Empowering Support: Building Capacity for AAC Camp Alberta's Future

Since 2016, AAC Camp Alberta has been supporting families of children with complex communication needs who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) through an annual weekend family camp. Children attend with one or more family members, including parents and siblings. Many of our campers have never met another child who talks like them, using a speech-generating communication device. At AAC Camp, they are surrounded by peers and mentors using AAC, leading to a profound sense of belonging. Each camper is supported by a 1:1 student counselor, supervised by volunteer professionals from the community, including speech-language pathologists (SLP), occupational therapists (OT), and physical therapists (PT). While the children are engaged in fun camp activities such as swimming, biking, ropes courses, crafts, and music, parents attend special sessions on how to integrate AAC use in everyday life. Parents also have dedicated time to connect and network with each other. Over the years, we have seen time and again the profound impact this camp experience has on campers, parents, siblings, counselors, and volunteers.  

Over the past 10 years, applications to AAC Camp Alberta increased from 18 to 48. In 2025, we had to turn away over 20 families because we didn’t have space and resources. There is a strong interest in expanding AAC Camp programs in Alberta, for example offering two camps per year in different locations or formats. In order to expand, we need to increase our volunteer base across the province and secure funding and administrative support.

AAC Camp could not happen without a strong team of dedicated volunteers. Our current team is truly exceptional and strongly committed to the ongoing success of AAC Camp Alberta. They volunteer their time and expertise without remuneration, because they believe in the value of the camp and have witnessed first-hand the powerful transformations that result from the experience. However, most are not able to consider additional commitments to new or expanded AAC camp programs. 

This project focuses on supporting new and returning volunteer professionals at AAC Camp Alberta, including speech-language pathologists (SLPs), occupational therapists (OTs), physical therapists (PTs) and educators who work with children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). 

Returning volunteer professionals give countless hours each year to support campers, families and student counselors at AAC Camp Alberta. In addition to volunteering their time and expertise, they pay for travel to and from camp out of their own pockets. This project will allow us to recognize and support their selfless dedication. 

The majority of our current volunteers are from Edmonton and surrounding communities, although we have a small but dedicated cohort from southern Alberta, including Calgary, Canmore, and Red Deer. We want to further build capacity in southern Alberta in order to support future AAC camps in both the northern and southern regions of Alberta. In addition to online training prior to camp, new volunteers at our 2026 camp will be paired with more experienced volunteers, where they will receive hands-on mentorship and strengthen their own interprofessional AAC networks. 

The addition of part-time administrative support will further reduce the burden on volunteer professionals, freeing them up to do what they do best - support children and families!

Although the focus of this project is on building capacity and reducing the burden on volunteers, the benefits of continued AAC camps in Alberta extend to campers, parents, siblings, and counselors, as well as to volunteer professionals and the communities in which they work. For example, parents often report that their child used their AAC device more during camp and in the months following than they had in years, or that they themselves benefitted from the bonds formed with other parents with shared experiences, reducing their sense of isolation. Our counselors learn more in the immersive hands-on context of camp than they could ever learn in a classroom, and volunteer professionals have opportunities to observe and work with families in natural contexts that don’t typically occur in clinical or classroom settings. We know that AAC Camp can have a lasting impact on children, families and communities. By setting the stage for future expansions of AAC Camp Alberta, this project will help extend those benefits to even more families!