PICTURE ICON LAYOUT SOFTWARE FOR COMMUNICATIONS BOARD

THIS RESEARCH STUDY DEVELOPS AN INTERACTIVE, MICROCOMPUTER-BASED, PICTURE ICON LAYOUT AND AUTHORING SYSTEM FOR EDUCATORS, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALISTS, AND EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS WHO ADAPT OR FABRICATE COMMUNICATIONS AIDS AND SYSTEMS FOR NON-VOCAL OR SPEECH-IMPAIRED CHILDREN OR ADULTS. A PROTOTYPE PICTURE ICON LAYOUT SOFTWARE (PILS) SYSTEM WILL BE DESIGNED FOR THE UNICORN II EXPANDED KEYBOARD (UNICORN ENGINEERING COMPANY) AND WILL UTILIZE THE CORE PICTURE VOCABULARY (CPV) (DON JOHNSTON DEVELOPMENTAL EQUIPMENT) AS THE INTERNAL BASE ICON LIBRARY. THE PROTOTYPE SOFTWARE WILL BE WRITTEN FOR THE APPLE II MICROCOMPUTER FAMILY AND WILL ALLOW USERS TO DESIGNAND PRODUCE CUSTOM OVERLAYS FOR COMMUNICATION BOARDS BY SELECTING AND RESIZING CPV LIBRARY ICONS OR CREATING NEW ICONS (USING STANDARD GRAPHICS PACKAGES) TO ADD TO THEIR OWN LIBRARY. THE PROTOTYPE PILS SOFTWARE AND DRAFT USER'S GUIDE WILL BE EXTENSIVELY FIELDTESTED BY REPRESENTATIVES OF GROUPS OF POTENTIAL USERS AND PERSONS WHO TEACH AND COUNSEL OTHERS REGARDING THE DESIGN AND USE OF AUGMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION DEVICES AND METHODS. BASED ON THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE AND THE RESULTS FROM FIELD-TESTS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND PLANS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A FULLY FUNCTIONAL PILS SYSTEM WILL BE PROPOSED.