Congratulations Sensory Software. The Grid 2 is a winner in UK. in the Special Education Needs category of the 2009 BETT awards. The judges said that they chose The Grid 2 for the following reasons:The Grid 2 for communication
The Grid 2 can be customised to suit the needs of the user. Grid pages can display as few as two squares to a 50 x 50 grid, providing 2500 cells. A number of sample pages are supplied as a starter, and pre-stored vocabularies are also available. Grids can be downloaded from the Sensory Software grid sharing site.
The Grid 2 can use any symbol library. Sample symbols from a range of sets are included, however you may already have a symbol library or will use other images. Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) can be supplied with the program. Digital images and clip art can be readily incorporated into displays using the simple SCREEN CAPTURE feature of The Grid 2. This time-saving feature enables the 'capture' of a picture or picture part, from another program, from a website, in a document, or any visible image from your screen. Simply click on the ScreenCapture button. You do not even need to save the picture first, nor do you need to edit it to select just a part of it. Anything you can see on the screen can be captured. The Grid 2 makes its own copy of every picture that you choose as a image there is no need to save pictures before you use them. This also means that you can browse a CD of photos or clip art and capture images or parts of images required.
Some pre-programmed grid sets are available including WordPower. (See section below for more pre-made grid sets). Generally grid sets are customised for individual needs. Symbol pages can be made with a wide variety of options:
- at the simplest level, a display can have cells that speak as soon as selected.
- speech output may use the Windows speech synthesisers. Acapela speech synthsizers are supplied. Australian RealSpeak can be purchased with the program. Messsages or sounds can also be recorded using a microphone.
- displays can have a sentence bar at the top. Output to the sentence bar can be in large or small symbols or text only.
- a cell may be set to jump to another page, to close the display once the message has spoken and a range of other functions.
Text pages have a variety of set-ups also including:
- spelling displays with learning word prediction and word completion
- a range of useful pre-stored displays supplied
- stored phrases for easy retrieval in 'message mode'
- word power and picture word power are also available
Accessing and communication
- The Grid 2 uses mouse or mouse emulation, so a mouse can be used on a regular computer to make selections. Any computer accessing mode that emulates mouse control can be used including touch screen devices such as the Tellus Mobi . Most commonly The Grid 2 is used with a touch screen device or with scanning.
- The Grid 2 offers an extensive range of switch settings for one or two switch scanning, including auditory scanning. See below for further details on scanning settings. Any switch can be used.
- The joycable or joybox must be purchased separately to permit USB switch connection to a computer. These are not required when using The grid 2 on the Dialect 3-HD or Optimist 3-HD as switch ports are built-in.
The Grid 2 for computer access
The Grid 2 has a mode providing on-screen keyboards for people who are unable to operate the computer using the regular keyboard. Mouse, mouse emulation or switch access can be used to access any computer program including the internet. Sample grids are provided for common functions for applications such as word processing, internet explorer, mouse control, calculator, media player and also sample chat displays for communication are included. The internet explorer display includes command buttons such as 'scan links' and 'scan frames'. Any displays can be customised for individual requirements. If this is the only function required Grid Keys may be more suitable.
accessing with The Grid 2
The Grid 2 uses mouse or mouse emulation, so a mouse can be used on a regular computer to make selections. Any computer accessing mode that emulates mouse control can be used including touch screen devices. Switch and scanning access is also an option included in The Grid 2. One, two switch or multiple scanning can be set up. The JoyCable or JoyBox USB switch interfaces are required.
Scanning options include automatic scanning, inverse (hold to advance) and manual (tap to advance) scanning. These scan modes can be set to linear, row/column, column/row or overscan. If single switch scanning is selected, a long hold can be set to a particular function such as 'cancel'. Auditory scanning can be set to a choice of tones, an incremental tone or spoken prompts.
The Grid 2 and environmental control
The Grid is programmed with codes compatible with the GEWA range of environmental control units. This means that with a Control Micro or Control Star or Control PROG connected to the computer, The Grid 2 can be used to control appliances such as TV, DVD, air conditioning and other systems with a remote control.
Pre-made GRID sets
The Grid 2 is supplied with a number of pre-made Grid Set samples and more can be downloaded from the Sensory Software website. The Grid sets described below can be purchased as optinal extras to the main program.
