Cooperation with the GO «Hovory!»

As part of the activity plan of the Competence Center for Inclusive Education of Berdyansk State Pedagogical University, a webinar by the NGO “Hovory” was successfully held on 11 November 2025 on the topic “Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Digital Technologies for Communication.”

The event brought together specialists, faculty members, and students interested in modern approaches to supporting communication for people with special educational needs, particularly those with speech disorders. The speakers — Natalia Tsap, coordinator of the Military Voices project, and Anastasiia Demchuk, special education teacher, member of the International Society for AAC (ISAAC), and coordinator of the Talkido project — presented practical solutions and current international trends that contribute to the development of users’ communicative autonomy.

Special attention was devoted to an overview of contemporary AAC digital tools. In particular, the application TippyTalk was discussed as a platform that converts visual messages into text or speech, enabling users to communicate with family members and specialists via smartphone. The participants also explored the features of the innovative Look to Speak service — an application that allows individuals with motor impairments to control speech phrases using eye movements. Additional emphasis was placed on tools for creating personalized communication books and pictogram sets, such as SpeakPic, PictoFrame, and other solutions supporting adaptive design and multisensory formats.

During the webinar, participants observed how digital AAC services help create individualized communication supports, expand users’ vocabularies, develop visual interaction scenarios, and ensure access to communication in everyday situations.

The event became an important step in strengthening the competencies of the university community and reaffirmed the need for systematic cooperation among academia, practitioners, and the civic sector in the field of inclusive education.

We express our sincere appreciation to the speakers for their informative presentations and professional coverage of key aspects of contemporary AAC practices.

We also extend our gratitude to the Defence Forces of Ukraine for making it possible to work and live.

Based on materials prepared by
Alina Synytsia,
Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Psychology and Speech Therapy,
Head of the Competence Center for Inclusive Education
Berdyansk State Pedagogical University.