A Word-Based Communication Program

PRENTKE ROMICH COMPANY 1022 Heyl Road • Wooster, Ohio 44691 Telephone: (330) 262-1984 Fax: (330) 263-4829 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.prentrom.com

LIBERATOR LIMITED Minerva Business Park Lynch Wood, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE2 6FT Fax: +44 (0)1733 391939 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.liberator.co.uk

13593L3.0 Acknowledgments

In the development of WordCore 45, a number of people offered support. Thanks to Rena Carney for being the first to ask me the question “Do you think there’s any way to provide a word-based vocabulary set using spelling on a 45-location device?”; to Joan Sharp for being the first to provide feedback and encouragement to dig deeper; to Betsy Walker for being the first to work with the program and offer many suggestions; to Dave Moffatt who said “go for it”; to all my friends on the PRC Consultant Network who offered fine-tuning advice; beta-testers in a variety of locations; and to Bruce Baker for being a linguistic mentor since 1989.

Most of the work on this project took place late at night and early into the morning, and I should thank the many fine musical artists who provided a soundtrack. These include Steely Dan, Amanda Ghost, George Michael, Prince, Caleb, Vangelis, Nine Inch Nails, Tears for Fears, Spock’s Beard, Seal, Diane Krall, and Castle of Astolat.

Many of the enhancements to WordCore 84 were made possible by software engineer Brian “you want it when?” Yoder. It was also pumped along by Euro Dance, Trance, Techno, streamed via the Internet. The music is out there!

April 2007: The reworking of the 45 and 84 versions, and the creation of WordCore 144 was helped by the input of my good friends Jill Tullman and Brian Simms, both of whom have been using it with their clients for some time now, making tweaks, changes, and enhancements to meet the special needs of each person – as it should be.

Musically, I was supported by West Indian Girl, Shiny Toy Guns, BT, XM channels 29, 44, 46, 54, 75, 76, 81, 82, and blasts from the past that include Supertramp (Breakfast in America), Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) and anything by Yes.

Vanguard, Vantage, and Vanguard II are trademarks of the Prentke Romich Company.

Minspeak is a registered trademark of Semantic Compaction Systems, using the methodology derived from the concepts covered by U.S. Patent Numbers 4,661,916; 5,097,425; 5.219,689 and subsequent patents and applications of Bruce Baker.

AQLS (Adult Quick Learning System) is a trademark of Semantic Compaction Systems.

WordCore is a trademark of the Prentke Romich Company.

Vantage and Vanguard II are powered by DECtalk® Text-to-Speech Technology.

DECtalk software is a trademark of FORCE Computers, Inc.

T-TAM (Trace Transparent Access Module) was developed by the Trace Research and Development Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The original Vantage computer access overlays used in the WordCore 45 version are based on the work Chris Beatty did for the MIKE product. PRC gratefully acknowledges his contribution.

WordCore 45 for ECO

WordCore 45: WordCore 45 is a word-based program designed to work with only 45 keys. It is faster An than regular spelling and cuts down on the number of keystrokes needed to type messages. Anyone who can spell should be able to use the program very quickly, and Introduction. with continued use become adept at communicating.

The WordCore 45 Core.

The WordCore 45 Core screen is the default setting for the program. From here, you can build sentences using words, phrases and spelling.

WordCore 45: The Core screen of the WordCore 45 program shows an overlay that contains only How Does It three types of key;

Work?  Single-Hit words  Two-Hit words or phrases  Tools

2 Single-Hit When you select one of these, a word is spoken and appears on the top of the display. words. With some of these, you will also see more words appear in the Activity Row.

Two-Hit words. Select a key and before anything appears on the display, you will see a number of possible keys from which to choose.

You will be able to generate words such as “I,” “you,” “myself,” “themselves,” or phrases such as “you will,” “will they,” “does he” and so on.

Tools. Most tools use a BLUE key, which tells the device to do something rather than just speak words. For example, hitting the SPELL key brings up a QWERTY keyboard; pressing ENDINGS brings up a special row of word endings, as seen below on the top row.

The CORE key will take you back to the Core vocabulary.

The SCROLL key works in KEY MODE1 and changes your WordCore 45 into a keyboard version.

1 KEY MODE only operates in the integrated version PRC’s ECO communication aid. This lets you access Windows® programs directly. In the dedicated version of ECO, the KEY MODE key has no effect.

4 Spelling In general, if you want to spell a word out, you simply hit the key marked SPELL.

This will take you to a spelling page like the picture below:

Now select the first letter of the word you’re looking for and you will see a list of words appear in your Word Prediction area AND two rows of common words, called the “Word Rows,” above the letters on the Spelling page:

5 Choose from the Take a look to see if it in the Word Row to see if the word you want is there. For Word Row example, if you wanted “doubt,” you could choose it from the Top Row as shown here;

When you make a selection, WordCore 45 instantly flips you back to the Core screen. Some words will not only flip you back to the Core but also give you other possible endings. For example, if you were to choose the word “decide” from the D-words Row, you would see a Smart Row appear;

Smart Row

Choosing an ending will change your “decide” to “decider,” “deciding,” “decides” or “decided.”

…or choose If your word isn’t in the Word Row, look above at the Word Prediction window. If it’s from the Word there, select it, even if it is only the root of the word. For example, suppose you were Prediction looking for “dangerously.” In the example above, you’ll see the following Word window… Prediction window:

The word “dangerously” isn’t there, but the word “danger” is. So select it and the window will change to show;

Now you can choose “dangerously” and as it appears in the Text Area, the Word Prediction becomes empty

6 …or just keep If the word isn’t in the Word Row or the Word Prediction window, just spell the next spelling. letter and keep watching the Word Prediction window until it appears.

On rare occasions, a word won’t appear in the Word Prediction window. At that point you have to decide whether or not to add it to the Word Prediction dictionary of your communication aid. If it’s a word like “sesquipedalian” and you intend to use it regularly, then go ahead, but if it’s a “one-off,” you may decide not to bother. The choice is yours.

7 Practice Exploring the two-hit words is a quick and easy way of becoming familiar with how to Words access many words with only two keystrokes.

There is a special group of words called Pronouns that change depending on where you use them. WordCore 45 has two special keys, colored light green, which can be used to produce some of these words.

