Statement

    Originally funded by Western Pennsylvania businesses and the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, SHOUT is diversifying its funding by approaching a range government agencies, philanthropic foundations, non-profit corporations, and additional corporate sponsors.  Its revitalized Board of Directors and its influential Board of Advisors are helping position SHOUT to grow in the future.  New initiatives -- the Urban Youth Camp, the Campaign for Connectivity – myself as the Executive Director, replication conferences in California and Canada, and strengthened liaisons with professional societies have made SHOUT a center of employment activity for augmented communicators.

    In the 18 years of its existence, SHOUT has grown from strength to strength.  Capitalizing on its knowledge gained through finding employment for augmented communicators, SHOUT established a national conference, the Pittsburgh Employment Conference, for Augmented Communicators.  PEC@ has played a unique role in the development of employment awareness by all the stakeholders in the field of augmentative and alternative communication – professional and consumer alike.

    In the words of Gus Estrella, an augmented communicator and a Policy Analyst at United Cerebral Palsy's national office in Washington, DC, “In the years I've attended PEC@, I've always left with a sense of encouragement… (the American dream) is there for our taking if we work hard enough.”