Conversation Setup
To create a conversation, select the Game Plans
button on the main screen. Select the Manage
Conversations button to see the screen below. From
this screen, you can select the type of conversation that you would
like to create, and select the background, ball and frame that will
be used.
To
select a background, ball or frame, simply tap on the current one,
and a popup window will appear. Choose something from the
popup and select SAVE. In the example below, the background
choices appear in the popup.
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Simple Conversation Between Two Players
To create a very simple, 2 way conversation, use the following
settings:
- One statement choice per person
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- Two way conversation
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- Sentences with optional picture prompts
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Using these settings, each player will have one sentence to read on
each turn. These are also nice settings to use if you
are having the student help you to write some conversations.
Complex Conversation Between Two Players
To create a 2 way conversation with multiple choices for
each player, use the following
settings:
- Multiple statement choices per person
- Two way conversation
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- Sentences with optional picture prompts
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Using these settings, each player will have a choice of sentences or
phrases to read on each turn.
If you have a student who is a beginning reader, you should use the
picture-based instead of text-based setting. With this
setting, bigger pictures are used with fewer words.
Picture-Based SettingOne Way Conversation
A one way conversation can be used to express basic needs and
feelings. This mode can also be used to create picture
schedules and behavioral rule charts.
Multiple or single statement choices per person |
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One way conversation |
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Photos with Short Phrases or
Sentences with Prompts |
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If you have a student who is a beginning reader, you should use the
picture-based instead of text-based setting. With this
setting, bigger pictures are used with fewer words.
Picture-Based
SettingWriting a Conversation
After you decide what type of conversation you would like, you can
begin adding statements by using this button.
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Depending on whether you have chosen multiple or single statements
per person, you will see one of two editors.
Writing a Conversation with Single Statement Choices
for Two Players
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This type of conversation is the easiest to write.
Simply add what the first person will say, then type in the text for
the second person. Continue adding more pairs, until the
conversation ends.
Add Photos
In addition to adding text, you can also select a picture to act
as a visual prompt next to each statement. Plus you can choose
a topic picture which will be larger and appear at the top of the
screen. The screenshot below, shows the three ways that
you can get a photo.
- Use a photo that came with the Conversation Coach
- Take a photo on the camera
- Use a photo that is in your photo library
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If you would like to add some photos to your photo library,
you can either e-mail them to yourself or download them from
Facebook or the internet. To capture a photo from
Facebook or an e-mail, bring up the picture in full screen mode
and hold your finger on it for a few seconds. You will
then have an option to
Save Image which saves
it to your photo library.
Selecting Built-In or Photo Library Photos
If you choose to select a built-in photo or one from the
photo library, you will see a screen similar to the one below.
Simply scroll to the photo that you want, and press on it to select
it.
In the sample below, the drive thru picture is selected as the topic
picture.
In the sample below, the exclamation point image is selected as a
visual prompt. Press
Save to add it to the
conversation.
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Taking Photos With the Camera
If you choose
Camera, the camera will pop
us as shown below. Press the camera icon to take a picture.
Add Sounds
You can add sounds that will play when a player presses on a
statement. Adding sound is a good idea if a player is
nonverbal. If a player can read and is verbal, it is
better to let the player read the statement himself, unless you want
him to hear and practice the proper inflection. Even if the
sound is added to the conversation, you can turn sounds off on a
player by player basis.
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If you press the record button, after a sound has already been
recorded, the original sound is saved in the list of prerecorded
sounds, and a new one with the same name is added to the list.
If you would like to change a sound after recording it, click on the
Edit Sounds Button after selecting Settings
and Help on the main page. Then tap on the Edit
button as shown in the following example.
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After tapping on the edit button, you will be able to change the
name of the sound or make a new recording. If you make a
new recording, the old recording will be erased.
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Sample Conversation Screens
If you had made a conversation like the one above, it would appear
as below for player one. Note that the topic picture of the
drive-thru appears at the top. The text at the bottom has no
visual prompt, because we did not add one.
After player one presses the ball, the following screen would appear
facing player two. Note that player two has a visual
prompt (exclamation point and face) plus the topic picture at the
top.
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Writing a Conversation with Multiple Statement Choices for
Two Players
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By
writing
a conversation
with multiple choices, you give players a chance to express their
wishes. For example, in the conversation above, player 2 was
unable to make a choice about what he wanted to eat. In
the following examples, player 2 has multiple choices. The
first screen below, shows
what the editor looks like when editting Player 2's responses
to the question "What would you like to eat?"
The following example is farther along in the same conversation.
It shows Player 2's responses to the question, "Do you want any
sauce?". Notice how you can tell
which branch of the conversation you are in, by looking at the
hierarchy at the top. If you wanted to edit the
responses for the hamburger branch, click on the "What would you
like to eat?" branch and then you would see the previous example.
This would allow you to go down the "hamburger" branch instead of
the "chicken nugget" branch.
The screen below shows how the conversation would appear for player
2 after player 1 asks, "What would you like to eat?".
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Note
that in the example above,
text-based choices was
selected. Small pictures appear with words or sentences
next to the pictures.
If picture-based mode
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had
been selected, a screen similar to the one below would appear.
Note that this
sample happens to have a few more choices than the one above and has
a different topic picture.
Make a Statement - One Way Conversation
This type of conversation is useful either for a player who is
not ready for back and forth conversations, or for someone who may
be unable to vocalize, but understands conversations and simply
needs to express their wishes. This mode is similar to a
conventional aac device.
The example below shows a sample conversation with submenus.
The first page shows the major food groups. When one of these
is tapped, the word is spoken then the subcategory appears.
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The image below shows what this conversation would look like in the conversation editor. Note that all of the food categories are in level one. To add items into any of the subcategories,
simply click on the corresponding line such as "fruit". You will then move to level two for that category.
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The image below shows what the fruit subcategory looks like in
the editor. Note that this panel says "Level Number 2"
at the top, and Fruit appears as the top level.
You can always refer to the top of the screen to figure out where
you are in the conversation. To add more fruits to the
subcategory you would tap on the "add statement" line at the bottom.