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AAC, or augmentative and alternative communication, is the term used for any form of interaction which does not involve speaking. Solutions can be high-tech like text or symbol-based computer systems, low-tech, like an alphabet or picture chart, or no-tech, such as nodding, waving and other body language.

After Professor Stephen Hawking, Toby Churchill is probably the most well-known high tech text-based communication aid user in the UK. He lives in Cambridge with his second wife and their son. Toby was 21 years old and studying engineering at university in the 1960s when he lost all movement due to an attack of encephalitis. The infection also lost him his speaking voice.

鈥淚 was in hospital for a year after my illness. Gradually I regained enough voluntary movement to communicate laboriously. Someone would say 鈥業鈥檒l read out the alphabet, blink when I get to the letter you want鈥�. Later I got my point across by pointing to a spelling-card. Then I graduated to a typewriter.鈥�

When Toby began to get out and about in a wheelchair, he quickly realised that nothing had been invented which met his need to speak on the go.

鈥淚 started visiting universities to get an understanding of what to do and how. Cambridge University eventually built the first [Lightwriter] for me."

The LightWriter was a portable typewriter with a screen, so that family and friends could read what Toby was saying.

Recognising that there were others in a similar position, he saw a business opportunity.

鈥淧eople started asking 鈥榃assat, where do I buy one, who do I make the cheque out to?鈥� The answer seemed simple: me.鈥�

16 year old Beth Moulam has cerebral palsy and has been using various augmentative forms of communication since the age of five. She has some speech but says that even her parents find this difficult to understand. Typing everything out on specialised equipment like a Lightwriter is just one way of getting herself heard.

鈥淚 use anything and everything that I can to communicate, my eyes, facial expressions, gestures, body language, my own signs and pointing to visual props. Just like people who have their own voices really.鈥�

The newest high-tech solutions have phone and email connectivity built in. Sometimes Beth finds that mainstream technologies can do the job just as well.

鈥淚 was on Facebook when a message popped up from my Australian friend Mel; she's also a communication aid user. We had a great conversation that lasted about 20 minutes. Nothing strange except we were sat side by side 鈥� Mel was staying for a month and using Facebook on her iPhone鈥�

Beth and Mel took advantage of all sorts of alternative communication options during the visit. Though they were used to using technology to talk long distance, being in the same room felt a little different and they found themselves experimenting.

鈥淲e used lots of body language, shared the nearest communication aid, did air-writing and made a lot of noise. When we went out together, we also sent each other
迟别虫迟蝉鈥�

A conversation between a member of the public and someone who uses a communication aid can take time, and as Beth has discovered, the public aren鈥檛 always patient.

鈥淲hen I was in mainstream secondary school, people would not wait for me to finish saying what I wanted to say but jump in and assume. That was really frustrating.鈥�

Toby Churchill believes that there are advantages to the more leisurely pace of AAC.

鈥淚 can't reply instantly to things, I have time to think about 'the bigger picture'. It's the same as emailing versus a heated argument.鈥�

Long after Toby invented the first LightWriter, communication aids gained a synthetic voice.

Professor Stephen Hawking is known world wide for his robotic tones. So although the technology has improved and voices have been made to sound more human since he became a communication aid user, Prof Hawking has elected to hold on to his original machine. As a teenage girl, Beth is understandably a little more picky.

鈥淚 have had a few different voices over the years. It can be hard to get used to a new one, especially if the accent is very different. Sometimes it just hasn鈥檛 felt like me.

鈥淚 really like the communication aid I have now. The voice was very new when I got it but as different manufacturers use the same speech software, more and more female communication aid users sound like me. That鈥檚 sometimes annoying as anyone who speaks has their own voice and doesn鈥檛 have to share it with others."

Each piece of equipment has to be optimised so that it鈥檚 owner can say their most commonly used words and phrases easily. Beth鈥檚 is based on predictive text.

鈥淭he first time I use a word I have to type it in to my communication aid, then it is always offered to me. This means [the in-built vocabulary] grows every day. It also offers me words I regularly use together which speeds things up.鈥�

Although the aim is to be as spontaneous as possible when talking, Beth and Toby both have some commonly used phrases programmed in and ready to go at the touch of a button. Check out their top five below.

Toby鈥檚 stock phrases

鈥淲ould you please鈥�
鈥淗ello, how are you?鈥�
鈥淢y name is Toby鈥�
鈥淲hat is your name?鈥�
鈥淪ay that again鈥�

Beth's stock phrases

She has shortcuts for these basics: 鈥渢hank you" "yes please" "communication aid" "I like it" "I love it"

Her most regularly used full sentences are:

鈥淐an I have a bath please鈥�
鈥淚 am thirsty, I would like a drink of ....鈥�
鈥淲hat's for dinner鈥�
鈥淢y name, address, car registration etc鈥�
鈥淚 would like my steak rare please鈥�

Beth is currently working towards her GCSEs at boarding school. She plans to stay in special education until after A-Levels, before studying occupational therapy at Uni. Then she has a career in mind.

鈥淚 want a job, my own home and eventually my own family. I will always need extra help with some tasks but this won鈥檛 stop me from following my dreams."

In the 30 years since he invented the Lightwriter, Toby has appeared on 大象传媒 One show Tomorrow鈥檚 World no less than three times. He sold his company, Toby Churchill, in 2007 and is now it鈥檚 president. Toby Churchill is the third oldest producer of communication aids in the world and the only communication aid manufacturer started by someone who is physically and speech disabled, a user himself, and one of the product designers.

Toby has made augmentative and alternative communication his 鈥渓ife鈥檚 work鈥� and says that if it has opened up people鈥檚 lives then that鈥檚 鈥渞eet champion!"