AT Symposium CollaborATe: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Assistive Technology through the Lifespan

On March 11th, I had the opportunity to attend sessions and present at the poster session during the second annual AT Symposium CollaborATe: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Assistive Technology through the Lifespan at VCU’s Children Hospital of Richmond.  While at the conference, I was able to learn more about a variety of assistive devices that can be used to communicate and to complete other daily tasks.   The conference included a presentation from a teenage assistive technology (AT) user and her mother.  The mother shared many personal stories about the teenagers experiences with AT which included sharing ideas of how to create and construct assistive devices with inexpensive materials.  Additionally, I learned about devices that involve low to no technology but are still assistive devices for communication.  I met several representatives from various non-profit organizations that allow people in need to trial products and purchase the supplies with a payment plan.  Furthermore, I was honored to have our group’s poster selected to be presented at the conference.  I met other professionals in the field of speech-language pathology and discussed various aspects of working as a speech-language pathologist. I am thankful to have had the chance to use the CGPS travel grant to attend and present at the AT conference.