Alphabet Charts & Books

ABC spelling charts

Alphabet communication book templates

Alphabets you can eye point to

Alphabets you can point to

Charts with the alphabet + some words and phrases to point to

Coded alphabet charts

Encoded alphabet charts

Frequency layout spelling charts

High contrast charts

Letter codes

Listener Mediated Scanning

QWERTY alphabet charts

Education resources

Developing Access Methods

Implementation

Literacy

Seasonal

Info & Apps

Access

Digital Publications

E-Books

Getting Started

Language(s)

Partner Skills

Software

Learning

Communication

Developing

Education

Engineering

Introductory

Shop

Customisable symbol charts for communication available in five layouts to support different access methods.

Symbol Charts

Communication Books

Core

Creative

Daily Routines

Leisure

Older Learners

Play

Younger Learners

ABC with Symbols

Alphabet Chart Pack - charts you point to

Ace Centre E-Tran Frame

Colour encoded - UPPER case - for eye pointing

Encoded chart with ABC and numbers you can point to

Number encoded - UPPER case - for eye pointing

Alphabet flip chart

Frequency layout (fitaly) you can point to

Colour encoded ABC you can point to

Coded ABC chart you can point to

Check out <a href="https://youtu.be/fCgGy8dFIFE">this video</a> to learn about the eBook features
Please note that this resource is not suggesting that low tech is ‘best’, or that low tech is a prerequisite to a more high tech communication aid. It is simply about valuing the role of paper based communication systems, and sharing lots of ideas and strategies to help develop and support them. You may well find that many of the ideas and strategies are useful when it comes to other forms of communication too.

Designing and using alphabet charts

The aim of this resource is help you design and use alphabet charts with people who can’t rely on speech, enabling them to communicate to the best of their ability. Through communication we can express ourselves, learn, have fun, and be active members of society

Watch Claire read The Night Before Christmas using Shared Reading strategies which encourage a person who uses AAC to interact using their system or with one of the symbol charts provided.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/x9EZQSuDBUA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/54dD_jPzGlk" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Night Before Christmas Shared Reading

<div>Sharing a story in an interactive and engaging way is a wonderful thing to do any time of year but made even more special at Christmas!</div>

Widgit

Framework for Switch Assessment

Introducing Echo: The AAC app for easier communication. Auditory scanning, dual voices, and multiple access options. Accessible and inclusive.
Echo is an AAC app designed for those with a visual difficulty and physical difficulty to access communication.
Echo is based around the concept of auditory scanning. Auditory scanning is a communication method using sound cues or auditory feedback rather than visual cues. This method is especially valuable for those with a visual impairment who cant access visual based AAC.
Echo provides you with two different voices, one for your auditory cues and the another to represent your voice.
You can access Echo using the following methods.
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1">Any external switch (or combination of switches)</li>
<li class="li1">Swipe Gestures</li>
<li class="li1">Arrow Keys</li>
</ul>
We have plans to extend this in the future to allow for more access methods.

Echo

Echo is an AAC app designed for those with a visual difficulty and physical difficulty to access communication.

Hit your switch when you find two Eid al-Adha images that match. There are other themes to choose from as well as uploading your own images.
<a href="https://backend.acecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Ace-Centre-Christmas-Snap-Instructions.pdf">Checkout this help sheet to learn how play Snap with your switch.</a>
Why not try it out with our free EyeCommander eye blink switch app?  <a id="LPNoLPOWALinkPreview" title="https://acecentre.org.uk/blog/introducing-eyecommander" contenteditable="false" href="https://acecentre.org.uk/blog/introducing-eyecommander">Introducing EyeCommander | Ace Centre</a>.

Eid al-Adha Snap!

A fun and engaging switch accessible game made by Ace Centre with a festive theme.
With thanks to the <a href="http://arasaac.org/">ARASAAC project</a> and <a href="https://globalsymbols.com/">Global Symbols</a> for the symbols used in this game and <a href="https://freesound.org/people/Bertrof/sounds/351566/">Bertrof</a> for the <a href="https://freesound.org/people/Bertrof/sounds/351564/">Sounds</a> used.

Created in collaboration with <a href="https://www.assistiveware.com">Assistiveware</a> this is your <a href="https://www.assistiveware.com/blog/assistiveware-core-word-classroom">Coreword Classroom</a> 5 Minute filler on.. Christmas! Enjoy!

Core Word Classroom - 5 Minute Filler

pasco is a development project by the <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/" rel="nofollow">Ace Centre</a> to create a AAC app to support people who require auditory scanning only. This may be with one or several Text to Speech (TTS) languages or recorded speech. The app supports auditory cues in a headphone and main speech out of the main speaker of a device. Currently only these features are supported in iOS &#8211; other platforms are due to be supported in the future.
<h2>So what is pasco?</h2>
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.
What pasco will do:
<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>
Try out the app on an <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.

Pasco

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 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.
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.
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.
In these cases, there is a range of issues but in general, we need to identify solutions that:
<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>
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?
<div>
<h2>Introducing Paul Pickford</h2>
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.
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.
</div>
 
<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>
 
&nbsp;
<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>
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.
What pasco will do:
<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>
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>
Warning: Please remember this is very much a development project. 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. 
<h2>What do we expect to happen now?</h2>
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>.
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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&hellip;
<a class="moretag" href="https://backend.acecentre.org.uk/project/pasco/">Read the full article</a>

pasco

⚠️ We are no longer actively developing Pasco as we have launched the next generation version, called <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/resources/echo">Echo</a>! Check it out here!. Don&#8217;t worry, Pasco isn&#8217;t going to be removed, so you can continue to use it. ⚠️

A communication chart to support conversation around carving a pumpkin for Halloween.

