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Who can use Gateway©
Why Gateway©
Vocabulary Selection Strategies
Organization Strategies
About the Author
Who Can Use Gateway to Language and Learning©?
 Any child or adult, who can categorize words according to people, actions, places, and objects, has the basic skills needed to use Gateway©. If an augmented communicator’s language performance indicates that he has the potential to, or is beginning to create multi-word messages, a Gateway© program could be an appropriate language tool. Gateway© can enable a young child to develop age appropriate syntactical performance and learn to communicate using complex sentences. Speech-language pathologists can teach a young AAC user to communicate with the Gateway© programs, expanding the user's language structure, syntactical performance and ability to use language to express a range of pragmatic functions. Competent communicators can use Gateway 60 or Pro to efficiently and effectively direct their care or to participate in meaningful interactions in school, at work, at home and within the community.
Gateway© differs from Minspeak™ or the semantic compaction approach to encoding a single word vocabulary (e.g., Unity™). Minspeak™ requires a user to sequence multi-meaning icons to say a word. The words associated with each icon are derived from semantic associations that may require abstract reasoning. For example, in the Unity™ program, to say fish, a user selects the "Zebra + Place + Place"; to say cat the user selects "Zebra + Come + Sleep". Word meaning is not transparent.
Communicating with Gateway© is intuitive. Gateway© uses a single meaning approach to encoding vocabulary. It does not require a user to learn a set of associations, a semantic code or an abstract sequence to speak a word. DynaSyms®, created by Faith Carlson, are used as the symbol system for the program. The commonly used Picture Communication Symbols (PCS), available through Mayer-Johnson, can alternatively be selected for the user’s symbol set.
With Gateway©, a user selects a specific picture or word to express his intended meaning. That is, spaghetti = spaghetti; a football = football; cat = cat and fish = fish. With any iconic or picture -based system, abstract words such as have, want, and with require that the symbol's meaning be learned. There is no transparent pictorial representation of go, want; afraid; or the. An artist creates a graphic to represent an exemplar, a common notion of the words.
Because of the simplicity of the symbol system used, the Gateway to Language and Learning© programs can meet the needs of both young children and adults. Once someone is familiar with the Gateway© vocabulary, an augmented communicator can communicate in real-time, expressing his needs, wants, and thoughts. Gateway© will NOT make a user a competent communicator. It can however, enable a user to achieve to his or her potential when appropriate intervention is provided. If an individual has the potential to create telegraphic messages, with Gateway©, he or she can do so. If an individual can communicate using complex sentences and word morphology features, he or she can use Gateway© and generate messages reflecting this level of linguistic competence.
When a Gateway© user creates messages using the single word vocabulary, a therapist can evaluate his/her abilities - strengths and weakness in expressive language performance. A therapist can develop an understanding of how the individual orders words to form a message, whether or not correct verb tenses are used, and whether or not function words are a part of the individual's language structure. A child who does not "speak using a sentence" will most likely not write a complete sentence during Language Arts nor will he or she know that "-ed” is used to designate past tense. With accurate knowledge of an individual’s abilities, appropriate treatment goals can be established, intervention activities initiated and suggestions provided to parents and/or classroom teachers regarding expectations for written language performance within the classroom.
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Why Gateway©?
Gateway© promotes efficient communication, effective communication, ease of learning and it follows a developmental model for language development. Core vocabulary can be accessed using an average of < 2 selections per word thus providing maximum efficiency for the user. Words considered fringe, or less frequently used vocabulary, may require more than two key selections. The following table presents sample sentences created using the single word vocabulary of the Gateway 40, 60, and Gateway Pro vocabulary sets. As you can see, the average number of keystrokes for Gateway 40 is 1.5, and for Gateway 60 and Pro, it is 1.3.
Effective communication has been defined as the ability to say what you want to say, when you want to say it, and do so with a minimum amount of effort (Blackstone, 1993). For an augmented communicator, being an effective communicator requires access to age and developmentally appropriate vocabulary that is efficiently organized. Each Gateway© page set contains a flexible single word vocabulary containing both core and fringe vocabulary that matches the needs and interests typically associated with its target user population.
The cognitive demands of learning Gateway© are minimized by the using DynaSyms®, written words, and by logically categorizing vocabulary according to people, actions, colors, foods, places, and things. DynaSyms® provide a transparent or intuitive means of representing nouns and many other word classes. Individuals can look and a picture and immediately infer the intended meaning. Written words are used to represent many function words. Symbols for verbs, adjectives and adverbs may require instruction. Since young children can easily categorize common objects according to category exemplars (e.g., shoe -> clothes), the organization of Gateway© reflects this developmental ability.
The Gateway© series of page sets meets the needs with individuals demonstrating a wide range of expressive language abilities. Gateway 12 can be introduced to children functioning at an 18-24 month expressive language level, while Gateway Pro meets the communication needs of a competent adult communicator. Collectively, the Gateway© page sets provide a developmental model of language acquisition.
In the course of normal language development, children first speak single word utterances and then gradually move to 2-word utterances. Before long, the child is creating novel sentences using word endings. Gradually syntactical competence mirrors that of an adult. Children generate complex novel sentences expressing a range of pragmatic functions.
Using the Gateway© series of page sets, the course of a child's expressive language acquisition can mirror normal language development. In Gateway 12, a child can learn to combine words within a topical based vocabulary set. These page sets are designed around play routines because it is known that children develop language through play. In Gateway 20, the set of topic pages have been consolidated to form an integrated core vocabulary. The therapist or teacher can use Gateway to model 2-word messages, thus taking an AAC user to the beginning of pivot grammar.
