Ace Centre is committed to advocating for everybody who needs support with their communication to have access to quality AAC services and resources. Provision for children and adults who do not – or do not yet – meet NHSE specialised AAC service eligibility criteria is still unacceptably variable across England and Ace Centre is working in collaboration with other organisations and services to address this. The Local AAC Services’ Toolkit is an example of this collaboration but more still needs to be done to engage local commissioners to improve AAC provision and services in their area.
There will be a networking opportunity for those working within Local Services at Communication Matters International AAC Conference the 11th – 13th September 2022. A Local Services Meeting has been organised and a topic for discussion is how to champion AAC service development to commissioners in your local area. If you are planning to attend the conference be sure to join in on Monday the 12th at 13:00 in the Bains Wing Room G36. Anna Reeves, Ace Centre CEO, will be co-hosting this session and states “You will join other people who share your passion to find out more about what is happening across the UK, resources that already exist and opportunities to have your say about what you want for the future for everyone who needs AAC.”
The meeting will be inviting people to share their ideas and experiences to make the case for improving local AAC services. It will be looking for people to assist in updating key documentation, including:
-the NHSE AAC commissioning guidance document
-the Communication Matters AAC Service Standard
–AAC Quality Standard for commissioners
If you are not attending the Communication Matters Conference this year, here are some other ways in which you can get involved:
- Register on the Local AAC Services’ Toolkit website to access and contribute resources to assist with identifying need, approaching commissioners and much more.
- If you are a member of Communication Matters, contribute to the online AAC Forum.
- Subscribe to Ace Centre’s e-newsletter here.
- And if you are a professional working in one of our NHSE specialised commissioning regions, check out how Ace Centre can help you here.
