Pragmatic organisation

Also called PODD, Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display, Pragmatic branch starters

Organising words by what you want to do with them, ask, tell, complain, rather than by category. PODD is the design everyone has heard of.

What it is

Pragmatic organisation arranges a vocabulary by communicative function: the first choice a person makes is what kind of thing they want to say, "I want something", "I'm telling you something", "something's wrong", "let's chat", and the system then leads to the words for that. It mirrors how conversation works: listeners want to know what you are doing before they hear the detail.

PODD, Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display, is the best-known system built this way, developed by Gayle Porter in Australia. It exists as paper communication books and as page sets on devices, in versions from 9 to over 100 cells per page.

Who it can help

Children and adults with complex communication needs who are being supported to build language, particularly those using partner-assisted scanning, because a pragmatic path gives the partner a way to read the options in a sensible order. People with cerebral palsy, people with a learning disability, and autistic children are common PODD users.

It asks a lot of partners. A pragmatic book only works if the adults model with it constantly and follow its navigation faithfully, and it is slower to learn than a single core board. A family with no support to learn it will struggle. It is not the right choice for a fluent speller, who needs a keyboard, or for someone who needs to be independent with a device and finds the branch structure adds taps.

How it works

In a PODD book, page one holds the pragmatic branch starters: "I want", "I'm telling you", "something's wrong", "I like this", "let's go", "questions" and so on, along with the operational words ("go back to page one", "I'm going to spell it"). Choosing a starter turns to a page of options for that function, which may branch again, until the message is complete. Each page carries its own link cells, so the navigation is printed on the book.

Partners are taught to say the branch starter aloud as they turn ("I'm telling you something"), so the person hears the pragmatic frame every time. Once a message is built, the partner says the whole thing back.

Versions differ by cell count, by whether they are for direct pointing or partner scanning, and by whether they carry a core "expanded key word" page; the assessment picks the version.

Getting started

Get the right book. PODD templates are sold under licence to trained professionals, and most local AAC services and special schools hold them; ask your speech and language therapist rather than trying to copy one.

Go to training. A two-day PODD course is the usual route for staff and family, and it is worth it: the difference between a modelled PODD book and an unmodelled one is the difference between language and a heavy folder.

Model everything. Turn the pages for your own messages, say the branch starters aloud, and expect a slow first month.

Where to get help

ACE Centre runs PODD training in the UK and has PODD specialists on staff. The method is owned by the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre in Australia, which publishes the templates and licenses trainers. Communication Matters can connect families with other PODD users. The NHS route is speech and language therapy and, for complex needs, a specialised AAC service.