Go back to: Home
About Us
If you are the parent, carer or therapist of a child who has complex physical and communication difficulties, we offer help and support for both you and your child.
Take Sophie, for example (pictured left). Due to cerebral palsy, she has no recognisable speech and little voluntary movement, but she can control her head just enough to click two small switches that are attached to her wheelchair headrest. That's all she needs to control a computer with an artificial voice. Not only that, she can also use the same computer to do her homework, play games, send emails and use the internet.
We can help children like Sophie by introducing them to communication technology that can make that vital difference - technology like the 'talking' device used by Stephen Hawking, for example. And because communication is a two-way process, we can train the people supporting your child to use the equipment in the most effective way possible.
Our primary services are assessments that can can be arranged through your school, local authority or privately, and training for parents and professionals. Our open referral policy means that anyone can make that initial contact - you don't have to go through your GP or education authority.
In short, we try to discover or maximise your child's potential to communicate, read and write, by working with you, your child and your child's school. We look to see if technology can provide any solutions alongside other methods of communication, like signing and gesture.
Take a look at a clip of our introductory video.
Our short list of frequently asked questions gives more details about the way in which we can support your child.
We're also far more than just an assessment and training centre. We produce software and publications (much of it free!) that plugs several gaps in the special needs field, and we also carry out a tremendous amount of research into how technology can be used to its optimum potential for the children that we see.
We should also mention here that we're a charity, and only with your help can we give these young people a voice.
giving the gift of communication
©2009 ACE Centre Advisory Trust, Charity No 1040868, Registered Company No 2961300
What is a communication aid?
Whenever we're asked this question we inevitably end up talking about Stephen Hawking (and not just because he's our Patron!). Many people are familiar with the sound of his 'artificial' voice, which is spoken by a communication aid that he controls by twitching a muscle in his face.
You can find out more about communication aids here.
There are now hundreds of different aids available that cater for a huge range of disabilities, ages and cognitive abilities. Some devices can deliver thousands of words, others just one. Some are incorporated into computers, others into wheelchairs. And many of the voices currently available are far less 'robotic' than Stephen's - he sticks with it because it's now part of who he is.