Classic tales with AAC – The adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes in an IN-book version, i.e. in an illustrated book based on the text of the Easy Classics series and written with the symbols of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). A classic of literature becomes the heritage of all children, to be shared and also listened to as an audiobook thanks to the free mp3 files available for download.

From the pen of Arthur Conan Doyle comes the famous British detective Sherlock Holmes, who, in the company of his trusty pal Doctor Watson, solves the most mysterious cases of late nineteenth-century England.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is “any communication that replaces or augments verbal language” and is “an area of ​​clinical practice that seeks to compensate for the temporary or permanent disability of individuals with complex communication needs” (ASHA, 2005). The adjective “augmentative” indicates that it tends not to replace but to enhance natural communication, using all the individual’s skills, including vocalizations or existing verbal language, gestures, signs, communication with aids and advanced technology.

The inbook model, edited by the Inbook Study Center csinbook.eu, is characterized by:

• consistency in the narrative rhythmand in the dialogue between the text and images of the original book;
• a symbolic system equipped with composition rules that includes writing the whole sentence in symbols;
• multimodal representation: each symbol is made up of a graphic element and an alphabetic element in lower case, placed in the upper part. Both are inserted in a box which visually gives unity to the two elements;
• symbols in black and white, as it is usual in texts;

use of modeling for reading: during reading, the symbols are indicated one by one, being careful not to cover the image or the word with your finger and maintaining the speed and rhythm of the narration. In this way, the presence of the symbol associated with the word read is added to listening and the listener can follow the text more easily.