Friday Announcements – 26 September 2025

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1. October is AAC Awareness Month – Therapy Box Sale!
2. Children,Young People and Families Networking Event – Leeds
3. Creating Accessible Resources with Makaton Symbols in Widgit™ InPrint4™    

News from Communication Matters
4. Seeking Project Lead for AAC QSS Update
5. ‘Inspiring New Ways of Thinking About Access to Technology for People with Intellectual Disability’ Study Day – Registration Now Open
6. CM2025 Conference – Feedback Survey Closes Today!
7. CM Office Closed Mon, Tue, Thu Next Week
8. About Friday Announcements

 

1. October is AAC Awareness Month – Therapy Box Sale!

From Annie Galvin, Therapy Box Ltd:

At Therapy Box, we’re passionate about empowering people with communication difficulties to find their voice. To mark AAC Awareness Month, we’re offering 50% OFF our award-winning AAC apps Predictable and Scene & Heard Pro from October 8th-15th (on the App Store and Google Play).

Whether you’re supporting someone to communicate for the first time or helping them gain more independence and confidence in daily life, our AAC apps are designed to make self-expression easier, more natural, and more accessible.

  • Predictable – a text-to-speech app with smart features like word prediction, multi language, ChatGPT integration, and symbol support.
  • Scene & Heard Pro – a visual scene display AAC app that combines photos, symbols, and hotspots to create interactive communication tools.

Join us in celebrating AAC Awareness Month by sharing this offer and helping raise awareness of the power of AAC!

Find out more here: https://www.therapybox.co.uk/

 

2. Children,Young People and Families Networking Event – Leeds

From Janet Addison, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust:

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust Children and Families Services are delighted to invite you to our second Networking Event, following the success of our first event!

We hope that this will be an opportunity for organisations and services supporting CYPF in Leeds to come together, connect, and collaborate.

Tuesday 4th November 2025, 10:30am – 2:30pm. 12:15pm – 1pm lunch will be provided.

St Georges Centre, 60 Great George St, Leeds LS1 3DL

The event is designed to build on networking and promoting everyday working relationships between 3rd sector, NHS, and local authority colleagues.

We would love you to join us in this opportunity to work better together to improve outcomes for children and young people – we’d love it even more if you would like to host a stall at the event or showcase a poster.

For more information about hosting a stall or presenting a poster, please contact Jamil ([email protected])

To apply to attend the event as an individual please apply via Eventbrite using this link: Children, Young People and Families Networking Event Nov’25

The deadline to sign up for this event is Tuesday 28th October 2025.

 

3. Creating Accessible Resources with Makaton Symbols in Widgit™ InPrint4™    

From Natalie Applewhaite-Morgan, The Makaton Charity:    

Join us for a free webinar designed to support Makaton users, as well as those new to Makaton and interested about getting started with using Widgit with Makaton symbols.

This session will showcase how Widgit InPrint 4 empowers symbol-supported communication and resource creation using Makaton Symbols, as well as hearing first-hand from a Makaton user on the importance of Makaton Symbols and how creating resources with Widgit have supported them day to day.

Wednesday 15th October 2025. Time: 6 pm – 7 pm Registration link.

Our guest presenters:

Sue White – Head of Education, Widgit
Sue joined the Widgit team in January 2018 having previously been an Advisory Teacher with the Communication, Learning and Autism Support Service (CLASS) in East Sussex for over 16 years working with children from 3 – 19 years of age.

Alex J – Makaton user and Makaton Ambassador, The Makaton Charity
Alex has been using Makaton and Widgit programmes for over 20 years. A lifelong Makaton user and now a qualified Makaton Tutor, Alex uses Makaton on a daily basis and is passionate about creating communication-friendly environments.

This session will be recorded and saved in the Makaton Library.

 

4. Seeking Project Lead for AAC QSS Update

Communication Matters is seeking expressions of interest for an exciting Project Lead role.

This project will update and relaunch our widely recognised AAC Quality Service Standards, ensuring they reflect current policies, practice, and – most importantly – the voices of AAC users, families, and carers.

About the role:

  • Lead the co-production of revised AAC Service Standards
  • Consult with stakeholders and host engagement events
  • Produce updated and accessible versions of the standards
  • Develop a dissemination plan to share across the UK

Details:

  • Project budget: £15,000
  • Duration: Up to 1 year
  • Contract: Independent contractor or secondment

We are looking for someone with experience in AAC/communication disability, project management skills, and a passion for inclusive practice.

Contact the CM office at [email protected] if you are interested in applying for this post with brief details about your experience, suitability for this opportunity, and current employment.

Help us shape the future of AAC services!

 

5. ‘Inspiring New Ways of Thinking About Access to Technology for People with Intellectual Disability’ Study Day – Registration Now Open

21st November 2025, 9.30-4pm, Irwin Mitchell Offices, Temple, London, EC4Y 0AY

Communication Matters are delighted to partner with a range of leading academic and clinical experts in intellectual disability to host this exciting event.

Following on from our previous Study Day in November 2019 (‘Where Next for People with Cognitive Disabilities & Electronic Assistive Technology?), we will offer delegates a range of plenaries and workshops to explore the state of play around existing technology for people with intellectual disability as well as the opportunity to (re)consider how to activate current and future technologies in creative and innovative ways. This is a standalone event and, although drawing on learning from the 2019 event, there is no need for delegates to have attended the previous Study Day to benefit from this one.

Attendance: £100 for non-members, £90 for members and £75 for AAC users/PAs/family members. Lunch and refreshments included.

Learning objectives, full programme and booking details can be found here. Register your place now!

 

6. CM2025 Conference – Feedback Survey Closes Today!

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. The survey closes TODAY Friday 26th September.

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

 

7. CM Office Closed Mon, Tue, Thu Next Week

The Communication Matters Office will be closed for 3 days next week due to staff leave. It will be closed on Monday 29th, Tuesday 30th September and Thursday 2nd October. Please send any enquiries during this time to [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

 

8. 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).