ableU Live & Local - Jacksonville FL (registration)

Presenter: Ashley Scarpa, MS, CCC-SLP

Disclosure: Ashley owns her own private practice, Little Sunshine Pediatric Therapy.

Presenter Biography: Ashley Scarpa is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist with over ten years of experience supporting children and families. She earned her Master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University and discovered her passion in home health, where parent coaching, carryover, and collaborative support help her clients thrive. Ashley owns Little Sunshine Pediatric Therapy in St. Petersburg, Florida, a neurodiversity-affirming practice providing speech and occupational therapy. She works primarily with neurodivergent children, gestalt language processors, and AAC users, helping families understand the benefits of AAC and how it can be modeled, practiced, and naturally integrated into daily life. Over the past two years, she has funded several AAC devices through AbleNet and is grateful for the support they provide to SLPs and families.

Presenter: Stephanie Cohen, MCD, CCC-SLP

Disclosure: Stephanie has no financial disclosures.

Presenter Biography: Stephanie Cohen received her Masters of Communication Disorders in Speech-Language Pathology from Auburn University and has extensive pediatric experience in the public school, ABA center, and outpatient rehabilitation settings. She currently works at The Arc of the St. Johns in their two charter schools affiliated with St. Johns County Schools: The Therapeutic Learning Center, an ESE preschool for students ages 3-5, and The St. Johns Community Campus, a vocation-focused transition program for students with disabilities ages 18-22. Stephanie's clinical interests include Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), early language development, and functional communication. She has found the most success with students using TD Snap Motor Plan and TouchChat with WordPower. Stephanie has worked with AbleNet for several years funding devices for students as young as two years old and as old as 20 years old.

Presenter: Elyssa Male, MS, CCC-SLP

Disclosure: Elyssa has no financial or non-financial disclosures.

Presenter Biography: Elyssa Male received her Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from Fontbonne University which offered an interdisciplinary preparation program for teachers of the deaf and speech-language pathologists to provide early intervention to young children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and their families. Elyssa’s interests in the field include Augmentative Alternative Communication, Autism, ADHD, and learning ASL and more about Deaf culture. Elyssa has worked with Early Steps kiddos and at a public school designed specifically for students with ASD and other related disabilities in the past. Currently, she works for the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind part-time and for Horseplay Therapy Center full-time where they offer hippotherapy (utilizing the movement of the horse as a therapy tool). Elyssa finds the TD Snap app very user-friendly and has seen clients make great strides through high-tech AAC. Elyssa has worked with AbleNet for years helping fund AAC devices for over 50 kids.

Learner Outcomes

• Describe and apply effective strategies for fostering buy-in and empowering caregivers and educators to promote consistent AAC use and increase carryover across home, school, and community settings
• Discuss strategies for collaborating with professionals and caregivers to support AAC use across settings
• Identify and list at least two actionable strategies for AAC implementation in school, clinic, or home settings

Agenda

• Introduction (5 minutes)
• Panel Discussion on AAC carryover strategies, collaboration strategies, and implementation strategies (45 minutes)
• Wrap up and Q&A (10 minutes)