The OBJ key Hit the OBJ key and you will see the following words:

“myself” “yourself” “ourselves” “itself” “youselves” “himself” “herself”

The POSS key Hit the POSS key and you get a different set of words:

“mine” “yours” “ours” “its” “theirs” “his” “hers”

Now hit the “I,” “you,” “it,” “he,” “she,” “we” and “they” keys. Where the OBJ and POSS keys are, you’ll see new words:

“me” “I” “my” “you” “you “your” “it” “it” “its” “him” “he” “his” “her” “she” “her” “us” “we” “our” “them” “they” “their”

So what ARE Grammatically, these words are all Pronouns, but more specifically Subject, Object, these words? Possessive and Reflexive Pronouns. It doesn’t matter whether you understand this; all you need to know is where they are! They are grouped together grammatically, such as all the “-self” words are OBJ + something.

Just use them as they are and don’t spend too much time worrying about what they are called. Once you start creating sentences, you’ll find them easily. And remember, some of the keys actually have the word you want printed on them to make it easier!

Practice More Hit any of these keys in the Activity Row and choose a word from that group. Words

8 Practice There are many short phrases in WordCore 45 that you can produce using only two Phrases keys, which is effectively one key per word. These phrases are either “Statements” or “Questions” depending on the order in which you press the keys.

Simple Hit a Pronoun (I/you/he/she/it/we/they) and choose a second key: statement phrases “I like…” “He wants…” “She goes…” “We should…”

Simple question Now hit a green Verb (will/have/do/can)…) and choose a second key: phrases “will you…” “has he…” “can they…”

Notice how WordCore even handles the way that verbs change. Selecting HAVE followed by HE produces “has he…” whereas HAVE and YOU gives “have you…” This means you don’t need to have keys for both “have” and “has” – thus making the system as a whole more efficient.

Simple negative You can follow any phrase with NOT to make a negative: phrases “I will not…” “He does not…” “They can not…”

However, you can also insert the “not” in the middle of a two-hit phrase to get the more informal form:

I + NOT + WILL = “I won’t” THEY + NOT + CAN = “They can’t” HE + NOT + WANT = “He doesn’t want”

When you hit the “not” in these sequences, you’ll see the next word appear on the key you need to select. Again, this is another example of how WordCore 45 makes most use out of a small number of keys.

Simple negative Just as above, hit a light green Verb but this time have the “not” in the middle: questions “Haven’t they…” “Can’t he…” “Doesn’t she…”

9 Practice The best way to learn about the WordCore program is to start using it. The following Sentences sentences have been chosen to demonstrate the different ways in which you can generate words.

Core-Only: These sentences can be constructed without needing to use the SPELL key.

Core and Word Row: These require you to use the SPELL key then select a word from the top Word Rows on a page.

Core, Word Row and Word Prediction: You will find some of the words you need by using the Word Prediction window.

Core-only 1. I think I know what you want. (Seven hits) Sentences 2. I can do that for myself. (Seven hits)

3. What do you want me to do? (Nine hits)

4. I will go with you. (Six hits)

5. He might not want to go with us. (Nine hits)

6. Didn’t you want me for something? (Nine hits)

7. Where are we going tomorrow? (Eight hits)

8. Have you done what you were going to do? (Twelve hits)

9. I know you can help me. (Seven hits)

Core and Word 1. I can talk about anything I like. Row Sentences 2. What did you think of my new idea?

3. I think it is a difficult problem.

4. Somebody should have told me what you said.

5. Do you have anything to drink?

Core, Word Row 1. I need help with my wheelchair because I think it is broken. and Word Prediction 2. I can talk with this special program. Sentences 3. Can I have a drink of coffee please?

Color coding” The words in WordCore 45 are grouped together based on the type of words they are. What do the These groups are color coded to show that they are related. It isn’t necessary to colors mean? understand the coding to use the program, but knowing a little can help in getting familiar with it. Let’s look at the groups one by one.

Pronouns

10 Punctuation For most of the time, you will be able to simply build sentences and speak by touching and the text bar. However, on some occasions, you may want to do something more. For example, what if you have a really long sentence that runs off the screen altogether; Functions how would you say it all?

This is where you can use special Punctuation and Function keys. These are available in a number of locations.

Quick Hits

Try hitting the QUICK HITS key and see what happens.

Del Char Short for DELETE CHARACTER, this key will remove the last character chosen.

Del Word As the name suggests, this key removes the last complete word generated..

Smart Period The PERIOD adds a period after the last word, speaks the whole sentence, adds a space before the next word, and automatically makes the next word start with an uppercase letter – that’s why it’s called a “smart” period!

Smart Just like the period and question. Exclamation

Smart Question Similar to the smart period, the QUESTION adds the punctuation, speaks the sentence with a questioning intonation and makes the next word start with an uppercase letter.

Smart Comma Press the COMMA inserts a comma after the last word, then puts a space in before the next.

11 Internal Selecting this button provides access to pages designed to work with the integrated Computer ECO as an input for other Windows® programs. Typically such pages work in KEY Access MODE and include scrolling keys.

External In contrast with the previous key, this button switches to pages designed to work with Computer an external computer via some sort of physical or wireless link. This means a client can Access connect to other computers, for example, a shared computer in a workshop. External Computer Access is available in both integrated and dedicated versions of the ECO device.

KMOUSE Switches to a small mouse keyboard, three rows high. A great way to have mouse controls and a large screen area.

Del Word As the name suggests, this key removes the last complete word generated..

Computer The COMPUTER ON/OFF buttons are used to determine whether information from the On/Off ECO software is being sent to other applications. In the integrated version of the ECO communication aid, the setting needs to be ON to send keystrokes to the active window.

12 More There are some special little features included in the WordCore 45 program that can Shortcuts help keep keystrokes down to a minimum. Here are some details of these shortcuts.

Negative • To get the negative form of a phrase, put the NOT key into the middle. So, YOU + Phrases HAVE gives “you have,” but YOU + NOT + HAVE gives “you haven’t.”

The “a” words • When you select the A key, the Spelling page appears, but there are also some short words that start with “a” on the page, namely “an,” “as,” and “at.” Select one of these and it will replace the “a.”

The “the” word • When you choose the “the” key, WordCore 45 will flip you straight to the Spelling page. This is because you will not be using any of the Core words to follow the “the,” so automatically switching to Spell saves a keystroke.

Pronouns to • If you select any of the pronouns you can then hit the SPELL key and the word SPELL will be produced on screen AND you will be ready to spell.

