Communicating if you can't talk

An important part of Symbol for Windows programs is aimed at enabling people with a speech impediment to communicate. Symbol for Windows is fit for people with (a combination of) aphasia, spasms, cerebral palsy, a mental handicap or a severe motional or physical handicap. The main module used for person to person communication is the Personal Communicator. Symbols or words are selected or typed on a screen, and pronounced by the speech synthesizer. In this way, the Personal Communicator becomes the voice of the user.

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Speech in the Personal Communicator

The possibilities to create speech with the Personal Communicator are virtually unlimited. You can use as many words, sentences, symbols with their meanings, computercommands, etc, as you like. Since Symbol for Windows works on an ordinary computer, you can choose which speech synthesizer you would like to install. This means you can choose any speech synthesizer that works on a Windows platform, from the standard Microsoft voices to more sophisticated voices, men's, women's or children's voices. This also means you are not bound by a maximum number of sentences:

Automatic speech output

With the automatic speech output (with the use of a speech synthesizer), an unlimited number of combinations can be made by typing symbols. The symbols are placed in the so-called sentence bar and subsequently read aloud.

Recorded speech

It is also possible to record phrases, sentences or words directly from the Personal Communicator, or link an existing audio file to a field in the selection set, like a story or a song. This is very easy to do, using a special dialogue window "field properties" that can be accessed by right clicking on a cell in the selection set. The selection sets in the Personal Communicator could be expanded to comprise hundreds of pages if you'd like, so the amount of recorded speech is only limited by your computer's capacity to store files and how many pages an end-user can handle in a given selection set.

Auditory feedback

It is possible to install a second voice, that gives feedback on navigation for the user. This voice can be activated during selection of fields or entering or exiting a page for example.

Alternative Control

Those users that can't use mouse and keyboard because of a motional or physical impairment, can control the Personal Communicator using different kinds of switches, eye-control, or adapted mouse or button. For more information, visit the page about alternative control.

Symbols or text

It is possible to have the Personal Communicator say texts, that have been written in letters. It is also possible to get support while writing words, using word prediction (flexlex licence required), which makes typing quicker. But most of the time symbols are used, for several reasons:

Especially for people who were born with a speech impediment, it can be hard to learn to write alphabetical text, because letters are based on the sounds they represent. Writing with symbols is not based on sound, but on meaning. Children can learn how to communicate with symbols from a very young age.
Symbol communication is used by people with a mental handicap, who can't read or write, or have difficulty learning it. Writing with symbols can either replace text-based writing here, or be an aid in learning how to read and write with letters.
Most of the time, typing symbols is faster than typing text.

With the Personal Communicator, many different symbol libraries can be used, aswell as your own pictures and photographs.

More possibilities

These other Symbol for Windows programs may be of interest to you:

Learning symbols: symbols can be learned by playing games like (Memory, Multiple Choice and Shuffle). These Symbol for Windows games can be controlled by alternative input-devices (including eye-control) or by regular or adapted mouse or keyboard, just like the Personal Communicator.
Reading and writing, with symbols, or with alphabetical text (with or without support) can be done using the Symbol for Windows word processor, the Document Maker. This program can be used with all alternative control types, too. In this program, a button is provided to switch directly to the Personal Communicator, without de-activating the alternative control method used at the time. The Personal Communicator has a button to switch to the Document Maker.

Do you work with/for people with a disability or are you a family member? These programs make working with symbols easier for you, too:

A (speech) therapist can create (communication)charts, communication device overlays and other materials with the same symbols that are used at home or at school/day care centre.(Paper Chart Maker)
The selection sets can be created within the Personal Communicator module itself. With the Vocabulary Maker, this can be done even easier, by simply clicking and dragging. Read more about both possibilities on the page about Symbol for Windows for parents and professionals.
You can create and manage your own symbol databases using the Image Manager. Read more about this program on the page about Symbol for Windows for parents and professionals.

These last three programs can only be controlled by mouse and/or keyboard.