<h2>Readiness for AAC</h2>
<p>We believe that people should be involved in decisions about their communication and AAC.  We recognise that early conversations about AAC can be challenging so this resource aims to support these conversations and to provide people with the time and space to think about whether they are ‘ready’ for AAC.</p>
<div class="rounded-img aligncenter wp-image-23860 size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://acecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Screenshot-2020-07-24-at-14.31.25-300x189.png" alt="" width="300" height="189" /></div>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">This <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Readiness-for-AAC-Script.pdf">Readiness for AAC Script</a> is provided for free to allow </span><span data-contrast="auto">Teachers, </span><span data-contrast="auto">Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">etc. to facilitate a discussion about ‘Readiness for AAC’ with their clients.  </span><span data-contrast="auto">The right time for this discussion will vary from person to person but examples include: when AAC is first being considered, when provision of AAC via local funding is being considered, when referral to a regional hub for </span><span data-contrast="auto">Specialised</span><span data-contrast="auto"> AAC service is being considered.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Th</span><span data-contrast="auto">e </span><span data-contrast="auto">resource was funded by Ace Centre and </span><span data-contrast="auto">created collaboratively with Talking</span><span data-contrast="auto"> </span><span data-contrast="auto">Mats  (</span><a href="http://www.talkingmats.com/"><span data-contrast="none">www.talkingmats.com</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">)</span><span data-contrast="auto">. </span><span data-contrast="auto"> A script, the symbols and a demo video are provided – you just need </span><span data-contrast="auto">to bring the </span><span data-contrast="auto">doormat! (or improvise with </span><span data-contrast="auto">a piece of card or old carpet!</span><span data-contrast="auto">) </span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}"> </span></p>


Readiness for AAC We believe that people should be involved in decisions about their communication and AAC. We recognise that early conversations about AAC can be challenging so this resource aims to support these conversations and to provide people with the time and space to think about whether they are ‘ready’ for AAC. This Readiness…

Talking Mats for AAC

<p><b>There are a huge array of apps available on app stores and a wide range of solutions from commercial suppliers to help you communicate when you are literate and want to &#8216;type out a message&#8217;.</b></p>
<p><b>We&#8217;re often asked which resource is &#8220;best&#8221; but there is nothing that&#8217;s &#8220;best&#8221; for everyone!</b><br />
<b>Instead, to help you find the right solution for you, it&#8217;s worthwhile to think about what features these AAC resources have and think about what features you need.</b></p>
<p><b>To help with this we&#8217;ve compiled a set of videos (below) with information about the features to look for in text-based AAC resources.  You might want to use the checklist form to jot down the features you think you&#8217;ll need &amp; then you can use the comparison chart form to help you keep track when you&#8217;re looking at a few AAC resources.</b></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="rounded-img wp-image-27354 alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://acecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Keyboard_green-circle_with-words-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="107" height="143" /></div>
<p><b>Note</b>: Please note that we are only looking at the features of electronic AAC resources for when you can type with your hands/fingers and spell. If you find typing difficult or need a solution which uses pictures (symbols) then please consult your specialist AAC service for advice.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="responsive-embed widescreen"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Electronic Text Based AAC" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>Forms</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://backend.acecentre.org.uk/resources/electronic-text-based-features-checklist">Electronic text-based features checklist</a></li>
<li><a href="https://backend.acecentre.org.uk/resources/electronic-text-based-comparison-chart">Electronic text-based comparison chart</a></li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>Links to each video chapter:</b></p>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av5ETBBJZ0E&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=1">Understanding the features of electronic text based AAC: Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX_E1YlQrBk&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=2">Appearance</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K_TrO6kRds&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=3">Keyboard Layout</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uo895KtPds&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=4">Word Prediction</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRtfOqDRTs&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=5">Sentence Prediction</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zth03mFGRFA&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=6">Letter Codes/Abbreviation Expansions</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCmp4FBip7w&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=7">Phrase banking</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18I-CF6Zim8&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=8">Voice Options</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qp2lLlEcX4&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=9">Conversation Control</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggs99tUEJfk&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=10">Integrated Controls</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQUN_gjB76k&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tu7lzeJiyPqHnUUJpNK5drL&amp;index=11">Summary &amp; Next Steps</a></li>
</ol>


There are a huge array of apps available on app stores and a wide range of solutions from commercial suppliers to help you communicate when you are literate and want to ‘type out a message’. We’re often asked which resource is “best” but there is nothing that’s “best” for everyone! Instead, to help you find…

