Victoria Hughes
MS, CCC-SLP
Victoria Hughes is a speech-language pathologist and Solutions Consultant with Tobii Dynavox. She earned her master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Baylor University and has always been passionate about supporting complex communicators and advocating for access to communication for all children. As an SLP, she has focused on empowering minimally speaking and non-speaking individuals with meaningful, functional communication tools and supporting families and teams in early, robust AAC implementation.
She joined Tobii Dynavox in 2024 and spent the past two years supporting individuals across the lifespan in Southwest Florida. She recently moved to Portland to return to her Pacific Northwest roots, where she now focuses on supporting the pediatric population and is excited to lay down roots in the local SLP and AAC community.
Outside of work, Victoria enjoys tending to her many houseplants, going on walks and hikes, exploring new coffee shops, and spending time with family and friends. She’s excited to share ideas on introducing AAC through play and connect with fellow clinicians.
SESSION DESCRIPTION | Co-Presenting with Sarah Williams
The Importance of a Play-based, Positive, and
Motivating Introduction to AAC
In this presentation, we will discuss play-based AAC introduction strategies that have demonstrated significant advantages over directive prompting in both initial engagement and long-term communication outcomes for children with complex communication needs. Three main play-based AAC strategies (i.e., naturalistic play-based modeling, least to most prompting in playful contexts, and play as a foundation for AAC use) and their evidence-based outcomes will be highlighted with ways to implement these strategies in the classroom and therapy sessions. In contrast, an overview of directive strategies like hand over-hand prompting and excessive cueing and how it can negatively impact AAC users will be discussed to further illustrate how play-based therapy provides the foundation for greater success with AAC.
Target audience and experience level: Beginner - Assistive Technology Professionals and Speech Language Pathologists (SLP)
*Sessions are open to all registrants regardless of experience level or roles.
Primary Life Cycle: All ages