AraSuite is the name of virtual tools similar to those that Microsoft Office offers us, created to facilitate teaching. It is a very useful application toolkit when it comes to communicating, having AraWord as one of the applications preferred by the community.
AraWord is a free and freely distributed computer application, is integrated into a suite for alternative and augmentative communication. It is a word processor that will allow us to write simultaneous text and pictograms, making it easier to create materials and adapt texts for people with functional communication difficulties.
Linux and Apple users must wait for a multiplatform version to arrive, but being free software, it is not ruled out that it will be available in the future. AraWord is currently available on Android devices, who benefit from this application, which currently exceeds 50.000 downloads.
What is AraWord for?
AraWord has been developed with people in mind to communicate or children, with it it is possible to create pictograms with keywords in order to transmit the message. With the help of the keywords entered in each panel, AraWord will take care of providing certain images.
The AraWord database almost always gets an image, otherwise you can choose a related image or a custom photo. If you do not know how to search for a pictogram, the system will be able to search for a suitable one for the keyword used. AraWord pictograms will be quite useful when teaching, since they are recorded in the mind of each person.
The tool is honestly one of the applications that over time has improved the user experience, so much so that it becomes predominant in private classes of people with autism. AraWord is one of the most used in the package, standing out above the others available.
What is an Araword pictogram?
The pictogram is an easy to understand graphic, it is the analysis with which to explain something in a much simpler way which happens to be basic. They are created by characters known as stickmans or simple drawings that come to represent a specific word.
It is possible that when looking for pictograms it will not be found, but selecting an image can be equivalent to this, sometimes you will need imagination to represent a word or object. The best thing is to be able to make our own pictograms with an app of design or download different drawings from the Internet, since the base is one of the largest.
AraWord is quite useful
Currently AraWord is a very useful tool for those who are related to teaching, many teachers make use of this application when teaching. There are now many benefits to using AraWord and the performance becomes higher in the smallest.
It is also useful if you teach languages, as the images are recorded in the minds of the students who have been using AraWord. Many of the rectors have it freely as with other applications available for Android, through an application for Windows or also online.
The benefits of Araword in teaching autistic people
For a long time the autistic population has been ignored and on the other hand little recognized, for a large number of people it is still unfamiliar terrain. Through advances in psychology, knowledge and understanding, we have tools available that come to facilitate communication with autistic people.
The learning of thousands of children with autism is impaired by communication, but it can improve thanks to this application (Araword). Each time autism takes a step to be integrated into different groups in which to continue growing thanks to learning and thus lead a normal life.
Panels and pictograms become configurable to be highly interactive and useful for understanding the information that we want to convey to them. An autistic person is benefited by facilitating his communication and transmitting his message with the people around him.
TICO project
The TICO (Interactive Communication Boards) project is a model developed to facilitate and improve communication processes. The AraSuite base is used, organizing and preparing each of the parts of the information panels with selected photographs and audios. This is due to a collaboration between a school in Spain, a special education school in Zaragoza, and a computer department.
AraWord makes use of resources from the TICO and Tico Intérprete project, it uses information boxes perfectly. Downloading Araword for free is a decision to teach people with motor or cognitive difficulties in general.
How to use AraWord online
ARASAAC is a page that uses the tools used by AraSuite to assist teaching and special education. Once you visit it, you will find a wide variety of pictograms for all the words that are registered in the online database.
When choosing a pictogram, we can search for one by entering a word and a wide range of options will be opened to it. To introduce a word that can be two kinds of ARASAAC words It will show us the categories to find the valid one and not make a mistake in any case.
If when talking about a house we refer to the home, the pictogram will show a drawing of a houseIf in this case we mention a car, it will show a vehicle. It will be very useful to have the different options of wanting to explain something longer, such as a small conversation.
Once you find a pictogram you want, you can download and save it to use it later with the downloaded application. If you are going to do it online You have the option of using the "Online Tools" option on the ARASAAC page, known for having Araword and other applications.
If you have clicked we will see different options as a phrase creator, animation creator, symbol creator, calendar and timetable generator. In our case, if we want Araword's line of work, it is best to opt for the Dashboard Generator, which is quite intuitive and easy.
It will show a panel available to select a box and write each of the words you want to complete to the people you teach or to that person in the family. Once created we can download the pictogram for the word, or use the search engine to find one that is similar.
How to use pictograms for teaching
The best methods become the easiest to use, to apply the best concepts you can follow the following guidelines:
- If you create your own pictograms to teach, try them with other people To see if they are really explanatory, if not, try to write down the best ones that the person would do
- Look for that pictogram to be the equivalent of the word with which you are going to relate, otherwise you will not advance much in that sense
- If there are several pictograms available for a word, use the one you think will stick with the students. You can choose between 3 types of pictograms, the initial one is the basic one, the second will be in black and white, while the third case is that it will be in 3D
- If you are going to use an item like he, she, los, las or another, look for an associated pictogram, if you don't find any, use hand gestures
How to download AraWord for free
To download AraWord for free you can do it from the Play Store for mobiles with Android operating system and if you are a PC user you also have the option to download it from the official website. Thanks to its word processor, several people can collaborate and carry out different projects before presenting them in class.
AraSaac has posted the application manual, so you can learn the operation from the first moment and use it like a professional. It is also used for those parents who want to communicate with children with autism, but they will need a minimum of learning to start communicating with pictograms.
If you are a PC user, you can download the AraSuite that comes with AraWord through SourceForge page, site where the free download applications are. Once we download it, we can start it and choose AraWord as the tool to use at that time.
AraWordOnline
If you want to use AraWord Online, it is best to access the AraSaac link, platform in which we can use it online, as well as consult the different tutorials, with examples of use, bibliography, CAA links and a lot of material available to use as a complement.
AraWord enters the AraSuite, an office suite that is quite complete And that in this case you can also download it from the Play Store as part of the TICO project. Remember that there are three ways to use it, in an app for Android phones, as an application on PC and online.
