As service lead Simon is responsible for making sure our team provides a high quality effective service. The Barnsley Assistive Technology team provides specialised communication aids (AAC) and environmental control (EC) throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region. The team is commissioned to provide these services by NHS England.

Simon has been intensively involved in the assistive technology community since the beginning of his career having graduated from Imperial College in London with an MEng in Electronic Engineering. Simon is an honorary research fellow with the University of Sheffield School of Medicine and Population Health and allied to the Centre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare, Simon is also an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (2016).  Simon has a PhD from the University of Sheffield.

Simon says:

I feel I have made a significant impact on the electronic assistive technology field both from a service development, clinical and research perspective. My current role is as service lead of the Barnsley Assistive Technology team. I have developed the team to become a recognised leader in the field with an international reputation for quality.

I am an honorary research fellow at the University of Sheffield and collaborate on a number of research projects as co-applicant. I have been involved in successful funding applications to the value of over £2m in the last five years. I played a key role in the commissioning changes that resulted in the equitable national commissioning of AAC and EC services in 2014 – having provided research evidence of the need of these services as well as engagement with policy and commissioning leaders.

I have published a wide range of research in a range of peer reviewed journals and presented at key national and international conferences. My work aims to have impact in the assistive technology field, on policy development and service improvement, and most importantly with individuals who use this technology.

Related Projects

• VocaTempo

• Vivoca

• Unspoken Voices

• STAR

• SPECS

• Sheffield Support Snood

• Maavis

• ICU App

• I-ASC Project

• Gaze Project

• Emego

• AAC Evidence Base

• CARLA

• D4D AAC Project

• DfE AAC Grants

Related Publications

• The Design of Voice Output Communication Aids
• A qualitative study exploring the effect of communicating with partially intelligible speech.
• Appraising the quality of tools used to record patient-reported outcomes in users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC): a systematic review
• Professionals’ decision-making in recommending communication aids in the UK: competing considerations
• Decision-making in communication aid recommendations in the UK: cultural and contextual influencers