For far too long, nonspeaking individuals have been marginalized, segregated, underestimated, and excluded from conversations that shape their own lives. As Ireland advances its inclusion initiatives, now is the time to ensure that nonspeakers are not only recognized but actively included in all aspects of society.
I-ASC and PALZ are proud to partner in hosting this groundbreaking conference, bringing together advocates, educators, policymakers, healthcare professionals, and nonspeaking individuals to explore strategies for meaningful inclusion in education, higher education, employment, healthcare, community engagement, and government policymaking. Through thought-provoking discussions, expert panels, and lived-experience perspectives, we will highlight the urgent need to break barriers and create a future where nonspeakers have a seat at the table—and a voice in the conversation.
Join us as we work together to build a society that truly embodies equality and accessibility for all.
PALZ Ireland is a Spelling To Communicate Hub based in Naas, Co. Kildare, that is dedicated to ensuring access to communication, education, community, and beyond to all nonspeaking, minimally speaking, and unreliably speaking individuals across Ireland and the EU. PALZ offers one-to-one and group S2C sessions where the Practitioner focuses on building the motor skill required to communicate, leading to independence, agency, autonomy and the equal opportunity to be contributing members of their society. PALZ is expanding with new Practitioners joining the team and many new initiatives, collaborations, projects and other plans in the pencil!
Louis Fitzgerald Hotel
We invite you to support the I-ASC mission as a S2C Summit: Ireland Sponsor. This is a terrific opportunity to make your business more visible to an active, knowledgeable, engaged, and well-connected community.
**Exchange rate as of 20 March, 2025
Share your business with our network of nonspeakers at our flagship Conference. During this conference, you’ll be able to sell merchandise or share information about your organization or product with the spellerverse and the community.
We only have a limited number of Vendor spaces available, so don’t wait!
Dara Connolly is a highly qualified and experienced leadership coach, as well as a seasoned curator of experiential programs. He currently serves as the Chief Executive of Common Purpose Ireland, where he has empowered and inspired over 600 leaders across all sectors over the past five years. His approach integrates the world as a dynamic, real-life classroom, helping individuals unlock their leadership potential in unique, sometimes challenging, diverse settings.
Prior to his role at Common Purpose, Dara was self-employed, focusing on social enterprise startups. Drawing from his extensive experience across a wide range of industries, he successfully nurtured and scaled innovative initiatives. One notable achievement was his leadership of ReCreate, a multi-award-winning social enterprise specializing in creative reuse, working with children and individuals with disabilities. Under his guidance, ReCreate grew from a startup to a sustainable business model, earning several national accolades, including the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Impact Award, Rethink Innovation Award, and the Dublin City Enterprise Award.
Before his work with ReCreate, Dara held the position of Head of Business Development and Property at Temple Bar Cultural Trust Ltd., where he managed a diverse portfolio of cultural and commercial properties valued at €120 million. During his tenure, he spearheaded several high-profile infrastructure projects, including the construction of Ireland’s first outdoor retractable roof at Meeting House Square and the development of the West End of Temple Bar, which helped revitalize the area and fostered its cultural significance.
Dara’s career also spans time with Microsoft, where he served as Financial Services Manager, providing him with deep insights into the tech and finance sectors. His personal interests reflect his diverse experiences—he is an avid traveler, passionate about adventure, and committed to environmental sustainability. His time at Cultivate, a sustainability-focused NGO, and his role as director and chair of Saplings Schools for Children with Autism further deepened his understanding of children's development, particularly in the context of autism.
Dara holds a Management Accountant qualification and is academically credentialed with diplomas in Leadership Coaching, Business Studies, Project Management, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Innovation. His broad professional background, commitment to social good, and passion for innovation make him a respected thought leader in his field.
Anna, MA is the owner and lead Practitioner at PALZ Ireland based in Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland.
Anna is an I-ASC Certified S2C (Spelling to Communicate) Practitioner and Play Therapist. She is trained to coach nonspeaking, minimally and unreliably speaking individuals with sensory-motor differences to coordinate their brain and body to carry out the purposeful movement that enables them to spell out their thoughts on letter-boards and keyboards.
Anna has over 20 years of experience working with nonspeaking children, adolescents and adults; having worked in various settings throughout her career.
