Welcome...
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.
I’ve been blogging since 2008. My primary aim remains as it was when I started out, 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. My lifelong passion is to empower augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users to fulfil their own communication potential.
We hear and read daily about how the government wants disabled people to work. This week we know they are not valuing nearly a quarter of the population. The move to replace the Minister of State for disabled people with a junior minister makes this clear. Long-term strategy? Downgrading the...
I was chuffed to make it into the Disability Power 100. This is the annual list of the most influential disabled people in the UK. It was such an honour to discover that I'd been nominated as a top 10 finalist in the community advocate category for 2023. This surprise...
Speaking up for ourselves, so we can achieve what we want in life, is a skill everyone needs to learn, not just those of us with disabilities. At its simplest level self-advocacy is being able to communicate our needs, but we all know it isn’t always as easy as it...
I'd been toying with the idea of an A to Z of AAC for months. Suddenly October seemed the right time to share my thoughts as it was international AAC awareness month. I've published every day on social media, mainly Twitter with what's below, and with a bit more explanation...
I’ve spent several years using spoon theory to effectively explain to others my physical energy and fatigue levels. However, I realise that spoon theory could also be adapted to self-management of my speech production. There is a definite link between my physical energy and fatigue levels and my speech production...
I’m sharing here some of the events that interest me or where I've an active part to play. If you are here then I hope they may also interest you.
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.
October is International AAC Awareness Month. This year, I thought I would share a series of thoughts and prompts about using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Access The top of my list is undoubtedly access. We can have all sorts...
Several people have asked recently for me to share about my accomplishments. Below is a sort of CV including publications, speeches and workshops. It is definitely not fully comprehensive! Published Articles: M, K. (pseudonym) (2005) ‘My Life Story’, Communication Matters...
I find this an interesting question: Who is a professional? Am I a professional? What makes someone a professional in their own eyes and in the eyes of others? In my mind, I often have imposter syndrome; how is it...
Sign up here to receive email notifications of new posts.