Friday Announcements – 18 July 2025
1. Therapy Box – 2025 Mid-Year Highlights!
2. It’s Moving Day for Liberator!
3. Webinars on Locked-In Syndrome
4. Run the London Marathon for 1Voice
News from Communication Matters
5. CM2025 International AAC Conference – Register Now
6. Call for Nominations for Trustees – Closes Today!
7. About Friday Announcements
1. Therapy Box – 2025 Mid-Year Highlights!
From Annie Galvin, Therapy Box Ltd:
From exciting new features in Scene & Heard Pro to the expansion of CognoSpeak with CognoMND and CognoStroke, it’s been a busy year so far!
We’ve also partnered with ElevenLabs, launched a Support Video Library for Predictable, and continued with research on the MARS Project.
Read the full update on our blog:
https://www.therapybox.co.uk/post/therapy-box-mid-year-review-2025
2. It’s Moving Day for Liberator!
From Emily Gabrielle, Liberator Ltd:
We are moving to our new office today! As such, there may be a slight impact to the level of service we can offer over the next few days. If you do have an urgent issue, however, please don’t hesitate to call us – as always, we’ll endeavour to do our absolute best for you, but things may be a bit more challenging than usual.
We hope to be back to normality on Monday 21st July, supporting you from our fresh new offices.
Thank you in advance for your patience. We can’t wait to share pictures with you and hope you will join us in celebrating our new fresh location and this next exciting chapter in our history.
3. Webinars on Locked-In Syndrome
From Shannan Keen, The Brain Foundation (Australia):
I’m a neuroscientist working in Locked-in Syndrome (LiS) and wanted to let people know about our organisations and events.
I host the annual International LiS Conferences on Zoom. Here is the link to register for next year.
These LiS Webinars include presentations by several people who are living Locked-in plus medical professionals involved in diagnostic/treatment research, brain/computer interfaces, QoL studies, neuro-physiologists, communication and assistive devices. Recordings of previous LiS Conferences are here: https://www.youtube.com/@UtrechtBCI/videos
Everyone is welcome to join the LiSA online Community Forum (on Facebook). This wonderful forum enables people around the world involved in LiS and those living locked-in to chat, support one another, and share news and suggestions.
Routledge has just published our book about LiS: Giving a Voice to Those Living Locked-in, edited by Shannan Keen. It contains chapters written by twelve people living with LiS plus three professionals working in this field.
4. Run the London Marathon for 1Voice
From Jo Cope, 1Voice:
Do you want to be part of the very first 1Voice London Marathon team? We are very excited to have secured four places in the 2026 London Marathon. Applications to run and fundraise for 1Voice are open until 23:59 on Sunday 27th July.
Full information and a link to the application form is available on our website: London Marathon — 1Voice
You can also contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
5. CM2025 International AAC Conference – Register Now
Registration is now open, but we wanted to highlight some exciting changes and additions taking place this year.
One notable change is the conference being shortened to two days. We will open the main conference on Monday 8th September at 9AM and close at 4PM Tuesday the 9th. While this means a slightly shorter conference than previous years, we have worked hard to consolidate the programme to offer better value with events on either side. These include:
- Pre-Conference Relaxed Exhibition: on the afternoon of 7th September, we will be providing a time for conference delegates and the community who need a quieter and less busy space to meet with suppliers. This is a free optional event for those who wish to add it to their delegate package. Tickets will also be available to people not attending conference.
- AAC Awards: on the evening of 8th September, we will be hosting our biennial event celebrating all forms of communication, the people who use AAC, the professionals, families and suppliers that support them. Being held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, we are certain the awards, dinner and dancing will prove to be a fun and exciting night for all! This event is included in the full delegate registration price. It can be added to one-day and exhibition-only delegates at an additional price. Tickets will also be available to people not attending conference.
- Post-Conference Research Study Day: this additional day on 10th September is open to conference delegates and others who are interested in research focused strands delivered by an international cohort of researchers and academics. This event can be added to all delegate packages at an additional price. Tickets will also be available to people not attending conference.
Changes to accommodation
In another effort to offer choice and value, there are now options available for conference delegates to choose accommodation. When going through the registration process you can add on-campus accommodation at Storm Jameson, which will be added to the full conference delegate rate. You can also choose to opt-out and stay elsewhere. We have teamed up with Conference Leeds to offer delegates preferential rates at hotels within Leeds for your convenience.
Registration is open!
Bookings close on 15th August. See prices and book online here.
6. Call for Nominations for Trustees – Closes Today!
The time has come again to request nominations for Trustees for the next term in the life of Communication Matters. This is a role which demands stamina, commitment and skill mixing but which can be very stimulating and enlightening!
This year there are five vacant places to be filled and the opportunity of appointing a further three Co-opted Trustees as appropriate. The announcement of Trustees will take place at the virtual Annual Meeting of Associate Members on Sunday 7 September 2025 ahead of the Communication Matters International AAC Conference.
For more information and to download a nomination form, please go to: communicationmatters.org.uk/news/call-for-trustees-2025
Completed nomination forms must reach us by the end of today Friday 18th July.
7. About Friday Announcements
These ‘Friday Announcements’ comprise weekly product updates, upcoming courses, and supplier news. Please email [email protected] with the item you want to be included by Thursday at 5pm – no more than 200 words (one entry per organisation per week) – and include contact email and/or link so readers can find out further information (no file attachments please).