Anna is a faculty member of I-ASC and delivers the training seminars for Practitioners in Training through the I-ASC training program. She is also a mentor to many training and qualified Practitioners.
Anna's passion for bringing communication to those who most need it has become her life's vocation. It is her joy and honour to work with the non-speaking, neurodiverse community and she has big ambitions to further grow S2C in Ireland.
I am a twenty five year old non speaker and I live near Winchester in England. I have been using Spelling to Communicate for about four years and have been able to communicate openly for about eighteen months. I am passionate about advocating for S2C to be recognised as a valid means for non speakers to express their own thoughts and opinions and ultimately have it introduced into all special needs schools.
I love being active and enjoy swimming in particular. I am also training to do an inclusive Triathlon later this year. My other passion is cooking and I cook almost all of my own meals with support from my care team.
The main focus of my spelling is to increase awareness of S2C as far and wide as possible and I currently do this via my blog on Facebook and Instagram.
Obviously speaking at events like this one is so much better to progress towards my goal and I am so grateful to be invited.
Helen Adderley is a Certified Spelling To Communicate Practitioner working In Wrexham in North Wales. She has three grown-up sons, one of whom is a nonspeaker, now aged 29, and he began his S2C journey with EV at an Outreach in Yorkshire in March of 2023. Helen wrote the Book of British - Themed S2C Lessons which was published in December 2024.
David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist, screenwriter, and translator. He has written nine novels, two of which, number9dream and Cloud Atlas, were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Mitchell translated the autism memoir The Reason I Jump from Japanese to English with his wife, Keiko Yoshida. Written by Naoki Higashida when he was 13, the book became an international bestseller and has now been turned into an award-winning documentary also featuring Mitchell.
John McMahon, with his husband Gerard Whelan, is parent to 23 year old triplets born through surrogacy in California, including their son Max Whelan who is non-verbal and using S2C.
Both he and Gerard have grappled with issues of non-existent and underfunded services for neurodivergent children and adults.
John and Gerard run 2 hairdressing salons and in his spare time, John likes stage and screen musicals and movies, walking and playing badminton.
John will talk about his experiences with education, health services and various therapies, leading to Max’s use of S2C.
Time for lunch and a visit with our exhibitors!
Elizabeth Vosseller is a native of Northern Virginia and is proud to call autism-friendly, Herndon, her hometown. Elizabeth has worked with individuals with complex communication and sensory-motor differences since 1995 in hospital, university and private practice settings. In 2013, she began using Assistive Technology to teach students the purposeful motor skills to Spell to Communicate (S2C). Teaching motor versus cognition to access communication, meaningful education and inclusion has been a game changer for nonspeaking individuals. “26 letters equals infinite possibilities!” Since witnessing countless nonspeaking, minimally and unreliably speaking individuals successfully communicate and learn through spelling and typing, Elizabeth and I-ASC are committed to ensuring ALL nonspeaking individuals have access to communication through training, education, advocacy and research. Elizabeth is honored to serve as the Executive Director for I-ASC.
Caoimh Connolly Murphy is a 20 year old non-speaking autistic. He lives in Co Meath. He loves hanging out with his friends and family, movies, literature and being at one with nature- particularly in forests and woods surrounded by trees. Caoimh is very passionate about advocating for his fellow non-speakers and is particularly focused on improving the educational system for all non-speaking youths in Ireland. He intends to one day go to university to study literature. Caoimh has been communicating openly through S2C (Spell To Communicate) for 7 years.
Joanne Watson is a Certified Spelling to Communicate (S2C) practitioner based in Winchester, Hampshire, and the proud mum of two adult children, including a nonspeaker who continues to inspire her every day.
Originally working in the oil industry, Joanne’s life took a different direction when her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. She dedicated herself to homeschooling and exploring a wide range of approaches to support his development throughout the first 20 years of his life. It was during the COVID lockdowns that she discovered Spelling to Communicate — a breakthrough that transformed not only her son’s life but her entire family’s future.
Today, Joanne is a passionate advocate for presuming competence and for giving nonspeakers the voice they so richly deserve — helping families finally hear everything their loved ones have to share.
