AAC 2022

Topic of the conference: AAC during the lifespan

The AAC 2022 Conference presents  contemporary approaches and technologies for children and adults with communication difficulties – cerebral palsy, autism, multiple disabilities, intellectual disabilities, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and others:

  • Talks on modern approaches, methods, and technologies for augmentative and alternative communication, given by leading experts.
  • Talks presenting the experience and best practices in working and teaching children with cerebral palsy, autism, multiple disabilities and others.
  • Personal experience of users of augmentative and alternative communication.

Symposium “The role of AAC in the prevention of violence against people with communication impairments” 

Children and adults with complex communication needs are in heightened risk of abuse and violence. The symposium will cover topics on using AAC:

  • to prevent violence and abuse
  • in the process of investigation and prosecution of acts of violence
  • in testifying in court

The goal of the symposium is to bring together experts in AAC and representatives of interested Bulgarian institutions.

The conference

AAC2022 is organized by “ASSIST – Assistive Technologies” Foundation with the financial support by UNICEF Bulgaria. This support made possible the attendance to be free.

AAC2022 was held online, using Zoom.

The working languages of the conference were Bulgarian and English. During the conference, there was simultaneous translation into English, Bulgarian and Ukrainian.

Talks

During the conference, talks were presented by 45 speakers:

  • 31 AAC experts from all over the world
  • 3 AAC users
  • 7 official representatives of government institutions in Bulgaria and of international organizations
  • 4 representatives of companies for technological solutions for AAC

Recordings of some of the presentations are available on the conference website. If possible, several versions with translations are available.

Recordings of some of the other presentations are made available only to conference participants.

Participants

The conference provoked a great interest in Bulgaria and abroad – 1199 participants from 48 countries took part in the conference.

The largest number of participants came from Bulgaria (652), Ukraine (226), and Lithuania (105).

Feedback

We received feedback about the conference from 465 participants.

99.1% of the respondents would participate in the next conference on a similar topic, and 99.7% would recommend the conference to colleagues or friends.

The overall rating of the conference is an excellent one. The average rating is 4.7 on a scale of 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (excellent).

The rating for both the content of the talks and the organization of the conference are also excellent.

Thanks and Looking Forward

Thanks to all the speakers who shared their experiences and knowledge. Thanks to you, the conference was so interesting and useful!

We thank all the organizations and institutions that supported the conference – UNICEF Bulgaria, ISAAC International, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, State Agency for Child Protection.

We also thank all the participants for their interest and for the positive feedback! This gives us the confidence and motivation to continue with this conference series.

We hope that the talks and the discussions will lead to a more successful introduction of AAC in Bulgaria and to the possibility of faster access to AAC by all children and adults with communication needs.

We also hope for a more in-depth discussion and finding solutions on the topics discussed during the symposium – how AAC can be used to prevent violence against people with communication difficulties and how AA can be used in the process of investigation and when testifying in court.

See you soon!

“ASSIST – Assistive Technologies” Foundation