Author Archives: tullah

Voting on symbols at Awsaj Academy

tablet with symbol It has always been felt that it was essential that AAC users and those with communication difficulties should evaluate our symbols as part our research into symbol acceptance with real participation at all stages. We felt that this would ensure that the very people who would be using the symbols would provide us with feedback so we could tailor the symbols to their needs.

The team contacted the Speech Therapy team at Awsaj Academy for students with special needs to see if we could do a voting session with some of their students. Dr. Biji Philips arranged for 11 students to vote individually, with 15 minute time slots to complete the task. 2 students; a Tobii user with Cerebral Palsy and another with severe Autism required 30-45 minutes.

student voting The students were given 20 of our symbols to vote on and a thumbs up and thumbs down symbol to communicate their like/dislike for the symbol. Some students preferred to use okay as an option as well. Based on the student’s capacity judged online, Nadine and I asked why they liked/disliked the symbols. Some of the older students were superb and gave us detailed feedback relating to the need for more detailed facial expressions, or adding context to the symbol rather than just characters. Others did not want to let us down and said they liked the majority of the symbols. Here are the results of the voting sessions:

Student comments

	Good	Ok	Bad	Comments
Hello (Assalumu alaikum)	11	1		– Not clear, waving or speaking – Saying hi and smiling – He tells how are you – Goodbye – Nice because he’s wearing Thobe – Nice clothes – Clear – Goodbye
Rice & Chicken	12			– Only chicken – Doesn’t look like our food – Chicken
Children	10	2		– Not nice hair – Put them in uniform – Boys
Dance	12			– Very nice – Sing – Nice because he’s dancing properly – Nice design
Eat	9	2	1	– Looks angry – I don’t see plate or water; I like that he’s opening his mouth and has spoon – Eat with hands – Don’t wear Thobe when you eat – Holding pen
First	11		1	– Won – Appropriate for Qatar
Friends	10		2	– Uniform – Like because it has 2^nd and 3^rd – Clear – Thobe are same – It’s nice how they hold each other – All the shoes black color – Shoes different – They shouldn’t hold their hands, it’s a shame
House	12			– White + door white/gray; It’s big – White + smaller – Two thumbs up – Like our house – Qatari houses are different
Hug	12			– Change clothes color – The girl is hugging her mother – Mom cuz wearing Abaya
I	10	1	1	– Needs arrow on top of head – Picture matches meaning – Full body – Not clear
Mother	10	2		– Add rainbow color + lighten colors to look more happy – Child holding hand + smiling – Put Abaya – Should be in Abaya. I know non-Muslims don’t wear it. Should wear Abaya wherever you go – Black Abaya
Pray	11	1		– I like he’s praying – Like him praying – Put him in the house. You don’t pray in the middle of the road – Clear
Nursery	12			– Kids are playing and smiling – Good – School – The colors are nice – Nice colors
Please	5	2	5	– Add text – She’s saying please and child should be angry – Open hands – Tilt head – Telling secrets – Not clear, I can’t see the two hands – Talk – Greeting
Souq Waqif	10	2		– Add a lot of people – It has Thobe and Abaya – Looks like the old days – Didn’t know – Change the buildings
Pray	7		5	– Needs more colors + full mosque – Not clear – Put someone praying + purple sky – There’s a bird – Didn’t know – It’s a mosque, not clear, maybe add colors. – I prefer the other praying symbol – Add colors
Thank you	8	1	3	– Hand gesture is more I love you ; handshake – Hold and shake hands – I do this for thank you – No hand on chest – He’s saying the national anthem – I don’t use this gesture for thank you – Hands greeting
Travel	10		2	– More sky + men with yellow clothes – Need stairs or bus – Terminal – Dad looks like brother – Add airport
You	10		2	– They should look at each other – Context. Add playground – Clothes are so different and shoes are different – Didn’t know – Not clear – Come
Bye	9	1	2	– Show side profile + say bye to someone else – Sad face for saying bye

Boys on a stand as winners

Overall it was a great voting session with some valuable feedback obtained. Speech therapists reinforced the need for such a project, giving the example of one student who “could not look at” a picture card used for inferencing emotions due to the image of the boys not covering their arms (picture below). Teachers also reported that students felt empowered by giving their feedback, as they had always been accustomed to receiving help, but on this occasion they felt they were able to help others.

