9. The use of music, song, sound effects in communication systems
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This page covers the use of sound files within communication systems with an additonal focus on the Voice Symbol system. All systems benefit from the use of sound files. Of course, paper based systems (books and boards), unless they are created with Voice Symbol, donot, by definition have this facility but can be used by the Learner to request music if the Learner has no other means of directly accessing it him or herself.
Therefore, the purpose of this section of the to help you with ideas on how sound files may be used. While there is no one ‘right’ way of using sound files there are probably several ways that may not be considered as ‘best practice’!
What sound files?
Let’s begin by reviewing what sounds can be added into almost any communication system with the exception of paper based systems other than Vocis Symbol and Voice Ink.
Sound files
It may surprise you to know that there over 100 different sound file formats around! For a listng ans a brief explanation of many of them go here: http://www.fileinfo.com/filetypes/audio
Typically used sound file fromats include .mp3, .wav, and .mid. Many communication systems are limited in which sound file format they can use. If your sound files are in a different format to the one required by the communcation system you should be able to find a free bit of software from the web which will convert one format into another. Just type in the two formats and they word covert into your search engine and see what comes up. When downloading from unknown websites always make sure that your virus system is operating and up to date.
Most communication systems will work with either .mp3 or .wav files or both. Such files can normally be added to a cell such that, when selected, it will play the asssociated sound file. Puttin music onto a commuication system that is not the property of the Learner infringes copyright. Therefore, all music added to any system should have been purchased for the Learner or already be owned by the Learner. The commuication system then simply becomes another CD player: i.e the Learner's way of listening to the music. Plic broadcasting of music is also subject to strict laws in most countries but I have never known any school to be prosecuted for children singing songs at a school concert!
Note: With Voice Symbol, mp3 sound files can be added into any symbol such that, when accessed with the V-Pen system, the music (or whatever is within the .mp3) is played.
Recording
In most commercial communication systems, it is possible to record directly into any cell using your computer’s microphone at the time of building your communication board. However, as TTS (see below) develops more and more human voice qualities, recordings by staff members may become a thing of the past. However, there are other good uses for the recording section of any communication system.
When a cell/symbol is recorded it will play back that recording when accessed rather than speaking a particulary vocabulary item as is typical.
Recording is also possible with Voice Symbol and, using the V-Pen, it is possible to record directly onto the paper itself!.
There is more on the use of recording later on this page.
TTS
TTS stand for Text To Speech. As its name implies, TTS converts any piece of text into speech output. In the past, TTS was in its infancy and the speech produced tended to sound like a very ill Dalek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalek)!! However, as TTS has become more and more sosphisticated, the voice quailty continues to approach that of the human voice and, one can imagine a time when, it will soon be impossible to tell them apart. There are many commercial TTS systems on the market; some can cost quite a lot of money. Generally speaking, the more you pay the better quality you get with better control over the voice parameters. It would be foolhardy to single any one out as worthy of attention because, like all other technology, it is moving at such a pace that any recommendation would probably be out of date by the time you are reading this! However a search on the internet usually reveals several companies offering TTS systems and, typically, most allow the customer to select a voice form a range (nationality, sex, etc), type in a phrase, and listen to the resultant sound quality.
However, your communication system will normally have it's own TTS system and may not be able to work with any other (A quck call to your supplier should reveal if the system is capable to opearting with another TTS system).
Most TTS systems are confused by some words especially proper nouns such as people's names (Aoife, Siobhan) and place names (Glodwick, Greenwich, Southall, etc) and thus have a mechanism by which you are allowed to override the system and tell it how to pronounce a particular form while retaining the correct spelling.
Microsoft have their own TTS system supplied freely with Windows. It is a little strange because the latest version (Windows Seven as I write this) only comes with one voice (Anna) whereas earlier versions had a choice of several voices. However, the latest voice is of a better quality than those previously available.
Within Voice Symbol, it is possible to put Text-To-Speech into any cell providing that TTS is available on your computer. However, many TTS systems are 'embedded' into the computer software with which you may have acquired them. This means that even though you may have access to a TTS system in one of the Speech Generating Programs on your computer, this system may not be available for VS to use. If TTS was installed as a separate ‘stand-alone’ system, VS should be able to detect it and offer it with any other TTS systems detected (VS will typically detect the Windows TTS system for example).
