Licensing

Copyright Statement:

The Blissymbolics Communication International Authorized Vocabulary (BCI-AV) and other BCI Blissymbol products are made available for use and redistribution by others under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 licence. You can use these Blissymbol products in any project or product, commercial or otherwise as long as any distribution gives BCI clear attribution.

BCI Blissymbol products must be redistributed with the same Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 licence. The author (BCI), the owner (BCI), their origin (Blissymbolics), and the license under which it is distributed (Creative Commons License BY-SA) must be cited.

How to cite the BCI license:

(i) The Blissymbolics Communication International Authorized Vocabulary (BCI-AV) is available at www.blissymbolics.org. The BCI-AV and other BCI Blissymbol products are copyright Blissymbolics Communication International (BCI) and made available under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 licence.

OR

(ii) Parts herein © Blissymbolics Communication International (BCI), distributed under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Disclaimer:

BCI, is not responsible for the improper or negligent use of resources contained in the Authorised Vocabulary made by third parties that exceeds the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Who uses Bliss

The number of persons currently using Blissymbols has been very difficult to determine. The system is used with persons with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI) in over 33 countries and Blissymbol materials have been translated into more than 15 languages. The peak of Blissymbol training occurred in 1982 and at that time, a total of 8,000 instructors had attended workshops worldwide. Each of those instructors would have interacted with a number of students, but as well, the individual Blissymbol user would have benefited from the instruction of several instructors.

There is no single definitive study providing statistics regarding the incidence of individuals needing alternative forms of communication due to a severe speech impairment. Until such a study is undertaken, we can only reference several demographic studies conducted in various regions over the past twenty years. The results of these studies would indicate that the incidence of individuals who have required native communication lies between .15% and .60% of the total school population. Of this group, it has been estimated from a study involving individuals with SSPI in Ontario, that 41% of those using communication boards have used Blissymbols. Some of these individuals will have moved to the use of spelling and word systems.

Currently Blissymbolics is most widely used in AAC in Sweden, Norway and Finland in Scandinavia, and to a varying degree in other European countries, such as Belgium, Spain, and Italy. In Sweden, around 2-300 persons yearly are attending Bliss instructional cources, primarily arranged by SPSM (the Swedish Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools).
Blissymbolics is gaining re-newed interest in several Eastern European countries and in Russia. Bliss is taught and used in several other countries around the world, such as Brazil, South Africa, Egypt and Bangladesh.

While the numbers of persons who use Blissymbols as their alternative form of communication is not large, they are spread all around the world and benefit greatly from the Internet. As well as having their lives enriched, they are in a position to assist speaking persons through demonstrating that Internet communication can take place between persons of different language backgrounds.

Bliss Workshop

Welcome to the Bliss Workshop! This workshop is for those who wish to teach Bliss to others. From time to time a new session will be added, and throughout, tips will be given regarding teaching Bliss to those who use it for their face-to-face communication and their Blisslnternet communication.

This page is just a brief overview. For more and updated information and a deeper understanding, we recommend that you read this document on Proceedings Characteristics of Blissymbolics.

When you think about teaching Bliss, there are a few primary factors to remember:

  1. Key Characters (or Key Symbols), Bliss-characters and Bliss-words

  2. Language Structure

  3. Generative

Please trfer to the Fundamental Rules of Blissymbolics document for more detailed information about the making of Bliss.
(In Bliss Fundamental Rules Amendment you can find an updated description of the procedures for how the development of new Blissymbol vocabulary is managed.)

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