Speak Up and Speak Up Too!

Special Access Features: microphone

These programs have been designed with a focus on children with profound and multiple disabilities. However, they could be of use to nursery children and adults with learning difficulties.

The programs have been specifically designed to encourage vocalisation. (This is similar to some of the early Micromike software that used to run on the Beeb!)

Users make noises and depending upon the volume of sound, patterns and pictures on the screen grow larger, move up, move down, etc..

Speak Up! provides abstract colours and lines that move about the screen as the user vocalises.

Speak Up Too! enables the user to control pictures (bitmaps) - and as they make noises the pictures can move up the screen, get larger, get taller, etc.. This may prove useful in dealing with concepts of size and position.

It is anticipated that the carer will sit with the child using the computer to provide support, and that the carer (not the child) will use the keyboard, screen and mouse. The child will just have the microphone.

Note: You can put your own pictures into Speak Up Too. These could be of objects that the child is fond of or, if you have a scanner, could be pictures of the child's friends, family, pet, etc..