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New: SL87 — New model of LightWRITER
The SL87 is a combination of a keyboard-model LightWRITER and the Plug-In Scan Module. The same display that is used for scanning in the Plug-In Scan Module is fastened to the LightWRITER to make a single package. The unit is integrated on a plastic plate that has an integral handle and fasteners for mounting.

Because it is complete within itself, the SL87 is appropriate for use in clinical evaluation centers as well as for use by individual consumers. In addition to scanning, the new Version 5.7 software allows for multiline viewing (up to 4 lines) of enlarged characters, or 8 predictions on the scan display, each selected by using the number keys.
Medicare assignment accepted.

Announcements: The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has determined that voice amplifiers used for beneficiaries with impaired function of their larynx are eligible for coverage by Medicare. This decision makes the ZaVox, ZYGO's speech amplifier eligible for coverage.

Refurbished MACAW 3 and MACAW 3+ units with one year warranty are now available for $1095.00 and $1245.00 US dollars.

ZYGO welcomes back Chris Gibbons to join our Sales Representative team once again. Chris will cover the state of Ohio and other surrounding states.

Holiday Special: All 4 MACAW Overlay books are available for $49.95 US dollars including shipping and handling. That's over 50% off the listed price.

The following activities were generated by the delegates of the Spectronics-ZYGO Australia SUMMIT 2000 in sessions run by Pati King-deBaun and Caroline Musselwhite. The activities described here are designed for communication success using the MACAW voice output communication device. Thank you to those who created these ideas. Additional ideas have been added from various sources.

The overlays can be used by people directly pressing the keyboard and also with those using a single switch and scanning. Set the scanning to step scanning. Each activation of the switch will advance the selection to the next message.

These activities enable the individual to communicate more than a single message, and it may be that success is offered at a level higher than the individual may comprehend. The sequence provides in-built training and a communication activity in combination.

The small group task at the SUMMIT was to design an 8 location overlay. These activities could be set-up for any number of messages, but the examples given here provide 8 options.

Activity	Message on Overlay
GUESS WHO: Individual gives clues for others to guess.	Guess who I am …I eat …; I have x legs; I have (scales/fur/wool); I am (big/little/tall…); I live in (jungle/water…); I make a noise like …; I move like this…;Who am I?
KNOCK-KNOCK JOKE: Student tells the joke. Script only the joke teller's parts, of course.	Choose any knock-knock joke with the desired number of parts. For example: knock-knock; orange; knock-knock; orange; knock-knock; banana; knock-knock; orange ya glad I didn't say orange again.
TREASURE HUNT: Student directs others where to search.	Look behind the door; look under the bin; look on the top shelf; warmer; colder.
NARRATOR IN A PLAY: Person provides the narration in a play.	Messages are those that are relevant to the play.
OBSTACLE COURSE: Person provides instructions for the class mates.	First go around the table; walk to the back of the room; zig zag between the desks; jump over the bin; hop to the window; kneel at the table; lie on the floor; sit in your chair.

Activity	Message on Overlay
SHOW AND TELL:	Good morning everybody; on the weekend I went ….; it was very….; I went with….; after we went to ….; I ate …; and then…..
REPORTING: Person gives an account of a study topic, or event, or news item.	Choose the relevant messages for the topic.
COOKING: Person gives instructions for a cooking or food preparation activity.	Get out the bread, butter and jam; Next get toaster, plate and knife; Put the bread in the toaster; make sure it is turned on; when it pops up, put it on the plate; butter it; then put on the jam; cut it in half and you can eat it.
STORY TELLING: Choose a book or make up a story and the person can "read" sequential parts or guess parts of the story. For example: Dear Zoo, by Rod Campbell. Guess the animal under the flap.	Elephant; giraffe; lion; camel; snake; monkey; frog; dog.
TOPIC SETTING: Caroline Musselwhite introduced the idea of using a question to initiate conversation about which the AAC individual is interested and then providing some communicative turns. For example:	Who's your favourite singer?; Oh right…I like Mariah Carey…do you like her?"; I have lots of her CDs; My favourite is #1s; Have you heard it?; etc.

