The Speech Language Communication Company

The Speech Language Communication Company (also known as SLCo) emerged as a new charity registered in Scotland in January 2016. Formerly we were known as Afasic Scotland, an independent branch of the UK-wide charity, Afasic UK, operating across Scotland for 18 years.

SLCo is overseen by a board of trustees which embraces parent-led involvement and direction.

We help run  a number of  locality based parent networks including the young people who use our services which influences and drives the direction of the charity’s work.

A Professional Advisory Group which includes some of the leading names in current research and practice informs the range of information resources, guidance and practical support we offer through our services.

SLCo understands the unique and individual speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) which many children, and adults, struggle to overcome.

SLCo recognises that children and young people with communication support needs are often overlooked and their voices  unheard.

SLCo aims to make sure that families are valued as the key contributors to children achieving their potential and that they are as equipped as possible in order to be effective educators and carers for their children.

We use our expertise and range of evidence-based interventions to help improve the lives of children and young people, their parents and their carers.

We will continue to build on the successes of the past, keep learning and be adaptive to change. Our values are important to us and the families we support our are our assets. They are the experts and are at the heart of all that we do.

Our commitment to the principles of social inclusion and the rights of the child are firmly grounded in our promotion, awareness raising, education and training programmes.

WHAT WE DO

Our service model is based on self efficacy. We want to support and enable families to do more by helping themselves, which in turn helps transform lives within families and wider communities. By empowering parents  to become more effective advocates for themselves and their children, we help create more effective home learning environments in which children can boost their language skills, grow and thrive.  Building meaningful relationships with children and their parents and carers, we create space to tailor our support to the needs of the family.

Through  a blend of 1:1 support, group sessions, online platforms and local activity,  we offer a flexible and dynamic approach which is ‘designed for families by families’.