CereVoice Heather:
A new voice in Scottish Parliament

Voice Output Communication Aid used to open debate

Edinburgh, Scotland, 7th May 2008

A groundbreaking 'first' took place in the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament last night, when MSP Nanette Milne (North East Scotland, Conservative and Unionist) used the artificial voice of a communication aid to introduce a members debate stressing the need for a national strategy for Scotland to help people with severe communication disabilities to access the aids and specialist speech and language therapy support services that they need.

Her opening sentences, spoken by the voice output communication aid were: Presiding Officer, The inability to communicate is perhaps one of the most desperate feelings of frustration a human being can have. Sadly, in 21st Century Scotland, a significant number of our fellow citizens daily suffer such desperation.

She spoke using a DynaVox V Max voice output device supplied by specialist communication aid centre CALL Scotland (Communication Access, Literacy and Learning). The voice synthesiser 'previewed' in the device was the new 'Scottish Voice' developed by Scottish company CereProc, and licenced to CALL Scotland for use in Scottish education. After this opening, several MSPs spoke in support, agreeing that communication is a human right and that it is unacceptable to have a 'postcode, age, advocacy and impairment lottery' so that some people in Scotland access good communication aid services while others go without. Earlier in the day, a group of young people with disabilities from Corseford School visited the Parliament and spoke to MSPs about how important communication aids are to their ability to participate, enjoy life, and have the opportunity to go further with education and perhaps employment.

The campaign for better augmentative communication services is led by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Augmentative Communication in Practice: Scotland and Capability Scotland.