Living life to the full celebrating cerebral palsy, speech and hearing impairments and using Augmentative and Alternative Communication AAC
Living life to the full celebrating cerebral palsy, speech and hearing impairments and using Augmentative and Alternative Communication AAC
I believe that dreaming, whether awake or asleep, comes from a place deep inside each of us.
Sparked by passion, unconscious wishes or a desire to achieve something special in life.
The aim was to share my personal views, experiences and opinions with specific spotlight areas relating to my lived experience of cerebral palsy (CP), dysarthria which creates speech and eating challenges, and a hearing impairment.
Recently I had a very interesting conversation, which set me thinking. I’m 28 and I’m only now finding my feet when it comes to confidently communicating ‘verbally’. By this, I mean communicating with those who don’t know me, or who haven't met an AAC user before. I’ve always put myself...
I’ve been thinking about the skills I needed for boccia at Tokyo 2020. Especially, how being a communication aid user helped me to achieve my dream of representing my nation internationally. I was questioning if boccia and AAC could be connected. I’ve used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) since I...
When I started out employing personal assistants at the age of 12, as a family, we considered all of the different titles the role may be called from carer to support worker and personal support assistant. Speaking to friends who already had paid team members we settled for ‘personal assistant’...
Due to the pandemic I have been doing a lot of video conferencing with people I normally see in person. In face to face conversations some people understand my speech, and for spontaneity and speed my personal assistant often repeats what I’ve said verbatim. When I use my communication aid...
I’m sharing here events that interest me or where I have an active part to play. As we get back to normal some are digital, but others are in-person events. Stay safe everyone.
Join Beth Moulam, plenary speaker on Tuesday 13th September 2022 in the afternoon to hear about how she transferred AAC skills into sporting success. Beth...
This is the highly acclaimed Communication Matter International conference to be held in Leeds, UK. From 11th September to 13th September 2022 this event is...
The re-scheduled ISAAC conference will now take place in 2023. AAC Camp 22/23 July 2023 and Pre-conference workshops 22/23 July 2023. Main conference “Communication Beyond Borders”...
You can read my latest blog here. All my posts are related in some way to my cerebral palsy, my speech impairment which I augment using AAC, and/or my hearing impairment.
This last weekend I was privileged to be invited back to a 1 Voice family weekend. I started going to this annual event when I was 7 years old. It is one of the safe places that shaped me as...
I'm moving forward with AAC, life never stands still. Are you like me? Finding that things in life constantly evolve? Following my decision to retire from elite boccia I’ve been doing a lot of reflection. Rightly, I think I’ve been...
And, why wouldn’t I love Lucy? Lucy is my voice. She is what I sound like, both to others, and when I hear my voice. Most people don’t think about their voice, it’s just that, a part of them. Their...
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