Look2Talk is a guide for parents and professionals who need to make and use a communication book for children who communicate using their eyes alone. When speech can’t be understood, and using hands or fingers to point is difficult, eye-pointing to pictures, symbols or text can be a fast and effective way of communicating a wide range of messages.
For children who have no other means of communicating but their eyes, and for whom high-tech eye tracking is not affordable, this is a perfect tool to enable communication. This guide introduces a step-by-step system that brings in symbols and pictures at a speed that suits both the child and the responder. It emphasises the importance of learning together in fun, relaxed activities where the child can take control.
Accompanied by a DVD that contains tutorials and real-life example clips, the guide covers all of the essential questions that need to be answered, such as:
What vocabulary do I put in the book?
How many pictures or symbols do I use on a page?
Where and when do I start to use the book?
How do I develop the book over time?
LOOK2TALK OFFERS
A stable core vocabulary, available on each page of the communication binder, that develops through five stages. This core, ranging from just two symbols in Stage Two to 24 in Stage Five, is based on the development of children’s functional language as opposed to syntactical language.
A fringe vocabulary designed to meet an individual’s interests, needs and varied environments.
The importance of a communication partner who is shown, throughout the process, how to use and model the symbols during communication and to support and scaffold the learners’ own communication attempts.
Look2Talk Complete contains a 60-page guide book alongside a custom-made communication easel binder complete with core and example vocabulary dividers. These materials are accompanied by a DVD of video clips and a CD containing templates for the topic pages. The binder and core vocabulary dividers are designed to form the basis for your own communication book.
Look2Talk offers an alternative to PODD – Alternative Access books, which also needs Boardmaker to run. For a family looking to make a resource for an individual, Look2Talk is an economic option.
Please chat to one of our advisors if you need more information on this very useful resource.