Understanding the Features of Electronic Text Based AAC

<p>When working with people who are literate but have difficulty accessing the computer using direct access methods &#8211; switches may often be looked at. With these people, we are trying to find the most efficient methods of communication. Morse code is a <strong>really</strong> efficient system for many people  &#8211; and this inspirational book by <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Morse-Code-Rehabilitation-Education/dp/0205287514/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=morse+code+rehabilitation&amp;qid=1566212659&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-3">Thomas W. King</a> (sadly now out of print &#8211; but made available <a href="https://www.adaptivedesign.org/morse-code?utm_campaign=434ded0c-1c9e-476b-b2c7-0a39c9f0ac86&amp;utm_source=so">online here </a>thanks to Adaptive Design) documents some excellent case studies. <a href="https://kpronline.com/blog/morse-code-for-access-what-do-we-know/">Sadly though few people are shown it or use it &#8211; and we need more documented case studies to explore why this is the case</a>.</p>
<p>AAC products that are now focused on Morse as an input method are limited but products such as the <a href="http://tandemmaster.org/home.html">Tandem Master</a> and the <a href="https://www.specialneedscomputers.ca/index.php?l=product_detail&amp;p=4948">Darci USB</a> exist to fill the void. These devices aid people who are familiar with Morse as they act as a Keyboard/Mouse for any PC. Using text to speech software it&#8217;s then <em>fairly</em> straightforward to &#8220;type&#8221; with Morse and get the text to speech software to speak. Most recently <a href="https://experiments.withgoogle.com/collection/morse">Google </a>has taken up Tania&#8217;s TandemMaster and released Morse as an input method on their GBoard app for Android and iOS (<a href="https://kpronline.com/blog/morse-code-typing-for-the-ipad/">Read some instructions on getting this working here</a>)  But what if you are new to morse?</p>
<p><a href="https://morse.withgoogle.com/learn">Well there are some excellent resources written by Google (see here)</a>, and you can try some great audio mnemonic files (this is an excellent resource by the way which will have you saying such phrases as MaWaWa all day long.. (and imagine a baby crying); <a href="https://cq2k.com/index.html">Code Quick</a>) &#8211; and there are a whole heap of <a href="https://socialmed13.wixsite.com/adaptivedesigninc/morse-code">resources compiled by Adaptive Design here</a>)</p>
<p>To add to these resources we wanted to make a smoother transition to devices such as GBoard or the Tandem Master. Something that allowed a user to use the same codeset &#8211; and deals with prediction  &#8211; which significantly speeds up writing (as shown with GBoard). But also &#8211; we wanted something that gave the user more immediate feedback as to what they are typing. MorseWriter was envisaged to do this by giving a visual indicator of the keys that can be activated by greying out keys.</p>
<p>For example. Lets type &#8220;Hello&#8221; (NB: We have prediction turned off in this video)</p>
<p><video autoplay="autoplay" loop="loop" muted="" controls="controls" width="522" height="150"><source src="https://i.gyazo.com/eecacb0ca6ce69d1e95ac06ffea7344d.mp4" type="video/mp4" /></video></p>
<p>Notice how the letters are greyed out depending on the next possible Morse code that you can use. We hope that over time this will help with typing with Morse.</p>
<p>Other features supported:</p>
<ul>
<li>Full Keyboard and Mouse access across the computer</li>
<li>Supports one switch Morse, Two switch or three switches</li>
<li>Can be resized and remembers the location. A config screen starts up the first time its run and then doesn&#8217;t show unless the user access it in the taskbar (this has been vital when we leave it with clients for a long period of time and don&#8217;t have great access to the screen)</li>
<li>Font can be resized</li>
<li>Predictions are continually learnt (NB: We make use of the excellent <a href="https://presage.sourceforge.io">Presage prediction engine</a>)</li>
<li>Morse codesets can be modified and moved from one computer to another.</li>
</ul>
<p>Want to try it? Download <a href="https://github.com/AceCentre/MorseWriter/releases/download/v0.0.4-alpha/MorseCode-x86_64.zip">it here</a>, and add your switches to the computer to get going. Find a bug or want to help with the software? <a href="https://github.com/AceCentre/MorseWriter/">See all the code and issues etc here on GitHub. </a></p>
<p><strong>Please note &#8211; this is very much a development project and we can only work on this when we get funding. Want to help? <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/get-involved/donate">Donate here and let us know</a>!</strong></p>
<p>Credits:</p>
<ul>
<li>Our clients who have driven us to do this</li>
<li>Jim Lubin who was instrumental in our early chats about this. Jim uses a sip and puff switch with morse code really well. <a href="https://www.makoa.org/jlubin/closeup.htm">He has a great website</a></li>
<li>Thomas W. King and the clients he documented in his fantastic book</li>
<li>Tania Finlayson and the Tandem Master</li>
<li>The team behind the Darci USB system</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjSUjr3ZDlw">Steven Salmon</a></li>
</ul>


When working with people who are literate but have difficulty accessing the computer using direct access methods – switches may often be looked at. With these people, we are trying to find the most efficient methods of communication. Morse code is a really efficient system for many people – and this inspirational book by Thomas W.…

MorseWriter

<p><b>You Matter is a set of two training courses that are designed to support and empower those around children who are using aided communication (Augmentative and Alternative Communication).</b></p>
<blockquote><p> “A brilliant course! Should be available to all parents, carers and teaching assistants involved with AAC”<br />
Course Participant</p></blockquote>
<p>You Matter <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/resources/you-matter/">Family Edition</a> is a two day (or eight session) course that brings together families and professionals on an equal footing in order to identify practical and positive ways forward to meet children’s aided communication needs.</p>
<p>You Matter <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/resources/matter-education-edition/">Education Edition</a> is a one day course that is designed to be delivered to education staff who work with children who use aided communication.</p>
<p>The You Matter courses are designed to be delivered by professionals that are experienced in the field. The course packs contain everything needed to run a successful course, from the course Powerpoint which is full of video examples, detailed notes on delivery, to the handouts.</p>
<p>The courses were developed as a direct result of the authors’ concerns that there appeared to be insufficient aided communication support offered. Children using aided communication experience very specific needs, and those supporting them often appear isolated.</p>
<p>You Matter courses are not about the many forms of aided communication. Instead, the courses focus purely on the underlying concept of communicating through aided communication, and on the importance of those surrounding the child. The most important message conveyed is that You Matter.</p>
<h2>What&#8217;s in the course?</h2>
<p>You Matter is divided into eight short sessions to be run flexibly, for example, over two full days or four morning, afternoon or evening sessions.</p>
<h3>Session One</h3>
<p>The first session aims to introduce participants, draw out their hopes and concerns, recognise the pressures they may be under and explore their expectations of the course. Overall aims for the course will be agreed during this session, matching what the participants want to gain with the information provided within the course content.</p>
<h3>Sessions Two and Three</h3>
<p>These sessions look at facilitating communication through aided systems. This is done by considering:</p>
<ul>
<li>What is meant by communication</li>
<li>The five stages of communication development using aided systems</li>
<li>How to select vocabulary at the right level for a child</li>
<li>How participants’ communication affects the child’s progress</li>
<li>How participants’ communication will change as the child gains skills.</li>
</ul>
<p>After the first three sessions, participants can be offered the opportunity to be videoed at home or in school with their child. The aim is to help participants to review their own style of interaction as well as express privately any concerns they may have about their child using aided communication.</p>
<h3>Session Four</h3>
<p>Session Four reviews the video experience and looks at involving others in the child’s communication system. It includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>The difficulties faced by children using aided communication when learning to communicate through their system.</li>
<li>The different types of communication we all use.</li>
<li>How the participants’ role changes as the child gains skill.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Sessions Five, Six and Seven</h3>
<p>These sessions bring in feedback from the video sessions, looking at where perceived communication problems lie, and address areas the participants choose to focus on. Session Seven finishes by discovering participants’ longer term aims for their child’s communication and looks at setting achievable goals for the future.</p>
<h3>Session Eight</h3>
<p>The final session is an additional half day which looks at each child’s personal aided communication system. Participants need to bring in their child’s system and either the appropriate communication aid supplier or someone who is familiar with the different systems needs to be available. It’s a session for participants to gain confidence with the programming of the systems, and/or the creation of pages or other low tech materials. A variety of activities are included during the course for participants to investigate some of the issues through working together in small groups.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h2>About the Authors</h2>
<h3>Amanda Bousaki _(Central and North West London (CNWL) Foundation Trust &#8211; Milton Keynes)</h3>
<p>Amanda is the Head of Paediatrics and Adult Learning Disability in Milton Keynes CHS. She is an experienced speech and language therapist who has worked within the field of AAC for the over fifteen years.</p>
<h3>Deborah Pugh (Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust)</h3>
<p>Deborah is a specialist speech and language therapist and has worked for many years with children with complex communication difficulties. She is a member of the Northamptonshire AAC Team.</p>
<h3>Clare Latham</h3>
<p>Clare is a retired specialist speech and language therapist. She is a well-known author in the field of AAC, and worked extensively in the field of paediatric learning disability.</p>
<p>The courses have been developed in collaboration with the Ace Centre</p>
<h3>How the course was developed</h3>
<p>The course is the outcome of the You Matter project which was carried out as part of the Becta Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) Innovative Projects funding stream.</p>
<p>The project aimed to highlight the importance of providing training for parents and closely-involved professionals in supporting a child using aided communication. There were two very different models of training courses, each offering contrasting perspectives on how parent-directed training could be successfully delivered.</p>
<p>As a result, the project has developed a range of ideas for putting training into practice leading to the same desired outcomes for parents, professionals and ultimately the child. During the training, all those taking part were asked to provide extensive feedback to inform this structure of the course. In addition, opportunities for in-depth discussion were provided during workshops which followed the delivery of the courses. These workshops included managers of services as well several lead/highly specialist speech and language therapists who had been delivering.</p>
<h2>Costs</h2>
<p><strong>Price:  <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/resources/matter-education-edition/">Education Edition: £105 plus P&amp;P (VAT is payable)</a>, <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/resources/you-matter/">Family Edition: £155 plus P&amp;P</a></strong></p>
<p>The price quoted is for the full You Matter bundle, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>1 x Tutor Guide &amp; resource pack, plus Tutor DVD &amp; CD</li>
<li>10 x Your Guide &amp; resource packs for participants</li>
</ul>
<p>Additional packs for participants can also be purchased separately:</p>
<ul>
<li>1 x Your Guide &amp; resource pack for participants &#8211; £15 plus P&amp;P (VAT is payable)</li>
<li>5 x Your Guide &amp; resource packs for participants  &#8211; £62.50 plus P&amp;P (VAT is payable)</li>
<li>10 x Your Guide &amp; resource packs for participants &#8211; £100 plus P&amp;P (VAT is payable)</li>
</ul>