Sam Saibu is an 18 year old secondary student. He has an older sister and a younger brother. He is a nonspeaker and uses S2C to communicate. He enjoys dancing and basketball. He story writes and advocates for his friends. Sam’s wish is for nonspeakers to have access to the same curriculum as their peers. Sam feels passionate about equal rights.
My name is Megha. I am 20 years old. I am nonspeaking. I also have a sensory system that is crazy. My reason for living is to spread the awareness of sensory disorders. I enjoy music.
Max Whelan is a 22 year old non-speaking autistic and lives in Dublin with his two wonderful dads and two siblings. Max loves movies, going away with his family and hanging ougoing to the gym, music and lots of t with them at home. For the first time, life seems bright, and Max has hope for the future and his life because of S2C (Spelling To Communicate).
Max is hoping to one day go to college to study film.
Al Bellamy is a theatre director from Wexford. Their directing credits across film and theatre include: The Merrow (Project Arts Centre, Short Cuts Award, 2022), Yellow (Draíocht Arts Centre, Granary Theatre, Neuroconvergence, National Festival of Youth Theatres, Bounce Disability Arts Festival) from November 2022 to September 2024, and Close All Tabs (Smock Alley Boys School, Scene + Heard Festival 2024). They developed and directed a groundbreaking new piece of theatre, Home Sweet Home, with Jody O’Neill and Suisha Inclusive Arts which premiered in the Granary Theatre in Cork Midsummer Festival 2024 and funded by their Arts Council Arts Participation Project Award. In 2022, they were funded by the Arts Council Agility Award for Mythics, creating a space for neurodivergent people to explore reworkings of Irish Folklore and Mythology. In 2023, they received the Arts Council Theatre Bursary to develop a holistic methodology for disability-inclusive practice. They have given workshops on Creatively Embedded Access in the Eduard Smilgis Theatre, Riga, and for Dublin Fringe Festival.
Eleanor Walsh (she/her) is a performer and an autism and disability advocate. Recent credits include Grace (Graffiti Theatre Company), Yellow (Jody O’Neill), Daughter of God (Asylum Productions), and What I (Don't) Know About Autism (Abbey Theatre). She also consults on Relaxed Performance and autistic representation and inclusion. Eleanor is a Youth Ambassador for AsIAm and is featured in "Be Inspired! Young Irish People Changing the World" by Sarah Webb, published by O'Brien Press.
Ben, born in New York City, spent his early years in Nairobi, Kenya. After returning to the US and being diagnosed with autism, he received a decade of therapies in New York City and Arlington, VA, and participated in research at Johns Hopkins and the NIH. As a teenager, he lived in Fiji for two years, gaining independence and immersing himself in the local culture. Ben cast his first ballot in the 2016 Presidential Election. Now, he is preparing to move into his own apartment and hopes to attend college as a resident student. He is the youngest of three siblings and the son of Steven and Bertra Bradford McGann.
Contact I-ASC directly at info@i-asc.org or 703-454-0202.
Please visit our Spelling to Communicate page for more information. If you have additional questions, feel free to email us at info@i-asc.org.
PLEASE DO! Sessions are geared toward all participants; nonspeaking communicators, family, and professionals. We are not able to offer respite. An adult must accompany children under the age of 18.
Due to the many food preferences and allergies of our attendees, we do not provide meals at the conference.
Here are some recommended options for you:
Parking is available at the venue at a rate of €1 per hour.
Yes! However, each attendee must register to participate in this event.
Attendees 18 and over are required to present one form of photo ID.
You may receive a 50% refund if you email us before April 18th, 2025 at info@I-ASC.org. Unfortunately, we cannot refund full ticket prices due to reservations and commitments made to our vendors once your reservation is purchased.
Tickets are transferable to another participant with no additional fee if executed no later than April 25th, 2025 by emailing us with your information and the name, email, address, and phone number of the person(s) you are transferring your ticket(s) to info@i-asc.org.
Elizabeth Vosseller, I-ASC Executive Director and S2C founder, pioneers motor-based spelling to empower nonspeakers through advocacy, training, and research.
Dara Connolly is a seasoned leadership coach and experiential program curator, currently serving as Chief Executive of Common Purpose Ireland.
Anna is the owner of PALZ Ireland, an I-ASC Certified S2C Practitioner, and Play Therapist. With 20+ years of experience, she trains, mentors, and empowers nonspeakers through communication.
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