An important visit to Cologne by team member Amatullah Kadous

autumn trees along a canal

On the 26^th October Dr. Amal Ahmad, David Banes and I headed to Cologne to meet Professor Jens Boenisch and his team from the University of Cologne. I met Jens and his colleague Lena Schmidt at ISAAC 2016 in Toronto where they were presenting on “Teaching Core and Language in Bilingual Settings “. Jens attended one of our sessions and was so impressed by the work of Tawasol. He realized the potential for future collaboration as Germany welcomed many Arab refugees. He gave me his card and we stayed in touch. Some weeks later Jens emailed me to inform me that his team had received a huge grant to help Arabic refugees and invited me to Cologne along with some of my other colleagues to discuss the possibility of a collaboration.

We arrived to Cologne with a warm welcome from Lena who picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel. The next day was the Cologne team’s presenting day where they presented to us all the amazing research work they had done, were doing and were planning on doing with the refugee project they had recently started. They presented to us about their major core vocabulary study they had been working on for over 5 years. They collected language samples from American and German school aged children as well as typically developing and cognitively impaired students (IQ<75). They sought to see if core vocabulary was the same across language and cognitive abilities. Their research showed that there were minor differences but more than 90% of core words were the same amongst all research groups. They also asked parents/teachers to identify the most commonly used POS that the cognitively impaired group use. They said nouns and verbs. Surprisingly, the percentages of POS used by the cognitively impaired group was very similar to the typically developing children (the highest being pronouns). This conveys that sometimes what we think our cognitively impaired children know can be very different to what they actually know and do. They showed us their cologne communication binders which are a wonderful resource based on 10 years of research into core vocabularies and so important in language learning.

Cologne Communication Boards and Binder

The second day of our Cologne stay was Tawasol’s turn to present. We were keen on setting the scene with the first part – Arabic history, language and culture. I felt it was important to convey this information as in order to be able to work with a group of people that are different to you, it is important to know who they are, the things that have shaped them and the things that are important to them. Only then can understanding be fostered and a bond of trust and rapport building be facilitated. I started with our proud moments in Arab history where the Arab world was the centre of the world in terms of education, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, military strategy and much more. I talked about the complexities of the Arabic language; the syntax – noun and verb root words and how pronouns attach to indicate tense, plural, gender, pronouns etc. and the differences between Arabic and English and how this affects symbol to text translation. I discussed the Arabic letter system and the complexities of having a diacritic system and its implications on young Arabic readers. I discussed the rich culture of the Arabs including the importance of family, food, marriage/pro-creation, the home land, religion and neighbours. I also spoke about Arabic social norms and how that may affect interactions within German society.

Tawasol symbols project overview from E.A. Draffan

It was very insightful for the Cologne team and we agreed that there were many beautiful things that we could learn from each other. I then spoke about the work of Tawasol with a specific focus on the symbol designs and criteria we used in creating our symbols as well as our frequency lists.

We discussed the implications and how we could combine our work to help refugees learn the German language in a quick and effective way to help them integrate. In addition to helping Arabic AAC users learn German, but also explore a means of communication with their Arabic speaking parents. We are very thankful to the Cologne team for their exceptional hospitality and inviting us to help them help Arab refugees settle into their new homeland.

Stay posted for more updates on this collaboration…

Tawasol at ISAAC

I presented “Core Vocabularies: Same or different for Bilingual Language Learning and Literacy Skill building with Symbols?” and together with Dana; “Developing an Arabic Symbol Dictionary for AAC users: Bridging the Cultural, Social and Linguistic Gap”. We received a lot of great feedback about both presentations and many people showed interest in our project. One Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) from Malta approached us having very similar issues with the analysis of core vocabulary. She mentioned that the issues I discussed in my presentation were almost identical to the issues in Maltese and was seeking advice on how to categorise pronouns given their attachment to nouns in the Maltese language.