There is very little specific information about literacy development and people with a severe communication impairment. The available research indicates that children with a severe communication impairment generally get fewer opportunities to practice emergent and early literacy skills than their peers (e.g. Light & Kelford-Smith (1993)). Practical experience, however, suggests that they often need more practice than their peers to learn and consolidate these skills. Generally, we need to look at the literature about literacy development in children without a severe communication impairment and use this as a base for classroom and home practice. We need to adapt classroom materials so that students with a severe communication impairment can do the same types of activities as other students, but more of them!

Phonemic Awareness
The single greatest predictor of whether a student will become a proficient reader is their phonemic awareness at the beginning of school (Adams, 1990). There is some question as to whether a severe communication impairment automatically leads to difficulties with phonemic awareness (see Sandberg and Hjelmquist (1996)) however, it has been shown that phonemic awareness can often be linked to the literacy environment in the child's pre-school life. See Light and Kelford-Smith (1993) and Blischak (1994) for a discussion of differences in the pre-literacy environment in disabled children and non-disabled peers.

Providing a range of activities for students with a severe communication impairment to help develop their phonemic awareness is very important, both at pre-school and early in their time at school. These could include letter games, recording sounds on a voice output communication aid for them to use in a game, reading books which focus on a letter, etc. There are a number of mainstream books around which provide examples of phonemic awareness activities, many of which can be adapted for use with a voice output communication aid, for example, "A Sound Way" by Elizabeth Love and Sue Reilly.

Phonograms
One of the most successful ways of increasing phonemic awareness has been through the use of phonograms, i.e. words which sound much the same,, e.g. sat, fat, mat, hat, pat, etc. These words can easily be demonstrated to be broken into two separate parts (beginning and end sound, known as the onset and rhyme), hopefully leading to the understanding that words can be broken into phonemes!

Word and syllable awareness
It has also been shown to be of great importance to teach students word and syllable awareness. Both of these skills are just as important as phonemic awareness. See Adams (1990) for general research in this area and Hielmquist, Sandberg and Hedelin (1994) for some specific information about people with severe communication impairment.

Continue reading on this interesting topic...

Tip: To prolong your LightWRITER battery's life, you need to discharge the battery every 3 months (whether the LightWRITER is in use or not). This procedure occupies the unit for a whole day, and can be done unattended - LightWRITER will turn itself off at the end of the discharge.

Procedure to discharge (for SL35):
1. Charge the battery overnight.
2. Next morning, turn the unit on and press MEM 7 (Speech-off).
3. Press MEM MEM MEM T to initiate a non-stop test, then leave the machine to turn itself off when fully discharged, several hours later.
4. Charge the battery for 16 hours (i.e. all evening and overnight).

Tip: Follow these steps to clean your LightWRITER keyboard.
1. Remove all four screws on the keyboard plate.
2. Blow off any food crumbs or dust in the area.
3. If the keys are sticky or visible liquid is in the area, you can clean the keys or around them with a damp cloth. You may take the key caps off the top of the rubber mat to clean the rubber mat underneath them.
4. After cleaning, make sure to reseat the key caps on the rubber mat firmly.

Note: Do not remove the black rubber mat from under the keys as this will damage your keyboard.

Closing the Gap - Closing the Gap took place October 17-20 in Bloomington, Minnesota, where we introduced the SL87 and Dialect. Both products were well received. Closing the GAP focuses on latest products and services in the AAC area as well as new product announcements and demonstrations. This is the best way of educating yourself in the AAC area. If we have missed you this year, you can make plans for the next year show by checking our Calendar page that's updated frequently.

Another successful show - ZYGO was invited as a vendor to FlexAbility 2001 Conference sponsored by Oregon Department of Human Services, Oregon Employment Department and Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development. FlexAbility 2001 Conference's agenda was to increase hiring of people with disabilities. ZYGO representatives showed our line of Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices and Environmental Control units. Attendees were enthusiastic about our products, in particular the LightWRITER and the PROG. ZYGO demonstrated these products for their usefulness, ease of use and benefits to individuals and employers in the work place.

Season's greetings from all of us at ZYGO

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