Friday Announcements – 19 September 2025

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1. Master Predictable with In-Depth Training Video
2. UK LAMP Workshops in November!
3. Occupational Therapist Vacancy AAC West
4. Connecting Families Online: Personal Care for Young People with a Vision Impairment
5. Speech and Language Therapy Focus Group
6. 1Voice Events in October
7. Cerebral Palsy Scotland – Free Conference Places

News from Communication Matters
8. CM2025 Conference – Your Feedback
9. CM Peer Support & Mentoring Project – Development Opportunities
10. About Friday Announcements

 

1. Master Predictable with In-Depth Training Video

From Annie Galvin, Therapy Box Ltd:

Have you had a chance to watch our in-depth Predictable training video yet? It’s a great resource for both new and experienced users, covering everything you need to know to get the most out of the app’s features.

Catch up here: https://youtu.be/UkLvzBku1mE?si=HLWwBBsgyg7hpckx

 

2. UK LAMP Workshops in November!

From Emily Gabrielle, Liberator Ltd:

We’re teaming up with the Center for AAC and Autism to bring LAMP workshops to the UK this November.

Whether you’re new to LAMP or looking to deepen your understanding, these one-day workshops are a brilliant way to explore why motor planning is so important for many AAC users. Expect a day full of insight, evidence-based learning, and practical strategies that will leave you feeling empowered, educated, and ready to take action.

Dates for workshops are: Edinburgh – 7th November 2025, Leeds – 10th November 2025, Birmingham – 13th November 2025.

All who support non or minimally speaking people are welcome and we encourage anyone who supports LAMP to attend.

There’s a special early bird rate available until the end of September, so now’s the perfect time to grab your spot – head to Eventbrite to see further details and book your place!

 

3. Occupational Therapist Vacancy AAC West

From Victoria Styles, AAC West:

AAC West of England Specialist Team (AAC WEST) is looking for a suitably qualified Occupational Therapist to join the multi professional team to support in the delivery of specialist communication aid assessments to people living across the South West region.

We are looking for an enthusiastic clinician who wishes to develop their experience of working in the field of AAC.  The post will involve working with both children and adults to provide comprehensive specialist AAC assessments.

This post is a substantive post with funding for 30 hours per week at a Band 6 AFC grade. Training and support will be provided, and the successful candidate will work alongside members of our experienced team.

AAC WEST is located within the Bristol Centre for Enablement situated at Cribb’s Causeway just off the M5 on the outskirts of Bristol.  The centre also houses the regional Electronic Assistive Technology service as well as wheelchair service to which there are close working links.

For more information please contact Vicky Styles on 0117 414 5850 or email [email protected].

Closing date for applications: 26th September 2025. Interviews: 3rd October 2025. For job advert, please click here.

 

4. Connecting Families Online: Personal Care for Young People with a Vision Impairment

From Justyna Wielgosz, Royal Society for Blind Children:

Tuesday 14th October 7-8pm

From washing and dressing to toileting, periods & shaving to home adaptations and life hacks. ​

Join us for an online session with Rosie, our Habilitation Specialist to discuss how small wins around the home can empower your children and boost their wellbeing and confidence. This is a relaxed, judgment-free space where you can ask questions – big or small! Our group understands the unique challenges you’re facing. To register, click here.

Additionally, head over to our website to find out more about other activities for families, children and young people with VI: https://www.rsbc.org.uk/whats-on/

 

5. Speech and Language Therapy Focus Group

From Kathryn Moyse, RCSLT:

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) is inviting members of the public to take part in a project, which could benefit speech and language therapy research. The project is exploring how anonymised data from the RCSLT Online Outcome Tool (ROOT) could be shared with researchers to strengthen the evidence base for speech and language therapy.

We want to hear directly from people who have accessed speech and language therapy, and their carers, to understand their views on how anonymised data should be shared.

Opportunities to get involved

We are inviting adults who have accessed speech and language therapy and their carers (service users) to take part in:

  • an in-person focus group in London on Thursday 16 October 2025
  • online interviews

What’s the aim?

To gather service users’ views on:

  • sharing anonymised ROOT data for research
  • the process used by the RCSLT for checking requests from researchers (the ‘data access request process’)
  • whether public representation is needed on the data access panel

This feedback will be used to shape and improve the process.

How to apply:

  1. Visit the RCSLT website to:
  • read more about the project and role
  • watch a short video explaining the project
  1. Complete the expression of interest form by Wednesday 24 September 2025

If you need the form in another format or any support to complete it, please contact: [email protected]

 

6. 1Voice Events in October

From Jo Cope, 1Voice:

Here are some great opportunities to get together in October!

  • Saturday 11 October – West Midlands fun day event in Birmingham
  • Saturday 18 October – Artists and AAC: Yorkshire and North East meet-up, The Hepworth Art Gallery, Wakefield
  • Wednesday 29 October – Lakes and Bay meet-up, including a boat trip

For more details of any of the events, please go to https://www.1voice.info/

 

7. Cerebral Palsy Scotland – Free Conference Places

From Rachael Webb, Cerebral Palsy Scotland:

We would like to invite you to the 12th Annual Cerebral Palsy Scotland Conference. Supported by Digby Brown Solicitors, the Cerebral Palsy Scotland conference and exhibition is Scotland’s only annual event focused on cerebral palsy. The conference will take place on Wednesday 8 October 2025 at the Crowne Plaza, Glasgow.

Places are free for delegates to attend the Cerebral Palsy Scotland conference. To register for a place, please fill out the online form here.

We have a fantastic range of speakers throughout the day, including our keynote speaker – Dr Charlie Fairhurst, Consultant in Paediatric Neurodisability at Evelina London Children’s Hospital. You can find the conference programme here.

We look forward to seeing you on 8 October.

 

8. CM2025 Conference – Your Feedback

Thank you to everyone who attended the Communication Matters Conference 2025 – we hope you enjoyed it!

If you haven’t already done so, please complete our online feedback survey here – https://forms.office.com/e/JkaNHCkwGK – before next Friday 26th September.

Your feedback is really important to us and helps us to plan the next conference! Thank you.

 

9. CM Peer Support & Mentoring Project – Development Opportunities

Are you interested in being involved and helping to develop this project? We are looking for 2 – 3 AAC users who have a range of skills and interests to help develop our resources and engage in project development and delivery.

We have a limited number of hours available and activities may include helping to make our resources accessible, developing topics for workshops and/or possibly co-presenting.

If you are an AAC user and feel you have particular skills, please let us know more along with your area of interest. Send a CV and a one-page A4 document or email (no more than 600 words) to [email protected].

You can find out more about the project here.

Communication Matters will review all applications. For those AAC users that are not successful, it is likely that we will keep your details for future reference. Please note that payment is provided on a self-employed basis.

For more information, please email: Verity Elliott – [email protected].

 

10. 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).