Agosci Inc

Hello and welcome to Agosci Inc! Our vision? Our vision is that all communicators can participate fully in all aspects of life because their individual differences in communication assistance needs, modes and styles, are acknowledged and supported throughout communities and in all spaces. Our purpose? AGOSCI exists to provide a community and a platform for people who may not rely on speech alone to understand or be understood by others, their families and supporters, and the professionals who work with them, and to facilitate opportunities and activities that work in service of our vision. Want to know more about AGOSCI? Visit our website at www.agosci.org.au. Join us to receive many member benefits, and be part of our Australian Group Supporting Communication Inclusion. #AGOSCI #CommunicationInclusion #VisionPurpose

Happy AAC Awareness Month! The theme of AAC Awareness Month this year is: Check It Out! Vibes of AAC. We hope to celebrate with you this October at one of our online or in-person events. Join us for our free in-person catch ups in TAS, VIC, SA, QLD and the NT. Check out more info and RSVP details below. Come ready for a chat with friends, family, colleagues, support workers - everyone is welcome. We'd love to see you there! You can also find out more on our website: https://lnkd.in/gxQYcYxp https://lnkd.in/g8x6bW56

Hi Qld! Join us in November for our upcoming PODD workshops. 19th November: PODD 1-day Alternative Access Workshop 20th & 21st November: PODD 2-day Introductory Workshop Visit www.agosci.org.au/PODD for more info and to register.

2025 AGOSCI Conference Meet our keynote speakers part 3 - Jordyn Zimmerman Jordyn Zimmerman is a passionate educator and disability advocate. After being diagnosed as autistic at a young age, she did not receive access to augmentative communication until the age of 18. That arduous journey fuels her beliefs around leveraging tools and supports to drive change. She now thrives on boldly showing up and redefining what is possible in learning spaces and throughout the broader community — and has personal experience challenging the status quo, which is featured in the 2021 documentary, This Is Not About Me. Jordyn will be presenting on ‘Words worth sharing’. Access to words has the power to transform our connection and experiences with the world. In this interactive keynote, Jordyn Zimmerman, a passionate educator and advocate, will share her lived experience of gaining access to robust communication at age 18. Through stories and discussion, Jordyn will break down some of the barriers to communication access and provide you with necessary insight to impact your own community. We are so excited to have Jordyn join us at our 2025 conference, proudly sponsored by Assistive Ware. To find out more check out our conference website. Registrations are OPEN! https://lnkd.in/gtNycaFi https://lnkd.in/ghbk-gcR

2025 AGOSCI Conference Meet our keynote speakers part 2 - Gayle Porter Gayle Porter is a Speech Pathologist with over 40 years hands-on experience working with people with complex communication needs in a range of community and specialist environments. This work has provided Gayle with the opportunity to interact with individuals using AAC from infancy to adulthood, clarifying the longer term aims of AAC interventions to enable people to autonomously communicate, to understand others and to be understood in all the activities of their daily life. Gayle is one of the founders of the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She also has a private practice working with children, teenagers and adults with complex communication needs in their schools and community. Gayle is internationally known for her work developing the Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Displays (PODD) communication books and page sets for electronic speech generating devices. Gayle will be presenting on ‘Multi-modal interaction for communication and language development.’ We are so excited to have Gayle join us at our 2025 conference. To find out more check out our conference website. Registrations are OPEN! https://lnkd.in/gtNycaFi https://lnkd.in/ghbk-gcR

2025 AGOSCI Conference Meet our keynote speakers part 1 - Kathy Look Howery Kathy began her career over 40 years ago focusing on finding ways for students with the most complex needs share their voices in the world. Since that time Kathy has worked in a variety setting including schools for students with significant disabilities, inclusive preschool programs, specialized AT clinics, and several school jurisdictions across Alberta. From 2004 to 2008 Kathy was lead for Assistive Technology for Learning Initiative of the Alberta Government. Kathy provides ongoing consultation to Alberta school jurisdictions in supporting children and youth with CCN in developing communication, language and literacy skills, UDL, and inclusive education. Most recently Kathy is working under contract with Alberta Education as part of the Provincial Wide Low Incidence team with primary responsibility in the area of complex communication needs. Kathy is thrilled to be sharing information about AAC whenever and wherever she can. We are so excited to have Kathy join us at our 2025 conference. To find out more check out our conference website. Registrations are OPEN! https://lnkd.in/gtNycaFi https://lnkd.in/ghbk-gcR

AGOSCI members: please join us on Thursday 26th September to hear Jacinta Pennacchia present her research findings and learnings. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gFHusnVz

And just like that the 2024 AGOSCI National Tour has come to an end. We finished up on Wednesday with Linda's 3-day online workshop. A huge thank you to Linda, our wonderful volunteers and the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre (CPEC) for helping make the National Tour possible. CPEC kindly offered their time and office space to enable Linda to present her online workshop. Thank you!

Don't forget abstract submissions are due tomorrow Friday 20th September. We cannot wait for your contributions and are excited to make the 16th Biennial AGOSCI 2025 Adelaide conference the best one yet.

Are you an experienced Executive Officer or CEO, looking to make a change? Does a Part Time Executive Role with the added bonus of Work From Home appeal to you ? We are on the hunt for an exceptional individual to lead our organisation. Someone who will continue to support our community and advocate for people who may not rely on speech alone to understand or be understood by others. If you are interested, please don't delay, reach out today.