A few SLPs from Israel approached us seeking advice about resources and access to our symbols as 20% of the population is Arabic speaking. A team from Germany and a team from Sweden were very interested in using our symbols with refugees and the German team were interested in collaborating with us on a project that focused on a German/Arabic symbol dictionary.

Many attendees also found our second presentation very insightful as Dana and I discussed the criteria we used to adapt the symbols to be culturally appropriate. Several commented that they found the Arabic cultural and social norms as well as environmental considerations very different when compared to their personal experiences and were grateful for opening their eyes to things that would have never occurred to them as being offensive or unsuitable.

One of the highlights of this trip was the screening of our film at the ISAAC Film Festival which can now be seen on the Arabic and English home pages of the Tawasol Symbol website. Our film shared the story of Mohammed, an eye gaze user for whom we developed prayer symbols so that he could actively participate in prayer with his family. It was screened alongside approximately 10 other films from around the world and provided such a unique insight into the mix of films presented. Many people approached me after the screening and congratulated the Tawasol team on our “amazing work”, a “wonderful film” and a few took our details as they could see how the prayer symbols could benefit some of their clients.

film festival

For the rest of the week, Dana and I went to sessions with a focus on core vocabularies and where possible in bi-lingual situations. It seemed that the issue of core vocabularies in other languages being quite different to English was a global linguistic challenge; whether it was Spanish, Maltese, Hebrew or German.

We visited the exhibition and saw some great new products and services. At the Boardmaker/TobiiDynavox stand we were shown some of their new apps including SnapScene and Pathways for Snap Scene. In these apps you are able to take pictures, add voice recordings, circle and highlight objects in images as well as label them. Pathways then gives you tips and tools on how to make these pictures an opportunity for communication, social interaction and learning. We also visited VocalID who customise your speech generated device to sound just like you. We topped off our ISAAC 2016 experience by attending the BUILD meeting whose members hope to bring together people working in AAC in developing countries. It was lovely to see/hear the work being done in South Africa, Taiwan, Singapore, Africa and Eastern European countries. It really made us think about creating an ISAAC Arabia or at least get the conversation going as to how we are collectively advancing the status of AAC users in the Arab region.

Quote ISAAC

What We Learnt at ISAAC

ISAAC was an incredible experience. There was so much new research and knowledge that was shared and for me brought to light the significance of continuing education. It made me realise that it is through workshops and seminars at conferences that we become better clinicians and researchers and rid our practices of outdated and ineffective means of intervention.

I kicked off the week by attending the pre-conference workshops. As I waited for the first workshop to begin, I met a lovely lady by the name of Mathilde Suc-Mella from France. She is a teacher by profession but things changed for her when she had her first son who was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome. This was the beginning of their AAC journey. She felt that she had to educate herself on AAC if she was ever going to be able to communicate with her son effectively. She says that AAC resources in France were scarce and until now she has found that the knowledge and resources around AAC are not as advanced as in English speaking countries. She has travelled far and wide and done many courses and trained with some of the best in the field of AAC including Gayle Porter – Creator of the PODD approach. This is when she decided that she wanted to create a PODDs version in French. We shared our challenges of not having core vocabularies in the languages we work in and how different the languages are to English from a linguistic point of view. Her determination to advance the status of AAC in France and to train others in this field was inspiring. She has her own website called CAApables.

As for the workshops themselves, here are some notes I took:

Kathryn Garrett and Joanne Lasker
The AAC-Aphasia Framework: Where do we go now?

AAC is not instantly successful, it takes time because it’s an external means of communication and is practically a new language.
All the evidence suggests that people with Aphasia like supported conversation i.e. a combination of things to convey a message e.g. drawing, simple text, provision of options and circling/crossing correct/incorrect answers etc. However communication partners don’t always offer this to their loved one with Aphasia because “they’re too busy” or they “know what their partner wants” or “find it difficult to pose options” of what the person with aphasia may want.
AAC for those with aphasia tends to be a last resort when therapy isn’t working or they’re discharged. This needs to change.