TTS makes any word accessible no matter how esoteric or infrequently required for example, the longest word in the OED (at 45 letters):
‘Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’
I have never (until now!) had the need to use or to say this word let alone program it into a SGD. However, TTS would allow me to say if I did.
While a recorded voice is always someone else’s voice, which the Learner may not want, especially as it is probably the voice of a sibling or a Significant Other (parent, teacher, therapist)(and, therefore may not even be sex or age appropriate), a TTS voice can (usually) be personalised to suit an individual providing a person’s ‘own’ voice. Such a voice does not rely (in the same way as does a recorded voice) on another person always being there to record new messages and, if the Learner is literate, s/he can input their own words!
Here are a list of websites for the different TTS systems of which I am aware in alpha order:
Acapela http://www.acapela-group.com/text-to-speech-interactive-demo.html
AT&T http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php
Babel See Acapela
Cepstral http://cepstral.com/demos/
Cereproc http://www.cereproc.com/
DecTalk http://www.fonixspeech.com/dectalk_legacy.php
Dhvani http://dhvani.sourceforge.net/
Elan See Acapela
iSpeech http://www.ispeech.org/text.to.speech.demo.php
Ivona http://www.ivona.com/
Infovox See Acapela
Loquendo http://www.loquendo.com/en/demo-center/tts-demo/
NeoSpeech http://www.neospeech.com/?gclid=CLCpwYOTvqkCFQXybwodTERLfA
OpenSource http://sourceforge.net/search/?q=tts
Orpheus http://www.meridian-one.co.uk/orpheus.html
Realspeak http://www.nuance.co.uk/realspeak/
Svox http://www.svox.com/?page_id=138
For an example of DecTalk (Paul) from Fonix click the button below
Combined Word Mode (Voice Symbol only)
In Voice Symbol, it is possible to combine multiple words from the Pen’s own pre-recorded ‘sound library’. Thus words can be strung together for use within a single cell such that it can speak a unique sentence without TTS.
In Voice Symbol, it is possible to combine multiple words from the Pen’s own pre-recorded ‘sound library’. Thus words can be strung together for use within a single cell such that it can speak a unique sentence without TTS.
Using Music
The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet
sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are
dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted.
SHAKESPEARE W. – Lorenzo’s line in The Merchant of Venice - Act 5, Scene.1
It should be noted, and it is hardly surprising that, if you put music into a communication system a Learner may use it to sing! Imagine that you had never been able to sing all your life and suddenly you were given something that enabled you to do that: what would you do? Why sing of course! It’s typically what Learners do too. They don’t care much where and when they sing and who it disrupts, they just want to sing!
sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are
dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted.
SHAKESPEARE W. – Lorenzo’s line in The Merchant of Venice - Act 5, Scene.1
It should be noted, and it is hardly surprising that, if you put music into a communication system a Learner may use it to sing! Imagine that you had never been able to sing all your life and suddenly you were given something that enabled you to do that: what would you do? Why sing of course! It’s typically what Learners do too. They don’t care much where and when they sing and who it disrupts, they just want to sing!
Songs are disruptive: Remove them from the system!
No Singing!
‘Oh dear’! How close is this to saying that the behaviour is upsetting the routine?The behaviour of Learners who begin to sing in the middle of a school session is disruptive; surely it cannot be seen any other way. However, any child may choose to sing in class. Most have learnt not to do so. The ‘singers’ have not learnt this lesson because they have never been able to disrupt in this manner before. Therefore, staff should consider the behaviour itself. Stopping the children singing at inappropriate times is not best achieved by removing the songs.
Whose voice is it anyway? This is a fundamental human rights issue. My voice is ... my voice. It does not belong to you or to anyone else. It does not belong to any member of staff.
The pupils are singing. Wow! This is wonderful! They are using the system. They are correctly selecting the appropriate symbols to activate the songs. They are choosing the wrong time to do it but they need to learn that the classroom may not be the best place to sing (particularly at certain times of the day). They are being creative. The songs are a means of self-expression. The pupils are displaying self-esteem through the medium of song. Staff should consider this
a time to celebrate not one of criticism!
What would be an appropriate response to any pupil singing in class?
- Remove the pupil’s vocal chords? Of course not!
- Find out why the pupil is singing.
- Applaud the pupil’s joy at life.
- Applaud the Learner's ability to remember and select in the correct order the sequence of symbol that makes singing possible.
and also:
- Help the pupil to appreciate that, at this very moment, as we are trying to explain the intricacies of the digestive system, a song is
not only inappropriate but also distracting the other pupils.
