ABSTRACT
Symbols form an important part of our daily lives and we use them in a variety of ways to help us access different types of information. An important feature of all the symbols is that they all stand for or represent particular types of information. Iconicity is a term used to describe the nature of the relationship between a symbol and its referent. Appropriate choices of the systems for individual learners will depend on the individual’s abilities and difficulties, and on the environment in which they will use the communication. For learners with useful vision, visual symbols can be organised into quite comprehensive vocabularies which can develop communication from simple noun-based requests into complex alternatives or supports to spoken or signed language. Pictorial symbols, for example line drawings, have been raised and used on a largely ad hoc basis by practitioners working with learners who have multiple disabilities.