You Matter is a set of two training courses that are designed to support and empower those around children who are using aided communication (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). “A brilliant course! Should be available to all parents, carers and teaching assistants involved with AAC” Course Participant You Matter Family Edition is a two day (or…

You Matter

<p><strong>Speakbook is a simple communication tool that was developed by Patrick Joyce who had Motor Neurone Disease (MND / ALS). Understanding the progression of his condition and the needs of others, Patrick realised that there was a need for a cheap and easy-to-use way of communicating for people who are able to read and spell and can move their eyes, but struggle to point with their finger or hand.</strong></p>
<p>Speakbook is a template for a communication book which you populate with your own messages. It also provides access to an alphabet chart. While originally developed with MND in mind, Speakbook can be useful for anyone who is literate and requires a communication tool that they can access with their eyes.</p>
<p>After Patrick sadly passed away, Ace has been working with his family to make Speakbooks available to all and encourage others to adapt and personalise this system and then, in turn, share these with others.</p>
<a href="/resources/speakbook" class="button button-primary "  style="width:auto;">Get Speakbook Downloads here</a>
<p>&#8220;We have seen first-hand and time and time again the impact of Patrick’s Speakbooks. Using his own experiences and desire to be as independent as possible he developed a tool which is instinctive, effective and personal.&#8221; &#8211; <cite>Anna Reeves, Ace Centre CEO</cite></p>
<h2>How Speakbook works</h2>
<p>Speakbook is held by the communication partner (the person with whom you are communicating) and eye contact is made through the central window. You then point with your eyes to the message that you wish to communicate. It is surprisingly easy for the communication partner to follow what you are looking at.</p>
<p>To increase the amount you can say with your eyes, Speakbook makes use of a form of encoding. This means that there is more than one set of messages on each page. To communicate a message, you first look at the set of messages that contains your target word or phrase.</p>
<p>You then clarify which of the set of messages you are communicating by looking at the coloured shape that matches the background colour of your message. It sounds complicated but it’s actually really straightforward. Speakbooks are intuitive, individual and effective. Patrick and David explain how it works in this video.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" style="height: 360px;" title="Speakbook promo" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/25812980?h=8e3336df9a" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start">﻿</span></iframe></p>
<h2>Make it your own</h2>
<p>Ace Centre was not involved in any way in the development of Speakbook. However, we place huge value on non-electronic means of communicating and have seen first-hand the impact Speakbooks have in people’s lives. When Patrick passed away we wanted to ensure his work, impact and inspiration continued. With the permission and support of Patrick’s family we’ve created a space for people to continue access and download Speakbook free of charge</p>
<h2>Speakbook Global</h2>
<p><strong>Speakbook can be filled in by you in any language. However, the instructions and a few keywords within the book are in English. Patrick was keen to see translations of the Speakbook produced and shared in as many languages as possible, and we would like to carry on with his work.</strong></p>
<p><strong>We are proud to license Speakbooks under the Creative Commons Attributions License, meaning that the project is open to the wider community, allowing for ongoing improvements and long lasting solutions. With your help, we can make Speakbooks available to all and build on Patrick’s legacy.</strong></p>
<h2>Can you help?</h2>
<p>Please contact us if you are intending to (or have already!) translate the Speakbook so that we can share this with others. As soon as translations are available we will make them available on this site.</p>
<p>To contribute to translations, you can join the <a href="https://poeditor.com/join/project/wKsMtKRLIj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Speakbooks project</a></p>
<h2>Get started now!</h2>
<p>You may download Speakbook <strong>free of charge</strong> using the links below. You can have it printed at your local copy shop – or print it yourself at home. Ideally, it should be printed on the wipeable card or laminated.</p>
<p>You may also alter it, distribute it and sell it under the terms of the following licence <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creative Commons Attributions – ShareALike 4.0 International License</a>. This means that we are proud to offer an open project to allow everyone access to amend, share and translate Speakbook and share Patrick’s message wider. If you do make, sell or distribute your own version of Speakbook, please let us know and we can tell others about it through this website.</p>
<h2>FAQs</h2>
<p><strong>How long will it take me to learn Speakbook?</strong><br />
Most users find Speakbook quick and easy to learn – less than a minute usually. Filling in the book to completely suit your needs will take a lot longer, but you should have a basic, usable set of phrases within half an hour or so.</p>
<p><strong>I wear glasses, can I use Speakbook?</strong><br />
Yes, no problem, your partner should still be able to follow your eye movements without any trouble.</p>
<p><strong>Is Speakbook copyright? Can I print as many copies as I like?</strong><br />
Speakbook is copyright (©2011 Patrick Joyce) but you may download and print as many copies as you like free of charge. We also encourage you to alter it, distribute it and sell it under the terms of the following licence <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
<p>You are free to:<br />
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format<br />
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.</p>
<p><strong>What other communication options are available?</strong><br />
Speakbook is just one approach to developing and using a communication book. There are lots of different communication tools out there, both paper-based and electronic – see <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/getting-started">https://acecentre.org.uk/getting-started</a> to get started. We would encourage you to work with your Speech and Language Therapist to identify the tools that are most suitable for you and your communication needs. You are of course welcome to contact Ace Centre for support and information.</p>
<p><strong>I want to help and create a version in a different language or modify it – how can I share this?</strong><br />
Great! We would love to hear about your changes.  <a href="https://poeditor.com/projects/view?id=339273">You can add and improve translations by editing them here</a>. If you have any problems please <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">let us know.</a></p>
<p><b>How are you hosting these files and managing the development?</b></p>
<p>The project files are compiled in VueJS and built by Netlify servers. As the project is under an open licence <a href="https://www.netlify.com">Netlify</a> kindly offer us this for free! How awesome?!</p>


