accessibility | search our site
News and events
Here's a selection of recent news stories about Afasic and its work in the world of speech and language impairments.
For older stories please see our News Archive.
There are also news sections on the Afasic Cymru site, the Afasic Scotland site and the Afasic Northern Ireland site.
If you would like to receive regular news snippets via email then please join our online updates mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Volunteers needed for case studies
Afasic has been asked to produce case studies to help the new Communication Champion persuade local authorities and children’s trusts to improve their services to children with speech and language difficulties and their families.
We need stories from families with children of all ages, who have had good experiences or bad, or a mixture. You must live in England and your child will preferably have (or had) a speech or articulation disorder, or receptive or expressive language impairment.
If you are interested in helping, please contact the Afasic office in London by phone or email. If replying by email, please include a telephone number where you can be reached during the day.
posted January 2010 [top of page]
Afasic Golf Day 2010 – Friday 17th September
The amazing success of last year’s Afasic Golf Day has inspired us to continue this popular event in 2010 and we are happy to announce that we will host the competition again at the Shire London (link) Golf Club in Barnet. This year we are looking to recruit 20 teams of 4! Whether you are a corporate team competing with another, or looking to entertain your clients or an individual simply wanting to enjoy a beautiful game of golf – the event is perfect for you. If you are interested in registering a team of 4 or you know anybody who might like to participate in this event, please get in touch now to reserve your place. We are also looking for auction items to be donated to us and are happy to provide sponsorship opportunities at this event. Please send a message to Anja for further information. Thank you.
posted January 2010 [top of page]
Communication Champion in the news
As you may have recently read Jean Gross has taken up her appointment as the Government's Communication Champion / Adviser on Childhood Language Development with effect from the 4 January 2010. She was appointed following the Bercow Review into services for children with speech, language and communication difficulties. Her advice to parents of children not using real words by 18 months and simple sentences by the age of 2 1/2 years is to seek expert advice and not to be fobbed off with "he'll grow out of it".
A number of interviews have taken place, print articles can be seen in The Times - 4 January 2010, The Sunday Times - 10 January 1020, The Independent - Monday 4 January 2010, and The Daily Telegraph - Monday 4 January 2010. A number of radio and TV interview have also taken place GMTV - Monday 4 January 2010, Woman's Hour - Wednesday 6 January 2010.
posted January 2010 [top of page]
The Lamb Inquiry into Special Educational Needs has just published its final report and Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families, has issued a response on behalf of the government. Both documents can be read at the DCSF website.
The BBC website features an interview with Afasic member Michelle Chambers about the Lamb Inquiry report. Different parts of the interview can be seen on by following the links below:
BBC interview - Special needs support must be improved
BBC interview - Special needs system 'causes suffering'
More information about the Lamb Inquiry
posted December 2009 [top of page]
Afasic held a celebratory Christmas concert with carols on 10th December at the Guild Church of St Andrew, in Holborn, London.
From the amount of applause during the evening and the time it took people to leave at the end, everyone who attended had a very enjoyable time and appreciated the mixture of carols, music, readings and songs. Our thanks go to the Brighton and Hove Youth String Ensemble and the Brighton Singers, conducted by Andrew Sherwood, and the signing choir from St Mary’s School in East Sussex for providing the entertainment.
We are also very grateful to our readers for the evening, Bob Hoskins who read “King John’s Christmas” by A A Milne, Kamini Gadhok who read from St Luke’s Gospel, and Fiona McIntosh (a young person with speech and language impairments, pictured with Bob Hoskins) who read one of her own poems and one by Robert Burns, as well as John Bercow who gave an address for Afasic.
Last, but definitely not least, we must say a big thank you to all at St Andrew for hosting the event and their support throughout, to Colin Midlane for leading the service so well, and to everyone who came along. It was a was a wonderful evening and from the feedback we have received people are already looking forward to the next one!
To view a gallery of photographs from the evening please follow this link. To access the gallery you will need the following details.
Username: mark
Password: concert
posted December 2009 [top of page]
Brian Lamb OBE will be speaking to the Treehouse autism forum online at www.talkaboutautism.org.uk on Friday 27 November from 2pm. This relates to the recent Lamb Inquiry into special educational needs ordered by Ed Balls, Secretary of State for the DCSF.
Further information
More information about the Lamb Inquiry
posted November 2009 [top of page]
Driving Theory Test and Young People With SLI
In response to numerous enquiries Afasic has contacted the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) regarding the Driving Theory Test and how young people with SLI should advise of their language impairment. The DSA have provided the following information.
DSA information and contact details
posted November 2009 [top of page]
For older stories please see our News Archive.
© Afasic, 1st Floor, 20 Bowling Green Lane, London
EC1R 0BD
Registered charity no. 1045617
Copies may be made provided the source and date are quoted and the content
is unchanged.