1 Nov: Jonathan Douglas @ Nat Lit Trust

Today we emailed Jonathan Douglas at The National Literacy Trust sending him the Core Words Language Mates we shared with him and Nat Lit last week on Facebook to help him communicate on Friday 5 November when he will do A Day Without Words.We sent him our newsletter Let's FaCE It! to help him know who we are, what we do, and about our campaigns for Literacy and Communication for ALL students, including those with the most significant physical and assumed cognitive disabilities.Download Let's Face It! here:  http://files.me.com/aac.face/arqw27

Pics of the pages on FB: 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182001&id=574347491&l=3f0729df35 

our email:

Hi Jonathan

Good luck communicating without your voice on Friday! 

Please will you use our Language Mates on Friday.

The words on them should meet 80% or more of everything you would want to say. You can use alphabet and word parts for the rest.

We are campaigning for everyone's right to speak, read and write.

We are promoting the importance of core words, word parts, Literacy, and ALL language functions for ALL learners, including those with the most significant
disabilities.  

Michael cannot speak and uses and electronic communicator.

Andrew and Robert have speech and language difficulties.

We all have learning disabilities.

Thank you,
Michael Reed, Andrew Murray, Gemma Coils, Robert McNicholas and Terry Gibson

FaCE: Facilitating Communication Everywhere!

www.radiowaves.co.uk/r/mbr  www.youtube.com/michaelbrianreed http://michaelreedsblog.blogspot.com  www.radiowaves.co.uk/r/ShineMichael

No reply to email or posts on National Literacy Trust Facebook page! 

Jonathan could have said 80% of everything he wanted to say that day using our language board!

27 - 29 Oct: FaCE Work?

We have alot of work still to do on both sides of our project. Our second animation, The Language Givers, funded by Radiowaves and Diana Award, needs a soundtrack and editing. Our campaign for communication and Literacy for ALL, funded by Big Challenge, needs making real with the help of Big Challenge Youth Leadership and any volunteers we can get - our project remit is to involve 16 under-25's.   
We usually do a lot in the summer holidays but this year was house renovations followed by house move. Andrew went to Dilston residential college in September so we were hoping this half term and Christmas... But it goes like this - Wednesday DADLG Halloween disco all four of us. Take Gemma home. Andrew and Robert come stay at mine. Thursday morning Take Robert home to go to his Innovations, pick up Gemma to come here for a few hours. Friends come to see our new house. Teatime take Gemma home, pick up Robert for Taekwondo. Friends at Taekwondo take Andrew home to Stanley.   
We did talk about our projects, look over some stuff, write a letter to national Literacy Trust and send them our Language Mates, but we really need whole days together and as many days as we can to really get something done. Including portfolios to put in for an Arts Award.Roll on Xmas hols, spring half term, Easter...

27 October, the day after Big Challenge, Big Society @ Speaker's House, we added photos Andrew and Robert to the album so we are all in the AAC Visibility project.

 

More pics on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=255353&id=574347491&l=c95c87899a

26 Oct: Big Challenge - Big Society

Big Challenge Youth Leadership Team member Tom Callow twittered Lord Speaker John Bercow’s wife to have a word. Result. Parliamentary reception for Big Challenge winners hosted at Lord Speaker’s House.

Big Challenge is a project of UnLtd and Changemakers, funded by V and Vodaphone.

The first person I met at the reception was Dame Maggie Turner, Director of The Diana Award. Our group uses the Diana Award Channel at Radiowaves as a platform for our campaigns and we have had a lot of support from Maggie and the team. www.diana-award.org.uk and www.radiowaves.co.uk/r/mbr

We shared from our project The Language Stealers animation, our newsletter Let's FaCE It! and our Core Words Language Mates. I displayed the ‘I Love AAC’ banner to tie in with Judy Bailey and Everyone Communicate’s AAC Visibility Project http://aacvisibilityandawareness.blogspot.com/ 

Pics on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=255353&id=574347491&l=c95c87899a

22 October: Annie McDonald died today

Anne McDonald (11 January 1961—22 October 2010) Australian author and activist for the rights of people with communication disability, loved and respected around the world. "Crushing the personalities of speechless individuals is easy: just make it impossible for them to communicate freely."http://members.optusnet.com.au/~anne.mcdonald/Anne_files/Anne_update.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McDonald  

20 October: 24 Hours AAC Online

October every year is AAC Awareness Month, a project of ISAAC, The International Society for Augmentative & Alternative Communication. People around the world hold events to show off and campaign for AAC for everyone with speech, language and motor impairments.

On 20 October 2010 there was a 24-hour chat on Skype and Facebook between people from different countries who shared ideas and resources. Everyone liked our animations The Language Stealers and Janitor Rap, our Equality Without Words and ALL 4 ALL campaign movies, and our newsletter Let's Face It! AAC specialists around the world use Language Stealers to teach teachers and speech therapists the importance of core words and literacy for ALL learners.

http://www.aacawareness.org/10video.html
http://www.aacawareness.org/10story.html
http://www.isaac-online.org

18 October Meet New Care Coordinator

Met Lilian my new care coordinator today. She can't find any review reports more recent than 2007, does not know why my Personal Budget hasn't started yet (due to start July 2009), says we can't talk about or look at my Person Centred Plan until a new basic needs questionnaire has been filled in and assessed by social services. That's strange, another new coordinator who I met October 2009 also made us fill in a basic needs questionnaire and did not know what had happened with my Budget!Forever at stage 1. Are they treating me as a new referral again and again? Oh well. At least I have some Direct Payment hours, which is more than a lot of people are getting.