AT AAC in Belgrade, Serbia is complete! Serbia is a phenomenal country with some of the nicest, funniest and most generous people I’ve ever met, along with home to truly interesting history and beautiful sites, so when conference organizers asked me to come present “Enhancing Communication for Individuals with Autism,” I jumped at the opportunity! I am always amazed at the enthusiasm and interest in Croatia and Serbia. Here is a picture from my presentation that was from 4pm-6pm on a beautiful Saturday afternoon – and there were people! Lots of people!

I didn’t know I would also later be asked to co-lead a workshop on parent-teacher/specialist relationships, but fortunately, I got to present with the colleague and friend, Ines Delzotto, who led the 2019 ATAAC summer school with me this summer in Pula, Croatia. I was fortunate to have Ines at my side for many reasons: not only do I enjoy presenting with her and respect her as a clinician, but I feel fortunate in that our parent-specialists relationships are not as contentious as they are in Croatia and Serbia. It sounds like parents often do not listen to specialists who have been trained in fields such as speech or assistive technology, and instead, they do what they want to do. This led me to think about the importance of a team and how it truly takes a village!