Aphasia pres Aphasia experts and Tullah

Pat Mirenda
Taking the Initiative: Supporting Spontaneous Communication in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Spontaneous communication is important in providing AAC users with control over their environment and the ability to learn more. It builds self-determination and the ability to communicate when they want and what they want.
Not all AAC users are able to achieve spontaneity because of poor instruction not because they can’t do it. Research shows that people with Autism can provide spontaneous communication most commonly in the form of body language and less so with symbols. This is because people with Autism are very good at doing EXACTLY what you teach them. So if you are only teaching them to communicate in structured conversations that’s exactly what they’ll do.
PECS was designed to promote spontaneous communication but a lot of the time spontaneity is not achieved. Here are some common mistakes clinicians make:
The manual is not read or followed properly
Use of the wrong motivators or the SAME motivators. Motivation is key to the success of PECS
The clinician should NOT be talking at all except when the clinician is given the card by the Person with Autism
The first phase cannot be completed without a physical prompter
Clinician reacting before the symbol card is in their hand
Choosing the wrong time e.g. offering a snack reinforcer straight after lunch
Using more than one symbol in phase 2
Not increasing the distance or not gradually increasing the distance
Failing to take PECS book everywhere
Failing to give what is requested
PECS should be done right through to the end- phase 6. A lot of people stop at phase 3 – requesting
Unfortunately our main goal is to get kids with Autism to ask for things then stop. What about engaging and commenting? Requesting only provides them with limited opportunities.
We sometimes see kids with Autism as less like normal people than more like normal people when the latter is the case.

Carole Zangari and Gloria Soto
Supporting Vocabulary Development in Students Who Use AAC: Practical Approaches for Educators and SLPs

AAC devices should be sufficient enough for use post-school environment. More often than not it has limited vocabulary and is activity based.
There needs to be a focus on core vocabularies and a wider set of vocabulary otherwise you are placing a ceiling on language development.
Sometimes we think that more vocabulary is beyond the capacity of the AAC user but we actually do more harm to the AAC user by limiting vocabulary.
More vocabulary = more opportunities for communication, commenting, and engaging.
Shouldn’t use too many words too soon = confusing and icons become too small
Play-dough should not be the goal, the goal should be the learning of new core word/s through an activity like play dough e.g. “make”
Vocabulary development in typically developing kids/mainstream schools is flawed (vocab books -> pre-test for the week > copy > match to definition > quiz on words i.e. teach / test / Words not taught to be used in context so no generalisation to the real world) So it is expected that when taught to those with learning disabilities it’ll be flawed too.
We should also stay away from teaching for meaning only and not worry about grammar. E.g we let it pass if a student says “I goed there”. Rather we should try to teach the student to fix their sentence e.g. “you said a word wrong in that sentence, can you try to fix it? “You said I goed there, the verb sounds wrong.” “Should it be goed or went?”, “can you say the sentence again using the right verb?” “Does that sound better?” (self-evaluation)
Start off with a smaller set of core words and add words each month- have word of the week/month. Set goals with more and more advanced boards “start with the end in sight”.
Give them the meaning of the word e.g. “upset” – upset means angry, you seem a little upset, you seem a little angry.
Show them how to use words in context of different activities. They don’t have to achieve the word to 80% accuracy all the time, it’s ok to float between 50-80% otherwise it’ll hold them back from learning more.
Incorporate into activities they enjoy/have personal interest in. Use them throughout the day e.g. singing, writing, playing, in surveys. E.g. the word is “go”. Ask them to survey the class – “where do you like to go?”, “How do you go home?”.
Use every opportunity to say the word throughout the day- word bombardment
Can combine core word teaching with curriculum based vocab. E.g.

