Symbols and symbolic languages
What are symbols and symbolic languages?
Some people with disabilities are not able to use speech as their principle means of communication. They may however be able to use an alternative method of communication such as symbols and symbolic languages.
It is important to understand that symbols are different from pictures. Pictures generally convey a lot of information at once but their focus is often unclear.
Symbols, on the other hand, are often designed to convey a particular meaning. Symbols or symbolic languages can be used to represent many aspects of verbal communication.
Symbols can be presented through visual, auditory or tactile media and can take the form of gestures, photos, manual signs, printed words, objects, reproduced spoken words or Braille.
Types of symbols
Symbols can include simple body movements, such as nodding the head, shrugging the shoulders and other gestures that are widely understood within a given culture. Symbol systems, such as single-meaning icons, can provide a means of basic communication ranging from simple, unambiguous responses like ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ to more complex concepts like feelings (‘happy’, ‘sad or ‘hungry’).
There are a variety of symbols and symbol-based languages that can be used to express more complex types of communication and that allow individuals to interact and convey cause and effect responses. These have generally been developed for users and listeners who have difficulty with understanding written or verbal language, for example for adults or children with learning difficulties such as autistic spectrum disorders.
A range of formalised symbol sets now exists, for example, Pictorial Communication Symbols (PCS), Minspeak and Makaton Symbols.
Facilitating effective communication
Longer and more complex messages can be presented through different media of varying technical complexities, ranging from individual cards, paper charts and communication boards through to computer display programs and voice output devices. All of these systems have a common purpose, however – to provide an individual with the means to communicate more effectively, regardless of their disability.
Useful links
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An article from the BRITE initiative looking at techniques for including images in your materials. This will enhance the quality of your information and create more inclusive and visually dynamic learning materials.
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The Widget Software website provides a comprehensive and informative range of symbol related resources. For those who are new to symbols or want to find out how symbols are used or discover ideas as to how symbols can be used then this is a valuable resource. Additionally, the Widget site gives an overview of the various symbol systems with relevant graphical images that clearly identifies each symbol set. The 'Symbol World' section is an exciting and innovative example of how symbols can be used to communicate information on the web in an engaging, informative way providing a very inclusive environment.
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The CALL Centre contains a list of symbol based downloads, many of which are free. These include resources for Boardmaker, Clicker, and personal Passport resources, (a way of documenting and presenting information about children and adults with disabilities who are unable to speak for themselves).
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An additional resource from the CALL Centre is ‘Communicating with Pictures and Symbols’ a set of collected papers from a recent conference. Some of the chapters are available for free download.
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The World-Wide Augmentative and Alternative Communication (WWAAC) project, funded by the European Commission, is a European initiative to make web and email-based technology more accessible to people with communication, language and/or cognitive impairments. The section ‘AAC and the Internet’ is an extremely informative overview of how symbols can be used on the Internet and for email to enable symbol users to communicate with each other. A main theme of the project was the development of a symbol based Internet browser. This can be downloaded from the ‘software’ link. The ‘Partners’ link also provides a useful insight as to how symbol based communication is being researched in other parts of Europe.
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Developed by Sensory Software, ‘The Grid’ is an engaging software program that allows individuals with communication difficulties to communicate with symbols. The Grid contains a range of pre-stored grids or symbol sets that allow users to write and communicate with symbols. The Grid is switch accessible and features speech output. Also designed by Sensory Software is a word prediction program called Prototype. One advantage of Prototype is its ability to predict symbols and use speech to identify words that are being predicted.
Image on this page kindly provided by Inclusive Technology.