For example, if you wanted to say “He went with me,” you might think you have to hit HE + HE to get “can,” then hit SPELL followed by “w” and “went.” But you can save keystrokes by selecting HE then SPELL: WordCore 45 will automatically bring “he” up in the Text Area as well as putting you into Spelling Mode. This saves a keystroke.

SPACE key back • When spelling a word, if you hit the SPACE key at any time you will be flipped back to Core to the Core vocabulary.

Word Row back • Selecting a word from the Word Row at any time will take you back to the Core. to Core Notice that this changes when you start spelling.

Use “be” for be- • When you select the “be” key, you will get the word “be.” However, you also have type words the opportunity to change this to one of the following; “are,” “being,” “was,” “were,” and “been.” These are forms of the “to be” verb. Selecting in this way saves keystrokes.

Use “have” for • Selecting the “have” key gives you the options of “haven’t,” “hasn’t,” “hadn’t,” variations of “having,” “has” and “had” in the Smart Row that appears. “have”

Use “do” for • Selecting “do” key gives you more options; “don’t,” “doesn’t,” “didn’t,” “doing,” “did” variations of and “done” from the Smart Row. “do”

“Quick Hits” • The QUICK HITS key will bring up “no,” “yes,” COLORS and PEOPLE, special punctuation keys and pre-designed Pages.

Pre-stored • Use QUICK HITS to reveal the SENTENCES key. This contains a set of basic, Sentences common sentences for OPENERS, ANSWERS, and CHAT. Feel free to customize these.

13 Customizing Although WordCore 45 has been designed to be used “as-is,” many people will want to WordCore 45 add personal features to the program. Along with specific instructions found in your device operator’s manual, here are some suggestions of ways in which you might want to extend the functionality of WordCore 45.

Adding more • The QUICK HITS key brings up a sub-category of PEOPLE, which contains Names generic people names like “mother,” “father,” “sister” and so on. You can erase these and add specific names if you want or add a new list of names.

• To modify the current set, use the MODIFY ACTIVITY menu in the device Toolbox and find the WHO? Activity. Select the key you want to change and add the new name you want to enter.

• End the name with a SPACE and the function – this is just to make sure that once you select a name, the WordCore 45 program goes back to the Core screen.

Adding Special • Your communication aid can store vocabulary items on special pages. You can use Pages this feature to access specific groups of language. For example, suppose you want a page of up to 40 “Friends;”

• Go to the Toolbox and select CREATE PAGE, call it FRIENDS, select the 45-key size option and choose “Copy from an existing page.”

• Choose the page called MASTER – this contains some keys already defined, which allow you to go back to the WordCore 45 Core, go to spell, or simply clear the display.

• Create your Page. Once it has been designed, you need to have some way to access it from your Core. Here’s a suggestion: Store each page using QUICK HITS + another key – that way you can access over 20 pages without pressing more than 2 keys!

Computer Access: Special Pages

16 17 Integrated Computer Access

Integrated First, you need to turn ON the link between your device and the rest of the ECO Computer device. When this is turned on, information will flow from your device out to a application. Access: Where do I Select the QUICK HITS key and then the MORE key to find the computer ON/OFF find it? keys:

Hit the ON key to make sure the device is capable of sending information. If this is NOT turned on, the aid and the applications will not communicate. When you have finished using computer access, it is a good idea to turn the feature OFF.

There is a visual marker on the ECO display to show whether the output is set to ON or OFF.

If the Output light is GREEN, then you ECO software can send information to a Windows application.

Working in The ECO software can be run as a half-screen keyboard fixed to the bottom of the Key Mode screen. This is called Key Mode. Having a fixed keyboard rather than a resizable window makes it easier for clients who use keyguards and you don’t lose the keys behind other windows.

In Key Mode, you can also scroll the keyboard up and down to get access to ALL the keys on the display.

You access Key Mode by hitting the QUICK HITS button and then selecting the KMODE key:

This is a toggle key and switches you between Key Mode and Full Mode. For communication, you are advised to stay in Full Mode so you can make maximum use of the language in WordCore with as few hits as possible.

While you are in Key Mode, use the SCROLL button to flip the contents of your keyboard up and down. In this way, you can access any of your keys although you use an extra hit.

18 What does When you select the KMODE key, the screen becomes half keyboard and half Key Mode Windows desktop. look like?

If you open up an application, such as WordPad, you can see your Key Mode window and the WordPad window at the same time. If your output is set to ON, as you use the Key Mode layout, words will be sent to WordPad – or whatever application is running.

19 A Special If you select QUICK HITS and the INT COMP ACCESS key, you will see the following Internal keyboard:

Access Keyboard

This is designed so that in Key Mode you have access to ALL the letters of the alphabet. When you hit the Scroll button you see other keys appear that are commonly used computer keyboard keys (such as TAB, SHIFT, SCTRL and ALT), the SWITCH and SELECT keys to let you switch between open applications, and links to MORE KEYS, MOUSE keys, and a special page called a COMMAND BAR – about which we’ll talk later.

The MOUSE button switches to this overlay:

Notice that you can go back to the keyboard and also open yet another special set of keys to handle MENU items.

The Screen is Some people using the ECO may not need to use a keyguard. In that case, the whole still a Touch screen can be touched and used. For example, if you can double tap on a folder on the desktop, this will open up the contents. Similarly, you can double tap on a shortcut to Screen run a program. You can even mix and match both using the Key Mode keyboard and touching items directly on the screen.

Command Bars: Single-Row Pages

What is a A number of software applications typically use a relatively small number of keys to Command perform the most important functions. For example, when playing Solitaire, you don’t need to use the mouse to click, drag, and drop, but you can use the TAB, ENTER and Bar? arrow keys to play.

A Command Bar is a special Page that shows up on the screen as a SINGLE STRIP of keys along the bottom of the ECO that scrolls to reveal a SECOND STRIP. So, you actually have two rows of commands but only one is visible at a time. The keys contain commands for specific applications. Although a Command Bar may not contain every command you might need, it is designed to (a) provide the most common commands and (b) maximize the screen size available for an application.

Technically, the Command Bar is a special type of Key Mode state, where the Page has been set to have zero Static Rows and one Scroll Row. Check your ECO manual for details about how to set the Static/Scroll Row settings on a Page.

What When you choose the QUICK HITS button, you will see that the third row contains the Command following set of keys:

Bars are available in WordCore 45?

