Translation and evaluation of Talking MatsTM
Talking Mats is a low tech communication framework developed by Joan
Murphy, Lois Cameron and others at Stirling University in Scotland.
Talking Mats helps persons with cognitive and communicative disabilities
to express their views, make decisions, and participate in social life in
a more independent way.
The purpose of this project is to evaluate how Talking Mats is used in different Swedish organizations, to spread knowledge about the method and to translate the Scottish book – Talking Mats A Resource to Enhance Communication – into Swedish. The Swedish translation – Samtalsmatta En metod som underlättar kommunikation – can now be ordered at info@talkingmats.com. A project report and film describing Swedish experiences of Talking Mats will be available later this year.
The project is carried out by DART, SÖK in Malmö www.sokcentrum.se and FUB in Göteborg www.goteborg.fub.se.
Detailed information about Talking Mats is provided at www.talkingmats.com.
Contact information
For more information about the project contact Ulrika Ferm, DART, at
ulrika.ferm@vgregion.se.
The project is funded by the Swedish Inheritance Fund.
Bliss-Minspeak - development and evaluation of
Minspeak applications with Blissymbols based on case studies
Results: BlissMinspeak software and methodology
for the DeltaTalker - marketed by RehabModul AB and SIH Läromedel in Göteborg,
and a published report.
Ulrika Ferm & Gunilla Thunberg - DART,
Britt Amberntson - SIH Läromedel i Göteborg.
BRUD - the formation of a user resource for development, quality control
and introduction of IT based Assistive Technology
Main results: The "IT Users" ("IT-brukarna")
at Bräcke Östergård – a user resource with and for disabled IT users.
Responsible: Mats Lundälv
Comspec - ComLink
4-year European TIDE project – TP1169, with partners from the UK, Holland, Portugal, Norway and Sweden. The project was co-ordinated by the ACE Centre in Oxford, ended in June 1998.
Results: ComLink – an open and component-based software environment (in Java) for the development and adaptation of alternative communication aids. Experiences are propelled in current and planned R&D projects. The project has a history of pre-studies in three earlier phases in a Nordic-British-American co-operation initiated and co-ordinated by DART.
Responsible at DART: Mats Lundälv
Dyslexia - Writing Support
A national project, lead by AMS, RFV and HI in order to develop
reading and writing support functions, mainly for adult dyslectic users.
Participants: KTH, HADAR, Instit. for Lingvistics - Göteborg University,
and DART.
Results: "Stava Rätt" special needs spell checker
for Word7.0 and later, prototypes for integrated writing support. Responsible
at DART: Mats Lundälv
An inventory of children and adolescents with severe communication disorders
A descriptive study of the target population regarding size, ages, gender,
diagnosis, other disabilities, communication strategies, usage of AAC
aids and access to support.
Responsible: Eva Holmqvist, Gerd Zachrisson
KOMP – a centre for AAC in western Sweden
Is now incorporated in DART,
which is a member of the Swedish network for KOM centres.
Responsible: Gerd Zachrisson
Kultur för alla ("Culture for All") - in the footsteps of Frida
Kahlo
Minor participation (Mats L.) in a project run by the Swedish
Handicap Institute in co-operation with Very Special Arts in Sweden a
o. Envisaged funding for a Göteborg part have unfortunately been delayed
…
Lyckliga äktenskap ("Happy Marriages") - AAC with integrated
high and low technology
In this project, practical solutions for a close integration
of high and low-tech AAC aids (such as VOCAs and traditional symbol charts)
have been designed, produced and documented.
Margret Buchholz (OT) and Gunilla Thunberg (SLP).
Mycket nöje ("Enjoy") - an inventory, collation and
documentation of leisure time software for disabled users
Responsible: Birgitta Söderén
SAW - Switch Access to Windows - phases 2-3
Further development of the SAW alternative access package in
co-operation with ACE Centre – Oxford – UK, SIH Läromedel Göteborg,
and DART.
Responsible at DART: Mats Lundälv.
An evaluation and introduction of Blissymbol software for IBM compatible
computers
A co-operation between DART and the LINDAH
centre in Linköping, to evaluate, adapt and introduce Blissymbol software
packages like "BlissPerfect", "the BlissProcessor",
a o.
Responsible at DART: Birgit Wastenson
Biblioteket för alla ("A Library for All")
A 3-year joint project to provide a "writing and reading
hut" - between the Göteborg City Library, the Göteborg Centre for
Visual Rehabilitation and SRF (the Association for the Visually Impaired.
Has been followed up by the EU-project "Open Media".
Responsible at DART: Charlotte Ottosson