Reasons to be cheerful in Scotland
The CFS - made up of the RCSLT and user organisations - will use the money to develop a well-supported and 'trained' group of people with communication support needs (CSN) to act as a permanent consultation group for Government policy and law makers.
RCSLT Scotland Policy Officer Kim Hartley said, "This project means the Scottish Executive and other levels of government will have their eyes opened to the full population of people with CSN, have an easy way of hearing their views and find it harder to overlook their needs."
The SE has also accepted five of the recommendations put forward by CFS and the RCSLT / Scottish SLT Managers Network Communication Impairment Action Group (CIAG) in the Scottish Disability Working Group (DWG) report on delivering greater equality of public sector service for disabled people (published 23 November 2006).
The report makes recommendations for the Disability Strategy for Scotland for the next decade.
Kim said, "The Scottish Government Equalities Unit set up a group of stakeholders who had an interest in disability and I sat on that group on behalf of the CFS and CIAG.
"We made recommendations around what should happen in Scotland about disability issues for the next 10 years.
"The SE had a complete policy blindness in terms of people with aphasia, people who stammer, people with dysarthria, people who use communication aides, anyone with a communication disability that wasn't about hearing or vision."
The SE has pledged £1 million to improve the lives of disabled people in Scotland.
To read the RCSLT recommendations see page 41 onwards of the report available at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/10/16092613/0
To read a summery of all 48 recommendations visit: www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/11/23105108
The RCSLT team in Scotland has also won the contract to provide secretariat support to the Allied Health Professionals Forum in Scotland.