Speakbook is a simple communication tool that was developed by Patrick Joyce who had Motor Neurone Disease (MND / ALS). Understanding the progression of his condition and the needs of others, Patrick realised that there was a need for a cheap and easy-to-use way of communicating for people who are able to read and spell…

Speakbook – Patrick’s Legacy

<p>As part of <a href="https://presenters.aacconference.com/conferences/A20?no_blank=1">AAC in the Cloud Conference for 2020</a>  and the <a href="https://communicationmatters.org.uk/what-we-do/the-cm-sessions/">CM Sessions</a> we presented on our work using morse code with clients. Find below the video of this presentation &#8211; but also some more detail about the resources we mention in the video and our ongoing development projects related to morse code (namely learn-morse and BLEMorse).</p>
<div class="responsive-embed widescreen"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Samantha McNeilly &amp; Will Wade: An individuals AAC journey of beginning to learn morse code" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yeHe5AomW7c?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<h2>Background to Morse code</h2>
<p>There is an absolutely fantastic podcast from the Memory Palace &#8211; called &#8220;Distance&#8221; which tells the story of Morse and why it was developed &#8211; have a <a href="https://thememorypalace.us/distance/">listen</a></p>
<p>For a lot of radio operators and HAM enthusiasts morse sounds like this:</p>
<div class="responsive-embed"><iframe loading="lazy" title="See and hear Morse Code" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_J8YcQETyTw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Morse in AT &#8211; Evidence base</h2>
<p><a href="https://kpr.pythonanywhere.com">AT-Node</a> is an invaluable resource for looking at text entry rates and comparing them between input methods. As part of this, there is a nice overview of morse code &#8211; <a href="https://kpronline.com/blog/morse-code-for-access-what-do-we-know/">looking at the stats from AT-Node here</a>.</p>
<p>The book that we mention is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0205287514/qid=984341658/sr=1-3/">Thomas W Kings Modern Morse code in rehabilitation</a>. It may be out of print but it&#8217;s still excellent; if you can get a copy do. If you can&#8217;t check out <a href="https://socialmed13.wixsite.com/adaptivedesigninc/morse-code">AdaptiveDesigns pages</a> where they have got the entire book available to download in sections.</p>
<h2>Learning Morse</h2>
<p>As another great introductory video on Morse take a look at this video from VSauce who nicely discusses the pros and cons of different ways of learning morse:</p>
<div class="responsive-embed widescreen"><iframe loading="lazy" title="• − − • • • − • − • • • − − •" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HY_OIwideLg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>There are a lot of different tools to learn morse online:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:International_Morse_Code.svg">The standard chart which some people just wrote learn</a> (Wikipedia)</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code#/media/File:Morse_code_tree3.svg">A graphical &#8220;dichotomic search table&#8221;</a></li>
<li><a href="https://morse.withgoogle.com/learn/">Original Google &#8211; Learn-Morse app</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code_mnemonics#/media/File:Morsechart.bjk.svg">Baden-Powell&#8217;s (updated) visual Mnemoic</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cq2k.com/index.html">Jerry Wheeler&#8217;s Code Quick system</a></li>
</ul>
<p>So we have used the Morse learn for a number of clients but as we discussed this isn&#8217;t great for people who have a visual impairment &#8211; and some (e.g. the VSauce video above) feel that auditory just works better for them. So we have created an adapted morse-learn app which is available at <a href="https://morse-learn.acecentre.net">https://morse-learn.acecentre.net</a>  &#8211; we have some plans for this &#8211; and we are welcome to people helping out to improve it. See more at <a href="http://github.com/acecentre/morse-learn">http://github.com/acecentre/morse-learn</a></p>
<h3>Ace Auditory Mnemoics</h3>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<colgroup>
<col width="118" />
<col width="167" />
<col width="144" />
<col width="331" /></colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="oa1" width="118" height="26">Letter</td>
<td class="oa1" width="167">Phonetic</td>
<td class="oa1" width="144">Morse</td>
<td class="oa1" width="331">Mnemoic</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa2" width="118" height="26">A</td>
<td class="oa3" width="167">Alpha</td>
<td class="oa3" width="144">•–</td>
<td class="oa3" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/a.mp3">a-PART</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">B</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Bravo</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">–•••</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/b.mp3">BE a good boy</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">C</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Charlie</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">–•–•</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/c.mp3">CHAR-lies ANG-els</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">D</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Delta</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">–••</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/d.mp3">DOG did it</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">E</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Echo</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">•</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/e.mp3">eek!</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">F</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Foxtrot</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">••–•</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/f.mp3">did i FAIL it</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">G</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Golf</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">– –•</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/g.mp3">GREAT GATS-by</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">H</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Hotel</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">••••</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/h.mp3">hip-pi-ty-hop</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">I</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">India</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">••</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/i.mp3">eye-eye!</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">J</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Juliet</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">•– – –</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/j.mp3">lets JUMP JUMP JUMP</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">K</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Kilo</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">–•–</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/k.mp3">KAN-ga-ROO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">L</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Lima</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">•–••</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/l.mp3">a LA-dy bug</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">M</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Mike</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">– –</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/m.mp3">LIKE MIKE</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">N</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">November</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">–•</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/n.mp3">NA-vy</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">O</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Oscar</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">– – –</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/o.mp3">OH MY GOD</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">P</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Papa</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">•– –•</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/p.mp3">a POO-PY smell</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">Q</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Quebec</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">– –•–</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/q.mp3">GOD SAVE the QUEEN</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">R</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Romeo</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">•–•</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/r.mp3">a RABB-it</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="41">S</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Sierra</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">•••</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/s.mp3">SS-SS-SS (like a snake)</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">T</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Tango</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">–</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/t.mp3">TALL</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">U</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Uniform</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">••–</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/u.mp3">un-der-WHERE?</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="56">V</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Victor</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">•••–</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/v.mp3">beet-ho-vens FIFTH (&#8220;der der der DUUUUH&#8221;)</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">W</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Whisky</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">•– –</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/w.mp3">a WHITE WHAAALE</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">X</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">xray</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">–••–</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/x.mp3">EXX marks the SPOT</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="41">Y</td>
<td class="oa6" width="167">Yankee</td>
<td class="oa6" width="144">–•– –</td>
<td class="oa6" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/y.mp3">YOUR&#8217;E-a-COOL-DUDE</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="oa4" width="118" height="26">Z</td>
<td class="oa5" width="167">Zulu</td>
<td class="oa5" width="144">– –••</td>
<td class="oa5" width="331"><a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/master/assets/sounds/soundalikes-ww/z.mp3">ZINC ZOO keep-er</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Solutions to use Morse in AT &amp; AAC</h2>
<p>Do have a look at <a href="https://www.makoa.org/jlubin/morsecode.htm">Jim Lubins website</a> for a lot of links to products and solutions available.</p>
<p>In short, we have some hardware like the excellent <a href="http://tandemmaster.org">TandemMaster</a> which sees any PC/Mac/iOS device as a keyboard &amp; mouse &#8211; OR there are some software solutions that you can use on iOS or Windows.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