Each one opens up a Command Bar for a different application. The only exception is the C BAR button that opens up a generic Command Bar for general program access.

Let’s look at each one and get an idea of what they do.

Do I have to Command Bars are simply a convenient way of (a) accessing some shortcuts for use different applications and (b) seeing as much of your ECO’s computer desktop as possible. If, for example, you wanted to surf the web using Internet Explorer, using the Command Command Bar means that you have almost a full screen of browsing space, rather Bars? than the half-screen you see in Key Mode.

However, at any time you can hit either the CORE button to go back to your WordCore in full screen mode or you can select the KCORE button to flip into Key Mode. And remember, even in full screen mode, you can continue to send information from WordCore to the underlying application (a great feature if you are writing into WordPad.)

21 C BAR The C BAR is a generic set of keys that can be used with many programs and the desktop. Note that using the START button will bring up the Windows Start Menu. If you do this and then use the ARROW and RETURN keys, you can access ANY program that exists in the Start Menu.

Selecting the Scroll key shows a second row of keys:

WINDOW SIZE

CLOSE WINDOW SIZE: Closes the window sizing keys. CLOSE WINDOW: Closes an open window on the desktop. CLOSE PROGRAM: Closes the active program. MINIMIZE: Reduces the active window to be hidden. RESTORE: Restores the active window to its default size. MAXIMIZE: Increases the size of the window to fill the available desktop. SWITCH: Steps through all the running programs and open windows. SELECT: Makes active the running program or open window shown in “SWITCH.”

FILE...

When you select the FILE... key, the File Menu for the active window opens automatically. You then use the ENTER and ARROW keys to move through the menu lists.

CLOSE FILE MENUS: Closes the file menu key. ENTER: Selects a menu item. ARROW KEYS: Move through menu items.

NEW COMM BAR

CLOSE NEW COMM BAR: Closes the set of keys.

Selecting any of the other keys takes you directly to Command Bar for the specific application, without having to go back to the Core vocabulary and use QUICK HITS.

KMOUSE If you need to do some mouse movements from the keyboard, the KMOUSE button will take you straight to the Key Mode mouse page – a set of three rows with mouse movement buttons on them.

23 IE Bar

This is what the Command Bar for Internet Explorer looks like. The RED button runs the program. Notice that there is a Scroll key for a second row.

The second row includes the special keys WINDOW SIZE, FILE... and NEW COMM BAR, each of which opens up more keys. These keys are found in most Command Bars.

TAB KEY In a web browser, using the TAB key is a way of moving between hot spots. Sometimes, on pages where there are few hot spots, this is faster than using a mouse. You can also use the SHIFT key before the TAB to reverse the direction of the tab movement. This is extremely valuable if you accidentally tab past the link you were going for.

BACK and You can use these keys to move backwards and forwards through all the pages you’ve FORWARD visited during a session.

24 HOME PAGE Your web browser will have a home page associated with it. Typically, Internet Explorer ships with Microsoft’s web site as the home page. However, you can set this to any home page you want. Once you’ve set the home page in the browser software, the ECO’s HOME PAGE key will take you to it directly. You do NOT have to modify the HOME PAGE key itself.

ESC/CANCEL In many applications, it is possible to accidentally open up menu, a dialog box, or other items. In most cases, using the ESCAPE key will undo the error.

PAGE UP and On web sites that have lots if information, you may find you have to scroll down a long DOWN way to see all the items on the page. These keys make things easier by allowing you to scroll up and down one page at a time.

GOOGLE This key will take you to the location http://www.google.com with a single keystroke. The value of Google’s home page is that it uses few graphics and therefore is very simple and quick to load. You can, of course, change this key to any other search engine. Use the SET-UP key and modify the contents of the key by replacing the Google address with the address of your choice.

You might also want to use this key as a model for adding other single-hit web sites to your system.

25 E-mail Bar

This is what the Command Bar for Outlook Express looks like, with the RED button running the program and a Scroll key for a second row.

NEW Opens a new e-mail document.

OPEN Opens a selected e-mail. You have to have an actual e-mail message highlighted in your list of received files before this will work.

SEND If you have a newly created e-mail open, this key will SEND the message.

REPLY After opening a received e-mail, you have the option to select REPLY to send a response. A new e-mail opens and your cursor is automatically set to be at the beginning of the reply. Type in your response then use the SEND key to send it.

FORWARD If you have an e-mail open, this key will open a new e-mail window with your cursor already in the “TO:” box.

26 The Scroll key takes you to another set of commands, which include the standard WINDOW SIZE, FILE..., and NEW COMM BAR.

DEL Deletes a highlighted e-mail in the inbox.

ADDRESS Opens a list that you should modify to add you most frequently used e-mail addresses. LIST

27 SOLITAIRE The popular Solitaire game is normally played using a mouse. However, it can be BAR played by using a very small number of keyboard shortcuts. The Solitaire Bar is designed to do that.

CARD The function of this button varies depending on where the cursor is. If the cursor is on the “turn-over” pile at the top left, it turns over a new card. If it is on a card that is face up, it “picks up” the card and lets you move it using the ARROW keys. Hitting the key again “drops” the card. So, using the CARD key and the ARROW keys lets you move cards from stack to stack.

TAB In Solitaire, the tab key moves the cursor from the top row to the bottom and through the blanks cards. For example, you can use the TAB to move the cursor to the FIRST CARD on the second row, then use the ARROW keys to move through each individual card. Use the CARD key to pick a card up and drop it wherever you like.

The Scroll key takes you to another set of commands, which include the standard WINDOW SIZE, FILE..., and NEW COMM BAR.

DEAL This key starts a new game.

UNDO This will undo the last action taken. You can have

29 WMP BAR WMP is the Windows Media Player. You can use this to play music and video files depending on their formats. WMP can handle a number of different formats and you need to refer to the WMP application for details. For the most part, if you are using MP3 and WAV files for music, WMO will work. (n.b. Apple uses a proprietary file format call AAC and if you want to use these files, you will need to convert the. Alternatively, you may want to install Apple’s iTunes software – but there is currently no Command Bar available.)

TAB In Windows Media Player, the tab key moves you through many of the buttons. Sometimes it is quicker to hit the TAB key to get to a function that to use either a mouse or a menu.

PLAY /PAUSE / As there names suggest, these buttons allow you to PLAY a file, PAUSE it (by hitting STOP the PLAY/PAUSE again), and STOP a file.