WEEK1: I, go, me (core) + continue, monotheism, memorise

WEEK2: week 1+ week 2 words

Carole Zangari

What do symbol users think of our symbols?

voting AWSAJ As part of our project, it is essential that AAC users and persons with communication difficulties evaluate our symbols. This will ensure that the very people that will be using them can provide us with feedback and we can tailor the symbols to their needs. The team contacted the Speech Therapy team at AWSAJ Academy for students with special needs to see if we could do a voting session with some of their students. Dr. Biji Philips arranged for 11 students to vote individually, with 15 minute time slots to complete the task. 2 students; a Tobii user with Cerebral Palsy and another with severe Autism required 30-45 minutes.

The students were given 20 of our symbols to vote on and a voting AWSAJ2 thumbs up and thumbs down symbol to communicate their like/dislike for the symbol. Some students preferred to use okay as an option as well. Based on the student’s capacity judged online, Nadine and I asked why they liked/disliked the symbols. Some of the older students were superb and gave us detailed feedback relating to the need for more detailed facial expressions, or adding context to the symbol rather than just characters. Others did not want to let us down and said they liked the majority of the symbols. Here are the results of the voting sessions:

	Good	Ok	Bad	Comments
Hello (Assalumu alaikum)	11	1		– Not clear, waving or speaking – Saying hi and smiling – He tells how are you – Goodbye – Nice because he’s wearing Thobe – Nice clothes – Clear – Goodbye
Rice & Chicken	12			– Only chicken – Doesn’t look like our food – Chicken
Children	10	2		– Not nice hair – Put them in uniform – Boys
Dance	12			– Very nice – Sing – Nice because he’s dancing properly – Nice design
Eat	9	2	1	– Looks angry – I don’t see plate or water; I like that he’s opening his mouth and has spoon – Eat with hands – Don’t wear Thobe when you eat – Holding pen
First	11		1	– Won – Appropriate for Qatar
Friends	10		2	– Uniform – Like because it has 2^nd and 3^rd – Clear – Thobe are same – It’s nice how they hold each other – All the shoes black color – Shoes different – They shouldn’t hold their hands, it’s a shame
House	12			– White + door white/gray; It’s big – White + smaller – Two thumbs up – Like our house – Qatari houses are different
Hug	12			– Change clothes color – The girl is hugging her mother – Mom cuz wearing Abaya
I	10	1	1	– Needs arrow on top of head – Picture matches meaning – Full body – Not clear
Mother	10	2		– Add rainbow color + lighten colors to look more happy – Child holding hand + smiling – Put Abaya – Should be in Abaya. I know non-Muslims don’t wear it. Should wear Abaya wherever you go – Black Abaya
Pray	11	1		– I like he’s praying – Like him praying – Put him in the house. You don’t pray in the middle of the road – Clear
Nursery	12			– Kids are playing and smiling – Good – School – The colors are nice – Nice colors
Please	5	2	5	– Add text – She’s saying please and child should be angry – Open hands – Tilt head – Telling secrets – Not clear, I can’t see the two hands – Talk – Greeting
Souq Waqif	10	2		– Add a lot of people – It has Thobe and Abaya – Looks like the old days – Didn’t know – Change the buildings
Pray	7		5	– Needs more colors + full mosque – Not clear – Put someone praying + purple sky – There’s a bird – Didn’t know – It’s a mosque, not clear, maybe add colors. – I prefer the other praying symbol – Add colors
Thank you	8	1	3	– Hand gesture is more I love you ; handshake – Hold and shake hands – I do this for thank you – No hand on chest – He’s saying the national anthem – I don’t use this gesture for thank you – Hands greeting
Travel	10		2	– More sky + men with yellow clothes – Need stairs or bus – Terminal – Dad looks like brother – Add airport
You	10		2	– They should look at each other – Context. Add playground – Clothes are so different and shoes are different – Didn’t know – Not clear – Come
Bye	9	1	2	– Show side profile + say bye to someone else – Sad face for saying bye

voting AWSAJ 3

Overall it was a great voting session with some valuable feedback obtained. Speech therapists reinforced the need for such a project, giving the example of one student who “could not look at” a picture card used for inferencing emotions due to the image of the boys not covering their arms (picture to the left). Teachers also report that students felt empowered by giving their feedback as they have always been accustomed to receiving help but on this occasion they felt they were able to help others.

