Blissymbolics Archival Collection at OISE

Blissymbolics Archival Collection at OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto) is ready for visitors!

It all began in 2019 with a generous donation from Peg and Rob Rooks for the preservation and digitization of publications and communication materials from over 50 years of Blissymbolics serving as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system. There is now a collection housed in the OISE Library and access to an online digital collection in the Internet Archive. There have been six OISE staff and students working (part-time) on the collection over the past four years, and Rebecca Chan and Shirley McNaughton have worked throughout that time, sorting materials to send to OISE. The Toronto materials were expanded by materials from the Nordic countries, hand delivered by Margareta Jennische in November, 2019.

Thanks to all those who donated materials and to the OISE team who have made this archival collection possible:

Monique Flaccavento, Jenaya Webb, Bethany Lepp, Emma Thomas, Natalie Johnson-Tyghter, Andrew Sandock.

Here are the three key links for accessing the collection:

  1. The OISE Library’s introductory page for the Blissymbolics Communication Institute – Canada collection (provides an overview of the collection)
  2. The Blissymbolics Communication Institute – Canada collection in the University of Toronto’s Discover Archives (archival records and descriptions)
  3. The OISE Library collection of Blissymbolics on the Internet Archive (these are all the materials that have been digitized)

It's been a long 4 years, but the collection is now complete!

Take a look in Internet Archive (#3) when you have a few minutes!

Blissymbolics Success in South Africa

Blissymbolics Success in South Africa

The wonderful story of Louisa Alberts using Blissymbolics with Special Needs Learners

A Blissymbolics classroom was opened at Platorand School in Belfast, South Africa in 2014. Many graduates have gone on to great success with the inspired teaching of Louisa Alberts who in turn was helped by Margareta Jennishce of BCI, and others.

Read it here: Blissymbolics in South Africa

3D-Printed Blissymbolics at Closing The Gap


Closing the Gap

40TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 19-21, 2022

Minneapolis, Minnesota

New Location! Hilton Minneapolis Hotel


Presentation Length: 1 hour

Date and Time (Central Daylight Time):

  • October 20, 2022
  • 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm


Presentation Title

Next-Gen Tactile Symbols 3D-Printed Blissymbolics


Presenters

Andrea Newall
Institution:University Lecturer in AAC, Speech, Language, and Hearing Program
Position: Speech Language Pathologist, AAC Specialist, Southern California School District

Anitha Muthukumaran
Institution: Douglas County School Districts; University of Northern Colorado, Greeley
Position: Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments; Special Education Doctoral Student

Ken Hackbarth
Institution:Volksswitch
Position: Distinguished Member of Technical Staff; Founder and President

Description of Presentation
In this session we'll introduce you to a new generation of tactile symbols that are perfect for use with non-speaking individuals who are blind, deaf/blind, or visually impaired – including students with cognitive disabilities. The symbols benefit from two different technologies: 3D-printing and Blissymbolics. 3D-printing makes it inexpensive to create these tactile symbols. Blissymbolics provides a rich, conceptual language to develop communication skills with low cognitive requirements. The presentation will highlight the experiences shared by several teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) and speech language pathologists (SLPs) how they collaborate and use these tactile symbols with their students. The session will include how educators can get free access to these tactile symbols and supporting materials.

3D Printed Tactile Blissymbols

Volksswitch.org has created a next generation of tactile symbols based on Blissymbolics to teach language to individuals who are blind, deaf-blind, or visually impaired. The symbols may also be effective when used with individuals on the autism spectrum. These Bliss Tactile Symbols are opensource, customizable, extensible, and designed to be 3D-printed.

Additional information