Year in Review: 2025

2025: A Year Defined by Equity, Innovation, and Community Heart at Ace Centre

What an extraordinary year 2025 has been! As we close the book on another chapter, we look back with pride on the progress achieved, the barriers broken, and the wonderful moments shared across the AAC community. Our focus this year centred on delivering equity and providing comprehensive support for everyone involved in the AAC journey.

Championing Equity and Collaboration: We launched the AAC Language Library, a free and open resource established in partnership with NHS Specialised AAC Services. This bank of resources aims to be the go-to place for searching and sharing AAC materials in languages other than English, striving to deliver equity for all users with diverse communication needs.

Sharing Knowledge and Growth: Sharing expertise across the community was another highlight of 2025.

• Bespoke Training in Ireland: In July 2025, our AAC consultants delivered two days of bespoke training in Ireland, covering AAC fundamentals for a multidisciplinary team and advanced assessment and implementation strategies for Speech and Language Therapists.
• Communication Matters 2025: At CM2025, we shared research on phoneme-based voice output, multilingual AAC design alongside practical approaches to Functional Switching, mentoring and paper-based AAC—focusing on ideas that help professionals and users thrive.

Recognising Impact and Innovation: Our team won the Access Award for the Echo app at the AAC Awards, and our late colleague Alli Gaskin was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her extraordinary contribution to the AAC community.

Dedicated Support for Educators: We launched a new Education blog and shared practical guidance for teachers, tips on integrating AAC and literacy, and insights into assistive technology and the role of OTs.

New Downloadable Resources: We added free guides and tools, including a Communication Pack for Adults who Benefit from Symbol Support, Getting Started with Yes/No and Modelling, as well as Listener Mediated Scanning Alphabet Chart Packs. With over 46,000 downloads, these resources, symbol and alphabet chart are helping more people use AAC effectively

Expanding Ace Centre Learning:  We grew learning opportunities by making our on-demand Aphasia course free and updating our iOS Accessibility training with the latest features. We also welcomed over 500 participants to our live courses throughout 2025.

Thank you to all our partners and colleagues who made 2025 such a memorable and collaborative year. We look forward to continuing this important work in 2026!