Reflections on collecting an Arabic core vocabulary in Qatar

Over the past 2 months I have visited approximately 10 sites across Doha including special needs schools and centres, outpatient speech pathology services and clinics, and child development centres. I have met many wonderful teachers, therapists, support staff, parents, and AAC/symbol users. Throughout my visits, there have been some challenges, but mostly optimism and willingness from support staff to help our team develop the Arabic symbol dictionary.

Through my experiences I have had unprecedented insights into the challenges support staff, symbol users and parents face here in Qatar. The following are some of the things I have gathered from my interviews with support staff of symbol users.

The need for an Arabic and English symbol dictionary

Although this project aims to develop an Arabic symbol dictionary, through discussions with support staff of symbol users it has become apparent that the integration of English into the symbol dictionary is vital. This is due to a few reasons;

With the exception of 2-3 centres in Doha, the majority of therapy and education in Qatar occurs in English. As the majority of support staff come from abroad to work in Qatar, English is very widely used across Qatar.
People in Qatar are not exclusively Qatari with expatriates comprising 86% of Qatar’s population (Qatar Supreme Council of Health, 2012). Qatar showcases a myriad of cultures most of which, speak English. Therefore, an Arabic only symbol dictionary would only serve the needs of a fraction of symbol users in Qatar.
It is common in the Qatari lifestyle to have a maid and a driver. These workers usually come from the Philippines, Nepal or India and usually speak to the family they are working for in English. The nanny usually spends a large amount of time with the child/children and communicates to them most commonly in English. Therefore even for Qatari children it is important that English symbol options are available.

Cultural appropriateness of the symbols

All the therapists I met with agreed that there is a need to make the current symbols used in Qatar culturally appropriate. This is also reinforced by the findings of Hock & Lafi in 2011 who state that ‘Icons or symbols used for AAC systems such as Blissymbols2 and Picture Communication Symbols3 (PCS) are designed to suit western culture and to be written from left-to-write and are therefore not suitable for Arab users’. Here are some examples I found on my visits which show how symbols used in Qatar lack cultural appropriateness.

At one centre, a class of approximately 20 students with a range of conditions including Autism, Down’s syndrome and cognitive impairments all love one specific activity organised by their teacher, a shopping trip. The support staff use the symbol of a coin as a reinforcer throughout the week for good behaviour (image below). At the end of the week the students go shopping at the store close to the centre and depending on how many coins they have accumulated determines how much they can buy from the store. There is only one problem. The symbol for money is ‘one pound’ where as here in Qatar we use Qatari Riyals. For children who already have cognitive challenges and communication difficulties, this can be a very confusing concept to grasp. As we know, children with Autism for example are known to be literal or ‘‘concrete’’ in their thinking (Mesibov, Adams, & Klinger, 1997 in Trembath, Balandin & Rossi, 2005). Due to the difference in perception, they require consistent teaching and consistent feedback from adults and other children to learn effectively.

Upon interviewing a clinical psychologist at a special needs school, she recounted her experiences working with a young Qatari boy. In an activity working on a social story of a boy who went to the park with his family she realised that her student was very confused. She reported that the story and symbols didn’t have a nanny in it and the nanny is the one who usually took him to the park. She also mentioned that through her experience, the family portrait type symbol for family could not reach out to all Qatari children because the family dynamics of the family here are quite different to that of a western family.

Most importantly, the family members in the symbol didn’t look like the normal Qatari family. Take for example the symbol for the mother who is portrayed as having blonde hair and wearing a t-shirt. Conversely, the Qatari mother would most likely be wearing an Abaya (black long dress-covering the whole body) with a hijab (head-scarf). As the research suggests; differences in the perception of symbols can result in “teaching unintended or incorrect meanings for symbols, responding differently to the use of these symbols…and this may have consequences for the child learning AAC, as competent use of AAC systems must be taught” (Trembath, Balandin & Rossi, 2005). This poses many challenges for symbol users in Qatar and support staff in trying to teach them symbols which lack cultural suitability.

