Our Committees
Led by professionals and stakeholders in Assistive Technology (AT) and AAC from throughout the state of Wisconsin.
Mike Hipple, an AAC communicator for 18 years, founder of the WI AAC Network, and active member in the United States Society of AAC.
Sue Hipple, parent of an AAC communicator and co-founder of WI AAC Network. Member of United States Society of AAC. She shares a parent’s perspective of everything AAC thru her contacts with parents and when she co-presents with Mike on a local, State, and National level.
Sharon Redmon, an experienced educator with Masters of Adaptive Education Assistive Technology, experience as assistive technology specialist. She provides direct student services and has been in a consultant role.
Jennifer Schubring, a speech pathologist specializing in AAC with the Green Bay school district and also has her own private practice specializing in AAC. Her undergraduate degree is from UW-Madison and Masters from Penn State.
Danielle White, an AAC Communicator, has been using a communication device for the last 16 years. She currently has an Accent 1400 from PRC. Her first years with a device were a headache, from refusing to use it to trying to preprogram what she might want to say if she ever use it. Dani just really doesn’t want anyone else to have to deal with the same issues she did and would like to help you and your child navigate some of the challenges that might lie ahead.
Kelly Fonner is a consultant and trainer in assistive and educational technology. She trains and consults on strategies to implement AAC, access and literacy technologies. Kelly earned her undergraduate degree from Millersville University and Masters of Educational Technology from Johns Hopkins University.
Julie Gamradt, Clinic Director and speech pathologist at the Communications Aids and Systems Clinic, known as CASC, at the Waisman Center in Madison. She has extensive experience providing clinical and community-based services that focus on AAC. She earned her masters degree from UW-Madison.
Catherine (Cat) Kanter is a clinical speech-language pathologist working in the UW Madison Communication Aids and Systems Clinic and ALS Clinic, as well as the community-based Communication Development Program. Cat received her BA in linguistics from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and MS in speech-language pathology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is passionate about empowerment of teams (e.g., school, vocational, residential, autism treatment) and families to build awareness and capacity for supporting individuals who use AAC.
School Committee
Another accomplishment of the Wisconsin AAC Network has been the creation of the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Regional Network (WATRN) meetings. This is a result of the school committee’s efforts to provide a platform where professionals around the State, who are passionate about AT and AAC, come together to learn, share and support each other. The school committee meets monthly to coordinate and plan the regional meetings. The goal was to have 3-4 regional meeting throughout the state for the 2018/19 school year. We started with three regions and as of winter of 2019 we have seven regional meeting locations throughout the state. See the calendar and events.
Mission: To provide a platform where professionals around the state of Wisconsin who are passionate about Assistive Technology (AT) and Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) are able to meet in regional groups. The WATRN seeks to provide educators of Wisconsin support, share knowledge, discuss/learn best practices and raise awareness around current issues facing school based AT/AAC professionals.
Vision: Foster a grassroots effort to fill a gap left behind by the defunding of WATI. Bring Wisconsin back to a place where AT/AAC professionals are created, developed and supported in order to provide a high quality of AT/AAC services to all students with disabilities throughout Wisconsin.
Please contact us to learn more…
Family Support Committee
The Family Support Committee is a group of parents and AAC communicators providing support and awareness to advance AAC. We are planning an event for parents and communicators. There will be AAC related sessions for parents. Fun activities and opportunities for communicators to socialize. The committee also promotes and facilitates the Chat Club. We would love to have more families and communicators involved.