CVI Webinar #4: Implementing CVI Strategies into AAC Instruction – A Case Study

The Bridge School is excited to invite you to join our next webinar in the series on Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and its impact on children with severe physical and speech impairments who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Live Webinar on February 9, 2021

1:00 – 2:00 PM PST

The star of this webinar is Diego who has complex communication needs and cortical visual impairment. The presenter describes her experiences in learning about CVI and how to implement a program that supports Diego’s use of his vision with particular emphasis on how CVI impacted his access to language and literacy. The presentation illustrates how the CVI range was used to inform practice and guide the intervention.

Participants will be able to:

• Describe ways to support AAC instruction, taking into account phases of the CVI range
• Discuss how the environment, materials and methods have to be modified as characteristics associated with CVI change over time
• Identify ways to support language and literacy skills for children with CVI who use AAC

Gabriela Berlanga is a speech and language pathologist (SLP) who graduated from the Universidad de las Américas in Mexico City.  In October 2004, Gabriela received The Bridge School Teacher-in-Residence Award which included a year working with the staff at The Bridge School, attending relevant university courses, and participating in professional conferences while receiving intensive training in both Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Assistive Technology (AT).
 
Gabriela is the founder and Director of Centro de Apoyo Tecnológico para Comunicación y el Aprendizaje (CATIC), a therapy center located in Mexico City.  In the 15 years since its inception, CATIC has come to be recognized as a national leader in the field of AAC and Assistive Technology.  She has been a professor at the Universidad de las Américas for over 10 years and presents modules on Oral Rehabilitation and Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
 
She is a member of the North American Alliance for Communication Access (NAACA); the current Vice President for Conferences of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication  (ISAAC); and a consultant to the Mexican Ministry of Education.
 
Gabriela has presented at numerous national and international conferences, conducted workshops and offered courses in the field of Speech, Language and AAC.
 
ALL participants will be expected to be familiar with information Dr. Christine Roman Lantzy presented in two previous webinars related to CVI characteristics and the three Phases of CVI as measured by the CVI Range.  If you were unable to participate in these webinars, you can view the archives at:  https://cvi.bridgeschool.org/webinars/archived-webinars-registration/

CVI webinar schedule:  https://cvi.bridgeschool.org/webinars/