Furthermore, numerous teachers communicated that for this dictionary to be effective and to be used widely, the symbols must accommodate for the diversity of the Qatari population. Alongside a symbol of a man wearing traditional Qatari clothes should be an American looking man as well as a Phillipino looking man. This should be the same as the symbol for rice, as there should be a symbol for Machboos rice for Qataris, Fried Rice for Philipinos and Biryani rice for Sub-continental people. In their experience it has caused many communication breakdowns as a Qatari child cannot relate to a fried rice symbol nor can a Philipino child relate to a Machboos symbol nor can any of them relate to a generic symbol for rice. This echoes the findings of Huer 2000 who states that those with different language and life experiences do not perceive graphic symbols in the same manner.

At another centre I visited they used both English and Arabic symbols depending on the needs of the child. They kindly showed me some of the Arabic symbol strips used (attached). The speech therapist had obtained the symbol strips using BoardMaker’s latest Arabic version of the PCS symbols. It was alarming to see how many inaccuracies were portrayed in the symbol strip without the support staff knowing. This is because they are not from Arabic speaking backgrounds and had no choice but to rely on the Arabic version of PCS. Some of the errors included;

Symbol strip ordered from left to right (English order) for an Arabic sentence
The words used were inaccurate and did not make sense. If the content of the strip was translated word by word it would be correct but in the context of the task, it made no sense e.g. ‘reach your arms to’ was translated in Arabic as ‘make your 2 hands arrive to’
Interchangeable use of tense within the same strip
Incorrect grammar – the verb ‘dry’ translated into Arabic as adjective for ‘dry’

It is for these reasons that our project has chosen to use a participatory research methodology as symbols should be selected and modified in consultation with consumers, families, and practitioners especially in situations where practitioners provide support to individuals with cultural/ethnic backgrounds different than their own (Huer, 2000).

Parent awareness

One teacher highlighted the need for our team to educate parents on how to use symbols at home. She recounted a few incidents with Arab and Qatari parents speaking to their child attending the centre in broken English. They believed it was the best for their child given their teachers, therapists, and nannies speak in English. The teacher was concerned that this further isolates the child from the rest of the family as the rest of the family mostly speaks Arabic. The child can’t interact with cousins and family friends and is seen as different because he/she is the only child that the family speaks to in English. This may make the child feel that he/she doesn’t ‘belong’ in the home environment.

Overall, my interviews were very insightful and many issues arose regarding issues with current symbols used for children in Qatar. It gave our team many interesting things to ponder about and many challenges to overcome. It is through these interviews that it was reinforced to me and our team the great need for the Arabic symbol dictionary here in Qatar and across the Arab world. Our team are very hopeful that through this project, symbol users in Qatar can have the opportunity and the liberty to communicate the way they need to in their given environment.

References

Hock, B. S. & Lafi , S., M. (2011). Assistive Communication Technologies for Augmentative Communication in Arab Countries: Research Issues. UNITAR e-Journal, 7(1), 57-66.

Huer, M. B. (2000). Examining perceptions of graphic symbols across cultures: Preliminary study of the impact of Culture/Ethnicity. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 16(3), 180-185.

Trembath, D., Balandin, S., & Rossi, C. (2005) Cross-cultural practice and autism. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 30(4), 240-242.

Supreme Council of Health, Qatar(2012). SCH Annual report 2012. Doha, Qatar. Retrieved from http://www.nhsq.info/app/media/540.

Student comments

Good

Ok

Bad

Comments

Hello (Assalumu alaikum)

11

1

– Not clear, waving or speaking

– Saying hi and smiling

– He tells how are you

– Goodbye

– Nice because he’s wearing Thobe

– Nice clothes

– Clear

– Goodbye

Rice & Chicken

Children

Dance

Eat

First

Friends

House

Hug

I

Mother

Pray

Nursery

Please

Souq Waqif

Pray

Thank you

Travel

You

Bye