Sentence strip

Also called Message window, Message bar, Sentence bar

The line where chosen words collect before they are spoken, and the difference between a person who labels and a person who talks.

What it is

The sentence strip is the line, usually along the top of a device screen, where each word a person selects appears in order until they choose to speak the whole thing. Tap "I", tap "want", tap "drink": the strip reads "I want drink" and a tap on the strip, or a speak button, says it aloud. In PECS, the sentence strip is a physical Velcro strip that symbols are stuck to and handed over.

It is the part of a device that turns single words into sentences, and it is frequently the part that beginners, and their partners, ignore.

Who it can help

Anyone moving beyond single-word messages, which should be everyone eventually. It is how a symbol user builds grammar, how a text user composes before committing, and how a person with a slow access method reviews what they have written before it is spoken.

Some people find the strip a hindrance at first, because every selection speaks immediately as well as collecting. Most apps let you set whether a cell speaks on selection, only on the strip, or both; for a beginner who is learning what symbols do, speak-on-selection is usually right, and the strip comes into its own later.

How it works

Words accumulate left to right. The person can usually delete the last word, clear the strip, or tap into it to edit. Speaking the strip sends the whole message to text-to-speech in the person's chosen voice.

Strips also carry the history: many devices keep recent messages so a phrase can be re-spoken without rebuilding it, which is the origin of most people's quick phrases. And the strip is where word prediction reads from, so the more that has been written, the better the guesses.

Getting started

Model using the strip, not just the cells. Build a three-word sentence in front of the person, then tap the strip to speak the lot. They need to see that words go somewhere and come out together.

Check the setting for whether cells speak on selection. If the person is startled or distracted by every tap talking, turn it off and let the strip do the speaking. If they are still learning what a symbol means, leave it on.

Teach clear. The button that empties the strip is the one people forget, and a strip full of yesterday's words is a common reason a device "says the wrong thing".

Where to get help

A speech and language therapist will set up the strip behaviour for the person's stage. For PECS, Pyramid Educational Consultants run the training and hold the method. ACE Centre publishes guides to the main apps' settings.