Dr Marit Boot Appointed as New Director of CALL Scotland

Posted by Claire Harrison on the 12th August, 2026

Category Assistive Technology

CALL Scotland is delighted to welcome Dr Marit Boot as its new Director.

Our Annual Conference, held on 10 June 2026, marked Marit’s first day in her new role at CALL Scotland, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. It was such an engaging and inspiring day providing a fantastic opportunity for Marit to meet practitioners and stakeholders from across Scotland and begin connecting with the people and organisations who play such an important role in supporting learners with Additional Support Needs (ASN).

Marit brings extensive experience in assistive technology, healthcare, education and research to her new role. Her previous work at the University focused on assistive technology in social care. Throughout her career, Marit has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving support for children and young people with ASN. During her time working in NHS Scotland, she led networks supporting children with exceptional healthcare needs and children and young people with visual impairments. Working closely with families and practitioners, she helped identify barriers and opportunities for improvement. Her team developed learning modules, pathways and resources to support children and young people, parents, carers, healthcare professionals and teachers.

Listening to children, young people and families

In 2015, Marit founded the charity What? Why? Children in Hospital. The charity was established in response to concerns raised by children, young people and parents about the anxiety experienced by children with ASN when they need to undergo tests or medical procedures in hospital. In response, Marit’s team developed more than 60 video resources to help families prepare for hospital experiences. These resources have since been used by more than 40 million people worldwide and have been reported to reduce anxiety among children and their parents and carers, while improving wellbeing, communication and engagement with services.

This focus on listening to the experiences and needs of children, young people and families has been a consistent theme throughout Marit’s career — and is one that she brings to her new role at CALL Scotland.

Looking ahead for CALL Scotland

Marit is excited to lead the CALL Scotland team and build on its important work supporting children and young people with ASN and the schools who work with them across Scotland. Her priorities include increasing the visibility of CALL Scotland, continuing to provide high-quality Professional Learning around assistive technology and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), developing a research programme focused on assistive technology in education, and setting a clear strategic direction for the organisation's future. Marit is also looking forward to connecting with stakeholders, strengthening existing relationships and developing new collaborations across Scotland.

Marit’s initial aim is to increase the range of assistive and communication technology available through the loan bank, while raising awareness that all schools across Scotland can borrow equipment to support learners with ASN.

I am excited to lead the CALL Scotland team and work with stakeholders to ensure that learners with Additional Support Needs have access to the assistive technology and support they need to learn, communicate and participate.

If you would like any advice or want to borrow loan bank items for your learners get in touch with Marit and the CALL Scotland team: info@callscotland.org.uk