Message from the President

10^th September 2007

Hello Friends,

I would like to give you an update on ISAAC’s activities since I last wrote to you.

Mona Zaccak has done an exceptional job in ‘manning’ the Secretariat work and I am grateful to Penny Parnes and Anne Warrick who have so readily volunteered their support of ISAAC’s work.

Your Executive Committee has been working hard, across the world, to focus on the plans and commitments that we had made. We have some exciting events in the pipeline. The first International AAC Event will be taking place in October 2007 with 14 countries participating. Sarah Lever Leadership Chair and her Task Force, have done a great job in planning the event. You will be hearing more about this event via the Information Exchange.

The three ISAAC Projects - Build, Lead and Read - are well under way and your three Portfolio leaders will be reporting on them soon. The conference planning committee has been very busy and we all look forward to meeting in Montreal next year.

I would like to tell you about my recent visit to Peru. I was invited by Equip K.I.D.S. International to present papers at the 3^rd Latin American Conference on AAC in Cuscu, Peru. The conference was well attended by over 500 people from different South American Spanish speaking countries. The participants were from all walks of life, both parents and professionals, all extremely keen to gain information and knowledge.

It was a great opportunity to show case ISAAC’s work around the world, with a particular focus on emerging AAC countries.  It was with great pride that I highlighted the work done by ISAAC members in Singapore, South Africa, Egypt, Poland and India. A copy of my 2 presentations will soon be available as a PDF file on the website. I would like to thank Sarah Yong from Singapore; Yvette Abdel Malek from Egypt; Erna Alant from South Africa and Aldona Mysakowska-Adamczyk from Poland for their contributions. Cristina Larraz, your EC member from Spain, has kindly translated the ISAAC presentation into Spanish so we will soon have a Spanish version available as well.

I had the opportunity to share the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy’s (IICP) partnership model of working with families and the community. This seemed to be very appropriate to their local needs which are in many ways similar to a developing country. The idea of building family resources appeared to be novel and was eagerly embraced.

I invited the participants from Latin America to join the worldwide ISAAC initiatives. ISAAC is a great platform to share experiences and AAC knowledge across the world. The participants were most enthusiastic when they learnt that the 2010 ISAAC Conference was planned in Barcelona!

In particular I would like to thank Paul Marshall from Canada who is an exemplary leader for people who use AAC. His keynote address had a dramatic effect on the participants who were so enthused and encouraged by meeting a person of Paul’s stature. ISAAC is indeed fortunate to have Paul involved in this international process of change.

I would like to thank Dana Corfield, Director, Equip K.I.D.S. International; Jorge Paricoto Zarate Coordinator and Committee Organizer, and Brother Victor Hugo Merino Conde for their exceptional arrangements and hospitality. It was a great experience.

I would also like to mention Harvey Pressman, President, Central Coast Children's Foundation, San Francisco, USA, who made it possible for so many people to travel to the conference and contribute teaching material for the participants. He also arranged to have many manufacturers donate equipment to some of the participants.

This trip reconfirmed my belief in ISAAC .People across the world are primarily the same. They have the same expectations and concerns. By sharing experiences, be they from the ‘developed’ or ‘developing’ world, we can make our global community stronger and a better place for all people. ISAAC is indeed an excellent international platform for this.

I encourage all of you to write in to the Information Exchange. No news is ‘too small’ or too big’. ALL news is interesting and important and will have some impact or influence for members across the world.

Sudha