What is a Minspeak®?
A Minspeak® system replaces barriers to language via a unique system of pictures, called icons. If you show people a picture of something simple, like an apple, they will naturally associate more than one idea with that picture.
What are Minspeak icons?
Minspeak icons are simple, easily recognized pictures. Icons created for a Minspeak system are designed to be culturally relevant and communicate a wide range of common ideas and topics. Pictures and icons naturally evoke multiple ideas.
Is Minspeak a system of symbols?
Therefore, Minspeak operates as a system of symbols, and not as a set of symbols, because it allows for the creation of "novel" concepts not explicitly expressed by each symbol, but rather by the combination of existing symbols.
How does Minspeak work on Augmentative and alternative communication devices?
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices come with Minspeak programs already loaded into them. Each program has a set of Minspeak icons and a pattern for combining the set of icons. The person using a Minspeak system can simply select from the available programs and start learning the icons and patterns.
How does Minspeak work?
The Minspeak system uses multiple-meaning pictures, or icons, in short sequences to enable a person to say thousands of words in just one, two or three key selections. The icons are simple, easily recognized and culturally relevant.
Who uses Minspeak?
Minspeak systems are used by individuals with motor speech disorders, such as dysarthria and developmental apraxia of speech. Minspeak systems offer children and adults with motor speech disorders a language system that eases the physical demands of using a communication device.
Who created Minspeak?
Bruce Baker, AM, LHD, (Hons. caus.) (1943-2020), the creator of the Minspeak® language system, spent 40 years developing and teaching in the field of AAC. The team at Semantic Compaction Systems hopes to continue to share his work and language-first message.
Does lamp use Minspeak?
Minspeak® programs include these language systems: Unity® UNIDAD® LAMP Words for Life™
What is an independent communicator?
INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATION Independent Communicators are not limited in what they can talk about or whom they can talk to. They can communicate with both familiar and unfamiliar partners. And if they don't have the right vocabulary preprogrammed, then they can use spelling to communicate exactly what they want to say.
What is Semantic Compaction AAC?
Semantic compaction also known as iconic encoding or Minspeak, is an Augmentative and alternative communication technique in which sequences of icons (pictorial symbols) are combined in order a word or a phrase from an AAC device in order increase a person's rate of speech.
What is Language Acquisition through Motor Planning?
Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) is a therapeutic approach based on neurological and motor learning principles. The goal is to give individuals who are nonverbal or have limited verbal abilities a method of independently and spontaneously expressing themselves in any setting.
How do you use a vocabulary builder on a lamp?
0:247:41How to use Vocabulary Builder in LAMP Words for Life iOS - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipNow going to select quick edit. I'm now going to select the label area or text area box. And I'mMoreNow going to select quick edit. I'm now going to select the label area or text area box. And I'm going to type in the words go stop and war each word has to be added individually.
What is iconic encoding?
Iconic encoding is the use of a sequence of icons to retrieve a word or phrase from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies.
What is the lamp system?
The LAMP Words for Life language system is a full language program that combines the power of PRC's Unity language system with Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP™) principles and strategies.
Is lamp a device?
lamp, device for producing illumination, originally a vessel containing a wick soaked in combustible material and subsequently such other light-producing instruments as gas and electric lamps.
How many words are in a lamp word for life?
It includes 3,000+ words and allows for the customization of personalized vocabulary such as names, favorite foods, and favorite places.
How do you use the LAMP app?
3:3715:15Lamp Words for Life: a short demo - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipIt's a great way to train initial use of this system and provide some immediate feedback. So one hitMoreIt's a great way to train initial use of this system and provide some immediate feedback. So one hit the message is spoken or populates. The message window immediately.
What is Minspeak about?
Minspeak®, however, seeks to embrace many of the challenges faced by single-hit systems. Drawing upon knowledge of language acquisition & organisation, Dr Baker designed a radically different way of giving many non-verbal people access to independent, novel, spontaneous communication.
What is Minspeak language?
Minspeak® is a rule-driven, predictable language system, just as is English. Its consistency creates & reinforces the intuition of users as they explore the structure & learn what is expected. It is an approach that has to be learned, but its regularity permits orthodox teaching. This is achieved by repetitive practice that establishes motor plans, in an identical way to the way infants learn to speak.
What is minspeak in a communication device?
Minspeak is a way of representing language in a communication device.
What is a small number of pictures called?
With a small number of pictures – called icons – the person using Minspeak can independently communicate a large vocabulary without having to spell or to learn and navigate through a large set of pictures.
