Learning, Sharing, Connecting: AAC Workshop supports PVNC Catholic families

June 18, 2025

On April 28, 2025, Holy Family Catholic Elementary School in Bowmanville welcomed eleven families for an engaging Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Family Workshop.

The evening was designed to create a supportive, unstructured, and sensory-friendly environment where families could explore their child’s AAC device.

Participants had the opportunity to practice using communication tools, receive personalized strategies from Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) and Special Education staff, and connect with other families on similar AAC journeys.

“Hosting our AAC After-School Family Night was an exciting opportunity for us to help bridge the gap between school support and home. We were fortunate to have had our community partners from Holland Bloorview, along with some of our wonderful School-Based Autism Educators, join us to make the evening a success,” said Alanna Gujarati, Speech-Language Pathologist. “We feel we accomplished (our goals for the workshop) and are looking forward to more opportunities like this in the future.”

The event was supported by a collaborative team that included four SLPs, two Speech-Language Pathology students, two School-Based Autism Program (SBAP) teachers, and two Autism Spectrum Disorder Workers (ASDWs).

Families rotated through six hands-on stations that encouraged communication and language development, featuring wind-up toys and bubbles, shared book reading, Playdough, games, colouring, and snacks. 

Each station included sample words and phrases to model, and families were provided with a take-home binder filled with worksheets and resources.

Plans are already underway to bring this workshop to additional regions across the Board in the future.