Starting Blocks
Starting Blocks is an exciting grid set for introducing speech generated communicaiton and dynamic displays to young children. Starting Blocks was designed and created by U.K. Speech Pathologist, Sally Conner. There are hundreds of grids providing many hours of fun as you progress from very simple interaction through to independent communication.
The targeted activities develop core skills, and a clear 'roadmap' makes it easy to see where to go next - and how far you have come! At every step there are a variety of activities, so you can focus on one skill until it is fully mastered, without the tasks becoming repetitive.
- Key features
It is a fun and interactive way to teach children how to use switches or touch screen for a communication aid.
The main focus of this grid set is interactive PLAY, so that the child only spends 20% of the time with the computer and the other 80% interacting with the people around them.
Workbooks are provided to guide you through step by step, and help you come up with some fantastic activities to entice young imaginations.
All activities can be played again and again or easily edited with The Grid 2 software to produce new and very individual pieces.
The Toy Box included with this Grid Set is to help you get started with using the grids straight away. We have chosen a selection of toys to give you a wide choice of activities to choose from.
Starting Blocks is divided into 3 stages, each of which has activities for developing a different skills: - On Your Marks - Taking Turns - Making Choices
- Get Set - Categorising - Navigating - Row/Column Scanning
- Go - Go Step 1 - Go Step 2 - Go Step 3 - Go Step 4
Starting Blocks Toy Box Starting Blocks is available as a stand-alone product (the grids and the workbooks), or with the Starting Blocks Toy Box. The Toy Box includes lots of toys and equipment to allow you to use Starting Blocks right away.
WordPower
WordPower provides access to core vocabulary, with additional words available in just a few selections. Language studies have shown that we reuse a small number of words very often when we speak, often referred to as our "core vocabulary".
WordPower places this core vocabulary on the main grid, so these words are readily available in a single selection. To find words that are not included in the core vocabulary, you can type (with prediction) or go to one of the vocabulary pages, which are arranged by topic. The Grid 2 versions of WordPower use features such as verb morphology and spelling support. Picture WordPower Picture WordPower displays symbols next to the words to aid word-finding. Symbols are also displayed in prediction cells. You can use either PCS or Widgit symbols.
Text WordPower For users who do not require symbols, Text WordPower provides a less cluttered display. Switch access Alternate versions of WordPower are included for switch users. These have some re-arrangements to increase the efficiency of scanning the grids and keyboards, and also use block-scanning to make cell selection easier. The original WordPower concept was developed by Nancy Inman, and the Grid 2 version was created by Gillian Hazell.
CALLtalk
CALLtalk was designed primarily for school children, but can also be used by adults, if adapted and personalized.
CALLtalk is more complex than a ‘beginner’ vocabulary and goes beyond basic functional communication. Users need to understand topic categorization and should be starting to put two or more words together. It is for direct touch screen users, keyguard users, and switch users. CALLtalk was developed by Speech Pathologists, Janet Larcher and Sally Millar.
CALLtalk users
Primary school pupils with reasonably good educational potential (mainstream and/or special settings)..Relatively cognitively and language-able children aspiring to acquire at least some degree of literacy – ie. for whom ‘talking’ and writing in sentences could be a realistic long term target. Users frustrated by limited vocabs.
Key Features of CALLtalk
- Huge vocabulary (c. 3,000 words & phrases) but only 30/35 symbols per page
- Very consistent layout
- Sentence Starters
- Grammatical elements available from every page
- Word prediction built-in
- Self-closing popups, for speed
- All on one page worksheet type pages for use in classroom activities.
- Education use - In addition to the comprehesive communication grids, there is a ‘School Stuff’ section organised into curriculum areas, with worksheets for classroom activities.
Ingfield Dynamic Vocabularies (IDV)
The Ingfield Dynamic Vocabularies (IDV) are a collection of 4 grid sets, developed by Speech Pathologists Sally Connor and Janet Larcher.
IDV is a topic-based system that place all the necessary elements of a sentence on one page. This makes IDV a quick and easy way to create complete sentences.IDV is organised in 4 levels, from A to D. As you go up through the levels, the number of cells on each page increases, allowing more vocabulary to be included on each page. Higher levels also include more topics and sub-topics. The layout of the grids is designed to allow easy progression from one level to the next. Grids can be customised or extended as much as required.
