The Anne McDonald Centre provides assessment and therapy for people of all ages and diagnoses with little or no speech.

We work with people with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, intellectual disability, Rett syndrome, ABD, MND, MS, and CVA, among other diagnoses.

We try to find the most empowering means of communication for people who have little or no speech and no alternative means of communication. We get communication aids for clients whose speech needs augmentation, and we teach these clients and their support teams how to use their new voices. We help parents, therapists, caregivers and teachers discover the communication possibilities of people in their care, and where necessary we teach them to use non-speech communication methods.

The Centre is named after Anne McDonald, a brave and talented pioneer in the field of communication rights. You can learn more about her story here.

How will the funds be used?

The Centre receives no government funding, and if our therapists are to carry on working with the children who need us, we need your donation.

How your donation helps children without speech to have their say:

• $40 funds a kit of laminated communication boards - YES/NO, multiple choice, alphabet, and numbers - to let a child without speech participate in class
• $90 funds a personalized communication folder for a school student
• $150 pays for a 90 minute initial assessment for a child with little or no speech, during which a skilled therapist tries out various communication options with the child."
• $250 funds a half-day school visit so that their teachers, their aides, and their fellow students learn that yes, a non-speaking classmate can communicate
• $1,000 funds an iPad set up with special communication apps - You wouldn't believe how well this works
• $1,500 funds a year of therapy to help a child learn to use their new electronic voice

To see more about what we do, and how we will put your donation to use, join us at www.annemcdonaldcentre.org.au