All About Apps for AAC

K E L L Y K A M P W E R T H , M . A . , C C C - S L P 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 H @ C H A R L E S T O N . K 1 2 . S C . U S

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

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

Question:

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.

 “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,

Question: Can an iDevice app replace a

traditional communication device?

Answer:

Must consider:

-needs of the individual

-skills of the individual (language, social, cognitive, motor, behavioral)

-environments of the individual -support of the individual

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.

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

Before I talk about

features

…

Question: What are “

features

”

Answer:

Characteristics of the app

that allow a user,

programmer, and

communicative partner to

interact with the app

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

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

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.

Access…

 RJ Cooper Switch Interface

http://www.rjcooper.com/bluetooth-switch-interface/index.html

GO TALK NOW PREDICTable

SOUNDING BOARD

TAP TO TALK

Access continued-Eye Gaze

 Apps that claim to have “eye pointing” feature

1. Icomm

http://appsforaac.net/app/icomm 2. Answers yes/no

http://appsforaac.net/app/answersyesno 3. Quick Talk AAC

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.

“

Expensive

” apps compared

Proloquo2Go

 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

Touch Chat

 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

“

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,

“

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

     

“

Cheap

” apps compared

SpeakIt!

 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

iMean

Text to speech

Simple word prediction

Different keyboard options “Page” view or

keyboard/message window view

2 voices

“

Free

” apps compared

 2 free voices (very digital

sounding)

 Upgrade for $99.99  Word prediction

Tap To Talk  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

Also worth mentioning…



Grace

-designed to be similar to PECS -no voice output

-uses sentence starters

Question:

Answer…

 It depends!

 Must consider an app purchase like a traditional

augmentative communication assessment.

 Individuals will require different features based on

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 = $164.99 per year

 * A user is one individual who uses the product;

available from any computer or mobile technology.

AAC TechConnect, Inc.

 866.4u.AAC.RX (866.482.2279)

[email protected] www.aactechconnect.com

 http://sccatn.wikispaces.com/file/view/AAC_Apps_

Good_Bad_Ugly2.pdf App comparison chart by Nick Weiland, M.A., CCC-SLP, Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence

 http://appsforaac.net/applist Website that lists AAC

apps…updated frequently

 http://appsforaac.net/sites/default/files/FreeandIne

xpensiveAACApps.pdf Paper which discusses free and low cost AAC apps (by Harvey Pressman and Andrea Pietrzyk)

 Crawford & Watson, 2011- AAC Apps Feature

Comparison Chart

http://www.faast.org/sites/default/files/Crawford_ Watson-Apps_Feature_Comparision-AAC.pdf

 Carol Page, SCATP Program Director, SLP, and AAC

guru

http://www.sc.edu/scatp/index.htm

Resources

QUESTIONS?????

ANSWERS?????