Our 5th Annual Leadership Conference focused on Early Intervention and AAC. Experts in other areas of speech-language pathology or other related professional areas made presentations to instruct and inform the learning and discussion of AAC-related thinking and problem-solving. Amy Finch from Fort Hays State University and Mary Ann Romski from Georgia State University presented the opening session, which provided the foundation for the conference, including a definition of early intervention and its importance to AAC as well as some of the “myths about AAC.”

A presentation on “Teaching Parents New Skills to Support Their Young Children’s Communication Development” by Ann Kaiser of Vanderbilt University discussed what we know about early intervention and including parents as an integral part of this process. Laura Namy of Emory University provided an overview of “Contemporary Research on Early Symbolic Development” that provided critical information related to the development of symbolic skills in children developing normally. Based on the information in the opening presentations, participants were asked to identify issues in the development of early intervention programs and areas for further research.