VOL KEYS Using this will bring up three volume control keys: VOLUME UP, VOLUME DOWN, and MUTE. Use the CLOSE VOL KEYS to remove these control keys.

30 MEDIA This button switched the WMP to show what is called the MEDIA LIBRARY. This is a LIBRARY list of files that are currently available to the WMP software. You can use ARROW keys to move a highlight through the list and either PLAY of ENTER to play the highlighted file.

The Scroll key takes you to another set of commands, which include the standard WINDOW SIZE, FILE..., and NEW COMM BAR.

ALT and If you use the ALT key when a Windows application is running, it typically causes a ARROW KEYS small underlining to appear under letters in the MENU ITEMS. For example, the “F” in “File” or the “O” in “Format.” Furthermore, the first menu item is shown as depressed.

If you choose the letter “F” on a keyboard, the “File” menu drops: If you choose an ARROW key, a DOWN arrow drops the menu and a RIGHT arrow moves to the next menu item. Therefore, with the ALT and ARROW keys, you can navigate through ALL the menu items. Simply use the ENTER key to select.

31 WORDPAD The default word processing program in ECO is WordPad. BAR

NEW DOC To open a NEW document, use this key.

Use the scroll key to see a second row of shortcuts.

FONT SIZE This opens the font dialog box and a set of keys to allow you to navigate through it.

With the font box open, you can use the TAB to move between options (font, style, size, effects, and color), the UP and DOWN arrows to change each parameter, and the RETURN key to register the changes. Hitting CLOSE FONT will exit the dialog box without making changes.

SAVE If the current document is a NEW document, SAVE will prompt you to name it; if it already has a name, the SAVE is automatic.

Computer First, you need to turn ON the link between your device and a computer. This action Access: turns on something called a “serial port,” which is a 9-pin connector on your communication aid. When this is turned on, information will flow from your device out to Where do I a computer. find it? Select the QUICK HITS key and then the MORE key to find the computer on/off keys:

Hit the ON key to make sure the device is capable of sending information. If this is NOT turned on, the aid and the computer will not communicate. When you have finished using computer access, it is a good idea to turn the feature OFF.

Select the QUICK HITS key and then the key marked COMPUTER ACCESS.

34 Mouse Actions Select this and you will see a screen offering a number of options.

Keyboard From here, you can switch to a special keyboard:

The mouse and keyboard screens allow you move the curser on your computer, perform mouse clicks,and write into word processors and other software.

35 Menu Actions You can also perform menu action by selecting the GO MENU key:

When you use the Menu keys, use the “left,” “right,” “up,” and “don” keys to navigate. Then hit “Make Sel” to select the menu item.

More Keys And you can access even more keys by using the MORE KEYS button:

These keys include the Function keys. For example, on a Windows-based machine, the F1 key typically brings up a help screen.

36 Connecting to Your communication aid can be linked to your computer in one of a number of ways: your Computer

1. Using the Serial cable that came with the device to provide a physical link to the computer.

2. Using a hardware interface, such as a T-TAM (Trace Transparent Access Module, purchased separately.

3. Using the device’s infra-red output to an infra-red receiver (IRR), purchased separately.

Use Your To set-up your device to work as a keyboard input to your computer, you need to refer Operator Manual to the “Operator Manual” that came with your device.

Go to the section on “Connecting to and using other devices” for specific details. Connection setting vary between types of computer, so you may need to experiment a little to make sure you own communication aid works with your specific computer.

WordCore 84 for ECO

40 WordCore 84: WordCore 84 is a based on WordCore 45, but designed to work with 84 keys. Just like An its fewer keys version, it is faster than regular spelling and cuts down on the number of keystrokes needed to type messages. Anyone who can spell should be able to use the Introduction. program very quickly and, with continued use, become adept at communicating.

The WordCore 84 Core.

The WordCore 84 Core screen is the default setting for the program. From here, you can build sentences using words, phrases and spelling.

41 WordCore 84: The Core screen of the WordCore 84 program shows an overlay that contains only How Does It three types of key;

Work?  Single-Hit words  Two-Hit words or phrases  Spelling

Single-Hit Single-Hit words are color-coded in orange, light and dark purple. The dark purple are words. all VERBS. When you select one of these, the word is spoken and appears on the top of the display.

Two-Hit words. Keys in green will always require a second keystroke to produce a word or phrase. When you select a green key, you will see all the possible words.

You will be able to generate words such as “I,” “you,” “myself,” “themselves,” or phrases such as “you will,” “will they,” “does he” and so on.

42 Spelling In general, if you want to spell a word out, you simply hit one of the yellow spelling letter keys.

Now select the first letter of the word you’re looking for and you will see a list of words appear in your Word Prediction area.

Selecting the word “fine” puts the word in the text area, but also gives the choice of other words that have “fine” as the base word:

Selecting a word replaces the original and clears the word prediction options:

43 More Spelling In the following example, the target word “practically” doesn’t appear when the letter P is selected.

In general, if the word you are looking for doesn’t appear, keep spelling until it does. So, with the current example, you need to hit the next letter in the target word – in this case, the letter R.

Choose the word “practice” and the endings appear.

Selecting the word replaces the original and clears the word prediction options.

Another When you select a word from the word prediction window, you’ll see that the next time Comment on you select the initial letter, the word will appear to have moved to the front of the window. This is because the word prediction system has been set to respond to Spelling RECENCY – the last word you selected moves to the beginning of the list.

This means that the words used more often become easier to access. Of course, there may be some moving around, which may slow you down overall. However, the upside is that fewer keystrokes are needed, and for some people who fatigue easily, the fewer the keystrokes, the less effort is needed.

44 More Spelling When communicating, you use the letters keys to spell new words, along with the word Characters prediction window. Typically you will be able to do this using just the letters and a space key. However, there are times you may need to use another character, such as a comma, period, number, quotation mark, and so on.

You can find these by using the key. Hitting this gives the following keyboard:

This special keyboard typically appears for ONE SELECTION and then returns to the regular keyboard. However, if you want this keyboard to remain, say, for example, to

write a phone number, you can use the key, which will hold the keyboard

until you select either or . Hitting the former leaves whatever in on the screen intact – the latter clears the whole text area.

NOTE: There are extra spelling characters available using the key. These are typically the ones less used.