Gateway 40 enables a child to add grammatical morphemes as the create messages. It includes word endings such as –in, –ed and –s and the prepositions “in and on. Question words are also included to enable a child to generate requests for objects and information. A keyboard with word prediction is introduced promoting literacy development. Using the vocabulary and word morphology keys embedded systematically within the Gateway page sets, a child can learn to recode our language to achieve the same level of language competence as their speaking peers. Gateway 60 contains all of the language features to communicate using complex sentences. Gateway empowers the user to develop communicative competence.
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Vocabulary Selection Strategies
The vocabulary within each of the Gateway Series 4© page sets was selected based upon word frequency research (Beukelman, Jones, & Rowan, 1989; Raban, 1988; http://aac.unl.edu/VLN1.html), use of environmental surveys, (Bruno, 1989; Carlson, 1981); and by analyzing the vocabulary contents of communication boards used by several individuals who effectively communicate across a variety of topics appropriate to their age and interests. To promote age appropriate syntactical development, auxiliaries and word morphology function keys were incrementally added to the page sets in an order and complexity that parallels normal syntactical development.
Young children learn to communicate through play. As such, pages of jokes, riddles and popular board games are included. Older children and adults frequently initiate communication surrounding social interaction. Social vocabulary and topic pages have been included to facilitate device use during leisure activities.
Since many individuals who use Gateway Series 4© are school-aged, academic pages are included in Gateway 12, 20, 40 and 60. These pages can enable children to demonstrate their competency when learning about the states, capitals, countries, nature, time concepts, money words, and measurement terms and to promote independence in completing written assignments. A TEST page allows a user to complete a test or worksheet without significant adult assistance. Commands for formatting text and sending it to a printer and/or computer have been included. A full set of mouse commands is available in the Gateway 60 and Gateway Pro page sets. There are pages with many "open" locations to allow for easy customization.
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Vocabulary Organization Strategies
The Fitzgerald Key, (i.e., the presentation of words in the categories People, Verbs, Little Words, Descriptive Words, Things, Places) is the hallmark of the organizational structure of Gateway©. Each Gateway MAIN page contains a core of high frequency words from each of these categories. It also contains links to pages with additional words from each category. In Gateway 40 and 60, a user can access a Spelling page from the MAIN page. Gateway Pro provides the user simultaneous access to the keyboard and the navigational single word vocabulary.
Consistent color-coding is used throughout the Gateway Series 4© page sets. Word categories are colored to correspond with the Fitzgerald Key (Fitzgerald, 1954) format - People = yellow; Verbs = green; Little Words = pink; Words That Tell About = blue; Things and Foods = orange; and Places = purple. Word morphology buttons are colored to match the part of speech with which they are typically associated. For example, the possessive noun command button is colored yellow, as it is used with people. The Noun Plural command button is orange, as it is typically used with things.
Semantic Power Strips, sets of paradigmatically associated words, are a feature unique to Gateway Series 4©. Words contained within a Semantic Power Strip are of the same grammatical class as the “root” word from which the strip launches. The strips may include a range of 3-9 associated words. Root words are marked by a “+” sign and a solid colored label. The Semantic Power Strips provide the user with a focused array of synonyms that offer greater diversity of expression. Semantic Power Strips can help a young user learn new words, which can ultimately build the child’s vocabulary. They offer advanced users focused access to a richer vocabulary.
An “opposite strategy” expands the vocabulary within each Gateway Series 4© page set without increasing navigational demands. Activating a button will speak its label. Activating the opposite button followed by that same button, will speak the word’s opposite. In each of Gateway’s page sets, the opposite button is colored gray.
The MAIN page of each Gateway page set (Gateway 12 excluded) provides access to social, academic and leisure vocabulary through a Tab link. The Tab link navigates the user to a set of Tabs, containing a set of related words, phrases, messages or pages. The typical Tab contains the headings: About Me; Time to Chat, Time to Play, Time to Learn and Time to Relax.
The About Me Tab provides a core of messages that enables the user to share personal information. Time to Chat provides the user with messages expressing a range of pragmatic functions. Time to Learn Tabs contain topic specific vocabulary related to each month. Depending on the number of locations the Time to Learn Tab it may also include pages and functions that would maximize classroom participation and independence. Time to Play contains pages targeted for recreational activities such as jokes, riddles and games. Time to Relax includes functions for ECU operation. Buttons can be configured to operate household appliances, the VCR and the TV.
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About the Author
 Joan Bruno, Ph.D., CCC-SLP has over 30 years experience working in the field of Augmentative Communication. She is currently the Director of the Educational Technology Department at Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, New Jersey and serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Joan is also the owner and Director of Communication Technology Resources, a private practice in AAC through which Gateway to Language and Learning© was developed.
Joan has published and presented nationally and internationally on a variety of topics related to AAC assessment and intervention. In addition to serving on various Boards and Committees of ISAAC, USSAAC, and ASHA, Joan is a Past-President of the United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. She is the recipient of the 2002 Frances Black Humanitarian Award in Healthcare, the 2001 USSAAC Professional Service Award and co-recipient of the 1998 ISAAC President's Award. Since 1992, she has directed Camp Chatterbox, an award winning AAC camp program.
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