Post-Conference Research Study Day - Communication Matters

Study Days

Post-Conference Research Study Day – 10 September 2025

This additional day on 10th September (9.30am-4.15pm) is open to conference delegates and others who are interested in research focused strands delivered by an international cohort of researchers and academics.

You can choose to attend one of two parallel sessions:
1. The Becoming an Aided Communicator (BAC) project team will present on ‘Developing tasks for observing aided language comprehension and production’.
2. Professor Bronwyn Hemsley (Head of Speech Pathology, University of Technology Sydney) and the team from the Department of Computing, School of Science & Engineering at the University of Dundee (Professor Annalu Waller, Dr Tom Griffiths and Rohan Slaughter) will present on AAC and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Session 1: Becoming an Aided Communicator (BAC) – Gaining insight into aided language competence to inform practice

The content of the Second BAC Project Study Day is based on feedback from participants of the First BAC Project Study Day in 2022, highlighting practical applications. The BAC project investigated aided language skills in children and adolescents who had aided language as their main language mode. The Study Day will focus on development and use of the aided language BAC task and the implications of the project results for aided language interventions and everyday use. All comprehension and production tasks will be presented, together with the BAC group’s theoretical and practical discussions when developing the tasks, including information about the aspects of aided language development and competence that the tasks were designed to assess, experiences with administration of the tasks, and some project results. The graphic materials, the presentations and the discussions and reflections from the study day will be collected in a booklet that will be available to the attendees.

There is a special open access article in the AAC Journal written by the BAC team which is available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iaac20/34/1.

Further details on the First BAC Project Study Day in 2022, along with a booklet for sale, can be found on our Study Day page.

Session 2: AAC and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Professor Bronwyn Hemsley (Head of Speech Pathology, University of Technology Sydney) and the team from the Department of Computing, School of Science & Engineering at the University of Dundee (Professor Annalu Waller, Dr Tom Griffiths and Rohan Slaughter) will present on AAC and Artificial Intelligence (AI). More details coming soon!

Timeline

09.30 – 10.00 Registration and tea/coffee

10.00 – 12.30 Session 1 – BAC Team (1 group of attendees all day)

10.00 – 12.30 Session 2 – Bronwyn Hemsley & University of Dundee (2 groups of attendees)

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch

13.30 – 16.00 Session 1 – BAC Team (continued to same session 1 attendees)

13.30 – 16.00 Session 2 – Bronwyn Hemsley & University of Dundee (repeated to the 2nd group of attendees)

16.00 – 16.15 Tea/coffee and farewell

Session 1 Presenters

Session 2 Presenters

Tom Griffiths

Tom is a Lecturer in Assistive Technology at the University of Dundee and a Clinical Scientist, with around 20 years of experience as a clinician and researcher in AAC and assistive technology. Tom’s research interests include the use of eye-gaze technology by children with cerebral palsy and the intersection of disability and human-computer interaction, in particular the impact of AI on AAC and the identity of AAC users. Current research work looks at how large language models can be incorporated into AAC interface design, allowing users to leverage the potential advantages of these, without compromising their unique "voice". Tom has worked in both clinical and academic roles, with experience at two AAC specialist hub services. He currently teaches on the MSc in Educational Assistive Technology (MSc EduAT) at Dundee, with an active research programme and publication history.

Rohan Slaughter

Rohan has an Assistive Technology, IT and education management background. Rohan joined the University of Dundee as a senior lecturer in Assistive Technology in late 2020 to support the development of the MSc in Educational Assistive Technology (EduAT). Rohan worked for the first part of his career at Beaumont College, a Specialist College where he was employed as Assistant Principal and Head of Technology. Rohan worked in a consulting role at Jisc, the national EdTech charity, prior to joining the University. The MSc EduAT is a globally unique course that aims to train people from a range of backgrounds to undertake the assistive technologist role. The course includes material, knowledge and skills drawn from education and teaching, computing and technology as well as health and therapy.

Annalu Waller

Annalu Waller PhD is Professor of Human Communication Technologies at the University of Dundee. She directs the Dundee Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Research Group and has worked in the field of AAC since 1985, designing communication systems for and with nonspeaking individuals. Her primary research areas are human centred computing, natural language processing, personal narrative and assistive technology. In particular, she champions the active involvement of disabled adults and children in all aspects of research and development of technology. Annalu was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Years Honours List in 2016 for services to people with Complex Communication Needs and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Bronwyn Hemsley

Professor Bronwyn Hemsley, Ph.D. B.App.Sc (Speech Pathology) is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist in Australia, Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia and Fellow of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. A past co-Editor in Chief of the ISAAC AAC Journal, past President Elect of ISAAC, and past President of ISAAC-Australia, she has more than 30 years of experience in working in the field of AAC with children and adults across multiple service settings, and in advocacy and medicolegal work relating to communication and swallowing disability. She is currently the Head of Speech Pathology at the University of Technology Sydney, Director of the UTS Speech Pathology clinic, and co-lead of the University’s Disability Research Network. Her clinical and research interest is in supporting people with communication disability who need or use AAC to have access to their full communication rights and choice and control in relation to their safe and enjoyable meals. Major themes in her work have been in relation to social media inclusion and participation, mealtime management and safety for people with dysphagia, pseudoscientific techniques used in the field of AAC, and more recently the use of Generative AI and how it might weave in with all of these areas to improve care quality and safety of people who use AAC.

Booking Terms & Conditions

If you have any enquiries about conference please email the CM Office on [email protected].