45 Practice Exploring the two-hit words is a quick and easy way of becoming familiar with how to Words access many words with only two keystrokes.

There is a special group of words called Pronouns that change depending on where you use them. WordCore 45 has two special keys, outlined in YELLOW, which can be used to produce some of these words.

The OBJ key Hit the OBJ key and you will see the following words:

“myself” “yourself” “ourselves” “itself” “youselves” “himself” “herself”

The POSS key Hit the POSS key and you get a different set of words:

“mine” “yours” “ours” “its” “theirs” “his” “hers”

Now hit the “I,” “you,” “it,” “he,” “she,” “we” and “they” keys. Where the OBJ and POSS keys are, you’ll see new words:

The VERBS key This key adds a set of special verbs to the system.

“Could you…” “Should we…” “Might they…” “Would you…” “Could they…” “Should I…”

46 Practice There are many short phrases in WordCore 84 that you can produce using only two Phrases keys, which is effectively one key per word. These phrases are either “Statements” or “Questions” depending on the order in which you press the keys.

Simple Hit a Pronoun (I/you/he/she/it/we/they) and choose a second key: statement phrases “I like…” “I feel…” “I think…” “I help…” “He wants…” “He needs…” “It will…” “It was…” “She goes…” “She gives…” “She likes…” “We put…” “We should…” “They go…” “They can…” “You know…”

Simple question Now hit any green Verb (will/have/do/can/was)…) and choose a second key: phrases “will you…” “was he…” “can you…” “has he…” “have we…” “does he…” “can they…” “will it…” “do you…”

Simple negative You can follow any phrase with NOT to make a negative: phrases “I will not…” “He does not…” “They can not…”

However, you can also insert the “not” in the middle of a two-hit phrase to get the more informal form:

I + NOT + WILL = “I won’t” THEY + NOT + CAN = “They can’t” HE + NOT + WANT = “He doesn’t want”

When you hit the “not” in these sequences, you’ll see the next word appear on the key you need to select. This is another example of how WordCore 84 makes most use out of a small number of keys.

Simple negative Just as above, hit a green Verb but this time have the “not” in the middle: questions “Haven’t they…” “Can’t he…” “Doesn’t she…”

47 Shortcuts You may have noticed that when you hit a Pronoun, possible verbs appear in the Activity Row. These include negatives such ending in “can’t,” “don’t,” “haven’t,” “wasn’t,” “weren’t,” and “won’t.” You might prefer to use these shortcuts.

Changed verbs Choosing the verbs BE, DO, and HAVE will give you new options in the Activity Row. These will replace the base form of the verb for one of its common variations.

BE aren’t are being was were been DO don’t doesn’t didn’t doing does did done HAVE haven’t hasn’t hadn’t having has had

The “a” • When you select the A key, it changes to “an.” If you select the “an,” it replaces the becomes “an” “a” and you can continue spelling as normal. The reason for doing this is to reduce keystrokes and to avoid having two keys – one for “a” and one for “an.” Pronouns to • If you select any of the pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they), or “can” and “will,” SPELL you can then hit the first letter of the next word and WordCore will automatically put the whole pronoun in place.

For example, if you wanted to say “Will Bob help with that?” you might think you have to hit WILL + WILL to get “will,” then hit B followed by “o” “b” to get “Bob.” But you can save a keystroke by selecting WILL then B. WordCore will automatically bring “will” up in the Text Area.

“this” and “that” Selecting “this” or “that” will produce a set of possible following words in the Activity Row:

Try “That’s not what I want” and “This isn’t what I like.”

QUICK hits

If you select the QUICK button, , you will see the words “yes” and “no” along with some other functions.

“Smart” keys

The two keys and are called SMART keys because they save keystrokes. If you build a sentence then hit the SMART punctuation, the key will (a) delete a character, (b) add a period, (c) speak the sentence, (d) add a space, and (e) shift the next letter.

48 Practice The best way to learn about the WordCore program is to start using it. The following Sentences sentences have been chosen to demonstrate the different ways in which you can generate words.

Core-Only: These sentences can be constructed without needing to use the SPELL key.

Core, Spelling, and Word Prediction: You will find some of the words you need by using the Word Prediction window.

Core-only 1. I think I know what you want. (Seven hits) Sentences 2. What do you think I should give to him? (Ten hits)

3. Can you give that to him? (Seven hits)

4. I can do that for myself. (Seven hits)

5. What do you want me to do? (Nine hits)

6. I will go with you. (Six hits)

7. He might not want to go with us. (Nine hits)

8. Didn’t you want me for something? (Nine hits)

9. Where are we going tomorrow? (Eight hits)

10. Have you done what you were going to do? (Twelve hits)

11. I know you can help me. (Seven hits)

12. Should he be doing that? (Six hits)

13. That should be all for you. (Seven hits)

14. This can’t be what you want. (Six hits).

Core, Word Row 1. I can talk about what I like. and Word Prediction 2. What did you think of my new idea? Sentences 3. I think it is a difficult problem.

4. Somebody should have told me what you said.

5. Do you have anything to drink?

6. I need help with my wheelchair because I think it is broken.

7. I can talk with this special program.

8. Can I have a drink of coffee please?

Computer Access: Special Pages

52 Computer Access: Where do I find it? When you select the , the key appears in the Activity Row. Choosing this will provide you with computer access options.

Select this and you will see a row offering a number of options.

The key turns on your devices serial port, which means that it is connected to a computer, the device acts as a keyboard. Thus, if you have a word processor running and you generate “This is mine” on the device, it also appears in the word processor.

Select the and you will see the following:

Here are the things you can do with the MOUSE page:

• Move the cursor around the screen using the YELLOW keys. • Access menus in programs. • Navigate through menus using the ARROW keys. • Select the 12 function keys. For example, F1 typically brings up the HELP function for Windows software.

53 Mouse/Keyboard Special Commands

KEY FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION

A single left mouse A double left mouse A single right click. click. mouse click.

Press down and Release a mouse Releases all mouse lock mouse button – button previosly commands – useful useful for selecting locked down. for exiting windows areas. with no selection.

In many, programs In many programs, In many programs, cuts out selected copies selected text inserts copied text and/or items. and/or items. text/items at cursor location.

Makes following or Makes following or Makes following or highlighted text highlighted text highlighted text bold. italic. underlined.

Saves current Saves current document using document, but Prints current current document requires a new document to the name. name to be used, computer’s printer.