Halloween pumpkin carving

Pragmatic Auditory Scan Communication Book

Listener Mediated Scanning ABC Chart Pack

This pack includes eight alphabet chart options and a help sheet to support getting started with the resource. They are all designed to support face-to-face communication for someone who can spell but finds it difficult to point to letters. The letters on these charts are arranged in alphabetical order and are accessed using a method called listener mediated scanning or partner assisted scanning.

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 the right solution for you, it’s worthwhile to think about what features these AAC resources have and think about what features you need. Follow the link above for all the video and resources.

Understanding the Features of Electronic Text Based AAC

Colours

AAC in Action: Festive Season

AAC in Action: Tasty Traditions

Easter Egg Hunt

Cooking

A 30 location symbol chart to support communication when baking or cooking up your favourite treats in the run up to a special event &#8230; or any day of the year!
This download includes an information sheet to help you get started and charts with Widgit, PCS and High Contrast symbols.

<div>Download and have fun while reinforcing use of key concepts and words. Packs include:</div>
<ul>
<li>Instructions and ideas for use</li>
<li>Communication chart</li>
<li>Dice</li>
<li>Playing cards</li>
<li>Cut-outs to build a snowman</li>
</ul>

Build a Snowman

A resource pack which can be used in different ways. Whether directing someone to create a snowman or playing a game to see who can build Frosty first.

Communication Pack for Adults who Benefit from Symbol Support

This leaflet provides information about simple things you can do to support the communication of someone with aphasia. It has been designed to be used by family, friends and professionals working with someone who has aphasia.
Want to learn more? Try Ace Centre Learning’s self-directed module <a title="https://acecentre.org.uk/learning/supporting-communication-for-people-with-aphasia-i" contenteditable="false" href="https://acecentre.org.uk/learning/supporting-communication-for-people-with-aphasia-i">Supporting Communication for People with Aphasia</a>

Supporting Communication for People with Aphasia

Splash! V.2

<h5>Splash! is a unique Maths and Shapes software programme. It contains activities and worksheets that cover: number, geometry and shapes, measurement and graphs. Splash! has been designed to support pupils who have access issues, particularly those who have difficulty controlling a computer mouse and/or keyboard and has features that support pupils with low vision.</h5>

Simon Says... Sing a Carol!

Looking for some festive (and musical) fun this Christmas? Well Simon says&#8230;. Sing a song! This 16 location chart, available in PCS, Widgit and PCS High Contrast promotes fun whilst communicating with symbols.

DUCB - Developing and Using a Communication Book

Bingo

Getting Started with Paper-Based Symbol Resources

Reading

Gardening

A symbol chart to support communication while gardening.
It is available in five layouts (choose the option below) to support different access methods:
<ol>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 1 – 8 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 2 – 16 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 3 – 30 symbols</li>
<li>Eye pointing – 6 symbols</li>
<li>Hand (or other body part) pointing – 6 symbols</li>
</ol>
Learn more about the options for customisation offered and how they can help to meet needs your learners needs by <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/blog/customisable_symbol_charts">clicking here</a>.

8 - Widgit

8 - PCS

24 - Widgit

24 - PCS

Look at Photos

Listen To Music

A symbol chart to support communication while listening to music.
It is available in five layouts (choose the option below) to support different access methods:
<ol>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 1 – 8 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 2 – 16 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 3 – 30 symbols</li>
<li>Eye pointing – 6 symbols</li>
<li>Hand (or other body part) pointing – 6 symbols</li>
</ol>
Learn more about the options for customisation offered and how they can help to meet needs your learners needs by <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/blog/customisable_symbol_charts">clicking here</a>.

Make Up

A symbol chart to support communication while putting on make up.
It is available in five layouts (choose the option below) to support different access methods:
<ol>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 1 – 8 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 2 – 16 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 3 – 30 symbols</li>
<li>Eye pointing – 6 symbols</li>
<li>Hand (or other body part) pointing – 6 symbols</li>
</ol>
Learn more about the options for customisation offered and how they can help to meet needs your learners needs by <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/blog/customisable_symbol_charts">clicking here</a>.

30 - PCS

30 - Widgit

Manicure

A symbol chart to support communication while doing or having a manicure.
It is available in five layouts (choose the option below) to support different access methods:
<ol>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 1 – 8 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 2 – 16 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 3 – 30 symbols</li>
<li>Eye pointing – 6 symbols</li>
<li>Hand (or other body part) pointing – 6 symbols</li>
</ol>
Learn more about the options for customisation offered and how they can help to meet needs your learners needs by <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/blog/customisable_symbol_charts">clicking here</a>.

15 - PCS

15 - Widgit

Kerplunk

Snakes and Ladders

<div class="resources-description_container__6hDvA">
<div class="resources-description_description__DDghv">
A symbol chart to support communication while playing bingo.
It is available in five layouts (choose the option below) to support different access methods:
<ol>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 1 &#8211; 8 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 2 &#8211; 16 symbols</li>
<li>Finger pointing Stage 3 &#8211; 30 symbols</li>
<li>Eye pointing &#8211; 6 symbols</li>
<li>Hand (or other body part) pointing &#8211; 6 symbols</li>
</ol>
Learn more about the options for customisation offered and how they can help to meet needs your learners needs by <a href="https://acecentre.org.uk/blog/customisable_symbol_charts">clicking here</a>.
</div>
</div>

AAC Accredited Module

The AAC Module can be combined with an additional 30 credits from one of two further modules (The Access Unit or Assistive Technology for Complex Communication, Physical &amp; Learning Needs) to gain the PGCert Specialist Assistive Technology, awarded by University of Dundee.

A brush strokeResources

Resources