Symbol Courses at Find A Voice

Communicate In Print 2 and Workshops

Booking dates available

Every Tuesday 9.30am 4.00pm

Please call for availability 01233 640443

or email joy@findavoice.org.uk

We take Bookings from People interested in the Communicate in Print Course from across the country.

You will receive a compresensive introduction to Communicate In Print 2.

Learn about the Coloured Widgit Rebus Symbols and how to change symbol colours.

Import pictures, make multi-page documents, manipulate,group together images,make tables and flash cards and customised borders.

Explore examples of real-life symbols use from

Symbols Inclusion Project and Find A Voice

The purpose of the workshops will offer you the chance to put Communicate In Print to practical use. Symbols are helpful in a wide variety of ways: both at Home,School,Day Centres and Residential Homes.

You will be able to look at a large selection of resources that have been used successfully in different environments.

Karen Clarke has joined the Find A Voice Team to support the symbol training.

 Widget Training Booking Form

What are Symbols?

In this context, they are a visual way of giving information which is easier and  quicker to assimilate than writing.

Symbols can be used by and with people who have speech, language and communication needs and/or learning difficulties.   They can be ‘objects of reference’, photographs or specially designed graphics.

Usually one symbol = one concept.   

For example:

House = 

         Symbols can be

• ‘Objects of Reference’

• Photographs

• Specially Designed Graphics.

My client J using Widgit Rebus symbols read her first document ever aged 30ish. A very emotional moment! Day services worker, Kent.

       'Objects of Reference’

Example: a parent shows child their swimming costume to tell them they are going swimming

For more information see:

www.ace-centre.org.uk/html/resources/objectsref

          Photos

   Can be used on:

          Graphic Symbol Sets

As people have used computers, special sets of symbols have been created to support communication.

Here are some examples:

Widgit Literacy Symbols(also known as Rebus symbols) (black and white and colour)

PCS Symbols (black and white and colour)

Makaton Symbols(black and white only)

drink       biscuit      car        

Please note: Illustrations of signing are not symbols :

Illustration of Makaton 'Car' Sign

Symbols can be for concrete concepts as above or for more abstract ideas, for example:

Ways of Using Symbols

Symbols can be used in a huge range of ways.

These are only a few examples:

• Labelling the Environment such as cupboards, doors, menu boards etc.
• Giving ‘word’ banks for activities such as projects, story telling etc
• A Communication Book where a person points to symbols to communicate
• A Work Sheet or On-Screen Educational Activity
• To give information about your rights.
• On Communication Aids

Symbols are an important aspect of Augmentative and Alternative Communication and can help in many different situations. Symbols use must be seen as part of a bigger picture including the use of objects, photos and the incorporation of symbols in communication aids.

Find A Voice provides:

• Widgit Communicate in Print, Widgit Communicate: By Choice, Communicate: Webwide, Widgit Writing With Symbols 2000 and Boardmaker. You can try out the software at our centre. To book a session contact joy@findavoice.org.uk or phone 01233 640443
  

• Symbol Resources
  We will be delighted to assist  parents/carers  to make up overlays, a time table etc.  Professionals  can consult us for a reasonable fee.More about symbols. Examples of work we have undertaken include a residents' brochure, a complaints policy, and overlays for communication aids borrowed from our library.
  

• We have a leaflet explaining more about symbols.

• Courses- see above.
  

MORE EXAMPLES OF HOW TO USE SYMBOLS

You can find examples from the Widgit Symbols Inclusion Project. click here to go to the SiP website. Here are some more.

.

1. Picture Exchange-  used in the PECS programme, especially helpful for children with autistic spectrum. Tim learns to exchange symbol cards to structure his language.

2. Choice Boards-Jenny has a menu board showing different breakfast cereals and points to the square showing weetabix. Sally has an activity sheet and chooses the square showing a horse to tell mum she went riding.

3. Calendars & Timetables etc. -Detachable symbols for each lesson help Jamie structure his day. When he has finished PE he removes the symbol for PE and knows it is time for story-time. This reduces his anxiety and reinforces good behaviour in class.

4. Personal Passport-Colourful symbols and photos show Helen’s 20 different carers what her basic needs are, her likes and dislikes and how she shows her likes and dislikes. Helen recognises the book and relates to it better than a type-written sheet-so do her carers!

5. Aid to Literacy- Vince can read but finds the symbolised agenda for his review much easier to follow. He also  finds symbolised instructions much easier to follow e.g. the one at his day centre reminding him how to turn off the computer. Some of the symbols he uses are quite abstract e.g. ‘were’, ‘many’, but learning them has helped his spoken and written language.

6. Communication Aid Overlay

Simon’s Supervoca has four different levels, for each his carer has created a different printed laminated overlay with Widgit Rebus symbols. Bridget’s dynamic screen communication aid has been programmed with dynamic pages of PCS symbols- several thousand are available.

7. Talking mats - a low tech communication framework involving sets of symbols which are attached to carpet mats. They help people arrive at decisions by presenting information in small chunks supported by symbols. For more information about mats and training click here

WHICH SYMBOL SET?

There are now three widely used symbol sets: Makaton, Widgit Literacy symbols (WLS -also known as Rebus) and PCS. Computer software has made it easy to produce lots of attractive materials in symbols format, ranging from individual flash cards to symbolised versions of poems.

The choice of symbol set may depend on various factors including

• Integration with Signing System - Makaton has its own symbol set
• Existing Use of symbol set in school or other setting
• Attractiveness to user e.g. some people like colour PCS or WLS symbols , others find colour distracting
• Cultural Factors- PCS is more influenced by US culture, WLS has many symbols for UK National Currriculum.
• Ideally only one set would be used- but many people will use a selection of those symbols from they find meaningful regardless of set.
• Photos will usually be preferred when referring to a specific person. Widgit and Boardmaker software will both allow you to import photos.

WHICH SOFTWARE?

• Widgit Communicate in Print is a new Desktop Publishing (DTP) symbols programme useful for people producing printed documents with lots of symbols e.g. menus, resident's brochure, healthy living guide. It also has text- to-speech capabilities.  This programme also has a set of colour rebus symbols which can be easily edited to produce for example appropriate skin colour or colour of car/garment etc.

• CIP is part of a new suite of symbols products being produced by Widgit including Webwide, a web browser which displays web pages in symbol format. A new addition to the suite is Widgit - Communicate: By Choice and Communicate Sym Writer is to be added soon. Organisations who are just beginning to use symbols should have a good look at the Communicate range. You will soon be able to purchase PCS symbols to use with Communicate in Print.  For more details click here.

• Makaton symbols are available on CD, but must be used with another software package.

• Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker is available in the UK. It is quite expensive but produces very attractive materials. You can edit the PCS symbols which is very useful. The sister package Speaking Dynamically Pro  (which allows you to make dynamic speaking symbols pages for your computer) is also very useful.

• Widgit Writing With Symbols 2000 allows you to use WLS, Makaton and PCS symbols interchangeably. The programme has many useful features. You can also use the programme to make writing environments for service users. This programme is the older Widgit product so is not suitable for new users. It will shortly be superseded by Communicate: SymWriter.

The rule is usually:

'Try Before You Buy'

So if you live in Kent, it may be helpful

to visit our centre.

We are a Widget Training Centre providing Courses in Communicate and

Writing with Symbols.

Karen Clarke

Teacher Using Symbols

Learn how to make Resources like these!

One of our popular training days

Symbols Inclusion Project.

Symbol on a Communication Aid

Makaton Symbols

PCS Symbols

Widget Rebus Symbols(Colour)