What the Anne McDonald Centre does

  The Anne McDonald Centre provides assessment and therapy for people -- any age, any diagnosis --with little or no functional  speech.

  If clients' speech  needs  augmentation, we find communication aids they can use.  Then we teach these clients and their support teams how to use their new voices.  Read more...

Download our brochure for more information.

  Who comes to the Anne McDonald Centre?

Anyone who can’t speak – including people with diagnoses of
 Autism/ASD, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, Intellectual Disability, Rett  syndrome,  GDD, ABD, MND, MS, CVA, for starters...

When Cameron came to the Centre at the age of five he was a sweet kid who could only say a few words.  He still can’t speak much, but with the help of his family he’s made his way through mainstream primary and secondary education.  Now he’s studying Digital Literacy at Deakin University, as part of an Associate Arts Degree. 
We’ve been with him all the way.  (Read more)

To see the video Cameron made for his Deakin course go to
https://video.deakin.edu.au/media/t/0_8snb7xgb

If we're to continue helping kids like Cameron, we need your help. Donate at GiveNow, please. 

  WHAT'S NEW - 

The Anne McDonald Centre has now established a Human Research Ethics Committee to guide its research activities. 

Do you know anybody whose intelligence has been underestimated because they've been tested using the WISC or the WAIS, tests which require speech? 

The Anne McDonald Centre is breaking new ground here - and bringing hope to thousands. See the results we're getting. This is genuinely exciting, and everybody who can't speak needs to know about it.   

The Anne McDonald Centre now has the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission ACNC CHARITY TICK! So it's a good time to donate - see the DONATE link to GiveNow over to the right there and down a bit. Help us to help you.

The Anne McDonald Centre calls on the government to fund iPads for AAC

Communication disability and Moby Dick

A piece on non-speech communication that ran the other day on the No Limits program on community television station C31 - including a panel discussion that includes Leane Leggo, the Centre's eloquent president

Here's a short video on the Centre made by Rebecca Seidner, an AAC user

Rosemary Crossley's ISAAC conference  presentation,
 "iPads and the Assessment of Potential AAC users - a game changer"

 Our 2012 ISAAC conference paper, "Anne McDonald  - the advocacy legacy of an AAC pioneer" 

 "First Words", a 60 Minutes segment on people with autism learning communicate with iPads