Bliss Canada

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A Celebration of Thirty Years of Bliss in Canada.


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    BCI Celebrates Thirty Years of Bliss in Canada.

    From Lang Moffat, Chairman, BCI Board of Directors



    I am delighted to bring you greetings from the current Board of Directors of Blissymbolics Communications International, affectionately known by most of us as simply BCI.

    I became involved with BCI when I joined the Board of Directors in 1986. Interesting to note that was just about the middle of our thirty -year history. In 1989, I became only the second President and Chair of the Board of Directors. Before me (1975-1989), George Wilson's time as President was fraught with the problems of dealing with Charles Bliss. But these were years of growth, and some would say the "glory years" for Bliss in Canada.

    I would like to salute all the former Directors of our organization operating under various names over the years that have played such an important part in bringing us to this happy occasion to celebrate 30 years of the use of the language of Blissymbolics in Canada to give a "voice" to those unable to speak, to communicate their needs, opinions, hopes and dreams to the world around them.

    I would also like to recognize the outstanding human beings who have worked with BCI as staff over the years. Their talent, creativity, caring and commitment have been an inspiration to all fortunate enough to be associated with them, and have truly made a difference in the lives of our Bliss users.

    The present Board of Directors of BCI, as a Canadian not-for-profit corporation, has a majority of its up to 15 Directors from Canada. However, thanks to telecommunications and in particular the internet, we are now able to have a number of active Directors from outside Canada to reflect the use of the Blissymbolics language and experience in many other countries around the world. Many of these have very different first l second languages than English, and each with their own individual culture and customs.

    My years have been those of consolidation for the organization and declining use of Bliss in Canada, although fortunately not in many other countries of the world. There are many factors that have contributed to this reality, but this is not the time or place to deal with them.

    The consolidation has resulted in BCI becoming essentially a volunteer organization with contract hiring on a project-by-project basis as we have been able to arrange funding. Nevertheless, when looking back over each year along the way, I have been continuously amazed at what has been accomplished by relatively few volunteers with very little in the way of resources. There are four key reasons for this

      1. The multi-talented, committed and deeply caring volunteers it is our privilege to work with.

      2. The support of the wonderful, knowledgeable and dedicated Bliss colleagues we have come to know and appreciate from around the world.

      3. The encouragement and support we receive from the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy as an organization and from Clarence Meyers, their Executive Director. Through them we have a small office, a computer work room, meeting space as needed and from time to tin~ individual project funding is given. A heartfelt thank-you to OFCP from all of us.

      4. Last, but most important of all, there is the inspiration and friendship we receive from past and present users of Bliss, and their families and support people who motivate us to do our best no matter what our circumstances are at the time.


    Unfortunately when significant changes take place in education methods and health treatment, it often takes time to evaluate the true impact of those changes. We have never preached that the language of Blissymbolics is the right answer for all AAC users. However, consultation with professionals in the field tend to confirm our experience that 10 20% of potential AAC users could benefit from Bliss to achieve their full individual potential. Consequently, we have become very concerned that Blissymbolics is not only seldom prescribed but not even seriously considered as an option for AAC use in Canada today, and this has been the situation for a number of years now. Blissymbolics is a graphic language, and we are convinced that, when appropriately prescribed, this has decided long term benefits for the individual compared to a graphic picture set that does nd have language capabilities. These realities then have been a significant consideration in determining our future direction as an organization.

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