Do not remove the vocabulary, rather deal appropriately with the behaviour. If Learners are singing at inappropriate moments, ask why are
the pupils singing? Staff, who instantly want the songs removed (or never added in the first place), do not appear to have asked why the Learners are singing and marvelled at their ability to do so. Why are they singing?...
- Are they bored in lessons?
- Are they joyous?
- Is the ability to sing, new to them and, therefore, extremely motivating?
- Do they want to share their new skill with the world?
From childhood and throughout life, feelings of self-sufficiency, self-respect and worth
are closely related to the ability to express oneself.
(VON TETZCHNER S. & MARTINSEN H. 1992)
I always used to put new very motivating songs under difficult symbol sequences on any device. I figured, if the Learner could master this sequence then they could learn to master any sequence for any item of vocabulary given the right motivation! A difficult symbol sequence varied from Learner to Learner but was usually one more symbol longer then the longest page symbol selection for some item of fringe vocabulary. In some cases, the symbol that had to be selected on a specific page, bore no connection to music or to the actual song and yet the Learners were still able to recall, selected and sing the song many days later... now what does that show?! I didn't leave the song there, it was just to test a Learner's cognitive capacity when really motivated. Once I new that a particular Learner could work with such a sequence of Symbols, I restored the song on the music page!
Whose voice is it anyway? This is a fundamental human rights issue. My voice is ... my voice. It does not belong to you or to anyone else. It does not belong to any member of staff.
The pupils are singing. Wow! This is wonderful! They are using the system. They are correctly selecting the appropriate symbols to activate the songs. They are choosing the wrong time to do it but they need to learn that the classroom may not be the best place to sing (particularly at certain times of the day). They are being creative. The songs are a means of self-expression. The pupils are displaying self-esteem through the medium of song. Staff should consider this
a time to celebrate not one of criticism!
What would be an appropriate response to any pupil singing in class?
- Remove the pupil’s vocal chords? Of course not!
- Find out why the pupil is singing.
- Applaud the pupil’s joy at life.
- Applaud the Learner's ability to remember and select in the correct order the sequence of symbol that makes singing possible.
and also:
- Help the pupil to appreciate that, at this very moment, as we are trying to explain the intricacies of the digestive system, a song is
not only inappropriate but also distracting the other pupils.
Do not remove the vocabulary, rather deal appropriately with the behaviour. If Learners are singing at inappropriate moments, ask why are
the pupils singing? Staff, who instantly want the songs removed (or never added in the first place), do not appear to have asked why the Learners are singing and marvelled at their ability to do so. Why are they singing?...
- Are they bored in lessons?
- Are they joyous?
- Is the ability to sing, new to them and, therefore, extremely motivating?
- Do they want to share their new skill with the world?
From childhood and throughout life, feelings of self-sufficiency, self-respect and worth
are closely related to the ability to express oneself.
(VON TETZCHNER S. & MARTINSEN H. 1992)
I always used to put new very motivating songs under difficult symbol sequences on any device. I figured, if the Learner could master this sequence then they could learn to master any sequence for any item of vocabulary given the right motivation! A difficult symbol sequence varied from Learner to Learner but was usually one more symbol longer then the longest page symbol selection for some item of fringe vocabulary. In some cases, the symbol that had to be selected on a specific page, bore no connection to music or to the actual song and yet the Learners were still able to recall, selected and sing the song many days later... now what does that show?! I didn't leave the song there, it was just to test a Learner's cognitive capacity when really motivated. Once I new that a particular Learner could work with such a sequence of Symbols, I restored the song on the music page!
Songs are unimportant
Ask the wife of ‘the man who mistook his wife for a hat’ (Oliver Sacks, 1985) how important songs are to him:
He sings all the time - eating songs, dressing songs, bathing songs, everything. He can’t do anything unless he makes it a song.
SACKS O. 1985 page 16
A song is a means of self expression (See MUSSELWHITE C. R. 1988; HENSMAN-KING J. 1992).
CASE STUDY: Suddenly, when walking back from a trip to a pub with a user of an SGD one evening, without any prompting, he burst into song. The return trip from the pub was brightened by his choice of song. I thought how typical this was. Here was a young man singing with
joy just as any young person may do - especially after a beer or two!
Are songs unimportant? Of course not!
When will the singing stop?
Stop Singing!
