ISAAC in Finland
ISAAC Suomi Finland is a Finnish chapter of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. It's purpose is to promote the development on the field of AAC in Finland.
History
The chapter was founded in 1990 to carry on and broaden the work of Finnish Bliss Association, which had been a vivid independent network on the field of AAC since beginning of 80's. Becoming a chapter of ISAAC we got a more appropriate name for our activities and an international aspect on the work. We have about 100 members.
Funding
Our work is voluntary, however we do get financial support for our projects from Finland's Slot Machine Association. Therefore we can pay our project managers for their work. Rest of the chapter is funded by the part of the membership fees that does not go for ISAAC. We also sell some products of our own like bliss material, T-shirts, etc.
Organisation
The chapter is led by an administrative board.
There are three other boards for specific tasks:
Board of Bliss Affairs
- developing bliss material
- bliss courses and other bliss education
- coordinating bliss affairs in Finland
- international contacts (BCI, Blissymbolics Communication International, NBK, Nordiska bliss-kommitté)
- monitoring symbol standardation in Finland
Board of Education
- surveying educational needs
- planning and arranging AAC education both independently and with other organisations
Board of Publicity
- information page on nationwide bulletin Tikonen, published by Tikoteekki, a Finnish network of centers for computer and communication aids
- handouts, posters, internet pages, etc.
- displays on expos, conferences, etc.
Projects
In addition to the work of boards we have launched two projects and a third one just running.
First project was about national cooperation on AAC. We tried to get all the major handicap organisations in Finland to coordinate their AAC needs through Isaac Suomi Finland. Our goal was not achieved on that point, however later on these organisations themselves formed internet pages called Papunet (www.papunet.net), which combines a huge amount of information on AAC. It serves both consumers and professionals and it is vividly developing.
Our second project was a pilot study about creating more equal possibilities
for speech disabled people to get the public servicies they need. The aim was
to produce material and models for educating people who meet speech disabled
people in their work, e.g. social workers and staff from public libraries and
hospitals.
The third project has started in 2005. It is astudy of how to use computer based communication programs more effectively. The aim is to develop different layouts from where the speech disabled person would be able to communicate effectively and also use Finnish grammar.