Undoes the last Closes the currently Closes the currently action. selected window. selected program.

Provides a single-hit Provides a single- Provides a single- “yes” response in a hit “no” response in hit “cancel” yes/no/cancel a yes/no/cancel response in a dialog box. dialog box. yes/no/cancel

dialog box. Moves the mouse to Moves mouse very Moves mouse very the TOP LEFT slightly up and left – slightly up and right corner of the used for fine – used for fine screen. movements. movements.

Moves mouse very Moves mouse very slightly down and slightly down and left – used for fine right – used for fine movements. movements.

WordCore 144 for ECO

56 WordCore 84: WordCore 144 is an incarnation of the WordCore series designed to work with 144 An keys with the PRC ECO communication aid. As with its immediate predecessor, WordCore 84, it is faster than regular spelling and cuts down on the number of Introduction. keystrokes needed to type messages. Anyone who can spell should be able to use the program very quickly and, with continued use, become adept at communicating.

The WordCore 144 Core.

The WordCore 144 Core screen is the default setting for the program. From here, you can build sentences using words, phrases and spelling, and access the Windows® XP functionality of the integrated version of the ECO communication aid..

57 WordCore 84: The Core screen of the WordCore 84 program shows an overlay that contains only How Does It three types of key;

Work?  Single-Hit words  Two-Hit words or phrases  Spelling

Single-Hit keys. When you select one of these, a word is spoken and appears on the top of the display. You may also see variations of the word appearing in the Activity Row.

Two-Hit keys. Two-hit keys always require a second selection to produce a word or phrase. When you select a two-hit key, you will see all the possible words and phrases available.

You will be able to generate words such as “I,” “you,” “myself,” “themselves,” or phrases such as “you will,” “will they,” “does he” and so on.

58 Spelling In general, if you want to spell a word out, you simply hit one of the yellow spelling letter keys.

(a) Using the One option is to use the PRC Word Prediction system. This is based on showing you PRC Predictor root words and then the endings to such words. For example, you would see “skip” but once selected, you’d also see “skipped,” “skipping,” and “skips.”

Imagine you’re looking for the word “figuring.” Select the first letter of the word and you will see a list of words appear in your Word Prediction area.

If the word you want isn’t there, keep spelling until you see is.

Selecting a word “figure” all the possible variations of the word.

Choose the word “figuring” and the word appears in the text area, replacing any previous letters.

59 Comments on A. On rare occasions, a word won’t appear in the Word Prediction window. At that point Spelling you have to decide whether or not to add it to the Word Prediction dictionary of your communication aid. If it’s a word like “sesquipedalian” and you intend to use it regularly, then go ahead, but if it’s a “one-off,” you may decide not to bother. The choice is yours.

B. When you select a word from the word prediction window, you’ll see that the next time you select the initial letter, the word will appear to have moved to the front of the window. This is because the word prediction system has been set to respond to RECENCY – the last word you selected moves to the beginning of the list.

(b) Using the Another prediction option is to use the WordQ word prediction system included with the WordQ© ECO software. This is based on the frequency of words, not their root forms. Take a Predictor look at the “figuring” example again, this time using WordQ.

The first letter, “f,” shows high frequency “f” words and phrases. But “figured” is not there.

With “fi” on screen, more words are available, but not the one wanted,

The letters “fig” brings up “figure,” “figures,” and “figured.”

(c) WordQ with WordQ’s “Use Previous Word” is a type of “next Word Prediction” – it shows the word “Use Previous most likely to follow the word just typed. Word” Once the word “figured” has been selected, a new list of predicted words appears based on what might come after that word.

Selecting “out” then brings up words that might follow that.

This can be repeated.

60 (d) WordQ with For individuals with inaccurate spelling abilities, WordQ has a feature called “Suggest “Suggest Spelling.” This not only offers word prediction but also words that a client might be Spelling” trying to spell, even if he or she is making errors.

For example, suppose the target word is “mouse” but the client spells it “mows.” Here’s what is seen on the display when these letters are used;

The WordQ software offers a number of words that could be targets, based on common spelling errors. Notice how “mouse” is included as one of the options.

(e) Combining The ECO software allows you to combine both prediction systems. Here’s the “figured” the PRC example one last time with the “Combined” option set. Predictor and WordQ

The word “figure” shows first because the PRC system used recency – it shows the most recently chosen word that begins with “f.”

All the forms of “figure” are shown, but so are words that could follow “figure” because the WordQ system is filling in possible options.

Once “figured” has been chosen, the WordQ system presents words that can come after it. If the next target word is not there, simply type the first letter and the process begins again.

61 Single-hit The best way to learn WordCore is to explore by pressing keys. There are some simple keys patterns in the system which, once learned, will improve a client’s ability to access a large vocabulary.

The DETERMINER keys

The Determiner keys, when pressed, produce the word visible. But some of them give you access to new words in the Activity Row. These are SHORTCUTS that are designed to maximize creating sentences. Here are the words that appear after the determiner.

Choosing any of the “al-“ words replaces the “all.”

So from these keys you can produce two-word phrases with two keys, such as

“that’s not...” “that can’t...” “this doesn’t...” “these haven’t...” “this won’t...” “those don’t...” “that hasn’t...” “these didn’t...”

“a” becomes When you select the A key, it changes to “an.” If you select the “an,” it replaces the “a” “an” and you can continue spelling as normal. The reason for doing this is to reduce keystrokes and to avoid having two keys – one for “a” and one for “an.”

62 The PRONOUN keys

The Pronoun keys are some of the most powerful keys in the WordCore 144 system. With these you can access many high frequency words and phrases.

(a) Double hit on A simple double hit on any of the yellow pronoun keys gives you all the subject PRONOUN keys pronouns:

“I” “you” “it” “he” “she” “we” “they”

(b) PRONOUN When you select a pronoun, notice how options appear in the Activity Row. For and Activity example, here’s what you see if you hit the HE icon: Row shortcuts

See how you can access such phrase as “he has been...” and “he wasn’t...” so you only need effectively two keys for two words. These shortcuts are part of what makes WordCore more efficient that regular spelling.

