05T12:00:00-0500
End: 2025-11-05T16:00:00-0500

Registration Overview

Act now! We reach capacity and sell out every year.
Registration closes Friday, October 24, 2025 — or sooner if capacity is reached.

Ticket Options

#TalkingAAC: Pre-Conference Workshop
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 | 12:00–4:00 PM
Kellogg Center, East Lansing, MI
- Choose one 4-hour workshop
- Cost: $100
- Full details: talkingaac.org/preconference.html
#TalkingAAC: Two-Day Conference
Thursday & Friday, November 6–7, 2025
- Build your schedule for this two-day event
- Cost: $275
- Price includes breakfast, lunch, & parking

NOTE: To attend all 3 days, you must purchase both a Pre-Conference Workshop ticket and a Two-Day Conference ticket.

Registration & Session Planning

All registration and session planning will be handled via Sched:

Click the green Log In or Sign Up button below to access Sched.
Then proceed to purchase your ticket(s).
After you’ve purchased your ticket(s), you can plan which sessions you’d like to attend.

Meals, Parking, & Lodging Meals (Included with Two-Day Conference)

Continental Breakfast – Thursday & Friday
Lunch & Drink – Thursday & Friday

Parking (Included)

Overnight Guests:
Get your parking pass at hotel check-in and display it on your dashboard.
Non-Overnight Guests:
- Register your vehicle on-site via QR code (posted near registration).
- Bring your license plate number.
- Do not register your vehicle more than once per day.

Note: Please consider carpooling to reduce on-campus traffic.

Lodging

View the 2025 Lodging Options for hotel blocks and discount codes.
Reminder: Pre-Conference Workshops begin at 12:00 PM on Nov. 5 to allow extra travel time.

Terms & Conditions

#TalkingAAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established for continued education.

Refunds & Ticket Transfers

Refunds available up to 10 days before the event (Sched & Stripe fees are non-refundable).
Ticket transfers (e.g., to a coworker) may be approved before October 24, 2025.

Continuing Education

All attendees will receive a Certificate of Attendance.
Note for 2025: SCECH hours will not be offered this year.
ASHA CEUs are not provided. SLPs will receive a Verification of Attendance form to self-report professional learning hours to ASHA.

Networking & Swag

Networking Event – Details coming soon!
Merchandise – #TalkingAAC gear available for purchase on-site.

Stay Informed

Watch for updates from #TalkingAAC and Sched with session details and reminders as the event approaches.

Questions?

www.talkingaac.org
info@talkingaac.org

517-299-5200

Wednesday November 5, 2025 12:00pm - 4:00pm EST

Neurodiversity affirming practice spans multiple fields and scopes of practice, including speech therapy with complex communicators. The concept of neurodiversity stems from multiple, collective origins and refers to the concept that neurological differences are the result of natural human variation and are valuable to human diversity. Neurodiversity affirming care is not just a buzz word, it is a practice and encompasses and applies to a variety of neurotypes including and beyond the autistic population. However, not all people have historically been represented in the movement toward neurodiversity affirming care, leaving out individuals from multiply marginalized backgrounds, including people of the global majority, those with rare neurocognitive disabilities, and individuals with complex communication needs, among others. Additionally, popular discussions of neurodiversity affirming care have not included discussions of the systems of oppression, intersectional theory, and culturally responsive practice and how leaving those out stalls progress for multiply marginalized communities. Differences in cultural norms and values (i.e. collectivist versus individualistic cultures) may impact the delivery of neurodiversity affirming care. Lastly, current practices in speech pathology focus on teaching AAC users how to enter the language and communication world of neurotypical individuals who use spoken language as their primary communication form, going against principals of neurodiversity affirming practices.

Neurodiversity as a concept has been around for a few decades. However, some of its origins have been misattributed and the theory, including its application, has been observed to be misunderstood and thus misapplied. Led by a speech language pathologist and AAC specialist with over a decade of experience, during this workshop the presenter will partner with and guide attendees to rethink, relearn, reimagine, and redress! what we know about working with neurodiverse AAC users and their communities. The beginning of this talk will work through breaking down this claim by 1. journeying through historical contexts that inform the need for neurodiversity affirming practices and care, 2. discussing current practices among SLPs as related to individuals with complex communication needs, 3. collectively discussing the future possibilities of client/patient and family-centered care practices informed by neurodiversity affirming care principles. The second half of this workshop will include two case studies of students with complex communication needs and incorporate relevant theories and frameworks from the disability, neurodiversity, and AAC literature to reimagine future possibilities for therapeutic AAC services with complex communicators. Attendees will leave this interactive workshop with takeaways that can be applied on “Monday.” Together, we will work through implementation of neurodiversity affirming care practices from pre-referral to recommendation -including clinical reasoning, goal formation, treatment planning, service delivery, and strategies for caregiver and educator coaching.

Presenters

Karina Saechao

Yay Language, LLC

Karina Saechao, M.A., CCC-SLP, ATACP is a speech-language pathologist and AAC/multimodal communication specialist for school-aged children with complex communication needs. She is the owner of Yay Language!, LLC. and Golden Oak Speech Therapy. Karina’s clinical practice and scholarship... Read More →

Wednesday November 5, 2025 12:00pm - 4:00pm EST

Pre-Conference Workshop, Neurodiversity

Tickets

#TalkingAAC 2025

Karina Saechao

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#TalkingAAC 2025

Karina Saechao

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