The likelihood is that, as such Learners have never been able to sing previously, singing is more motivating to the pupils than the present activity! A child with a new toy is apt to play with it. If Learners have only just been given the ability to sing, what else should we expect them to do (especially as this may be the first time in their lives that they had been able to do so) but sing!?
The singing will stop eventually, new toys become old toys and new experiences are soon integrated into the existing set. Children will learn when it is appropriate to sing and when it is not, through experience. If they are never able to sing then they will never learn from the experience.
CASE STUDY: Singing was introduced to the students at a college for special needs who had VOCAs. They sang! The singing started in one classroom and then others hearing it began singing the same song. Very soon, there was a ‘round’ going on! A few staff made some negative comments but no-one suggested that the songs should be removed. After a few days, all students sang less and at more appropriate times and college returned to a normal routine.
If, on the other hand, staff simply accept pupils singing in the middle of class and ignore it until it stops, they also do the children no favours. An appropriate and measured response is what is necessary:
“Wow, John, I did not know that you could sing. That is amazing. Well done... BUT ... I think that you should NOT be singing in the middle of class. Perhaps, you can wait until break time to sing again. Is that OK?”
At no stage should anyone demand the removal of the songs from the system.
How can music be used positively?
The music/songs utilised on any communication system may serve more than one purpose. For example, they might be used to reinforce the vocabulary stored on other pages using the same symbols. Thus, singing ‘I can sing a rainbow’ by activating a symbol of a rainbow can reinforce the fact that the word ‘colour’ has been stored using this symbol. It may be that the rainbow is used to mark the page on which all the colours are located.
It has been known for some time that the two cerebral hemispheres specialise (See SPRINGER S. & DEUTSCH G. 1989). In the vast majority of people, language is one of the prime functions of the left hemisphere. However, musical ability is normally associated with the right hemisphere:
He had an attack of a violent illness which resulted in a paralysis of the entire right side of the body and complete loss of speech. He can sing certain hymns, which he had learned before he became ill, as clearly and distinctly as any healthy person... Yet this man is dumb, cannot say a single word except ‘yes’ (DALIN O. 1745)
The ability to sing or to recite verse after a stroke which severely impairs other language functions would suggest a right cerebral hemisphere specialization (GATES A. & BRADSHAW J. 1977). Music could, therefore, be used as a medium for a complementary approach to language instruction for people with delayed or impaired language abilities (See for example the work on Music Intonation Therapy (MIT) by SPARKS R., HELM N., & ALBERT M. 1974; SPARKS R. & HOLLAND A. 1976. See also DAVIES B. 1964; EISENSON J. 1984; HELFRICH-MILLER K. 1984; BLOCKBERGER S. & BOVAIRD WAWRYKOW C. 1987; McCONNELL J. 1987; FRAME C. 1991; McMAHON F. & MATTHEWS S. 1991; ROBERTSON P. 1993; THOMAS K. 1996)
Why should learning be boring? Research indicates that when music is linked to words, children learn best. Why do nursery and primary
schools often get their pupils to sing and say rhymes, for example? The rhymes, rhythms and repetition stimulate vocabulary and language skills. Music can help to:
- increase vocabulary and language awareness;
- improve auditory comprehension and listening skills;
- teach concepts;
- teach cause and effect skills using switch input;
- increase a Learner’s ability to make choices;
- develop an awareness of self;
- motivate!
The list is not (nor is it intended to be) comprehensive. The reader can probably add several more to the list.
