AAC feature matching: An interactive workshop

Thursday 28 August 2025, 12:00pm - 3:00pm AEST

*please note date change

Feature matching is an ongoing and dynamic process for speech pathologists which should be undertaken throughout an AAC user's life. This interactive event will support clinician's to transfer their clinical reasoning to the feature matching of low tech, mid tech and high tech AAC systems. In addition to covering the theoretical basis of feature matching, attendees will work in small groups to analyse real clinical cases for clients with developmental disabilities. This event has been designed for speech pathologists who have minimal experience in feature matching or for those speech pathologists who would like to streamline their feature matching processes.

Learning objectives

Describe the theoretical basis of AAC feature matching for individual's with developmental disabilities.
Analyse and interpret assessment results to inform decision making during the feature matching process.
Compare AAC systems to determine the most appropriate selection based on the individual's developmental profile.
Justify the selection of AAC systems to key stakeholders.

Who should attend

This workshop has been designed for speech pathologists who have a basic understanding of assessment processes for individuals with complex communication needs. Prior exposure to AAC is preferred as this event will focus primarily on the feature matching process.

Presenters

Dr Clancy Conlon

Clancy is a lecturer at Central Queensland University. Her teaching areas include language and literacy development, assessment and intervention for children aged 0-18 years and multi-modal communication across the lifespan. Her PhD investigated the clinical competence, confidence, knowledge, attitudes and training of Australian speech language pathologists in augmentative and alternative communication. Clancy continues to provide clinical services to children with disabilities and their families in Australia in a private practice context. Clancy also provides clinical services and clinical supervision in majority world countries including Thailand and Fiji for children with disabilities focussing on the facilitation of multi-modal communication.

Lucy Mitford

Lucy is a Senior Speech Pathologist at a private practice in Central Queensland where she works exclusively in the area of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). With experience treating individuals across the lifespan, she is dedicated to improving communication outcomes for her clients. In addition to her clinical work, Lucy provides supervision to speech pathologists across Australia and regularly presents at local schools and organisations who are seeking support with AAC.