Communication A to Z

Somebody hands you a leaflet that says AAC. A review mentions partner-assisted scanning. A ward asks whether your dad has a communication passport. Everyone else in the room seems to know what these words mean, and asking feels like admitting you're behind. You aren't. This library explains each one plainly: what it is, who it helps, how it works, and what you can do about it this week. Search by the word you heard.

Please note: This page is general information about communication and the ways people are supported to communicate. It is not an assessment, a diagnosis or speech and language therapy, and it does not know the person you have in mind. If you are worried about someone's speech, language or communication, ask a GP, a health visitor or a speech and language therapist. In an emergency, call 999; if you cannot speak, Relay UK on 18000 or the emergencySMS service reach the same operators.

301 topics, showing 281–290 (page 29 of 31).

T

Types of switch

Also called Switches, Accessibility switches, Sip-and-puff, Proximity switch, Blink switch, EMG switch

Buttons, pads, proximity sensors, sip-and-puff, blink and muscle sensors, matched to whatever the body can do reliably.

U

Unaided communication

Also called Unaided AAC, Body-based communication

Signing, gesture, facial expression and vocalisation: every kind of communication that needs nothing but the body.

Using the phone

Also called Phone calls without speech, Telephone access

Banks, doctors and councils still want a voice call. Here are the ways round it for a person who cannot make one.

V

Video relay

Also called VRS, Video relay service, Video remote interpreting, VRI, 999 BSL

Calling through a BSL interpreter on screen: how it works, when it is free, and where it falls short of an interpreter in the room.

Visual scene displays

Also called VSD, Scene displays, Hotspot displays, Photo scenes

A photograph with hotspots that speak. For people who think in situations rather than categories, including very young children and adults with aphasia.

Visual supports

Also called Visual aids, Visual strategies, Visual cues, Visual prompts

The general term for pictures, symbols, objects and written words used to help a person understand what is happening and what is expected.

Visual timetables

Also called Visual schedule, Picture timetable, Visual timetable, Daily schedule

The whole day in pictures, in order, on the wall, so that nothing is a surprise and nobody has to keep asking.

Vocabulary growth

Also called Vocabulary spurt, Word learning, Lexical development, Vocabulary explosion

How word learning speeds up after the first fifty, what feeds it, and why a device with 40 words on it starves it.

Vocabulary organisation

Also called Vocabulary layout, Vocabulary arrangement, AAC organisation

The ways a vocabulary can be arranged, and why the arrangement, not the number of words, decides what a person can actually say.

Voice banking

Also called Voice preservation, Personal synthetic voice, Custom voice

Recording your own voice while you still can, so that a synthetic voice can be built that sounds like you, and not like the tablet.

Try a voice now, free

Fiducia Talk is a complete talking board: 308 symbol cards, a phonics keyboard and a big-key keyboard, speaking in your device's own voice. No account, no subscription, and nothing you say leaves your device.

Open the board