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The Voice Symbol (and Voice Ink) system makes it easy to add music into a symbol, drawing, or photograph which is printed onto paper. Such creations can become classroom resources that may be used over and over. The size of the ‘symbol’ is only limited by the maximum size obtainable through the printer in use. If you are luckily enough to have access to an A3 printer then you can produce a single symbol of that size that immediately starts to sing when it is accessed! However, for those of us limited to the standard A4 size, it still should be large enough to cover even the most demanding of Learner’s needs. What if the Learner has a severe problem with visual acuity and can only really see things when printed at larger than A4? We might begin to adapt the A4 sheet
produced to make it tactile. First we would laminate the sheet to provide extra protection and then we might apply hot glue to its surface to outline a particular shape (for example), providing (when the glue has cooled) a ‘sensory symbol’ that will still work with the V-Pen. For such a task you need a steady hand, a good quality glue gun that can provide a fine and constant rate of flow of glue. It is a slow and time consuming task but, the resources thus produced will provide many hundreds of hours of use. |
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If I wanted to teach the symbols for different forms of transport I might begin by taking three or four of this set and adding an appropriate’ music file to each. For example, for ‘bus’, I might add ‘the wheels on the bus’ song by ‘Mad Donna’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuIJWG13wvE
and for a car I might choose to add Madness’ ‘Driving in my car’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZNSyP9v9M
or any other alternative of which you can think! Once made, such resources can last for years and can be very motivating for Learners of all ages. If we were to mix several symbols on a desk top and ask a Learner to locate a particular one, we could begin to assess a Learner’s visual discriminatory abilities as well as conceptual knowledge and symbolic awareness. If a Learner does not perform, we learn nothing, other than at this particular time the Learner did not perform. We can assume as to the probably reason why but that is what it will be: an assumption! The music is a motivation for the Learner to undertake the task. Of course, if all the cards on the desk top produce music, the Learner might select each randomly, instead of selecting the requested symbol. If this were the case, perhaps we would need two sets of symbols: one with music and one which just produces the symbol name. By selecting cards appropriately, with only a few (or even just the one) producing music, we could encourage the Learner to locate a requested symbol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuIJWG13wvE
and for a car I might choose to add Madness’ ‘Driving in my car’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZNSyP9v9M
or any other alternative of which you can think! Once made, such resources can last for years and can be very motivating for Learners of all ages. If we were to mix several symbols on a desk top and ask a Learner to locate a particular one, we could begin to assess a Learner’s visual discriminatory abilities as well as conceptual knowledge and symbolic awareness. If a Learner does not perform, we learn nothing, other than at this particular time the Learner did not perform. We can assume as to the probably reason why but that is what it will be: an assumption! The music is a motivation for the Learner to undertake the task. Of course, if all the cards on the desk top produce music, the Learner might select each randomly, instead of selecting the requested symbol. If this were the case, perhaps we would need two sets of symbols: one with music and one which just produces the symbol name. By selecting cards appropriately, with only a few (or even just the one) producing music, we could encourage the Learner to locate a requested symbol.
"Show me the bus"
Other uses of .mp3 files
While we have started to cover signing above, not all .mp3 files used need to be songs.
They can also be:
- music (without song);
- a recording of a voice;
- a rhyme or a poem;
- an adage, proverb or metaphor;
- a sound effect.
What fun a child could have if his/her pen system could produce sounds such as mobile phones ringing, rude noises, breaking glass ...
Some toys respond to voice commands ... as communication systems will produce the same voice every time in exactly the same manner it will work consistently with such toys. This can be very motivating for a child; having control over a toy with a limited number of commands can:
- provide a lot of enjoyment,
- assist in the learning of cause and effect;
- teach spatial relationships;
- teach symbol word correspondence.
Of course, the family dog could also learn to obey the Learner in a similar manner. As the cartoon illustrates, the cat might be a little trickier!
Combined Word Mode (Voice Symbol Only)
Combined Word Mode is a feature of Voice Symbol. If you are not using Voice Symbol you may skip this section and move to the one below.
Typically, Voice Symbol produces individual cells that speak the name of the symbol chosen. Thus, in the music examples given above they symbols would say (if they did not sing) cake, bus, and can respectively. If it was desirable to make the symbols say whole sentences or part-sentence phrases then we could either use:
- combine Word Mode;
- record our own voice into the symbol;
- a text – to – speech system.
In combined word mode, we are using the previously studio-recorded, male or female vocabulary provided with the Voice Symbol system. Thus, the cake could either say its default sound ‘cake’ or, by using combined mode, ‘I want some cake please’. A use of this feature is to provide a sentence opener for a concluding single or dual word terminator (see llustration).
Thus, selecting the green cell produces:
“I am going” ...
(Combined mode cell) and, by selecting any of the white cells, attach an acceptable terminator to the existing opener:
... home.
... to school.
... out.
When I ask my sixteen year old son where he is going, he says, “I am going out”! It doesn’t tell me much but, at least, he is still speaking to me! I figured that I should always have this option on a communication board for a teenager. Why should a teenager using a communication system be any different to any other?!
Using Combined Mode in this way meant that I could have a simple 4 location board that contains 7 words. To do it all as single word cells would almost double the size of the grid.
