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Home > Vocabulary
Selection > Independent Communication
Vocabulary Selection Strategies
For Independent Communication
The process of selecting vocabulary for the Independent Communicator
is completely unlike the process for the individual with emerging or context-dependent
communication. This is for two primary reasons:
1) The Independent Communicator is able, by definition, to spell anything
she needs to say, so the only reason to pre-program vocabulary is to
make communication faster or more efficient.
2) Because she can spell, the Independent Communicator can tell you
exactly what messages or phrases are necessary for speed enhancement.
Improving Efficiency through Vocabulary
There are many processes involved in speeding up communication for the
user. We will cover the basic approaches that are used.
Strategy #22: Programming Predictable
Messages for Quick Retrieval
Some communication can be faster if predictable and/or lengthy messages
are stored as whole units and the user is provided a quick way to retrieve
them. For example, the AAC user might welcome an easy way to produce messages
such as:
* Please do not interrupt me!
* (For telephone): I use a computer to talk. Please wait while I compose
my message.
* Help! My wheelchair is stuck. Please push me to the curb.
There are other examples of "control" phrases that serve this
purpose among the other vocabulary at the Barkley
Augmentative and Alternative Communication Center Website at the University
of Nebraska, Lincoln.
This vocabulary must then be stored in a way that permits rapid retrieval.
Here are some of the ways:
1) Retrieval through Encoding:
Encoding can be used to speed up communication for single words or
for entire messages. Items are programmed so that they can be retrieved
with a code of 2 or 3 keystrokes. There are many types of encoding systems,
discussed in the Rate Enhancement
Features in the Features
Module.
Icon encoding: Minspeak:
Minspeak encoding is available in devices from Prentke-Romich,
Inc.
Abbreviations or alphabetic codes:
e.g. PW = "Please wait for me to finish talking."
Alphanumeric codes:
e.g. H1 = "Help me, please." H2 = "Please move my left
leg back onto the foot rest."
Numeric codes:
e.g. 1,2 = "I am hungry now."
According to Prentke-Romich, Inc. a static or unchanging selection
set permits the fastest overall communication rates. The explanation
is "automaticity" - if the selection set remains the same,
the movements involved in communication can become automatic.
2) Retrieval through optimum placement
If encoding is not used, then urgent or high frequency messages must
be placed in a location that is easy to get to at all times. For example,
in a device with dynamic displays, these phrases may be placed on a
master page or on a page that has links from every page. In a communication
notebook, these phrases may appear on the left side of every two-page
spread.
Strategy #23: Using Prediction for Rate
Enhancement
There are many ways that a device or a partner can predict the next selection
or selections during communication. These prediction types were discussed
in Rate Enhancement Features
in the Features Module.
For example:
Word Completion
Predicting the end of a word, based on the first letters typed by
the user (e.g. the word "equipment" is predicted after the
user types "eq".)
Next Word Prediction
This method predicts words based on research into word pairs (bi-grams)
or trios of words (tri-grams). So, for example, numbers like "Two"
result in the prediction of only plural nouns (e.g. homes, houses, horses).
Linguistic Prediction:
Offering words that agree in case and number based on the preceding
words in the text. e.g. the present tense "swimming" after
"He likes to go s-w-" This type of prediction is not yet available,
although several manufacturers are working on it.
Icon Prediction:
This works primarily on Minspeak systems. To use Minspeak, the individual
must select two or three symbols for each utterance or each word in
an utterance. After selecting the first one, there is only a limited
set of possibilities for the second symbol and even fewer possibilities
for the third symbol. These possible icons are lit for the user to find
them faster.
There is considerable debate about whether and to what extent prediction
increases the overall rate of communication or serves mainly to reduce
fatigue of the user. These debates are going on fast and furiously in
our field.
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Strategies
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