University of the West Of England, Bristol, Thursday 6 December
Haydock Park, Merseyside, Thursday 7 February 2013 
London, March 2013 (details to be announced)

Following the success of the Voice for Life programme earlier this year, Tony Curtis, Director, AFASIC- England announced:  ”In association with The Communication Trust (TCT) we will be organising three more major events in the autumn and next spring. Over 1000 people attended the last events and we will are aiming for even more participants this time round.

It is a fantastic opportunity for parents, professionals and young people, to come along for free, and attend a whole range of workshops about speech, language and communication needs. The programme of workshops will include presentations by organisations in TCT, such as Afasic, ICAN, ELKLAN, Signalong, MAKATON and the British Stammering Association along with local educational and health services. There will be also presentations on current research. Voice for Life will be a fantastic opportunity for parents to learn more about their children and for professionals   to share their work and continue their professional development.

In addition to the 30+ workshops on offer, there will be an exhibition, and activities for groups of local schoolchildren.
Elklan are delighted to be involved once more. Our workshop will be 'Exploring together: Talking together for the child with Autism Spectrum Disorders'. We’ll be looking at the development of communication and how is this may be different for the child with ASD. This workshop, consisting of multi-sensory activities and  will demonstrate how playing and talking are closely linked and how one can promote the other. This practical session will explore how each aspect of the triad of impairment can be supported and developed through everyday activities.  

Tony said “We want to attract parents, early years and school staff, health workers, therapists, youth workers, and youth offending teams to this event. It is a one-off opportunity for people in Bristol and the South West. Voice for Life events that we have held in other parts of England have been incredibly successful, so I would urge parents and interested professionals to come along even if they cannot attend the whole day. Anyone is welcome, but it will be on a first come first served basis.”