Communication beyond words: the role of our bodies

Presented by Meredith Allan, Leigha Dark and Steve Rose. 

Workshop overview 

We use our body to communicate every day - often more than we realise! 

In this online workshop, Leigha, Steve and Meredith will explore a range of unaided methods of communication, including body movements, expressions, gesture, key word sign and more. We will explore the vital role that embodied forms of communication play - both exclusively and in combination with aided multimodal approaches and how they foster connection, enhance understanding, and promote inclusion.

Learning outcomes

At the conclusion of this workshop, each participant will have an understanding of: 

• what unaided communication is

• the range of unaided communication methods including body movements, expression, gesture and Key Word Sign

• how expressions naturally emerge, learning from children born with deafblindness 

• everyday practicalities and culture around using gesture in the workplace, with reference to qualitative research completed by Meredith Allan. 

Target audience

Everyone is welcome to attend. AAC users, speech pathologists, teachers, education assistants, parents and families of individuals with communication support needs may find this workshop beneficial. 

Workshop details 

The details of this workshop include: 

• This is a LIVE workshop, delivered via zoom
• 1 hour 15 minutes is allocated for the presentation and 15 minutes for Q & A at the end of workshop
• a recording of the workshop will be available to all paid attendees for six months
• this workshop will also be available to purchase on demand for six months after the live workshop
• please note there may be videos presented in the LIVE workshop that will NOT be included in the recording for privacy reasons.

Workshop date 

Friday 25 July 2025 

Workshop start time

VIC/NSW/ACT/QLD: 12pm

SA/NT: 11:30am

WA: 10am

Presenters

Meredith Allan is National Treasurer of ISAAC-Australia and was world President of ISAAC until October 2024. Meredith worked for the Australian Public Service for almost 30 years and now has blissfully retired from the full-time workforce. Meredith works on a casual basis as a Communication Assessor and Disability Educator with Scope Australia in Victoria, which is part of the process to be awarded the Communication Access symbol. Meredith was appointed to the Board of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) in 2022 and completed her term on the Board on 31 December 2024. Meredith is a person who uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to communicate and takes great joy in watching other people who use AAC become more confident and take leadership roles. Aside from sleeping, Meredith enjoys reading, going to the football, church and being with family and friends.

Dr Leigha Dark is a speech pathologist with over 20 years experience in augmentative and alternative communication and supporting multimodal communication. An experienced educator, clinician and researcher, Leigha has held roles as a senior speech pathologist and team leader, elearning content manager, lecturer and researcher, knowledge translation manager and consultant. Leigha is a key word sign presenter and is currently the National Coordinator of Key Word Sign Australia. She has been using and sharing key word sign both professionally and personally since 2002.

Steve Rose is a speech pathologist experienced in working across different settings, within the sensory impairment space in the UK and Australia. He is currently based at Vision Australia supporting children and young adults who have blindness, low vision, and multiple disabilities including deafblindness. Steve is passionate about developing practice-based evidence focusing on parent-child interaction, early intervention and building communicative competency in the tactile modality. He is an active collaborator in national and international groups focusing on tactile language and cognition.

Presenter disclosure

Meredith Allan is a casual employee of Scope Australia. 

Leigha Dark is National Coordinator of Key Word Sign Australia and receives a salary for this role.

Disclosure

AGOSCI is grateful to Leigha, Steve and Meredith for presenting this webinar to the AGOSCI audience. 

AGOSCI acknowledges that differing views and opinions may be discussed throughout this webinar and may not always align with AGOSCI philosophies.

AGOSCI is an independent body and does not endorse individual expertise, products or brands over others.

AGOSCI acknowledges the presence and contributions of all suppliers and expertise in the Australian and International communities of AAC and diverse communication.

Registration and cancellation policy

Updated May 2025

Registration is only confirmed upon full payment of fee. Please note total ticket price will include an additional $0.69 + 0.7% per transaction service fee. To access the discounted rate for members you must be logged into your AGOSCI member account prior to registration. 

• 100% refund minus the service fee ($0.69 + 0.7% per transaction) until 60 days before event
• 50% refund minus the service fee ($0.69 + 0.7% per transaction) between 8-59 days before event
• No refunds within 0-7 days before event start date
• If the event is cancelled by AGOSCI you will receive 100% refund including the service fee ($0.69 + 0.7% per transaction)

Applications for registrations are subject to final approval by AGOSCI to ensure fair and equal access to events across organisations. Waitlist registrations will be taken upon all positions being filled.