Thank you to everyone who came to Communication Works South on Thursday 18th May 2023. We had a great day celebrating assistive technology in education.

We were thrilled to have such an impressive group of visitors at the event enjoying the keynote speeches, the programme of seminars and the exhibition.

Some visitors even travelled from as far as the Isle of Wight and we had exhibitors joining us from Spain and Luxembourg.

It was a great opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of many of our CENMAC students. It was a chance for them to get seen and show our visitors how the assistive technologies they use, help them to access the curriculum and/or communicate.

Keynote Speakers

We kicked off the day with wonderful keynote speeches from Beth Moulam, Paralympian & AAC Advocate and Clarke Reynolds, Braille Artist who shared their inspirational stories.

Beth Moulam “Getting seen from an early age is fundamental as we form our own identities. Innately we all need to know we are important enough to be acknowledged by others and the acknowledgement comes as we build connections. I’ve learned we AAC users cannot sit by and wait for connectedness to come to us. It takes time and effort and courage to initiate interactions”.

Clarke Reynolds “We’re here to be seen. We’re here to make a difference and to change how world sees us and be a mentor for the children that have grown up with, I don’t know, the word disability, the word different ability. We’re all different ability.”

> Watch the keynote speeches

Beth Moulam, Paralympian and AAC Advocate giving her keynote speech
Clarke Reynolds, Braille artist presenting on the main stage
Beth Moulam, Paralympian and AAC advocate "How we see ourselves is not always how others see us".
Keynote speakers Clarke Reynolds, Braille artist and Beth Moulam, Paralympian and AAC advocate

Programme of Seminars

Our programme of seminars shared best practice and implementation ideas for supporting learners using assistive technology. The seminars were led by product specialists, our team of advisory teachers, SLTs and OTs with the assistance of some of our amazing CENMAC students who demonstrated their devices.

Our guest presenters included Arran Smith, Microsoft’s SEN & Dyslexia Specialist, Abdi Omar, CEO of Abdi Enterprises and Robert McLaren, Director of the ATech Policy Lab.

Abdi Omar and Kathryn Stowell presenting on AAC with students demonstrating their AAC devices
AAC Consultant Abdi Omar and CPA students demonstrating their AAC devices
Young adult Jozef presenting on combining speech recognition with AI for hands free access
Arran Smith, Microsoft's SEN and Dyslexia Consultant presenting

Exhibition

We were delighted to have so many exhibitors with us displaying the latest in assistive technology. Many of the technologies on display are used by CENMAC to support our students learning and communication. We are lucky to work with so many innovative technology companies continually developing new technologies.

Contact exhibitors

The exhibition space at the Charlton Athletic Football Club was very busy with visitors
Bob Sagoo at the Pretorian Technology display in the exhibition space
Students using Cosmo switches in the exhibition hall
Keynote speaker Beth Moulam, Paralympian and AAC Advocate at the RIX Research display
The Tobii Dynavox team
Winner of the IRISBOND raffle prize on the main stage
Clarke Reynolds, Braille artist giving a braille art workshop in the exhibition space
Beth Moulam with John Galloway and Bob Usher from LGfL

Student presenters & student helpers

A big thank you to all the wonderful students who came along for the day and presented in front of a large audience. They did a great job demonstrating how they use their assistive technology. They also helped out on the exhibition stands and made announcements on the main stage.

We are grateful to their teachers, SENCOs, TAs, parents and carers who brought them along. We had students from Charlton Park Academy, Smallwood Primary School, Vanguard School, Highshore School, Oakfield Preparatory, Macaulay Church of England Primary, Dunraven School, Elm Court School, All Saints Academy, Windrush Primary School and Hallfield Primary School.

Clarke Reynolds, Braille artist with students learning about braille art
Charlton Park Academy students announcing the seminars on the main stage
Specialist Teaching Assistant James Dewar-Hassan with students in the exhibition space
Specialist Teaching Assistant James with a student who won a raffle prize
Student ambassador Austin from Vanguard School with Advisory Teacher Vicky Annan
Charlton Park Academy students packing the visitor showbags for Communication Works
Students presenting in Seminar Room 2
Abdi Omar and Kathryn Stowell presenting on AAC with students demonstrating their AAC devices

Visitor Feedback

“In university, AAC was always very theoretical and I think many SLTs find themselves looking for *more*. More knowledge of our role within AAC, more understanding of how it develops and more people using it beyond requesting “Bubbles”. The CENMAC AAC Seminar left me emotional and passionately fueled as a large variety of AAC was seen and used as a primary, comprehensive communication means. The field and technologies are fast developing and it was exciting to feel inspired to be a part of that and ultimately, listening to voices of wonderful people that may not have otherwise been heard.” Jenna Nunes, Speech & Language Therapist

Previous Communication Works

Communication Works 2022
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