A family-run business in Alcester has launched a new brand to support children and adults with special educational needs and disabilities. 

Kickstart Signs! initially made a communication board following a request from a local primary school headteacher to create a board to help non-verbal children during breaks and lunchtimes on the school playground. 

Following its successful implementation in the playground, the company quickly innovated a unique hand-held version for use in the classroom and other indoor settings. 

The signs were so effective that the school requested the boards be installed in each classroom to help with teaching.

It has proved so popular in educational settings that the company has now launched AVoice4All. 

Louise Withers, Shottery Primary School headteacher, said: "The board has generated an awful lot of interest in the playground, with the children gravitating towards it and generating their own games.

"In the classroom, one child with a diagnosis of autism and ASD is using the language key to help express how he is feeling in different situations throughout the day.

"The symbols provide visual information, which is particularly important for reducing anxiety in autistic children as predicting what will or could happen can be very challenging, even in a familiar setting.

"The child has made the connection between the language key and the board and is able to point to different commands to communicate with peers and adults on the playground too. It’s been a game-changer." 

Since the initial product range was developed to support school pupils, the company has also translated the boards into Ukrainian amongst other languages to help children who do not speak English as their first language.

The company has also created a new range of boards and silent language keys to support individuals with medical needs or who might be temporarily unable to communicate with their voice.

AVoice4All has set the ambitious mission of getting the communication boards into every school in Warwickshire by the end of 2025 with demand already established elsewhere in the country.