How it works
Learn to read with the same books used in mainstream classrooms, but specially adapted for AAC
just like in the book
as easy as ABC
- A download and subscribe
- B buy some books
- C start reading!
- story books *
- decodable readers
- levelled readers
- plays *
- comics *
- poems *
- * these book types will not be available at launch
learning to read made easy
At Aacapella we like to make learning easy — we’ve taken care of all the AAC programming so you can focus on literacy instruction. In just three steps your student can be reading aloud mainstream books just like everyone else.
A
download Read from the App Store and subscribe
Use the settings to customise the app for the learning needs of your student.
We currently have levelled readers and decodable readers available. In the future we have plans to add storybooks, plays, comics, and poems.
C
start reading!
Once you have set the app up for your student, you’re ready to go. You can
start reading a book or take advantage of the other features of the app such
as pre-learning new book vocabulary so your student can easily recognise
the symbols when reading.
each book is ready to read
Each book you purchase and download from Aacapella is a specially adapted AAC version of a mainstream book. In addition to all the mainstream content, each book comes to you with all the AAC symbols necessary to read the book embedded in it.
No time wasted entering vocabulary and symbols, or optimising vocabulary layout – we’ve done all the prep work for you!
how it works
Each word in a book is assigned to a symbol. When the symbol is selected, the word is read aloud. Symbols representing words are displayed in the same location regardless of the book being read. Read knows which word is being read and understands its context in the sentence. This allows Read to dynamically reconfigure the grid to display the semantically appropriate and gramatically correct symbol. For some words that are not meaningfully represented by symbols, the word itself is displayed in the grid (for example: the, a, of, if and or).
Most words can be accessed with a single button press and a maximum of two button presses, so students can focus on learning to read rather than remembering the location of symbols. Minimising the number of button presses to select symbols also improves reading fluency and reduces physical fatigue.
pre-learn new vocabulary
When you download a new book, Read determines which words a student already knows, and which words are new vocabulary for the student. Read provides the opportunity to pre-learn the symbols and location of symbols for new vocabulary prior to reading books. Please note that this fuctionality will not be available at launch and will be added later.
sound out unfamiliar words
No phonics-based AAC reading system would be complete without support for students to sound out unfamiliar words. If a student encounters an unfamiliar word, they select the Sound-It button. Read will sound out the word for the student and show them the location of the corresponding symbol in the grid. In future releases, the teacher will be able to customise the sounding out process to conform to their literacy approach in the classroom.
learn unfamiliar symbols
Sometimes a student may be able to read a word but have forgotten the corresponding symbol. If this occurs a student can select the Learn-It button and Read will teach them the symbol and the location of the symbol within the grid.
Read will be launched with SymbolStix and Widgit symbols. Additional symbol sets will be offered in later releases.
