Augmentative and alternative communicati

David Portfolio - Augmentative and alternative communication

Augmentative and alternative communication

A collection of communication design projects developed with and for people with communication barriers.

Projects cover David's roles as the Co-ordinator of the W R Black Resource Centre, Lifeline Community Care Queensland and the Creative Director at TWCMAD. Working closley with Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists David has developed and designed an extensive array of alternative communication systems, opening up a way for people with communication barriers to express choice and self.

Combining disability and communication studies with graphic design experience gained managing an off-set printing business; David has designed a range of beautiful education and health communication tools. Products have included keyboard overlays, onscreen keyboards, simple choice cards, complex communication books, education material and health related material.

David has worked closely with people with a range of disabilites and settings.

Communication booklets Design and development of alternative communication booklets blending a range of picture types (Photographs, line art, logos and symbols) Booklets ranged from notepad sized to A4 depending on need. Booklets were designed in collaboration with end users, family, support organisations and relevant professionals.
Alternative keyboard interfaces Design and development of alternative access keyboard interfaces for a range of devices. This particular interface combines Makaton based images and alpha based characters. User can turn the mouse on and off and move the mouse with the arrow keys. David has experience developing interfaces for a range of electronic voice output devices and keyboards.
Health and wellbeing aids Design and development of alternative communication aids supporting the communication and expression of emotions and personal safety. These aids are typically easy to access in the persons home, where often issues with other residents occur.
Option cards Design and development of option cards for user to indicate simple choices common in daily life. Typically these sorts of communication aids are used within the person's home and use photographs of objects in the home.
Workplace training aids Design and development of alternative workplace training aids. Conversion of workplace policy and standards into pictorial workbooks. This sample was used in a series of workplace posters.
Lifestyle cue cards Design and development of Lifestyle cue cards used by people to increase independence within their own home. This example combines well known television station brands with a person's actual remote control. This allowed the person to operate and enjoy watching television without needing support. David has experience in developing interfaces fro a range of Environment Control Units and software.
Relationship aids Design and development of communication aids that facilitated open conversation with users about relationships. This sample - a relationship ripple - allows the user to place a photo of themselves in the centre and then place photos of other people in the other circles. This can be a difficult area for both the person and those around them. It is often assumed that people with disabilities do not feel the same things or have the same desires as others. This is both inaccurate and unfair.