NextGen AAC : I Can Speak Without You app

For over 5 years now Aussie parents, teachers and speech therapists have been using the phoneme characters- Speech Sound Monsters (Phonemies!) to make learning to read and spell easier for ALL learners within the neurodiverse classroom.
Each character can be used as an alternative phonetic symbol from the IPA. Emma Hartnell-Baker has returned to the UK and is sharing innovative solutions for children with Speech, Communication, and Language Needs through workshops in Dorset. Inquire about joining via live feed or booking in-house PD, and join the Growing Word Wings Newsletter. The Duck Hands Lady also delivers thought-provoking training through PATOSS: The Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties.

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In "Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read," Stanislas Dehaene discusses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as a universal spelling code. The IPA is a standardised system of phonetic notation that represents the sounds of spoken language in written form. It includes symbols for consonants, vowels, and other phonetic features, providing a consistent way to transcribe the sounds of any language.

Dehaene emphasises the importance of the IPA as a tool for understanding the phonetic structure of language. By using the IPA, researchers and educators can accurately represent the sounds of speech, facilitating the study of phonology and phonetics. Additionally, the IPA allows for precise descriptions of pronunciation, which can be helpful in fields such as linguistics, speech therapy, and language teaching.

In the context of reading, Dehaene suggests that understanding the phonetic structure of words is crucial for developing reading skills. By recognising the correspondence between letters and sounds, readers can decode written words more effectively. Dehaene's discussion of the IPA underscores the idea that learning to read involves mapping written symbols onto the sounds of spoken language, and the IPA provides a systematic way to represent these sounds across different languages.

The Ortho-Graphix 'Sound Pic Mapping Tool' shows the graphemes, and the Speech Sound Monsters (Phonemies) show the SOUND value for those graphemes. It is a more intuitive and natural way to explore the speech sound to written code connections and reach the 'self-teaching' phase more easily. Dehaene, in the book "Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read," explores the neuroscience behind reading and emphasises the role of implicit learning processes in acquiring reading skills. Dehaene argues that much of reading development occurs implicitly, through exposure to written language and repeated practice, rather than through explicit instruction alone. Emma Hartnell-Baker has supported thousands of teachers to merge explicit linguistic phonics - used to 'kick-start' the process - with exploratory work, and by making English easier to learn and understand with IPA aligned phoneme characters.   

Self-directed learning is more productive when the written code becomes VISIBLE, and when non-speaking and neurodiverse learners, e.g. those with dyslexia, are engaged and excited about learning: the methodology 'just makes sense' to them. Speech Sound Monsters (Phonemies) offer a solution by directly linking graphemes with speech sounds, forming logical and meaningful connections based on children's existing knowledge. Furthermore, children become emotionally invested in the characters. This is crucial because “It is neurobiologically impossible for children to think deeply about things they don’t care about” (Immordino-Yang, 2017, n.p.).