All About Apps for AAC

Transcription

1 All About Apps for AAC K E L L Y K A M P W E R T H, M. A., C C C - SLP C H A R L E S T O N C O U N T Y S C H O O L D I S T R I C T K E L L Y _ K A M P W E R T C H A R L E S T O N. K 1 2. S C. U S

2 Learning Objectives At the end of this session, attendees will be able to: 1. Identify at least two full-featured AAC apps that are currently available. 2. Identify at least two limited-feature AAC apps that are currently available. 3. State one limitation of a full-featured AAC app that was discussed in the session.

3 Warning: Content subject to change!!!!!! Apps are literally being introduced DAILY and existing ones are being upgraded. A list or chart created today will be a lot less useful in 6 months. App developers seem to be listening to consumers and users and offering a variety of options within apps

4 Question: Free, Cheap, or Expensive? Which is best?

5 Answer: It depends! All have their place. Free apps: Great for very basic evaluation of access, ability to use dynamic display, willingness to use augmentative communication, ability to understand picture symbols. Tend to mainly support literate users. Cheap apps: Great for limited needs, limited functions. Tend to only support literate users. Expensive apps: Good for individuals with complex communication needs and the need for many functions. Support symbol systems as well as text to speech.

6 Free Apps: Phrase Board (no speech), Tap To Talk (only one board loaded), small talk Aphasia series, Spubble Lite, Neo series, Sono Flex Lite, Locabulary Lite, My Talking Phone, Verbally Cheap Apps: SpeakIt, Imean, Verbal Victor, Tap Speak Button Expensive Apps: Proloquo2go, Touch Chat, Sounding Board, Sono Flex

7 Question: Can an idevice app replace a traditional communication device? Or which one is better?

8 Answer: It depends!!! Must consider: -needs of the individual -skills of the individual (language, social, cognitive, motor, behavioral) -environments of the individual -support of the individual -resources available to the individual

9 Examples of CONS for an ipad Young child with ASD knows exactly what an ipad does and would rather use for games/motivators/videos than communication Early learner who cannot navigate between screens Child or adult with age appropriate vocabulary and cognition may have greater language needs than the device can cover.

10 Examples of PROS for an ipad Literate adult or child/adolescent who can spell and use text to speech could use ipad as a much less expensive communication device. Individuals with no or limited insurance or other type of funding As a back-up system or portable system for community activities, etc. In some cases can work well in regular education settings (portability, cool factor)

11 Before I talk about features Question: What are features anyway?

12 Answer: Characteristics of the app that allow a user, programmer, and communicative partner to interact with the app

13 Some Features of apps-users Presence of message window for sentence construction Word based vs. text based Selection of voices Layout of language Size and scope of vocabulary set Size and number of buttons Dynamic display vs. static display Symbol/image libraries available Access options

14 Some features of apps-programmers Availability of templates Ability to import own pictures/images Editing functions (copy/paste vs. modifying) Ability to edit appearance of pages Ability to change size of items Availability of symbol library Availability of sound library vs. recording own sounds

15 Some features of apps-communicative Partner Voice output vs. no voice output (PECS app) Digitized vs. synthesized speech Selection of voices (male vs.. female, child vs.. adult) Ability to adjust rate, pitch, etc.

16 Access RJ Cooper Switch Interface GO TALK NOW PREDICTable SOUNDING BOARD TAP TO TALK TAP SPEAK CHOICE

17 Access continued-eye Gaze Apps that claim to have eye pointing feature 1. Icomm 2. Answers yes/no 3. Quick Talk AAC

18 Access cont d: Keyguards Keyguards are available for the ipad for individuals who need support in targeting and/or activation skills (fine motor control issues) Must be specific to the app since layouts are different Require the user to put in place after the screen swipe to turn it on. This requires a certain amount of fine motor control to put the keyguard on and take it off which must be done to turn the ipad on and off.

19 Expensive apps compared Proloquo2Go Touch Chat Core vocabulary is not research based Color coding system for vocabulary is random Can change size of message buttons Organized around categories, difficult for novel sentence generation without extensive customization Extensive noun vocabulary Color coding of vocabulary is based on Fitzgerald Key Offers Word Power 24 for an additional fee Core vocabulary setup allows for creation of novel sentences Less extensive noun vocabulary

20 Expensive apps continued Sono Flex Includes research-based core vocabulary Includes topic boards Includes many boards appropriate for school Vocabulary is arranged by the Fitzgerald Key(people in yellow, verbs in green, etc) Easy transition to and from keyboard for text use Setup is similar to static devices such as Tech Speak with the added dynamic pages for fringe vocabulary Cannot change size of message squares Voice output in sentence window and Quick Phrase page only, not available for individual message buttons

21 Expensive apps continued a little less expensive: Sounding Board Comes with only a few pre-made boards Can easily create simple boards by choosing the number of cells (1x1 to 3x3) from a menu Provides limited symbol library Can import own images Could be used very quickly in therapy once photographs are imported Limited vocabulary for generative language Can use RJ Cooper Switch adaptor

22 Cheap apps compared SpeakIt! imean Easy to use text-to-speech app System keyboard only (popup at bottom) Smaller display 4 voices Spelling assist (choices pop up similar to spell check on smart phone) Can create a bank of common messages Text to speech Simple word prediction Different keyboard options Page view or keyboard/message window view 2 voices Adjustable hold time

23 Free apps compared Verbally Tap To Talk Text to speech Word prediction Phrase bank Word bank 2 free voices (very digital sounding) Upgrade for $99.99 Word prediction Symbol based Very limited amount of symbols Contains one starter album Colorful symbols (no photos) Simple navigation buttons Phrase based Upgrade for $99.99 and then can design own boards/albums

24 Also worth mentioning Grace -designed to be similar to PECS -no voice output -uses sentence starters -can construct limited sentences

25 Question: Which full-featured app is the best?

26 Answer It depends! Must consider an app purchase like a traditional augmentative communication assessment. Individuals will require different features based on factors discussed today.

27 Also The AAC Apps Assistant online tool that compares features of AAC apps and assists in asking questions to help guide selection of an app for an individual Special introductory pricing! The AAC Apps Assistant or the AAC Device Assistant Individual User * = $4.99 per month Individual User * = $34.99 per year Up to 10 users * = $99.99 per year Or both (AAC Apps Assistant & AAC Device Assistant) for: Individual User = $59.99 per year Up to 10 users = $ per year * A user is one individual who uses the product; available from any computer or mobile technology. AAC TechConnect, Inc u.AAC.RX ( ) [email protected]

28 Resources Good_Bad_Ugly2.pdf App comparison chart by Nick Weiland, M.A., CCC-SLP, Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence Website that lists AAC apps updated frequently xpensiveaacapps.pdf Paper which discusses free and low cost AAC apps (by Harvey Pressman and Andrea Pietrzyk)

29 Resources Crawford & Watson, AAC Apps Feature Comparison Chart Watson-Apps_Feature_Comparision-AAC.pdf Carol Page, SCATP Program Director, SLP, and AAC guru

30 QUESTIONS????? ANSWERS?????