- CAROLINE NEWTON 1,2
- JANNET A. WRIGHT 3
- MICHAEL CLARKE 4
- CHRIS DONLAN 5
- CLAIRE LISTER 6
- JASMINA CHERGUIT 7
- Lecturer in speech and language development at the Department of Human Communication Science, UCL, was a researcher on the DfES‐funded evaluation of the Communication Aids Project. She is interested in exploring the use of technology in supporting learning and teaching and is involved in the development of web‐based packages to this aim.
- Correspondence address: Caroline Newton Department of Human Communication Science University College of London Chandler House 2 Wakefield Street London WC 1N 1PF
- Involved with the multi‐disciplinary research team which carried out the DfES funded evaluation of the Communication Aids Project. In March 2006 she moved to De Montfort University to take up the post of Professor in Speech and Therapy. Her research interests include patterns of provision for children with communication problems and the ways in which professionals collaborate. She has carried out extensive research into collaboration between speech and language therapists and teachers.
- Lecturer at the Department of Human Communication Science, UCL. As a speech and language therapist he has worked predominantly with children using augmentative and alternative communication systems. He has a particular interest in how children with physical disabilities who use communication aids interact with others in everyday situations.
- Senior Lecturer at the Department of Human Communication Science, UCL, with research interests in language and mathematical cognition.
- Currently works for the Institute of Child Health, London as an Event Coordinator.
- Researcher on the DfES‐funded evaluation of the Communication Aids Project and now wo rks an assistant psychologist at Redford Lodge Psychiatric Hospital, London.
This paper reports findings from an evaluation study of the Communication Aids Project (CAP), focussing on the perspective of children at points of educational transition and the parents, education staff and Speech and Language Therapists who support them. All participants took part in structured interviews, the individual children face‐to‐face on a one‐to‐one basis and the adults over the telephone. Those involved with the study reported positive effects of the communication aid, including in speech and communication activities relevant at transition. They also raised three main concerns regarding the use of the aids during and after transition, namely the portability and security of aids in the new setting; managing the flow of information between schools and in particular the availability of continued training in the support and use of communication aids.