November | 2014 | International Symbol Dictionary for AAC

The initial research be carried out for the symbol dictionary when visiting several centres around Doha gave us insight as to how symbols were used in schools and special needs centres. In particular at the Shafallah Center were Dalal highlighted the issue of changing the size of symbols allowing them to be used on walls and doors as signs and for guidance. Sample sizes go from 6×4 inches (150 by 101cms) down to 500 pixels square which is 4.23cms or 1.67inches square.

A more recent visit to Awsaj Academy and the Step by Step Centre for Special Needs gave us the chance to collect a selection of photographs to show how they used symbols to enhance the teaching and learning environment. They have kindly allowed us to share a sample selection.

: Hallways and stairs

: Indoors/Outdoors behaviour

: Desk reminders

: Communication book

: PECS set

: PECS board of symbols

This has led to a debate about the format of symbols. At present most centres are using Boardmaker to develop their symbol sets – the software allows images or PCS symbols to be flexibly resized and copied to other programs as well as being saved as symbol boards with varying cell sizes.

At one of our AAC forum meetings therapists working at the Al Noor Institute for the Blind also highlighted the need for high contrast and black and white images. As with the ARASAAC symbols, which all come as coloured and black and white images, it is our intention to include these options.

During the recent TechshareME conference we also learned, as a result of a survey carried out during a workshop, that at least six centres were using multimodal techniques alongside their symbol use. Techniques included word segmentation with audio feedback (text to speech) to encourage phonemic awareness skills and auditory discrimination. Symbols were also being used to illustrate letter combinations, the meaning of words, parts of words and sentences. The use of Jolly Phonics was mentioned, Clicker 5 and Go Talk as well as the integration of PECS techniques, Boardmaker for development of symbol sets and Makaton for gestures.

It was clear that as discussed in our poster and paper presentations at The HMC Annual Research Day Techshare Middle East, the Qatar Foundation ARC’14 and RAatE 2014 the team need to not only include all these elements in the dictionary, but to also be aware that the way images are formatted allows for flexible adaptations to suit all needs. ARASAAC provide their symbols as .png files and Boardmaker allows users to import images in .jpg, .jpeg, .gif,.png, .bmp, wmf and .emf formats. ARASAAC offer symbols that are 500×500 pixels and this is the size the dictionary will carry on the website.

References

GoldBart, J. and Caton, S. (2010) Communication and people with the most complex
needs: What works and why this is essential Research Institute for Health and Social Change
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)
https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/198309/1/Mencap%20Comms_guide_dec_10.pdf
This report is a useful resource for academic references as well as practical advice.

Millar, S. (2009) Communication Friendly Schools CALL Scotland, University of Edinburgh – http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/SallyMillarFriendlySchools_tcm4-629155.ppt PowerPoint presentation with example of symbols in use around schools in Scotland.

TechShare Middle East taking place in Doha as this blog is being written has given the Arabic Symbol Dictionary team the chance to not only disseminate a year of initial research outcomes but to also collaborate with attendees and those who have become participants in the AAC forum. The keynote speech given by Kevin Carey was in the Gulf Times the following day.

Kevin Carey – keynote – Gulf Times 5th November 2014

The slides for the initial presentation given by Nadine Zeinoun from the Mada Center and Amatullah Kadous from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) are available on SlideShare as a download .

Arabic Symbol Dictionary – TechshareME presentation

A short Literacy skills survey + Arabic (MS Word download) given out during the workshop resulted in a discussions about the issues of teaching literacy skills in Arabic. We received a wide range of comments from personal descriptions of how a mother had taught her children to read using multi-sensory techniques to expert advice related to the use of symbols with students who have Autism and those who learn in a purely visual manner compared to the phonemic segmentation used by many teachers in the UK. The comments were noted at the time and, along with the questionnaire results will provide invaluable data for the way we offer the lexical entries in the dictionary.

We were able to gather people’s impressions of some of the new symbols Dana – our graphic designer had developed in the last week for prayer times and family members. We used the research carried out by Evans et al presented at ICCHP in 2006, as guidance for the way we presented the symbols. Comments ranged from the type of drawings being made to the colour contrast levels and significance of different Arabic cultures with nearly all participants wishing to have a system to go with the dictionary that would allow for the personalisation of symbols to suit each user. There is definitely going to be a problem about managing expectations!

Finally and rather quietly, the new logo for the Arabic Symbol Dictionary was rolled out on our poster presented at TechShareME and on the slides – here it is in case you did not notice it on the presentation above! Thank you Dana who has recently joined the team.

Tawasol – communication

References

Evans, D. G., Bowick, L., Johnson, M., & Blenkhorn, P. (2006). Using iconicity to evaluate symbol use. In Computers Helping People with Special Needs (pp. 874-881). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

International Symbol Dictionary for AAC

Global Symbols for All

Monthly Archives: November 2014

Symbols go walkabout – preparing symbols for their different uses.

References

TechShareME in Doha – a chance to disseminate and collaborate

References