Prentke Romich Company
http://www.prentrom.com/support/article/283

How do I Program in a Theme?

Storing a "Theme", "Level", "Page", "Overlay" or "Topics" all refer to the same thing. Storing themes is very easy, and all you have to do is follow a few rules. If you follow these rules you won't have any problems storing or setting themes whether you are using an AlphaTalker or AlphaTalker II.

Q: What is a Theme?
A: A theme is the concept of storing a number of messages dealing with the same topic, ie. family, school, restaurants, friends, color time, etc.  Parents, teachers, or SLP's may want to work with a child on a particular topic.

Q: How many Themes can you store on an AlphaTalker?
A: You can store as many themes as the size of the keyboard that you areusing. If you are in 32 Location, then you can have 32 different themes. Each theme can have 32 single activated messages. If you are in 8 Location, then you can have 8 themes, and if you are in 4 Location, then you can have 4 themes, each them having 4 messages.

When storing a theme, do the following:

  1. Ensure you are not currently in a theme. If you are in a theme, turn it off at this time.
    Note: To check to see if the Theme is set, look at the Control Panel to see if the Theme light is On. If there are no lights on in the Control Panel, then the Control Panel is asleep.

    To wake up the Control Panel on an AlphaTalker I: Tap the ON/OFF option to wake up the Control Panel. If the Theme LED is On, Tap the Option Select button until the Theme LED begins to blink. Tap the Select On/Off button and the theme light will go Off.

    To wake up the Control Panel on an AlphaTalker II: Tap the right side of Select On/Off. If the Theme LED is On tap the left side of 1 Icon/2 Icon button and the Theme light will go out.

  2. Store the message under your Theme key as a single-hit message.
    For example:  you want your Theme key to be location A1 and your theme to be Family Names. You also want the message, "Uncle Joe" stored at that location. Activate the Store button, (the store light comes on).  Activate the key where you want to store the message, A1, then push and hold the Record button, and speak your message, "Uncle Joe".

  3. Store the rest of the messages in this Theme as 2-sequence hits starting with the Theme key (A1, in our example).
    For example: You want to store the message, "Aunt Jane" at location B1.  Activate the Store button, (the store light comes on).  Activate the A1 key,  then activate the B1 key.  Push and hold the Record button, and speak your message, "Aunt Jane".

    Note:     Right now, retrieving these messages requires a 2-hit activation, but that is only because we haven't turned on the Theme key yet. Once Themes are turned On, the user can retrieve any message by activating one key.

    Note:     Once all the message for this theme have been stored, turn your Theme On, (set the Theme). When you set the Theme, the AlphaTalker automatically "holds down" the theme key (A1 in our example). All the keys associated with A1 light up and the user can activate them with a single hit (or activation).

  4. To Set the Theme (to turn the theme on):
    On an AlphaTalker I:   Tap the Option Select button until the Theme light begins to blink. Tap the Option On/Off button so the Theme light will go solid.

On an AlphaTalker II: Tap the left side of the 1 icon/2 icon button and the Theme light will go solid.

Once the Theme light is solid, the AlphaTalker waits for you to activate your Theme key. It doesn't know which one of the keys has a Theme under it. When you activate A1 as in our example, you will hear a long beep. The Theme is now set and any messages associated with your Theme key can now be accessed with a single hit.

Note: If you want to store another theme, or just continue programmimg without being in a Theme, you need to clear the current theme (just follow instructions starting with #1)