President’s Message June 2023

Dear Friends:

I hope you are finding “news you can use” in these monthly newsletters!  FYI, past letters are posted at ISAAC – Chapter News (isaac-online.org).  The July newsletter will be the “ISAAC Cancun” edition, in which we will highlight USSAAC members’ presentations. If you want your session(s) included, please send your session number, day, time, and title to president@ussaac.org  by July 15.

Mini-grants

Amplifying AAC Voices Mini-Grants (up to $1000) are still available! AAC Grants may address issues at the local, state, regional, or national level.  Applicants must be a USSAAC member and include an AAC user in developing the application.  Contact president@ussaac.org for more information and a copy of the application.

Speaker Connection

USSAAC’s Speaker Connection https://speaker.ussaac.org now has a roster of 30 speakers!  One of these talented individuals, Hannah Foley, is the subject of our most recent SpeakUp! blog.  Learn more about Hannah and her experiences in higher education at https://ussaac.org/speakup/articles/speakup-aact-hannah-foley-on-aac-in-higher-education/.

Did you miss the awesome panel of four talented presenters from USSAAC’s Speaker Connection, “Experiences and Opportunities for Paid Speaking Engagements” at AAC in the Cloud 2023? Watch Mateo Moreno, Kevin Williams, Meggin Nunamaker and endever* and moderator Chris Gibbons at https://presenters.aacconference.com/videos/UXpNNFFUSXo=

Do you know a person who uses AAC who should be a part of our Speaker Connection? Encourage them to make a profile today!

Member Finder

Make your Member Finder Profile today! Member Finder (https://finder.ussaac.org) is a way for the public to access a service provider (from among any of the disciplines represented in USSAAC!), find a person who uses AAC who can mentor them or their family, and locate others in the AAC community. USSAAC’s Member Finder is growing! Once we hit 100 profiles, all members with profiles will be entered in a drawing for a $25.00 gift card (Amazon or Starbucks). You can choose to have your information ONLY available to members (rather than to the public). It just takes a minute – you don’t even need to know your ISAAC number (just be sure to use the email on record with ISAAC). Please complete your profile TODAY!

ISAAC Conference Cancún 

AUCTION:  There will be an exciting silent auction at ISAAC Cancun – and new this year we are going mobile! This fun feature at our in-person conference helps raise money to support ISAAC Conference Travel Assistance Grants.  Think about contributing an item you can put in your suitcase and bring to the conference, such as items representing a culture, country or region; hand-crafted or store-purchased items; AAC books and materials; gift cards for software or apps and so on. For more information and the link to list something for donation go to https://isaac-online.org/english/conference-cancun/silent-auction/

SUPPORT NAACA

 Calling all supporters of communication access! Help break down barriers by supporting the North American Alliance for Communication Access (NAACA), a collaborative working group comprised of members from Communication Disabilities Access Canada (CDAC), ISAAC Canada, Mexico and USSAAC. With your support, NAACA will provide free communication access training to service providers and businesses related to the ISAAC Cancun Conference. Learn more at https://drive.google.com/file/d/11I19Fm9Ku1i-IcmaWPYlsXR8cbeCxXZ3/view?usp=drive_link and donate at https://gofund.me/14b7152c 

RESOURCE EXCHANGE

Have you started your packing list? Don’t forget to bring items to contribute to ISAAC’s Resource Exchange! Learn more at ISAAC – Resource Exchange (isaac-online.org).

USSAAC CHAPTER MEETING 

As your conference schedule fills up, hold Tuesday, July 25 at 12:45 – 1:45 for the USSAAC Chapter meeting.  I look forward to greeting you there!

Have a great month!

Amy S. Goldman, President

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