As part of AAC in the Cloud Conference for 2020 and the CM Sessions we presented on our work using morse code with clients. Find below the video of this presentation – but also some more detail about the resources we mention in the video and our ongoing development projects related to morse code (namely…

Morse Code

<p>At Ace Centre we meet a number of clients where traditional AAC solutions aren’t suitable. Here are some examples</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Said is a 45-year-old man who lives at home with his wife. Said and his wife are Kurdish and have lived in the UK for 10 years..  Said speaks and understands English, his  wife has limited English and speaks to Said in Kurdish. He has Motor Neurone Disease which has now affected his speech to the point others can no longer understand him. His eyesight is poor. He still operates a TV remote by holding the remote between his thumb and forefinger – but can only operate the 4 way TV controls. He wants to spell out whole words and communicate his care needs with carers. He has tried eyegaze technology in the past but this has not been successful.</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Fen is a 56-year-old woman who lives in the UK, she is a first-generation immigrant from China. She has had a brainstem stroke limiting her physical skills to a small thumb movement. It is not clear what Fen can see – her family and care staff feel she can hear better than she can see. Prior to her accident she spoke and understood verbal Chinese (Mandarin) well with her family members. Fen now lives in a care home where staff are English speaking. Fen would like to make her care needs known to staff and her family would like to communicate further with her. Fen has begun to use a partner assisted auditory scanning system using a paper-based book put together with her family. As this system is in Chinese  it is not accessible to care staff.</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Joel is a 6-year-old boy who has a significant visual impairment and physical difficulties. He lives at home with his Mum, Dad, baby brother and dog. His family speak both Portuguese and English. He has trialled some AAC by auditory fishing (dragging his hand across a device and hearing a cue about what is underneath it) and selecting with a switch – but this has proven difficult. He can activate a switch well with his head. He has begun to use a partner assisted scanning book with his mother e.g to choose  activities to play with; to make comments  like telling his mum he loves her.</em></p>
<p>In these cases, there is a range of issues but in general, we need to identify solutions that:</p>
<ul>
<li>Use one or four discrete (in close proximity) movements to operate a device.</li>
<li>Be able to support different languages</li>
<li>Support auditory cues. This  may be with the cue in one language and the main voice in a different language</li>
<li>Where a language cannot be supported with text to speech, it needs to be possible to have audio recordings for the  cue and main voice.</li>
<li>Really simple to edit the vocabulary items for support staff, with the ability to take something already in existence and import the language into a different system</li>
</ul>
<p>Some auditory scanning solutions exist but these are all traditionally grid-based[KS1]  systems which are designed to do multiple things like support symbol systems and access methods such as eyegaze.  Often the language can be edited but it’s hard to import from something like a word document to the software. Few solutions can really support re-organising large blocks of language and “trees” (lists of words organised in categories or blocks) [KS2] of words quickly. If we imagine that, for someone who has a visual impairment, the words are not in a block but are in a list – then it makes more sense to have the words in a list. On paper based systems words and phrases are traditionally organised in lists rather than grids. This led to the question – can we replicate something similar on an electronic system to solve some of these issues?</p>
<div>
<h2>Introducing Paul Pickford</h2>
<p>Paul Pickford is a user of Assistive Technology and a past client of the Ace Centre. You can view more about Paul in the video below.</p>
<p>Paul now uses head controlled technology to operate his computer and has been keen to raise funds for Ace Centre. He contacted us to donate some money to help us fund a bespoke solution to one or two of our clients. We identified the need from the case studies above and sketched out what was required. We are hugely grateful to Paul for offering this and hope that his input helps the development of AAC solutions for many individuals. The result is pasco – Phrase Auditory Scanning Communicator.</p>
</div>
<p><span style="background-color: #ebf1a4; float: right;"> </span></p>
<div class="responsive-embed widescreen"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Paul Pickford" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8lxpvI3lk8w?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p><span style="background-color: #ebf1a4; float: right;"> </span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>So what is pasco?</h2>
<div class="rounded-img aligncenter wp-image-6308 size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://acecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2018-04-20-at-12.58.48-144x300.png" alt="" width="144" height="300" /></div>
<p>pasco is designed for a specific need and is a development project led by Ace Centre. Its primary purpose is an AAC solution for individuals who need an auditory scanning system and who possibly require multi-lingual support. We felt a system that would work on a range of platforms would be useful so the software is web-based, however it can be  specially created to work off-line on iOS, Windows or Android. In the first phase of this work, we focused on iOS mainly because the individual client we are working with has an iPhone.</p>
<p>What pasco will do:</p>
<ul>
<li>Have an auditory cue and main voice, these can be different voices</li>
<li>The cue and main voices can be recorded messages rather than text-to-speech</li>
<li>The cue and main voices  can be split between a wired headphone and the internal speaker of the iPhone</li>
<li>Be able to spell using purely auditory scanning – speaking out each letter as it is written and then speaking out the whole word on a space or finish command</li>
<li>The language can be created and edited  using a simple text file – where each tree is just an indented list of words or phrases</li>
<li>Support one switch scanning</li>
<li>Support direct access, so that a communication partner can use it and/or so that clients who are able to make small movements are able to use it.</li>
</ul>
<p>Try out the app on a <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pasco/id1317265884?ls=1&amp;mt=8">Apple iOS device (iPhone or iPad) by downloading the free app here</a>. The web version can be trialled at <a href="https://app.pasco.chat">https://app.pasco.chat</a> . Please note that the different audio for a headphone and device speaker is only available in the iOS app. For some support see: <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/page/pasco-support/">https://acecentre.org.uk/page/pasco-support/</a></p>
<p><strong>Warning</strong>: Please remember this is very much a development project. <strong>There is limited support. If you are looking at this app to see if it is something that may help you or someone you are supporting please contact your local AAC service for guidance on whether this is the correct solution for your needs. </strong></p>
<h2>What do we expect to happen now?</h2>
<p>pasco is an open source development project. We believe that to meet the wide range of needs of our clients a large number of solutions are required. As part of this mix of solutions, a broad number of individuals are best supported by a business model of good long-term support and maintenance. As well as providing a solution for a few niche use cases, we hope to inspire the development of future AAC software and solutions focused on this area of need. To do this we aim to share publicly case studies and data regarding the use of the app going forward on this page. <a href="http://github.com/acecentre/pasco/issues">Issues with our software will be publicly available here</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