Sometimes, when a word does not exist in the Voice Symbol dataset, it is possible to create it in ‘combined mode’. For example, I wanted to produce a communication sheet that contained the English city name‘Manchester’ but when I searched for it, it was absent. However, I was able to create it from three parts ‘man + chest + er’. ‘Er’ was present because it is a suffix that has been recorded to turn adjectives into comparatives (big into big-er, small into small-er, etc). Manchester sounded a little strange as three component parts strung together but I understood what the system was saying and, more importantly, so did the people I tested it on! In this way, I could make up such place names as ‘Live – er – pool’ and I might even get away with‘sock – port’ for Stockport as stock is also not available! There are many words in English that are made up of two or more parts that are distinguishable as words in their own right. If you need such a word and it is not contained in the system... create it yourself!
Recording
Recording can be done either:
- during the designing of the overlay directly into the communication system;
- In Voice Symbol, afterwards, when the overlay has been printed, into the V-Pen,
so long as the symbol is a Memory Cell (see Sure Start Sheets 10).
In this section, we will only cover the first aspect, recording directly into the computer, as the second part is covered in the following Sure Start Sheet.
What can be recorded and why?
Any sound can be recorded! If you can record it into a tape recorder, you can record it into a communication system as long as the particular commuication system has the record function. Most do. Of course, paper based boards and books do not have any means of playing back a recorded sound. That is, unless you are using Voice Symbol and then the paper can sing!
Why?
If it motivates the Learner and helps him/her to learn to use his/her system then ‘why not?’! We all know there are Learners who are extremely difficult to motivate. Any tool which can assist in this task must be welcome. Of course, we can live to regret our actions: I once bought my little son a car back from America with me. It did all manner of things, each accompanied by loud sound effects. At the time, I thought it was fun. My son loved it. However, after the hundredth time of hearing the same, rather loud, sound effect, my nerves were beginning to break! If we provide sound effects, either through recording or the aforementioned .mp3 files, we must expect them to be used. It will be our responsibility to defend the action when staff are complaining that Billy set off his ‘police siren’ in the middle of biology again! If staff were previously complaining about Billy’s lack of motivation, it has proved that he is motivated to do something! We now need to consider how we can move him on. Here are some ideas:
- Billy associates the sound with the cell. However, he probably isn’t that cognisant of the level of sound or its duration. It would be
possible to switch overlays for one that looks identical but which produces a little less volume for a little less time. The effect could
be gradually reduced. We could even tag a word on to the end of the effect, such that, as the effect is reduced, like the Cheshire cat’s
smile, all that remains is the word! It would obviously have to be a meaningful word in context. We are not removing the sound effect,
Billy will always have access to it we are just making it more socially acceptable if other avenues fail.
- Provide Billy with alternative symbols that can be used more creatively and with more positive effect while, at the same time, using
strategy one to reduce the impact of the initial sound. Removing sounds, for me at least, is a very last option and one that I would
hesitate to take, especially if it was proving so motivating! I would seek ways to use the motivating aspect to lead to further
development of an individual's communicative and cognitive skills.
- Associate the sound effect with a ‘meaning’ such that it becomes ‘meaningful’: thus creating a ‘responsive environment’
(Jean Ware, 2003, Creating a Responsive Environment’ , London: David Fulton)
- Teach Billy that his behaviour in class is not appropriate and contract with him for ‘responsible behaviour’. This may require some form
of tangible reward.
Recorded sounds can be used to:
- Give presentations;
- Lead an assembly;
- Say a prayer in church;
- Sing a Hymn in church (or anywhere else);
- Take part in a play;
- Make comments at a social event;
- Call for attention;
- Ask for time out;
- Recreate a memory such as a sound heard while out on a walk;
- Assist staff in the telling of a sensory story;
- ...
Some systems require the use of recorded sounds as a means of generating speech; there is literally no other option. Thus the Learner is forced to speak with someone else's voice. Of course, by definition, the Learner is always going to have to speak with something other than his/her own voice but recording someone else's voice can sometimes be something of a problem:
- What if that person moves away or becomes unavailable for any reason and more vocabulary is required? Best practice would dictate a
choice of different age and sex appropriate voices presented to the Learner from which s/he can choose. Which establishment can offer
that? I wish there was a website somewhere which offered complete vocabulary recordings of every word in a given language (well,
perhaps just the top 100,000), in both male and female vocies, at different age levels. Am I dreaming!? If you know of such a facility,
please get in touch! Of course, with TTS improving year on year, I doubt if anyone will invest in such a project.
- If a sibling's voice is used; is the Learner comfortable with this?
