Quick Start Guide for SentenceShaper, page 1

This Quick Start information can also be downloaded as a PDF document (which requires the free Adobe reader to read or print).

BEFORE YOU START….. SentenceShaper requires a screen resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels. Otherwise, it may not fit on your screen. See the bottom of page 2 of this Quick Start Guide for instructions on how to check or adjust screen resolution.

STEP 1. After installing SentenceShaper, go to the Windows Start Menu and select Programs, then SentenceShaper Communication System, then SShaperStartup (below). (See the Manual: you can put a shortcut to this system in the Startup Folder which will cause this step to be performed automatically whenever the system is turned on.)

STEP 2. Now single-click on the purple Startup Button (right).

STEP 3. If this is a new copy, you will see a message asking whether you want to activate SentenceShaper now or use it in demo mode. Please consult the "Installation and Setup" section of the Manual to find out more about this choice. Select "Activate" or "Demo," after which you will return to the purple Startup Button. Click it once again. You will now see the Select a User screen.

STEP 4. If this is the first time you have started up the program, you will be asked to create a "user." Enter a user name when you see the "New Username" box to the right; then click Continue .

STEP 5. Now click Open (arrow) on the Select a User screen shown on the right.

STEP 6. In the lower right side of the Select a Session screen (note: session numbers will appear here after you have used the system), click on New.

STEP 7. Plug in your microphone to your computer, if you haven't already done this. On the main SentenceShaper screen, click the On Button (arrow). When it turns a brighter green, say "this is", then click the (now) red Off Button. Both buttons should turn pale green again.

STEP 8. Now a shape like this one will appear in the middle of the screen, the Work Area. Click this shape, and it will replay your utterance ("this is").

STEP 9. Repeat the process, this time recording "a test sentence." A second shape will appear, playing back this second utterance when clicked. (The most recently created shape will have a purple halo.) Drag both shapes up to the Sentence Assembly Area (arrow; the line of seven slots in the middle of the screen) and order them as shown in this diagram-that is, drag them into the first two places with the first one on the left.

STEP 10. Click the Play Sentence Button (arrow). Listen as the system plays the two shapes in order ("this is", "a test sentence"). Each shape will shrink as it is played. Rearrange the shapes in the Sentence Assembly Area and then replay the sequence ("a test sentence", "this is"). Correct the order.

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