Initiatives can be led by government, privately sponsored or develop from charitable support and the peoples' will as mentioned in Wikipedia. In terms of Assistive Technology and Augmentative and Alternative Communication device provision, a wide range of initiatives have taken place or are ongoing. A small collection are listed below under the headings of:

Education | Training and Work | At Home | General

Education

The National Service Framework for Children, Young People, Maternity Services (NSF). “sets standards for children's health and social services, and the interface of those services with education. This section is intended to provide information on the development of the NSF.”

Government accepts that “successful communication is central to social inclusion and it is particularly important to the increasing number of disabled children who use alternative communication systems to speech, such as symbol boards/books and computer-assisted systems. Yet many children have access to their communication systems only at school, and not at home or in other settings.”

Transforming Community Equipment Services  - The Department of Health have announced a new service delivery model
which includes ideas such as:

• Move simple aids to daily living (SADLs) into the retail marketplace (90% of current volume activity)
  

• Empower individuals to self help
  
• Create a more efficient supply chain for complex aids to daily living (CADLs)- currently through 138 CES stores

Portage support may be offered by The Welsh and English Local Authorities, a home-visiting educational service for pre-school children with special educational needs.

Every Child Matters agenda (2003), The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:

• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Enjoy and achieve
• Make a positive contribution
• Achieve economic well-being

Common Assessment Framework (CAF) has been introduced in some areas and a lead professional may report back as to what can be provided for the child.

Sure Start programmes that run a variety of initiatives to improve and assess the language skills of young children living in disadvantaged areas.

Early Years Action followed by Early Years Action Plus (England and Wales) for those starting school who may have any difficulties with learning.

School Action followed by School Action Plus (England and Wales). Just as with the early years where special educational needs arise, a staged approach is taken offering varying degrees of support.

Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) or Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) in Scotland for those who need extra support during their time at school.

National Parent Partnership Network (NPPN) “supports all parent partnership services” which are often based in the same building as the local authority, but are there to provide impartial information to parents about the types of action that can be taken to support their child with special needs.

First–tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) service in England and Wales and the Additional Support Needs Tribunal in Scotland are available if it is felt the child’s needs have not been met. They may support the parents in a claim to increase assistance.

Computer for Pupils There is the possibility that schools in England could tap into the Computer for Pupils initiative where children are encouraged to take the computers home. “The funding is for pupils who are resident in the 10% most disadvantaged areas as defined by Index of Multiple Deprivation (2004) and who are eligible for free school meals… Equipment which is essential for a pupils to use the computer, for example tracker ball or switch, can be funded as can software which is essential to enable the learner to access the computer, such as predictive or symbol software.”

Home Access - "On Tuesday 23 September 2008 the Prime Minister announced top line details of the Home Access programme which will provide computers and connectivity to families so that children are able to enhance their learning at home."

BRITE Initiative, in Scotland “receives funding to enable staff from the FE sector to participate in training and to facilitate the distribution of (and support for) assistive technology workstations for FE Colleges in Scotland.”

Disabled Students Allowances change over the period 2009 - 2010 and guidance for apply can be found on the Direct.gov website

Training and Work

“New Deal for Disabled People is a voluntary programme delivered through a network of Job Brokers who have been chosen by Jobcentre Plus because of their experience of working with people with health conditions or disabilities.”

Connexions links to work schemes - A disabled person may be offered training and work experience through these programmes.

Access to Work funding can be used for assistive technologies to support an individual in their workplace with agreement from the employer.

Residential training for disabled adults over the age of 18 years, is a programme that helps long-term unemployed disabled people “secure and maintain jobs or self-employment.”

National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in London are putting new infrastructure into prisons to support offender learning and resettlement. The aim is to install a secure, managed network of computers with access to approved websites.

The Offender Library, Learning and Information Specification mentioned in 2005, the need to ensure ‘the service meets the needs of ethnic minority groups, the visually impaired, and those with reading difficulties’.

At Home

Telecare has received an enormous amount of attention in the last few years and is described on the Telecare Aware website as “the continuous, automatic and remote monitoring of real time emergencies and lifestyle changes over time in order to manage the risks associated with independent living.’

‘Fair Access to Care Services’ Government Guidance. This Guidance sets out 4 levels of need based on a person’s ability to live safely and independently. These levels of need are: ‘Critical’, ‘Substantial’, ‘Moderate’ and ‘Low’.” Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Community Care Services Guide

Single Assessment Process planned for the elderly in England, before having access to specialised services.

The National Service Framework for Older People and more recently the National Service Framework for Long-term conditions (2005)

General

Disability Conciliation Service of Great Britain “Disability Conciliation is an opportunity for disabled people and service providers to resolve cases under the DDA.