At Ace Centre we meet a number of clients where traditional AAC solutions aren’t suitable. Here are some examples Said is a 45-year-old man who lives at home with his wife. Said and his wife are Kurdish and have lived in the UK for 10 years.. Said speaks and understands English, his wife has limited…

pasco

<h1>Ace Centre Project List</h1>
<p>Ace Centre is a UK-based charity that provides services for the UK National Health Service (NHS) in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in two regions. As part of this service, we assess for and identify Assistive Technology (AT) solutions for people with disabilities to enable access to technology and communication. We try to use existing solutions and devices, but sometimes these don&#8217;t exist. We often identify a need that does not have an existing solution, or has one that needs evolving or perhaps improving. Sometimes a solution existied in the past but it needs bringing up to date to use current technologies. We use an open design approach and publish our software and hardware solutions (https://github.com/acecentre). There are some amazing devices out there, but there&#8217;s still more to be done. This is our to do list!</p>
<h2>Eye Blink Detection</h2>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>There&#8217;s a need to detect eye blinks fast, reliably and in a range of conditions.</p>
<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>We work with a range of disabled individuals who cannot speak due to either a cognitive or physical disability. Take for example Paul: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fxrVktVzn0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fxrVktVzn0</a> or Michael: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMeml1r8hvE&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tvlC03wNzyGc2pCC57Ehm7P&amp;index=2">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMeml1r8hvE&amp;list=PLWWQ5nlUD_tvlC03wNzyGc2pCC57Ehm7P&amp;index=2</a></p>
<p>Both of these indviduals are using a range of solutions to help them communicate. What typically happens in conditions such as MND (ALS) is that the muscles continue to deteriorate across the body to the point that only the eyes have some motor control. But even then the person fatigues and may struggle to hold their eyes open. However voluntary blinking is possible.</p>
<p>Stephen Hawking famously used a form of blink detector (known as a switch) on his cheek. These kinds of switches are VERY fiddly to setup and need constant re-alignment. See a commercial example of such a device here: <a href="https://key2enable.com/produtos/a-blinx/">https://key2enable.com/produtos/a-blinx/</a>. We rarely get these to work long term. Also bear in mind in adults with a deteriorating condition the amount they can open their eye varies throughout the day so what constitutes a voluntary blink may change.</p>
<p>See some more examples in particular of blinking in patients here:<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zxsadz8ym66szo/eyeBlinkDemo.mp4?dl=0"> https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zxsadz8ym66szo/eyeBlinkDemo.mp4?dl=0</a> (NB: We demonstrate in this some &#8220;looking up&#8221; as well as a blink as sometimes with these light sensor detectors a look up is easier to detect on the eye than a blink. We also demonstrate a camera system and a accelerometer approach to eyebrow movement. Don&#8217;t get too distracted at these &#8211; just look at the range of eye movement.</p>
<h3>Other Notes</h3>
<p>A team have done a purely CV approach to this (see <a href="https://github.com/danetomseth/Blink1.5">https://github.com/danetomseth/Blink1.5</a> or <a href="https://github.com/AbilitySpectrum/blink_based_aural_scanning_keyboard_with_Morse_code_option">https://github.com/AbilitySpectrum/blink_based_aural_scanning_keyboard_with_Morse_code_option</a>) but a CV approach is not that reliable &#8211; and these projects don&#8217;t always build. We could use an ML approach to this with a front facing camera. Bear in mind you have to deal with a lot of things when doing this:</p>
<ul>
<li>placement of the camera</li>
<li>light levels</li>
<li>obscuring of the eye.</li>
</ul>
<p>What may be easier is to use a cheap USB endoscope (e.g. <a href="https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Adjustable-Endoscope-Camera-Flexible-IP67-Waterproof_1600146092589.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.3c3d3bf7mJuIdk">https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Adjustable-Endoscope-Camera-Flexible-IP67-Waterproof_1600146092589.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.3c3d3bf7mJuIdk</a>) &#8211; These often have a light on the end &#8211; and we can place these in front of the eye on a pair of glasses or a headmount. This may make the task easier. We&#8217;ll need:</p>
<ul>
<li>Probably Need a &#8220;calibration&#8221; phase.</li>
<li>An area of detection or &#8220;Auto&#8221;. So draw a box in the area of the camera to detect a change (see <a href="http://sviacam.sourceforge.net">http://sviacam.sourceforge.net</a> &#8211; which does this approach using CV).</li>
<li>Ideally would run on Windows as a priority. But may run as a &#8220;library&#8221; for iOS apps so users could embed this in an app (e.g. Pasco <a href="https://github.com/acecentre/pasco">https://github.com/acecentre/pasco</a> and <a href="https://github.com/AceCentre/pasco/issues/231">https://github.com/AceCentre/pasco/issues/231</a>)</li>
<li>Maybe useful: https://google.github.io/mediapipe/solutions/iris</li>
</ul>
<p>Don&#8217;t worry about a text entry interface for this. There are a LOT of solutions that take keyboard strokes as a switch entry. Basically a voluntary blink should output as a &#8220;Space&#8221; keyboard character. Test it out with tools such as pasco <a href="http://app.pasco.chat">http://app.pasco.chat</a> (set to &#8220;automatically scan&#8221;) &#8211; or<a href="https://app.cboard.io/board/root"> https://app.cboard.io/board/root</a> (set settings to Scanning) or <a href="https://grid.asterics.eu">https://grid.asterics.eu</a> (Input options -&gt; Scanning)</p>
<h2>Eye Movement Detection</h2>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>Detecting eye movements &#8211; up/down/left/right, fast, reliably and in a range of conditions. This needs to output a keystroke.</p>
<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>Some people with conditions like Multiple Sclerosis or Motor Neurone Disease (ALS) &#8211; have no motor control except at the eye. For some they can use Eye Gaze technology to detect the eye movement and it maps to a mouse control &#8211; but for some this just doesnt work due to a visual difficulty. So for these people we would like to take the movement of up/down/left/right and use this for Assistive Technology. Take for example pasco &#8211; Its designed for visually impaired to &#8220;hear&#8221; the letters and phrases on the screen and select with a button. But for some we could make use of this four-way action &#8211; see the video here:<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/fgghsuogv0c3ki9/PascoDemo.mov?dl=0" rel="nofollow">https://www.dropbox.com/s/fgghsuogv0c3ki9/PascoDemo.mov?dl=0</a></p>
<h3>Other Notes</h3>
<p>Solutions like <a href="http://sviacam.sourceforge.net/" rel="nofollow">http://sviacam.sourceforge.net/</a> &#8211; would use OpenCV to detect an area of the image to detect pixel change. We can use this with an <a href="https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Adjustable-Endoscope-Camera-Flexible-IP67-Waterproof_1600146092589.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.3c3d3bf7mJuIdk" rel="nofollow">endoscope</a> &#8211; to detect the pixel change of a pupil in two areas &#8211; but its very unreliable and fiddly to setup. There is a commercial solution <a href="https://www.eyecontrol.co.il/" rel="nofollow">https://www.eyecontrol.co.il/</a> &#8211; that does detect up/down/left/right and blinking &#8211; but its laggy, and expensive &#8211; and the Interface is too baked into the solution. We need to use the gesture &#8211; and have a way of it being used for other assistive technologies which commonly take a key press as a &#8220;switch&#8221;.</p>
<p>Dont worry about a text entry interface for this. There are a LOT of solutions that take keyboard strokes as a switch entry. Test it out with tools such as pasco <a href="http://app.pasco.chat/" rel="nofollow">http://app.pasco.chat</a> (set to &#8220;automatically scan&#8221;) &#8211; or <a href="https://app.cboard.io/board/root" rel="nofollow">https://app.cboard.io/board/root</a> (set settings to Scanning) or <a href="https://grid.asterics.eu/" rel="nofollow">https://grid.asterics.eu</a> (Input options -&gt; Scanning)</p>
<h2>Gesture Body Switch</h2>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>Use a camera with depth sensing (or regular camera) to detect very small body movements such as a raise of a finger or a knee movement, or s small (less than 5cm) movement of a head to operate equipment such as a communication system.</p>
<div class="rounded-img alignnone size-medium wp-image-27714"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://acecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/gesture-203x300.png" alt="" width="203" height="300" /></div>
<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>We use small buttons (switches) for people with disabilities that they press with a body part to activate communication equipment or a home automation system. The problem is these switches are expensive &#8211; and have to be positioned in exactly the right place. Take for example a head switch &#8211; that button needs to be placed near the temple (forehead) but if the user&#8217;s position drops they can no longer access the button. A carer has to move the button in the correct place.</p>
