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Advantages of GDPR !

Apart from the necessity of fulfilling the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation which has to be completed by 25th May, I have been pondering on other advantages of complying with the GDPR.

Here at Talking Mats we are all going through files, bagging up paper for shredding, deleting data files on our master computer and preparing text to send to all our customers and contacts to make sure we only hold information that is adequate and relevant.The first advantage for us is that it’s a good way to re-establish contact with people.

I’ve been given the task of going through all the research data and have ploughed through 16 drawers of research data starting in 1992!  Way back then I worked with a wonderful professor who was keen to hold onto all our raw data just in case we wanted to check or replicate anything. Its all been under lock and key but the time has come to bite the bullet and get rid of it.  I found this to be not only nostalgic but also emotional – all those fantastic participants who gave us their time and insights.

Its also been cathartic because as well as filling bags for shredding I am smashing up discs of video footage. We filmed lots of people with a range of communication difficulties using Talking Mats to compare with the same conversations without Talking Mats to analyse any differences. So… another big advantage is that I’ve destroyed all evidence of my dodgy hair cuts throughout the years!!

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I counted 41 completed projects going from the very first one in 1992 which was a demographic survey of people who used AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) systems in Scotland. In 1998 the Gannochy Trust funded the original project where Talking Mats was born Gannoch Final report. We then went on to carry out a wide range of projects which include working with people with Motor Neuron Disease, Stroke, Learning Disability, Children with Additional Support Needs, people living with Dementia to name but a few. The website contains the final reports on all our projects and in looking back at them I am also very proud of the good quality research the team here at Talking Mats has carried out.

Many others are now doing projects using Talking Mats but I leave it to them to organise their own GDPR and hope they also find the process worthwhile and rewarding and not just seen as a chore to be done.

Awards
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