“me” “you” “it” “him” “her” “us” “them”

And now try the OBJ key followed by the PRONOUN and you will see these words:

“myself” “yourself” “ourselves” “itself” “youselves” “himself” “herself”

(d) The POSS Try the PRONOUN key and the POSS key. You will see: key “my” “your” “its” “his” “her” “our” “their”

Now try the POSS key with PRONOUN and you see a different set of words:

“mine” “yours” “ours” “its” “theirs” “his” “hers”

64 Using Combining PRONOUN keys with verb keys is a way of creating many short phrases. PRONOUN These phrases are either “Statements” or “Questions” depending on the order in which phrases you press the keys.

Simple question Now hit any two-hit Verb key (will/have/do/can/was or could/might/should/would) and phrases choose a second key:

“will you…” “was he…” “can you…” “has he…” “have we…” “does he…” “can they…” “will it…” “do you…”

Simple negative You can follow any phrase with NOT to make a negative: phrases “I will not…” “He does not…” “They can not…”

And don’t forget to use shortcuts in the Activity Row. With just two hits you can get:

“I/you/we/they” “can’t / didn’t / don’t / haven’t / haven’t been / wasn’t / won’t” “he/she” “can’t / didn’t / doesn’t / hasn’t / hasn’t been / wasn’t / won’t”

There are also common contracted forms:

Simple negative Just as above, hit a green Verb but this time have the “not” in the middle: questions “Haven’t they…” “Can’t he…” “Doesn’t she…”

65 Shortcuts You may have noticed that when you hit a Pronoun, possible verbs appear in the Activity Row. These include negatives such ending in “can’t,” “don’t,” “haven’t,” “wasn’t,” “weren’t,” and “won’t.” You might prefer to use these shortcuts.

Changed verbs Choosing the verbs BE, DO, and HAVE will give you new options in the Activity Row. These will replace the base form of the verb for one of its common variations.

BE aren’t are being was were been DO don’t doesn’t didn’t doing does did done HAVE haven’t hasn’t hadn’t having has had

“this” and “that” Selecting “this” or “that” will produce a set of possible following words in the Activity Row:

Try “That’s not what I want” and “This isn’t what I like.”

QUICK hits

If you select the QUICK button, , you will see the words “yes” and “no” along with some other functions.

“Smart” keys

66 Practice The best way to learn about the WordCore program is to start using it. The following Sentences sentences have been chosen to demonstrate the different ways in which you can generate words.

Core-Only: These sentences can be constructed without needing to use the SPELL key.

Core, Spelling, and Word Prediction: You will find some of the words you need by using the Word Prediction window.

Core-only 1. I think I know what you want. (Seven hits) Sentences 2. What do you think I should give to him? (Ten hits)

3. Can you give that to him? (Seven hits)

4. I can do that for myself. (Seven hits)

5. What do you want me to do? (Nine hits)

6. I will go with you. (Six hits)

7. He might not want to go with us. (Nine hits)

8. Didn’t you want me for something? (Nine hits)

9. Where are we going tomorrow? (Eight hits)

10. Have you done what you were going to do? (Twelve hits)

11. I know you can help me. (Seven hits)

12. Should he be doing that? (Six hits)

13. That should be all for you. (Seven hits)

14. This can’t be what you want. (Six hits).

Core, Word Row 1. I can talk about what I like. and Word Prediction 2. What did you think of my new idea? Sentences 3. I think it is a difficult problem.

4. Somebody should have told me what you said.

5. Do you have anything to drink?

6. I need help with my wheelchair because I think it is broken.

7. I can talk with this special program.

8. Can I have a drink of coffee please?

Computer Access: Special Pages

70 Computer Access: Where do I find it? When you select the , the key appears in the Activity Row. Choosing this will provide you with computer access options.

Select this and you will see a row offering a number of options.

Select the and you will see the following:

Here are the things you can do with the MOUSE page:

71 Mouse/Keyboard Special Commands

KEY FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION KEY FUNCTION

A single left mouse A double left mouse A single right click. click. mouse click.

Press down and Release a mouse Releases all mouse lock mouse button – button previosly commands – useful useful for selecting locked down. for exiting windows areas. with no selection.

In many, programs In many programs, In many programs, cuts out selected copies selected text inserts copied text and/or items. and/or items. text/items at cursor location.

Makes following or Makes following or Makes following or highlighted text highlighted text highlighted text bold. italic. underlined.

Saves current Saves current document using document, but Prints current current document requires a new document to the name. name to be used, computer’s printer.

Undoes the last Closes the currently Closes the currently action. selected window. selected program.

Moves mouse very Moves mouse very slightly down and slightly down and left – used for fine right – used for fine movements. movements.

Appendices

73 Appendix 1: Grammatical Color-Coding

The keys in WordCore use color-coding based on grammatical categories. In truth, you don’t have to understand why a particular key is a particular color in order to use the program. However, the coding adds some structure to language learning that is grounded in how language is structured. Teaching the grammatical structures can be a valuable way of helping your client learn the system. So for those of you who want to understand the coding, what follows is a color-by-color outline of WordCore’s organization.

Parts of Speech Language is a rule-based system. Our heads are filled with lots of words, which we then toss together to make sentences. Of course, unlike a salad, we don’t do random tossing but use sets of rules that tell us how words can go together. What makes Red the ball sound better than The red ball?

The first clue is that words in our head include information about the type of word it is; this is called the PART OF SPEECH. For example, red is tagged as being a describing word, which can also be changed by adding “–er” and “– est” to the end. In contrast, ball is tagged as being a thing, which can be changed by adding an “s” to the end when we talk about more than one of them. Describing words are called ADJECTIVES and things are called NOUNS.

The second clue is that we also have lists of rules in our brain that tell us what words can go together, what words change other words, and in what order words can appear. One such rule is that in the English language, adjectives go before nouns. Another rule is that if you are talking about a specific single noun, you can precede it by a DETERMINER – which is a word like the, a, or an. And the final rule is that adjectives go after determiners.

So here is why we prefer The red ball to Red the ball:

WORD RULES: 1. red is an ADJECTIVE 2. the is a DETERMINER 3. ball is a NOUN

ORDER RULES: (a) ADJECTIVES precede NOUNS (b) ADJECTIVES follow DETERMINERS (c) DETERMINERS precede NOUNS

When you tease apart a sentence like this, and talk about words and rules, it seems a little complex. But actually, this is in reality one of the most powerful features of language. If we add anew word such as cat to our system, along with knowledge that it is a NOUN, we can use it in sentences in exactly the same way as ball – or dog, or house, or bacon, or any other noun.