Return to Newsletter | Revised 2-20-02

Bureau for Students with Physical & Health Impairments On-Line Newsletter

Product Information

Writing with Symbols 2000 (WWS2000) is a product of Mayer-Johnson Co. and can be purchased through their website (http://mayer-johnson.com/).  It can also be purchased through other distributors of products for individuals who have disabilities.  

Target Audience

The manual for WWS2000 indicates that it can be used by individuals who are working on pre-literacy skills as a tool for writing and can also be used by teachers or parents to make symbol materials.  I have found that it has many more uses including simple communication needs and other types of academic practice in addition to word processing.  

Basic Description of the Program

WWS2000 is a talking word processor which includes picture symbols above text.  When the program is first opened, a blank white page appears.  The user can begin typing and use it for word processing.  When words are typed, they are spoken and pictures appear above any word found in the program's dictionary.  For many words, there are multiple choices of pictures which can be easily accessed through a function key.  The word under a picture can also be exchanged for another word via another function key.  This is helpful for programming phrases under a single picture.  Like other word processing programs, WWS2000 provides flexibility of sizes, fonts, and colors in addition to spell checking.  More elaborate boards, called "environments" can be created using grids which will be discussed later.  

WWS2000 Word Processing  

For student word processing, WWS2000 provides immediate feedback for spelling errors.  As soon as a word is typed and the space bar activated, the word is spoken and a picture appears.  Students can hear errors as well as see them when no picture or the wrong picture appears.  To make a more physically accessible word processor, an on-screen keyboard can be created on a portion of the screen with the word processing window opened on the rest of the screen.  This way, alternate input devices (trackballs, joysticks) can be used.  WWS2000 also has a scanning feature for individuals who need to access the program with a single switch.  Word processing documents can easily be printed with the symbols in color or grayscale just like any other document.  

One basic use for the word processor aspect of WWS2000 is for creating picture cues and schedules.  One of my students who was on an emerging literacy level was having difficulty remembering self-care routines at home.  Using WWS2000, I made simple task analyses with symbols above each word so that he could read and follow the directions himself.  His mother hung these laminated schedules in the bathroom to assist him in being more independent in his showering, hand-washing, and toileting routines.  Because WWS2000 automatically places a picture above each word, I developed these materials in little more time than it took me to type the information.  This same student was having behavioral difficulties on the weekends because he would wake up expecting to go to school.  I made a picture calendar for his mother to use with him first thing in the morning so he could see the day of the week, he could tell if there was school or not, and he could count down days to any special upcoming events.  

In addition to picture cues, WWS2000 word processing can be used to modify reading materials for children with emerging literacy skills.  For one of my students who loved to look at books but was not quite text-ready, I added symbols above the words of simple, patterned books so she could actually "read" the books with word-for-word correspondence.  Now, we have faded out the symbols for many high-frequency words and are moving to less predictable materials.  

WWS2000 for Simple Communication Needs

In addition to word processing, grids can be made for numerous purposes.  A grid is a separate board which can contain one cell or multiple rows and columns.  Several grids can be programmed on one screen to create an environment.  For example, a grid can be created with food choices at the bottom of the screen.  When a certain cell containing a food choice is selected with the mouse pointer, the word and symbol for the choice will appear in a blank "send" window at the top of the screen and the choice is spoken.  The grid and send window used together would be a simple environment.  Environments can be a simple as this or can contain multiple grids which can be linked.  

A wide variety of "pop-up" grids can be programmed so that WWS2000 can be used for communicative purposes.  A main grid with choices of different restaurants could have several other grids linked to it that would pop up with specific food choices for each restaurant. I had a fifth grade student who was a text-user and did not need symbols.  However, his speech was soft, slow and could be difficult to understand which made large class presentations difficult.  This student used WWS2000 to present information to his general education classes.  For an end-of-the-year report that he presented, he helped me program material into grids with cells which read sections of the report aloud.  This student's speech was also virtually unintelligible when he would get upset, so he and I created an "upset board" which provided him with a way to tell adults what the problem was and provided him with an array of calming down strategies.  Though WWS2000 can be used for a wide array of communication skills, I will caution that for non-verbal students Speaking Dynamically Pro has more capability of dynamic movement through boards to meet total communication needs.  

WWS2000 for Academic Instruction and Practice

One of my students uses WWS2000 daily.  She is verbal but has severe spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and significant difficulty with word retrieval.  The best way to evaluate what she has learned is through receptive identification.  To meet her physical needs, she accesses the program using a trackball.  I have created numerous word identification environments (color words, number words, high-frequency words) as well as number recognition environments. Grids which are similar but with words in different positions can be created and linked so that she does not learn items by their position only.  Not only does this help with identifying what she knows better than having her choose from flashcards on a slant board (she has a gross whole-handed point), for the first time she is able to practice some skills independently!  

For beginning sentence writing, grids can be programmed with subject, verb, and object choices so the student can construct sentences without having to spell or write.  This encourages left-to-right progression as well as assembly of ideas.  One way I have used this is to make environments for the books which are modified with symbols.  This way, the student can read each page and then practice putting sentences together which correspond to the text.  For my daily user of WWS2000, environments with modifiers (the, my), subjects (mom, dad, dog), verbs (likes, has, wants), and object phrases (pizza, a ball, bones) are available so she can create her own sentences.  This way, she is able to construct sentences, listen to see if they sound correct, read the sentences using the symbols, and then print the sentences to keep.  

Advantages to using WWS2000

The main advantage to using this program is having the symbols so readily available.  Unlike Speaking Dynamically Pro where each symbol must be extracted from Boardmaker, WWS2000 automatically puts the symbols above words.  Because it operates as a word processor, speaks, and has the capability to program environment, WWS2000 is an incredibly versatile program.  Grids can be linked so that WWS2000 operates dynamically and users can move through a series of related grids within an environment.  Additionally, pictures can be imported so that real pictures appear above words typed into the word processor.  This is great for a student who is beginning word processing by learning to type his or her name -- when the name is typed correctly, the student's picture appears!

Disadvantages to using WWS2000

Learning how to program more intricate environments can be tedious.  The manual is not very thorough in its explanations.  It walks you through creating a simple environment.  However, the only way to really learn how to program more complex environments is to spend time experimenting.  Another problem is that each grid has to be created separately so it can be tedious to program.  As mentioned before, printing is available; however, when printing a whole environment, each grid prints separately and must be later assembled.  (Perhaps there is a better way to do this, but I have not figured it out!)  Lastly, WWS2000 can be "quirky".  Often the program will give error messages and close itself when trying to change environments.  Also, while using a trackball, the program occasionally freezes when the computer goes to standby.  

General Impression of WWS2000

WWS2000 is a software program which can be useful to a wide variety of individuals across a wide variety of situation.  I have found this program to be one of the most useful tools for children who are pre-literate, have emerging literacy skills, or have simple communication needs.  Because it can be used with alternative input devices, WWS2000 can be accessible to children with varying physical abilities.  While this program is not cheap, it is not incredibly expensive ($189- $199)given the array of uses it provides in the classroom setting.  I have seen this program make a significant difference in the lives of my students who have used it and I feel it is worth every penny!

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