How does Minspeak work?
Generation of words in Minspeak® follows patterns of selection that mirror the various parts of speech. This encourages the development of motor plans over time that are akin to typing, dressing, playing a musical instrument, changing gears, etc. In turn this concept mimics the way in which we actually produce verbal speech ourselves: a unique motor plan of tongue, lips, cheek, teeth & breath to speak one unique word.
Does Minspeak have a single page?
Not only is there a single page of icons; the spatial position of those icons never changes, plus the icons themselves always remain the same, in the purest, simplest form of Minspeak®. Never having to leave the true home page means that a user does not have to exit & begin a hunt for vocabulary via a 3-D maze of pages & pages of words.
Is Minspeak a valid language?
Often misunderstood, Minspeak remains a valid method of representing language with symbols. It is different, but it delivers , as over 50, 000 users worldwide attest
What is the goal of Minspeak?
The goal is to increase independent communication in individuals who cannot use speech. Minspeak is the only patented system for Semantic Compaction and is based on multi-meaning icons that code vocabulary in short sequences determined by rule-driven patterns.
When was Minspeak first used?
This led to the development of the Minspeak program on Express III hardware in the summer of 1982. Minspeak was released to the public for commercial use at the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention of 1983 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
What is the first icon in Minspeak?
Baker's preliminary work for Minspeak included forty icons. The first was a picture of an ear , representing phatic exchanges (communication devoid of information exchange, i.e. "what’s up"). Other icons were selected to represent additional speech functions. In 1981, Baker and one of this former students, Kenneth Smith, implemented the first Minspeak program on an AIM 65 computer using a Votrax SC01 voice synthesizer. In December 1981, Baker teamed with Barry Romich and signed his first commercial agreement for Minspeak. This led to the development of the Minspeak program on Express III hardware in the summer of 1982. Minspeak was released to the public for commercial use at the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention of 1983 in Cincinnati, Ohio. From that point forward, Minspeak evolved into a dynamic communication system, advancing its capabilities to serve a more diverse user population and to establish an efficient language approach to augmentative and alternative communication.
What is minspeak in AAC?
Semantic compaction, ( Minspeak ), conceptually described as polysemic (multi-meaning) iconic encoding, is one of the three ways to represent language in Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). It is a system utilized in AAC devices in which sequences of icons (pictorial symbols) are combined in order to form a word or a phrase. The goal is to increase independent communication in individuals who cannot use speech. Minspeak is the only patented system for Semantic Compaction and is based on multi-meaning icons that code vocabulary in short sequences determined by rule-driven patterns. Minspeak has been used with both children and adults with various disabilities, including cerebral palsy, motor speech disorders, developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and adult onset disabilities such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
What is Minspeak encoding?
Conceptual basis. Minspeak is an encoding system based on the idea of sequencing picture symbols. This system is governed by a specific set of rules and uses iconic encoding, indicating that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between a symbol and its meaning.
Who developed the Minspeak program?
Bruce Baker was the first to develop the idea of sequencing picture symbols as an encoding system which he patented under the name of Minspeak. His desire to develop this system stemmed from his doctorate work in linguistics, which focused on the language used to describe and interact with people with disabilities. During interviews with AAC users, he noticed the linguistic capabilities provided by the devices were very primitive at the time, excluding any modern linguistic insights. As a result, Baker developed a rudimentary coding system used during these interviews to facilitate more optimal communication. This coding system served as the impetus for development of the Minspeak program.
How does motor learning work in Minspeak?
The Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) strategy aids individuals in developing motor plans paired with auditory output to represent words. Minspeak relies upon the motor-based learning principles that when motor patterns are repeated, these processes become automatic and simplified. Common automated motor patterns include typing on a keyboard without looking, riding a bicycle, or swallowing food and drink. Increased automaticity and simplification with the production of language allows experienced Minspeak users to delegate cognitive attention to their intended message (language) instead of to the formulation of their message. This allows users to focus on communicating a specific message rather than focus on how to build the message by searching for icons across different pages and or screens. The use of LAMP strategies has been associated with increased natural expression through unique combinations of words in non-verbal children with autism. Ideally, once the system of Minspeak is mastered, productions of communication should take less time and effort across communication contexts.
Minspeak
Sometimes, to go forward, you have to go back. A fair number of AAC practitioners claim they know all about Minspeak and on the basis of their knowledge have determined that it is too complicated.
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