SMARTY SYMBOLS A GUIDE

Creating Visual
Support Materials
Introduction

Creating a Culture
Using Smarty Symbols Of Innovation

What is Character of
Ondev Apps Company Newsletter Choice?

Creating Printable
Resources

Creating on Screen
Games

Creating Multilingual
Resources

CREATING A CULTURE Group Licenses

OF INNOVATION WITHIN SPECIAL ED.

Over the past several decades we have seen some significant advancements in the
technology used by individuals with communication difficulties to communicate. At
first we relied on paper based picture exchange symbols, and slowly, as the
technology moved forward, we saw more and more advanced devices. We had
dedicated devices with static screens where we could record our voices and activate
it upon pressing, and then we had dedicated dynamic display communication
devices. The tablet technology also helped further communication significantly by
making it accessible and affordable around the world.
Smarty Symbols
3839 McKinney Avenue
However, very little has changed in the use of symbols which are the actual language
Suite 155-2129
of these communication systems. The entire market was dominated by old fashioned,
Dallas, TX 75204
boring and unattractive symbols. While, the market was not entirely a monopoly, for
www.smartysymbols.com
decades the symbol libraries had only one major player.
hi@smartysymbols.com
Phone: (214) 600-8347
SMARTY SYMBOLS

As our society also progresses to a more dynamic

and diverse society, where male and female roles
are and should be equal, it is important that visual
support symbols also make sure everyone is
represented. Smarty Symbols, is a symbol set which
includes over 31,000 symbols and has in its core
the principle of offering a diverse, and
contemporary symbol set. The vocabulary selection
within Smarty Symbols has kept pace with time to
include very contemporary words and sets such as
social media vocabulary that often are not found
elsewhere. Teachers, speech pathologists and
parents will be able to offer children access to a

THE FUTURE OF drawing style that is mainstream and not

necessarily associated with “special education”.

COMMUNICATION SYMBOLS!
Smarty Symbols in fact has a goal to make its symbols as much a part
of regular education as that of special education, which makes it very
easy for students and teachers to all be a part of one inclusive world.

A Message from the FOUNDER & CEO

Smarty Symbols is a game changer for special Adding to it we have powered with the most user friendly
education. Educators no longer have to rely on and ever evolving technology; I am confident that we will
clunky software that seems to have not been support educators finally have access to state-of-the-art
updated for the last ten years, or images that visual support and custom activity builder technology that
will make students feel different. is also linguistically accessible to all.
Our team has managed to create the most
diverse, inclusive symbol library on the market. that's our legacy to education!
Barbara Fernandes, M.S CCC-SLP
 The same representation - Different Characters
One of the best features of the Smarty Symbols set is the innovative concept that users can have a choice. Users now
can select their favorite character and the representation is available for their specific character. This innovative
concept gives children and adults a selection of characters as well as exposure to a variety of representations of
characters within the Smarty Symbols library.

How to access Smarty Symbols

You will find Smarty Symbols
everywhere these days! Since its
creation in 2011, Smarty Symbols has
been making its way into classrooms
and homes around the world. You can
now find Smarty Symbols in a variety
of online products, apps and printed
materials that are used in classrooms.

Representation
Matters!

If you are looking to get access to these symbols you can

subscribe to the Smarty Symbols website. The personal
license gives you access to downloading each individual
image, as well as a variety of other services.
 How to use
Smarty Symbols
The Smarty Symbols portal gives users access to four separate areas.
These areas are all included with the standard membership.

Smarty Printing GAME Activity

Symbols Center Builder Library

Allows users to download any of the 31,000

images. Users can use these images individually to
Smarty import on third party programs such as word,
Symbols power point and others.

The printing center is where the magic happens!

Users can select templates, search for images, drag
Printing and drop and create activities in just a few minutes.
Center

Create on-screen activities 100% custom and

GAME editable to meet the needs of students using audio-
Builder visual tools.
 Activity
Library

The Activity library is where users share the materials they created with others!
Users can access ready made materials created by other users.

 DOWNLOADING
SMARTY SYMBOLS

This is the section on the platform that allows users to access all our images and
download individual files to be used in third party programs such as Microsoft Word,
PowerPoint, Pages, etc.
The portal includes over 31, 000 images and there is no limit as to how many
images can be downloaded by the user. As soon as the user opens the portal, they
can preview the most recent images uploaded to the portal.

Download from 31,000 Color Images

Over 150 Educational categories

Access Color or Outlines Images

 SEARCHING FOR SMARTY SYMBOLS
There are several ways to search for the images/symbols you are looking for.
Our advanced search features images organized into educationally relevant
categories, sounds, as well as synonyms and key words.

USING THE WORD SEARCH

User can find specific images by typing the word.

See results for the word “ sleep”.

Contains the word versus Whole word searches.

There are two way to each key words: “contains the word” and “ whole word”.
Contains the word: Includes any words that contain those letters. If user makes this selection and searched for the word “
sleep”, the results would include words such as “ baby sleeper”, “asleep”, “ sleepers”, etc...
Whole word: This is a much more restrictive search. The results will only include images that contain that specific word. So, if
they user types the word “ sleep”, they will only get results if the target word is “sleep” or if the word “sleep” is semantically
related to it and it was previously tagged within the portal.

SEARCHING FOR SMARTY SYMBOLS

CATEGORY SEARCH
Users can also scroll through the right side of the portal and find images
within educationally relevant categories such as “ math”, “ action words”
and more. This is a great way to discover vocabulary without having to
necessarily come up with it.

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SEARCHING FOR SMARTY SYMBOLS

SOUND SEARCH
One of our favorite features is the ability to find images and symbols based
on sound and sound position. This is a feature that can be used by speech-
language clinicians for articulation/phonology activities as well as by
teachers and parents for phonic activities.
Users can select the sound and then the position. See below results for
initial /bl/ sound:

 DOWNLOADING
FILES
Once users find the image they would like to download and use, it is very simple to
download them. Tap on the image to be re-directed to the second page:

Users can select the image format and the color and tap the download button. The
image will be downloaded to the user’s personal computer and can be imported
on other programs such as Microsoft Word, or Power Point.
 COLOR & OUTLINE
IMAGES
If users don’t have access to a color printer, or are looking for a quick coloring
activity they can download the images in outline as well.
USING THE
PRINTING CENTER

Here is where users can create materials directly on the portal without having to download any
images. Within the printing center, users can search for images in a very similar style as within
the download hub. However, here they can drag and drop to cell in order to create pdf materials
which can be ultimately printed.

User can select from our pre-made templates or create a custom activity using a selection of
rows and columns.

CREATING
PRINTABLE
RESOURCES
WITH EASE

1. SELECT FROM TEMPLATES

OVER 90 TEMPLATES
2. Drag and drop images

EDIT the page in any

way you need
For more information
WWW.SMARTYSYMBOLS.COM