- If the only source of a voice is the Speech Therapist then we might have an SGD for a young male speaking with a more mature
female voice! (with my immediate apologies to our male Speech Therapy coleagues out there!). I have witnessed this on several
occasions and it is extremely common in BIGmack use, for example. Something is better than nothing, of course but it is hardly
best practice!
- during the designing of the overlay directly into the communication system;
- In Voice Symbol, afterwards, when the overlay has been printed, into the V-Pen,
so long as the symbol is a Memory Cell (see Sure Start Sheets 10).
In this section, we will only cover the first aspect, recording directly into the computer, as the second part is covered in the following Sure Start Sheet.
What can be recorded and why?
Any sound can be recorded! If you can record it into a tape recorder, you can record it into a communication system as long as the particular commuication system has the record function. Most do. Of course, paper based boards and books do not have any means of playing back a recorded sound. That is, unless you are using Voice Symbol and then the paper can sing!
Why?
If it motivates the Learner and helps him/her to learn to use his/her system then ‘why not?’! We all know there are Learners who are extremely difficult to motivate. Any tool which can assist in this task must be welcome. Of course, we can live to regret our actions: I once bought my little son a car back from America with me. It did all manner of things, each accompanied by loud sound effects. At the time, I thought it was fun. My son loved it. However, after the hundredth time of hearing the same, rather loud, sound effect, my nerves were beginning to break! If we provide sound effects, either through recording or the aforementioned .mp3 files, we must expect them to be used. It will be our responsibility to defend the action when staff are complaining that Billy set off his ‘police siren’ in the middle of biology again! If staff were previously complaining about Billy’s lack of motivation, it has proved that he is motivated to do something! We now need to consider how we can move him on. Here are some ideas:
- Billy associates the sound with the cell. However, he probably isn’t that cognisant of the level of sound or its duration. It would be
possible to switch overlays for one that looks identical but which produces a little less volume for a little less time. The effect could
be gradually reduced. We could even tag a word on to the end of the effect, such that, as the effect is reduced, like the Cheshire cat’s
smile, all that remains is the word! It would obviously have to be a meaningful word in context. We are not removing the sound effect,
Billy will always have access to it we are just making it more socially acceptable if other avenues fail.
- Provide Billy with alternative symbols that can be used more creatively and with more positive effect while, at the same time, using
strategy one to reduce the impact of the initial sound. Removing sounds, for me at least, is a very last option and one that I would
hesitate to take, especially if it was proving so motivating! I would seek ways to use the motivating aspect to lead to further
development of an individual's communicative and cognitive skills.
- Associate the sound effect with a ‘meaning’ such that it becomes ‘meaningful’: thus creating a ‘responsive environment’
(Jean Ware, 2003, Creating a Responsive Environment’ , London: David Fulton)
- Teach Billy that his behaviour in class is not appropriate and contract with him for ‘responsible behaviour’. This may require some form
of tangible reward.
Recorded sounds can be used to:
- Give presentations;
- Lead an assembly;
- Say a prayer in church;
- Sing a Hymn in church (or anywhere else);
- Take part in a play;
- Make comments at a social event;
- Call for attention;
- Ask for time out;
- Recreate a memory such as a sound heard while out on a walk;
- Assist staff in the telling of a sensory story;
- ...
Some systems require the use of recorded sounds as a means of generating speech; there is literally no other option. Thus the Learner is forced to speak with someone else's voice. Of course, by definition, the Learner is always going to have to speak with something other than his/her own voice but recording someone else's voice can sometimes be something of a problem:
- What if that person moves away or becomes unavailable for any reason and more vocabulary is required? Best practice would dictate a
choice of different age and sex appropriate voices presented to the Learner from which s/he can choose. Which establishment can offer
that? I wish there was a website somewhere which offered complete vocabulary recordings of every word in a given language (well,
perhaps just the top 100,000), in both male and female vocies, at different age levels. Am I dreaming!? If you know of such a facility,
please get in touch! Of course, with TTS improving year on year, I doubt if anyone will invest in such a project.
- If a sibling's voice is used; is the Learner comfortable with this?
- If the only source of a voice is the Speech Therapist then we might have an SGD for a young male speaking with a more mature
female voice! (with my immediate apologies to our male Speech Therapy coleagues out there!). I have witnessed this on several
occasions and it is extremely common in BIGmack use, for example. Something is better than nothing, of course but it is hardly
best practice!
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