A Minspeak Unity 128 Users Learning Guide

Caytlin Weir is a proficient Minspeak user and is pictured here with her beloved Pathfinder

Caytlin Weir

My Story

My name is Caytlin Weir, I am twenty-one and I was born with Cerebral Palsy.

Growing up, I went right through mainstream primary school without a communication device, using just a communication board to communicate and do my school work with.  With the help of my family and therapists, I got a DeltaTalker in 1999, when I was in Year 6.  Due to people at the primary school being unfamiliar with assistive technology, I didn't really start to use my communication device until Year 7.  That is when I became an individual and started to grow as a person.

As I was becoming more and more familiar with the icon sequences and the way they were formed, I started to feel the weekly session were not enough.  As it is very much a memory game, I felt I had to be regularly using it or I would never remember everything.  So whenever I got a chance, I would practice, just going through all the icons at my own pace.  I know this may sound funny but the way I remember sequences is to make up little stories using the names and meanings of the icons involved.

I'm not going to say I know Minspeak to death, I don't.  I still find words in the Minspeak vocabulary that I don't know.  But if I find a word that I'm using regularly, I will take notice of its icon sequence and make up one of my crazy little stories so I don't have to keep spelling the word all the time.  For me, that is what Minspeak is about.  You have to build the vocabulary up in your head, gradually.  No way could anyone learn Minspeak over night.  It takes time. 

Just the other day, for example, I learned the icon sequence for the word "cherry".  You're there doubting me now.  You're thinking "She's writing a Minspeak User Guide without knowing a simple sequence like how to get cherry!?" You're right, I didn't.  I don't like to eat cherries so I don't usually use the word, it was only that I was saying I wanted a Cherry Ripe, I needed to know this sequence.  At first, I did APPLE  APPLE STOP, because, hey, cherries are red and we know that the STOP icon means red.  I ended up typing "can I have a Tomato Ripe!" APPLE APPLE STOP actually gives the word "tomato." So I had to go back and spell cherry and then it gave me the icon prompt of APPLE APPLE UMBRELLA.  "That makes sentence!"  The shape of a cherry looks like an upside down umbrella! 

So now you can see learning Minspeak is not a great race.  You can learn as you go, take all the time you need.  The icon prompt are really important, they are always there for you can to learn sequences any time.  So it is wise to stop to watch the prompt that comes up after spelling the word, remembering you have to put a space at the end of the word for this to work. 

For the people who know me, I'm just like every other twenty-one year old girl.  I love to go out with friends, shopping and hanging out.  I study and sometimes hate it, and most of all I want to work!

This being said, I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for assistive technology.  And I know that this assistive technology is only going to get better in the future, this will not only improve my life, but it will have a greater impact on people who are younger then me.  They are going to grow into a world that is more accepting of disabilities and assistive technology and also by then, the inventions will be more advanced.  I hope my journey encourages other disabled people to get the most out of life.

What is Minspeak? 

The world is made up thousands of different languages.  Some are well known, such as English, German, and French, and some are not.  One of those hidden languages is Minspeak. Minspeak is not only used by one country, it is popular world wide.

Minspeak uses a combination of individual symbols, that when put together, create words, sentences, and even longer phrases if wanted. Minspeak is commonly used by communication device users from all over.  In Minspeak, the symbols are better known as "icons", and each icon represents a specific meaning / purpose.  For example, if you pressed the rainbow icon, you are given a selection of colour and art vocabulary to choose from.  To learn and therefore use Minspeak, you have to make up memory clues so you can remember where all the vocabulary is stored. 

Most of the communication devices that use Minspeak, have the alternative of being able to spell words, just like you do on a computer keyboard.  I know you are sitting there thinking "why on earth do I need to learn Minspeak, when I can just spell everything?"  Well I can give you the answer in one word.  Time.  It's sure quicker to press three, or sometimes less, icons than spelling a large word, such as baby-sitter, which is eleven hits on the keyboard when spelling.  So, three or eleven keyboard hits, which would you rather?

What is Unity?

Like most other technical products, there are many different "makes and models" of Minspeak, and each different one is called a Minspeak application program, sometimes abbreviated as MAP.  One of the more common Minspeak application programs is called Unity.  Unity is only on communication devices that have been developed by Prentke Romich Company.

There are different versions of Unity depending on the size of the communication device.  Unity comes in versions 32, 44, 60, 84, 128, and 144.  For example, Unity 32 is for a communication device with 32 buttons, and Unity 128 has 128 buttons.  It is clear that a Unity 128 communication device is more complex to learn than one with Unity 32.  In saying this, a communication device with Unity 128 has many more functions to offer.  

A communication device using Unity features a preset vocabulary of words, sentences and groups of sentences for the user to use.  Unity is already loaded on to the communication device when it's purchased.  Really, it's as good as a dictionary, the vocabulary is huge!  Just Unity 128 alone has 2100 words and sentences stored.  But, another advantage of Unity is, as the user, you can also store the words that you use most frequently that are not in the Minspeak vocabulary.  For example, you can store the names of your family and friends so you don't have to keep spelling them every time you want to talk about those people. 

Another feature of both Minspeak and Unity is you can add endings to words to turn it into an extension of the original word.  This is where knowing all those English things that you learn at school, such as verbs and nouns, finally become important!  For example, we know that the icon sequence for the word ‘cook' is ‘kitchen', (because we cook in the kitchen), + ‘verb'.  But what if we want to use the word ‘cooking' in a sentence?  Well, this is easy with Unity, once again it's ‘kitchen', but now it's + ‘verb + ING'.  Easy than you thought it would be hey!  And from using similar icon sequences, you can get the words ‘cooks', ‘cooked', and ‘to cook'.