Romantic Relationships for AAC Users
Description:
Many people with disabilities who communicate with Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC) face barriers to forming friendships and sexual relationships. During this workshop, we will examine several barriers that AAC users face in finding, building, and maintaining intimate relationships.
In the first part of the workshop (1:00 – 2:30 PM), we will discuss communicative competence, which rests on three fundamental constructs:
- functionality of communication
- adequacy of communication
- sufficiency of knowledge, judgment, and skill.
We will discuss other potential barriers, such as societal attitudes towards the sexuality of disabled people, access to adequate sexual education, limited social participation, body language, and image.
In the second part of the workshop (2:45 – 4:00 PM), we will go deeper into relationship skills and AAC users, various populations of AAC users, and working with families. Lastly, we will explore how to create plans and use strategies to support AAC users in their future relationships.
Participants will be able to:
- Explain how communicative competence is relevant to building and maintaining intimate relationships.
- List three possible barriers an AAC user might face in building and maintaining relationships.
- Examine relationship skills and specific needs for various AAC users.
- List ways to work with families who are resistant to sexuality education.
- Formulate plans and strategies with the AAC users they support to prepare the AAC users for future relationships.
This is a 3-hour online workshop for professionals, administrators, self-advocates, parents, etc. We use Zoom, a video conference platform, to deliver the workshop. There will be the opportunity for questions and live engagement with the presenters.
Workshop Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2026, from 1 pm to 4:00 pm Eastern time (please note your time zone)
Access Instructions: After you register, you will get a confirmation email with instructions on how to access the workshop. If you do not get the email, check your spam. You must have a stable internet connection to join, or you can call in via phone.
Accommodation Requests
We are committed to ensuring accessibility for all participants. If you require accommodations to fully participate in this training, please notify us at the time of registration by contacting us via email at helaine@elevatustraining.com or by calling 603-399-5777. Please note that accommodations requested within two weeks of the training start date cannot be guaranteed.
Workshop Presenter:
Lance McLemore has been using AAC for about 12 years. He got his first high-tech communication aid whilst in university. Since getting access to AAC, his world has greatly expanded. His current language system is LAMP Words for Life on an Accent 1000, which he received in 2016. He graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a BA in studio art and philosophy. He still makes art in various media: drawing, painting, and fiber art. He currently works as an ambassador for the Prentke Romich Company and the Center for AAC and Autism. He attends AAC camps, workshops, conferences, schools, and universities to talk about and advocate for greater use and acceptance of AAC. His most important message is to remind people that the purpose of AAC is to make it easier to form relationships and increase inclusion in all spheres of life.
Workshop Host:
Katherine McLaughlin, M.Ed., AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator, is the Founder, CEO, and Lead Trainer for Elevatus Training. As a national expert on sexuality and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), she trains professionals and parents, as well as individuals, to become sexual self-advocates and peer sexuality educators. She is the author of the Sexuality Education for People with Developmental Disabilities curriculum. She has developed two online courses: Developmental Disability and Sexuality 101 for professionals and Talking to Your Kids: Developmental Disabilities and Sexuality for parents, and a 3-day certificate training: Becoming a Sexuality Educator and Trainer. She has spent her 30-year career committed to elevating the status of all people, which is why the name of her growing company is Elevatus Training.