<h3>Other Notes</h3>
<p>So a camera solution has been suggested (see <a href="http://gesture-interface.jp/en/gesture-interface/">http://gesture-interface.jp/en/gesture-interface/</a> &#8211; although this project is not active and no binaries exist). This software uses a depth sensing camera &#8211; which of course is available on some iOS devices. It might be possible to reuse that for our needs? It needs:</p>
<ul>
<li>a &#8220;calibration phase&#8221; &#8211; Place the camera in place of the body part to be detected and &#8220;rest&#8221;</li>
<li>ask person to do the desired movement. Probably needs to do this a number of times.</li>
<li>software &#8220;learns&#8221; this movement.</li>
<li>outputs: A key press. If on Windows this could output a keypress such as a space key. If on iOS &#8211; this is more difficult but could the device emulate a Bluetooth HID device? If so it could just emulate a bluetooth keyboard &#8211; and a secondary device connect to it and when the signal is triggered sends a &#8220;Space&#8221; character (or other character).</li>
</ul>
<h2>RelayKeys Software</h2>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>Some people who use electronic Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC) systems to speak need a specific input device such as a specialist switch, sip and puff device or specialist joystick for text entry and cursor movement. This is often called the &#8216;access device&#8217; as it&#8217;s the bit of tech that accesses the AAC device. The AAC device is often based on a mainstream device &#8211; Windows PC, Android tablet or iPad. Most commonly this is a Windows device. Often the user will want to control another piece of hardware such as an iPad or mobile phone. It&#8217;s not practical to have an access method for each device, or to unplug the access device from one device to the other &#8211; they may also require help.</p>
<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>Develop software that will allow text entry and cursor movement from the access device to be shared between devices. This may involve an app or piece of software on each device to send/receive inputs.</p>
<h3>Other Notes</h3>
<p>We have developed a hardware version of this using a BT Feather, the next step if to remove the hardware if possible.</p>
<p><a href="https://github.com/AceCentre/RelayKeys">https://github.com/AceCentre/RelayKeys</a></p>
<h2>AAC Multiple Screen</h2>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>We&#8217;ve developed an app called Pasco that is an auditory-scanning AAC system (https://acecentre.org.uk/project/pasco/). In some use cases it would be extremely useful if the output from this app could be relayed or broadcast to other portable screens elsewhere in a user&#8217;s house for example, so other family members could view the messages when they are completing other tasks elsewhere, in the garden for example.</p>
<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>Develop a system that would allow the text output generated in Pasco to be broadcast to other small paired screens within a 20m range.</p>
<h3>Other Notes</h3>
<p>You could consider the additional screens as pager almost (remember those!) that have a small display to show text and that could send an acknowledgement that the message had been viewed. There might be only one additional screen, but there might be several &#8211; one in a pocket, one upstairs, one in the kitchen. It&#8217;s kind of a bit like this but sending text rather than an icon <a href="https://siliconsquared.com/">https://siliconsquared.com/</a>.</p>
<h2>Morse Learn</h2>
<p>Teach Morse code to a blind and physically impaired user.</p>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>Morse code can be an extremely useful input method and with practice it&#8217;s possible to reach good text input rates. More information here https://acecentre.org.uk/project/morse-code/</p>
<p>We need to teach people how to use a TandemMaster (<a href="http://www.tandemmaster.org/home.html">http://www.tandemmaster.org/home.html</a>) or other morse to keyboard solutions. With these &#8211; you can have more than just letters/numbers in morse. You can use all the keys of the computer and even mouse commands. So we need a way for a client to adapt and extend the morse set they are learning. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>right arrow (&#8211;..-.)</li>
<li>left arrow (..-.&#8212;-)</li>
<li>enter (.-.-) AA</li>
<li>space (-..-.)</li>
<li>escape (&#8212;.)</li>
<li>backspace (&#8212;-)</li>
<li>full stop (.-.-.-) AAA</li>
</ul>
<p>Then more application specific shortcuts for things like this for Dolphin Guide:</p>
<ul>
<li>F2 (Actions menu in Guide) (&#8211;..&#8212;)</li>
<li>F5 (Read All) (&#8211;&#8230;..)</li>
<li>Ctrl (pause / resume reading)</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>For some indviduals who have no speech, are visually impaired, and physically impaired &#8211; but we can find two &#8220;activation&#8221; body sites (switch sites) &#8211; we might consider morse code (if the user is literate). Morse is an incredibly efficient system &#8211; but it takes time to learn and is difficult to actually use without additional software to speak.</p>
<ul>
<li>Add in a way of editing or importing a morse-character set that extends the built-in letters (or overwrites existing ones)</li>
<li>Add these and use local storage to remember the list and location of where you are up to</li>
<li>Add a configuration screen to configure one, two or three switches (keys)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other Notes</h3>
<p>We need a &#8220;game&#8221; that teaches morse code &#8211; plus, slowly builds up the complexity to teach other functions like delete character, Space, Enter and maybe function keys (these can be mapped to a speak command maybe). The challenge is to do this gradually, having success at each stage and having a way for the user to do this independently. Going forward they might exit &#8220;game&#8221; mode and use this to speak.</p>
<p>Would respond to a Space and Enter character for two-hit morse code, or Space key and deal with the timing elements of morse for a one-key method. Maybe useful:<a href="https://morse-learn.acecentre.net"> https://morse-learn.acecentre.net</a> and <a href="https://github.com/acecentre/morse-learn">https://github.com/acecentre/morse-learn</a> &#8211; background is buried in <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/project/morse-code/">https://acecentre.org.uk/project/morse-code/</a> (watch the presentation)</p>
<p>See <a href="https://github.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/issues/12">https://github.com/AceCentre/morse-learn/issues/12</a> &#8211; for the kinds of keys it would be useful to teach a user beyond just letters..</p>
<h2>Social Script AI Chat Bot</h2>
<p>Help people learn to use communication software in a failsafe way.</p>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>It&#8217;s really important for children and adults who are new to AAC to learn and understand how the system works.</p>
<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>We work with a range of disabled individuals who cannot speak due to either a cognitive or physical disability. It’s really important for children and adults who are new to AAC to learn and understand how the system works &#8211; but also learn slowly and have success at each stage. Typically we do this in clinics in staged scenarios. E.g. &#8220;Today we are going to play at shops. I&#8217;ll be the shop keeper and you are buying ingredients for a pizza&#8221; (They would hopefully find sentences like &#8220;Can I have..&#8221; &amp; then a food name.. and please, thankyou, how much is that etc..) or an adult &#8220;What would happen if I just came into the room? Can you find me some words to use to say hello&#8221;? They would navigate to Greetings and find a sentence.</p>
<p>The problem is these sessions need to be repeated many times to increase success and are resource-intensive. What if we could have a piece of software that helps do these &#8220;social scripts&#8221;?</p>
<h3>Other Notes</h3>
<p>These &#8220;social scripts&#8221; need drawing up but we can help with that. The problem is the conversation can go a number of ways. And an important lesson is to deal with mistakes. So they might mishit something &#8211; on purpose &#8220;Can I tell you a joke?&#8221; &#8211; or by accident &#8220;Elephant&#8221; &#8211; and it should be dealt with appropriately &#8220;Did you really want to buy an elephant? For your pizza? I dont think we have those in stock!&#8221;. We need:</p>
<ul>
<li>App would have two sides. One for AAC user and one for Therapist (partner).</li>
<li>The partner would be able to ; Load a script for them to trial, and secondly see progress of what they responded for previous scripts.</li>
<li>So Therapist would pick your scenario “getting the register” or “taking to the doctor” or “seeing your friend”. The scenario then loads on the AAC user app and steps through questions. The aac user answers and the AI system replies appropriately.</li>
<li>An alternate mode is &#8220;single player&#8221; mode &#8211; where the user selects the scenario. It doesn&#8217;t have a therapist interacting.</li>
<li>App would need good encryption</li>
<li>Most AAC users are using Text to Speech &#8211; so app should respond to Text to speech voices</li>
<li>Should have minimal input for the communication aid user. They often have limited physical control.</li>
</ul>


