Recently the members of the Aventido team have been out and about at various face to face meetings as the world starts to find it’s ‘new normal’ post pandemic. With the UK Government lifting restrictions and telling everyone that they need to ‘learn to live with the virus’, it is fair to say that there is, and rightly so, caution about attending face to face meetings.
That said, we have had two years of social interaction being reduced, so if we attend meetings we have the possibility of starting to enjoy social connection, improved mental wellbeing and opportunities for learning from each other.
Getting a balance is important and for a company such as Aventido, the team has been grappling with how to conduct face to face meetings that deliver benefit whilst keeping individuals who attend safe.
We do think it is important to meet face to face because for many of our community who use our products, they benefit from learning in different ways and social interaction is essential for learning. In learning together we get the opportunity to assess different points of view and gain perspectives that one would not gain when sitting on a Zoom webinar.
It is well known that a multi-sensory approach to learning is essential for neurodiversity (as it is for all of us) and so being able to use all of our senses within the learning process is important. To be able to touch, listen and see the latest available technologies in person will always give the attendee a better sense of how a product can deliver benefit.
More recently, the team has been organising the AT Together meetings that are taking place at the end of April and the priority has not only been to ensure safety but also to promote confidence in attending.
We warmly invite you to AT Together in Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, as per UK Government guidelines, we will ensure that DSA Assessors and Higher Education assistive technology professionals receive what they need in order to feel safe so that they can concentrate and engage with learning about the latest available assistive technologies.
We are adhering to the latest UK Government guidelines so that you can safely enjoy our events. Wear a mask or don’t wear a mask, all are welcome to do what they need in order to keep safe as they attend AT Together.