A Day of Gratitude, AAC Style

grat·i·tude /ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/

noun

1. the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness

In the spirit of our American tradition of Thanksgiving, we pause to reflect on our blessings and offer thanks.

We’re grateful for:

• Our essential workers who put themselves on the line so that many can stay safe and healthy
• The people who use AAC and their families for all they do to help us get better at this business of supporting communication
• Service providers in homes, schools, clinics, hospitals, and community agencies
• The university programs that have a dedicated AAC class, especially if they have a permanent faculty member with expertise in this area
  • Bonus thanks to those that also offer supervised clinical or student teaching experiences with AAC mentorship opportunities or an AAC lab with SGDs, AAC apps, switches, and mounts.
• The professional and service organizations that support AAC through professional development opportunities, grants, mentorship programs
• The power of e-communication platforms for the AAC support on listservs, blogs, groups, threaded discussions, and through the sharing of images and videos
• Those who advocate for better services, funding, and support for people with AAC needs and their providers
• The researchers and their clinical/educational partners who add to our understanding of what works and (eventually) why along with the scholars and practitioners who write about what they’ve learned and share it with the rest of us
• Technological advances that allow people to communicate in better and easier ways have voices that reflect their individuality, help to gather and analyze data so we can refine our intervention, and have design features that make them more accessible and easier to use
• The innovators who challenge what is and go on to improve AAC conditions, add a feature to technology, create a new tool, or make an existing resource more accessible
• The opportunity to do work that matters
• YOU! Our talented, hard-working, big-hearted, incredibly generous AAC community
  • You are graduate students, teachers, SLPs, people with complex communication needs, OTs, BCBAs, parents, aides, siblings. manufacturers, consultants, AAC vendors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, PTs, guidance counselors, AT specialists, and more.
  • YOU are the ones that empower people with complex communication needs to find and use their voices.

Our hearts are full on this Thanksgiving Day.