Re: CHAT: dyslexia

On 29 March, Irina Rempt wrote:

>On Thu, 29 Mar 2001, Muke Tever wrote:
>
>> What is 'Blisssymbolics' used for?
>> It's a huge block of pictograms charted for inclusion in higher unicode.
>
>I think it was designed to enable people with disabilities that make
>it hard to speak (like cerebral palsy) to communicate by pointing at
>symbols...
    Right on the mark, Irina!
IIRC, it's called "Augmented Communication" in English.
    Perhaps one of the most extreme cases in which I have
seen it used (not one of my own cases, though) was a young man
who was involved in a horrendous motorcycle accident.
He ended up not being able to speak and was paralyzed from
the neck down. He had a board with selected Bliss symbols
fitted to the front of his wheelchair. In order to communicate, he was
fitted with a headband to which was attached a lightweight
stick. By bending his neck and thus bobbing and turning
his head, he was able to make the stick point to whichever
symbol he wanted. Not perhaps the easiest or quickest way
to communicate, but it worked and got him through his day.

Dan Sulani
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likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a.

A word is an awesome thing.
.valdyas.org/irina/valdyas