Friday Announcements

1. What Do You Want to See in a Local AAC Services Website?

From Helen Murphy, Local AAC Services Working Party:

A Specialised AAC Services working party are looking to develop a new website to support local services to develop their AAC provision. We need your input to help us identify what needs to be included in this resource.

The survey is very brief so should only take 5 – 10 minutes to complete, please click on the link here: What do you want to see in a Local AAC Services website? – Fill in form. The deadline for responses is 31 January 2026. Many thanks for taking the time to contribute to the development of this important resource to support local teams with their provision of AAC input for service users.


2. Proposed SEND Reforms – Have Your Say!

From Beth Moulam, Communication Matters Trustee:

The Department for Education has announced an online consultation around the proposed new Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice. This closes on 14 January 2026. This consultation is the chance for all AAC users, families and professionals to have a say about AAC provision. Your voice matters!

You can access the consultation here, and don’t forget you can also contact your local MP.

Key points to include are:

• The importance of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and local authorities meeting their statutory duty to support all children to communicate including those with little or no speech that need AAC.
• The need for every child, including AAC users, to be taught literacy and have access to the national curriculum.
• Concerns around abolition of NHS England and the move of Regional AAC Specialised Services to lead ICBs with the continuity of services and staff retention.
• The lack of local AAC services which should support all AAC users with assessment and ongoing professional support, referring those with complex communication and assessment needs (high cost – low incidence need) to Regional Specialised Services for expert assessment whilst providing the majority of users with local assessment and equipment locally.
• A well trained multi-disciplinary children’s workforce to identify the need for AAC early and refer promptly to the local AAC service for assessment and support.  Head teachers should not be able to disapply children with PMLD from communication assessment or access to the national curriculum without specialist AAC assessment.
• Communication impairment to be given the same priority as vision and hearing impairment in future policy including the need for specialist teachers,

Join the conversation https://consult.education.gov.uk/digital-communication-team/send-reform-national-conversation/ and make your views count!


3. 1Voice Over 18s Weekend in Blackpool

From Jo Cope, 1Voice:

The first 1Voice weekend was held in Blackpool 25 years ago. What better place to launch our first weekend break for our members who are over 18? We have found a fully accessible hotel that offers three-night weekend breaks.

In order to make a booking, we need to know who would like to join us. The maximum cost for a three-night stay with breakfast and evening meal is £390 per person. However, group booking discounts are available and we will try and secure funding to subsidise the cost.

We have identified three possible weekends. If you are interested in coming please complete the poll so that we can book the most popular weekend.

Weekend 1: 29 May to 1 June 2026 – party weekend

Weekend 2: 23 October to 26 October 2026 – Blackpool illuminations / Cabaret weekend

Weekend 3: 30 October to 3 November 2026 – Blackpool illuminations / Halloween party

Make your choices and vote here.


4. Communication Passports – Free Webinar

From CALL Scotland:

Monday 23 February 2026, 7pm – 7.30pm.

Join Ceanna MacGregor, our AAC Specialist Teacher for a practical and supportive webinar exploring the creation and use of Personal Communication Passports. Designed for parents and carers of individuals with additional support needs, this session will introduce how these person-centred tools can help share key information about your child in a respectful and accessible way. We’ll guide you through the process of creating a passport, show examples, and offer tips for using them in everyday situations – from school transitions to medical appointments – so your child’s voice is heard and understood.

Book your place here.


5. Research Matters: Roles in Research

The next Research Matters online meeting will be on Wednesday 28 January 2026, 4-5pm.

We’ll be looking at ‘Roles in research’ and will share a video that the Research Matters group recorded. 

AAC users will share their research experiences in different roles, and there will be an open discussion about getting involved and next steps. 

If you’ve been involved in research as a research participant, co-researcher, or part of an engagement/discussion group, please come along and share your experience.

Go to the Research Matters page of the CM website to receive an invitation to the meeting, to sign up for the Research Matters newsletter and to find out more about what we do.


6. 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).