Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 60th SHAV Conference in Williamsburg, VA. Throughout the weekend, I was able to attend several sessions focusing on effectively using AAC devices, both low- and high-tech, and including AAC users in social situations. One of my main interests lies in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and I am currently one of the student clinicians running a social group that includes AAC users. Having the chance to hear from professionals specializing in this area of the field was one of the highlights of my trip and I definitely got some ideas to use with my students.

My research partners and I also had the opportunity to present the study we had been working on since last semester as part of SHAV’s Poster Presentations. While we knew our study front-to-back, explaining it to professionals in the field and answering questions about our reasons, methods, and results was nerve-racking! The presentation room was huge and we spoke to more people than I remembered to count. However, we are very happy to say that after a lot of hard work, we took home first place out of the 22 posters presented!