Ace Centre Project List Ace Centre is a UK-based charity that provides services for the UK National Health Service (NHS) in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in two regions. As part of this service, we assess for and identify Assistive Technology (AT) solutions for people with disabilities to enable access to technology and communication. We…

Project Ideas

Analysis of the language of one user to improve scanning efficiency Summary Some individuals who use alternative methods of communication use partner-assisted scanning, in which letters will be verbally provided by a communication partner and the individual will signal “yes” for their chosen letter. A typical letter arrangement for many alphabet systems is QWERTY, particularly…

Switch scanning frequency analysis

<blockquote><p>Dasher is an information-efficient text-entry interface, driven by natural continuous pointing gestures. Dasher is a competitive text-entry system wherever a full-size keyboard cannot be used &#8211; for example</p>
<footer class="citation"><cite><a href="http://www.inference.org.uk/dasher/DasherSummary.html">Inference Group circa 2005</a></cite></footer>
</blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Dasher is a project that we at the Ace Centre have followed and supported for some time. It was a research/development project stemming from David Mackay&#8217;s inference group at Cambridge University  in 1997-2007. It led to numerous iterations and versions with a HUGE array of  input methods &#8211; and around 2003 it led to speech dasher; enabling users to use it with text to speech. Ace Centre had supported the project through user trials and evaluation and feeding into the development and design of various aspects (notably with Mick Donegan and David Colven from Ace centre leading this work). (Have a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie9Se7FneXE">watch of this video</a> and read the Dasher archives for more information on the project.</p>
<p>In 2015-2017 Ada Majorak, a employee of Google, took on the development of the Windows OS version of Dasher and vastly improved some of the day to day features to make it easier for speeches and writing. Ada presented on Dasher at CSUN in 2016 where you can watch a great video explaining how it is used below:</p>
<div class="responsive-embed widescreen"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Ada Majorek Introduction - CSUN Dasher" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SvsSrClBwPM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>Its still regarded as one of the fastest &#8220;continuous&#8221; text entry methods (P. Axelsson &amp; A. Onoszko (2013)) and as a result its occasionally looked at for individuals who require fast text entry rate. For some individuals who we have assessed and provided AAC over the years the software has been a huge boon. We have indivduals who continue to use Dasher and use it for their work &#8211; with some deciding to use it for all their text entry needs from texting to writing their university thesis.</p>
<p>Around October 2009 Alan Lawrence at the Inference Group developed the Apple iPhone (iOS) port of Dasher. Since then little had been worked on this app &#8211; and little was known about if anyone used it.</p>
<p>For a little while Apple have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/03/ios-11-apple-latest-update-older-apps-stop-working">warning users</a> of their iOS operating system that apps created some time ago (and in particular those that are 32 bit) would not work under iOS 11. Its been ok &#8211; under iOS 10 this was just a warning. But under iOS 11 which came out in the Autumn of 2017 these apps were no longer available.</p>
<p>Leo Colins had got in touch with us at Ace (via Mick Donegan at SpecialEffect) to let us know that he was now worried about Dasher working on iOS 11. Leo has used Dasher ever since he met the Ace Centre and used the software for all of his recording needs through school and University. Due to its unique way of working little else could be found that was available on the market place. Usually with unique solutions such as this we would have to go to the company making the software and request that a change be made or that a new version created. With Dasher this is not so straightforward. We reached out to a few commercial developers who have understand the marketplace well (thank you) but understandably they felt it wasn&#8217;t something they could take on at this time. Due to the open source nature of Dasher we were able to implement changes ourselves &#8211; with minimal changes. These changes were funded by donations and fundraising that we have had in the past.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Dasher is an information-efficient text-entry interface, driven by natural continuous pointing gestures. Dasher is a competitive text-entry system wherever a full-size keyboard cannot be used – for example Inference Group circa 2005   Dasher is a project that we at the Ace Centre have followed and supported for some time. It was a research/development project…

Dasher for iOS

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