Great development in Augmentative and Alternative Communication for use in Access Sailing

Great development in Augmentative and Alternative Communication for use in Access Sailing news article.

Many of you will know Ian Clements and Tom Hole who are current Access303 Two Person National Champions. Those of you who have not met them have missed a real treat. As their record shows they are both outstanding sailors as well as great chaps to be with.

Tom has been inspired to develop ways of overcoming the challenging communication issues that Ian’s condition presents to them both.
In my opinion he has made considerable progress with this which has the potential of releasing his partnership with Ian to new and exciting levels. In addition to this I believe he has developed, and continues to develop, a means of communication that could benefit many Sailability sailors and release them into a more proactive roles in their sport.

That’s enough of me, read Toms own introduction below and follow the link to see his full project report. Ron Sawford

Introduction
The purpose of this project is to develop a method of communication between the helm and crew on a small sailing dinghy (Access 303) when one of the sailors is disabled and can only communicate using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Augmentative and
alternative communication is the general term for an assortment of different methods to communicate, due to speech impediments or being unable to talk. Examples of this are sign language and eye pointing.

This project is important to me because I sail with my friend Ian, aged 14, who has cerebral palsy. We are currently National champions two years running in the Access 303, however, existing AAC techniques are not designed with sailing in mind and so currently it is difficult for me to understand what Ian wants me to do. I would therefore like Ian to be able to communicate with me using a better method so that he can have more involvement in the boat.

The purpose of this project is to develop a method of communication for use in a sailing dinghy with someone who uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

To see the full report click this link "Augmentative and Alternative Communication for use in a sailing boat"

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