The mission of the SIG dedicated to improving the quality and availability of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) services to consumers throughout the life span, is to promote clinically relevant research, educate and mentor current and future professionals, and identify and address the needs of service providers in the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology.
It is the goal of the Special Interest Group for Augmentative and Alternative Communication to:
Affiliate members have a direct voice in addressing issues that impact their profession, to communicate and network on a variety of topics, and to identify clinical issues that need immediate attention. Areas of interest include:
Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups is the online peer-reviewed scholarly review journal of the SIGs. SIG 12 offers new self-study CE activities through Perspectives each year.
Earn ASHA continuing education units (CEUs) through
SIG 12 Affiliates have access to exclusive discussion forums/groups, which provide the opportunity to interact with other SIG Affiliates who share interest in augmentative and alternative communication. Use ASHA's Member Directory to search for individuals by SIG affiliation. In addition, SIG 12 Affiliates can meet in person and online at an ASHA and SIG 12 sponsored events; typically each SIG hosts an Affiliates meeting at Convention and sponsors a virtual open house.
The Edwin and Esther Prentke Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Distinguished Lecture was initiated in 1997 to honor the life and work of the late Edwin and Esther Prentke. The Prentkes dedicated their lives to developing technologies that liberate the lives of people with disabilities. This lecture is an invited presentation that recognizes and is delivered by an accomplished person who uses AAC. It has been a highly anticipated event of the annual ASHA Convention. Previous lectures have highlighted the extraordinary abilities of the presenters, both as accomplished individuals in their own fields and as people who use AAC. Over the years, the lectures have been insightful and profound in their content and the question-and-answer session has been personal and enlightening to many. The Lecture itself has garnered a reputation as an inspirational and informational session at the Convention.
Since its inception, the Lecture has been sponsored by Prentke Romich Company, a manufacturer of AAC devices, and Semantic Compaction Systems, the developer of Minspeak™. ASHA Special Interest Group (SIG) 12, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, coordinates the lecture each year as a member of the Annual Convention Program Committee. The annual lecture series was discontinued in 2019. Following is a list of past recipients.
View the Editorial Board Roster for Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups.