1 00:00:01,711 --> 00:00:12,112 It's simply a way that if you start to type a word the technology predicts what you want to 2 00:00:12,112 --> 00:00:18,195 say and gives you either the choice of selecting from 3 00:00:18,195 --> 00:00:23,328 a list of words or put the words up for you 4 00:00:23,328 --> 00:00:28,578 This can be very effective, this can also be very annoying. 5 00:00:28,578 --> 00:00:33,094 On one of my emails for example is "J.B. Vincent" 6 00:00:33,094 --> 00:00:36,570 and when I try typing that into my smartphone 7 00:00:36,631 --> 00:00:38,821 it always tries to substitute something like "unsuitable". 8 00:00:38,821 --> 00:00:42,253 So its a technology that in the mobile 9 00:00:42,361 --> 00:00:45,938 world still has quite a ways to go. 10 00:00:46,015 --> 00:00:51,962 But in terms of speeding up typing, if people 11 00:00:51,962 --> 00:00:56,056 prefer to type as opposed to selecting words 12 00:00:56,056 --> 00:01:01,556 it can be a very, very useful and powerful technology. 13 00:01:01,556 --> 00:01:05,772 So you do need to have a sense of whether word 14 00:01:05,772 --> 00:01:09,023 prediction will assist that individual or not. 15 00:01:09,023 --> 00:01:13,806 Next slide please. 16 00:01:13,806 --> 00:01:19,122 So an additional consideration for people with dognitive disabilities: 17 00:01:19,122 --> 00:01:25,018 .Will the person best understand words, graphics, or a combination? 18 00:01:25,595 --> 00:01:28,014 If for example somebody is already using the 19 00:01:28,107 --> 00:01:33,069 Bliss Symbol System, then transferring Bliss Symbols 20 00:01:33,069 --> 00:01:36,170 to their augmentative communications strategy 21 00:01:36,170 --> 00:01:39,503 will simply be a natural. 22 00:01:39,503 --> 00:01:43,003 What else will help comprehension: it may 23 00:01:43,003 --> 00:01:48,553 be useful to not simply use any graphics 24 00:01:48,553 --> 00:01:51,719 downloaded off the internet but to use graphics 25 00:01:51,719 --> 00:01:55,370 that specifically portray family members 26 00:01:55,370 --> 00:01:57,570 or something else that is meaningful to the 27 00:01:57,570 --> 00:02:00,352 individual wishing to communicate. 28 00:02:00,352 --> 00:02:03,235 How many options should be presented at a time? 29 00:02:03,235 --> 00:02:06,270 Some people are going to get confused if your 30 00:02:06,270 --> 00:02:09,869 showing them too many options of things to communicate. 31 00:02:09,869 --> 00:02:14,969 So they may benefit from simply having four options 32 00:02:14,969 --> 00:02:18,852 at a time. Or they may benefit ... even benefit from 33 00:02:18,852 --> 00:02:22,520 simply having a yes/no setup. So that 34 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:24,820 they can answer simple questions. That may 35 00:02:24,820 --> 00:02:27,652 be most relevant to what they need to communicate. 36 00:02:27,652 --> 00:02:30,420 And how should the options be organized? 37 00:02:30,420 --> 00:02:34,769 How should they be set up so that individuals 38 00:02:34,769 --> 00:02:38,285 will easily know where to find what they want 39 00:02:38,285 --> 00:02:41,636 and be able to retrieve it whenever they want? 40 00:02:41,636 --> 00:02:44,770 And again that somewhat ties into how many 41 00:02:44,770 --> 00:02:46,870 options should be presented at a time. 42 00:02:46,870 --> 00:02:49,119 You don't want to confuse people with too much, 43 00:02:49,119 --> 00:02:54,098 but you don't want them to have to dig too deep 44 00:02:54,098 --> 00:02:56,103 to find what they want. 45 00:02:56,118 --> 00:02:57,503 So it's a question sometimes of finding a balance there. 46 00:02:57,510 --> 00:03:03,336 Next slide please. 47 00:03:03,336 --> 00:03:08,036 So what has really created a revolution 48 00:03:08,036 --> 00:03:10,902 in augmentative communication is the availability 49 00:03:10,902 --> 00:03:15,869 of the IPad. The device is a huge price 50 00:03:15,869 --> 00:03:19,719 breakthrough for the level of sophistication provided. 51 00:03:19,719 --> 00:03:24,652 Traditional dedicated devices have cost in the 52 00:03:24,652 --> 00:03:27,869 thousands of dollars for the level of 53 00:03:27,869 --> 00:03:31,252 sophistication that you can get on the IPad. 54 00:03:31,252 --> 00:03:35,136 The IPad is about five hundred dollars and 55 00:03:35,136 --> 00:03:38,854 some of the very best programs as we'll see 56 00:03:38,854 --> 00:03:42,353 are totally free. So all you're paying for is 57 00:03:42,353 --> 00:03:46,586 the cost of the IPad itself and perhaps a case 58 00:03:46,586 --> 00:03:49,186 and some peripherals like that. 59 00:03:49,186 --> 00:03:52,402 But there is so much good free software out there 60 00:03:52,402 --> 00:03:56,770 these days that it brings the price way down. 61 00:03:56,770 --> 00:04:00,753 The problem with that is the insurance companies 62 00:04:00,753 --> 00:04:03,337 which are saying, " Well, heaven forbid that someone 63 00:04:03,337 --> 00:04:05,938 might use the IPad for something other than 64 00:04:05,938 --> 00:04:09,603 communication, therefore we're not going to fund it 65 00:04:09,603 --> 00:04:12,819 since it's not a dedicated device. We would rather 66 00:04:12,819 --> 00:04:15,152 pay $5000 for a dedicated device, 67 00:04:15,152 --> 00:04:21,422 than $500 for a device that can 68 00:04:21,422 --> 00:04:25,055 potentially do other things such as letting 69 00:04:25,055 --> 00:04:27,856 people play solitaire or surf the web. 70 00:04:27,856 --> 00:04:30,689 And that is something that is just going to have 71 00:04:30,689 --> 00:04:35,587 to change. Because, you can't go on forever paying 72 00:04:35,587 --> 00:04:38,489 ten times...paying out ten times the amount for the 73 00:04:38,489 --> 00:04:42,988 device and thereby serving far far fewer people. 74 00:04:42,988 --> 00:04:47,472 The other great thing about the IPad is that 75 00:04:47,472 --> 00:04:51,522 it's easily...not only easily portable but its normalized. 76 00:04:51,522 --> 00:04:54,506 It looks like what everybody else is using. 77 00:04:54,506 --> 00:04:57,572 You don't have a device that's exotic, 78 00:04:57,572 --> 00:05:02,755 that's un-cool looking in some cases. 79 00:05:02,755 --> 00:05:05,073 You have something that looks like pretty much 80 00:05:05,073 --> 00:05:06,889 what everyone else is carrying around. 81 00:05:06,889 --> 00:05:11,039 So the individual is probably going to feel more 82 00:05:11,039 --> 00:05:13,305 comfortable using it. 'Cause they are not going 83 00:05:13,305 --> 00:05:15,357 to stick out as much. 84 00:05:15,357 --> 00:05:18,739 The IPad is relatively easy and intuitive to use. 85 00:05:18,739 --> 00:05:23,972 I've seen people, pretty much, including myself, 86 00:05:23,972 --> 00:05:26,071 pretty much take to it right away. 87 00:05:26,071 --> 00:05:28,239 And understand about moving your finger to 88 00:05:28,239 --> 00:05:32,822 swipe back and forth. Pressing on something 89 00:05:32,822 --> 00:05:35,489 to open it. It's pretty straight forward. There 90 00:05:35,489 --> 00:05:38,856 isn't a huge learning curve with it. 91 00:05:38,856 --> 00:05:42,489 And it's also very easy to develop and distribute apps, 92 00:05:42,489 --> 00:05:46,321 such as the apps for augmentative communication. 93 00:05:46,321 --> 00:05:49,423 And then a lot of these apps can be customized 94 00:05:49,423 --> 00:05:53,172 by the end user. So you're not stuck with 95 00:05:53,172 --> 00:05:57,171 what comes to you downloaded onto your IPad. 96 00:05:57,171 --> 00:06:01,222 It's pretty easy to in most cases, to customize 97 00:06:01,222 --> 00:06:04,005 to your particular needs. 98 00:06:04,005 --> 00:06:06,124 Next slide please. 99 00:06:06,124 --> 00:06:19,223 So a lot of these apps will run on just the IPad, just 100 00:06:19,223 --> 00:06:22,823 the IPhone, just the IPod Touch. 101 00:06:22,823 --> 00:06:25,255 Some of them will run on all three. 102 00:06:25,255 --> 00:06:28,421 Some will run on only two out of those three. 103 00:06:28,421 --> 00:06:35,188 When making a decision between the three 104 00:06:35,188 --> 00:06:39,838 different hardware platforms, you want to look 105 00:06:39,838 --> 00:06:43,221 first at the apps. Make sure that the app that 106 00:06:43,221 --> 00:06:46,572 the individual wants to use is supported by 107 00:06:46,572 --> 00:06:52,273 the hardware that you are selecting. 108 00:06:52,273 --> 00:06:54,321 You want to look at the users ability to use 109 00:06:54,321 --> 00:06:58,373 a larger or smaller device. We have, (at CforAT) as part of our 110 00:06:58,373 --> 00:07:05,605 IPad Loan Program, 10 IPads, and 5 iPod Touchs. 111 00:07:05,605 --> 00:07:08,438 The IPad's are just flying 112 00:07:08,438 --> 00:07:11,589 out the door. The IPod Touch's have been a 113 00:07:11,589 --> 00:07:14,989 much harder sell. Simply because people 114 00:07:14,989 --> 00:07:20,505 have difficulty seeing the screen or people have 115 00:07:20,505 --> 00:07:21,768 difficulty accurately selecting the target on 116 00:07:21,768 --> 00:07:23,930 the smaller screen. The IPads in our experience 117 00:07:23,945 --> 00:07:28,633 have been much more popular. If we had 118 00:07:28,633 --> 00:07:33,633 a different population that might not necessarily be as true. 119 00:07:33,633 --> 00:07:38,049 As I mentioned earlier, if someone needs to use 120 00:07:38,049 --> 00:07:41,233 augmentative communication over the phone, then 121 00:07:41,233 --> 00:07:44,349 obviously the IPhone is going to be a 122 00:07:44,349 --> 00:07:47,482 consideration. Because that's the one out of the 123 00:07:47,482 --> 00:07:50,283 three devices really built for making phone calls. 124 00:07:50,283 --> 00:07:55,383 Portability, the IPad itself is quite portable but 125 00:07:55,383 --> 00:07:59,848 somebody might need something more portable. 126 00:07:59,848 --> 00:08:08,766 and the IPhone and the ITouch can be slipped 127 00:08:08,766 --> 00:08:10,533 into a pocket. Another consideration there is: 128 00:08:10,533 --> 00:08:12,783 Does it need to be mounted to a wheelchair? 129 00:08:12,783 --> 00:08:15,516 and in those cases you may be better off with the IPad, 130 00:08:15,516 --> 00:08:17,450 because thats going to be a little easier 131 00:08:17,450 --> 00:08:21,749 to mount in a good position in many cases. 132 00:08:21,749 --> 00:08:24,149 And security. 133 00:08:24,149 --> 00:08:27,049 The obvious problem with the IPhone and ITouch is 134 00:08:27,049 --> 00:08:29,583 they can slip out of the users pocket and into 135 00:08:29,583 --> 00:08:36,133 somebody elses. Or if the person is going to be 136 00:08:36,133 --> 00:08:39,949 more likely to not lose an IPad simply because it's 137 00:08:39,949 --> 00:08:43,982 larger, that may be a consideration as well. 138 00:08:43,982 --> 00:08:47,549 So all of these may be considerations when you're 139 00:08:47,549 --> 00:08:52,700 looking at specific hardware platforms for an individual. 140 00:08:52,700 --> 00:09:00,999 Next slide please. 141 00:09:00,999 --> 00:09:03,233 Free vs. Paid Apps. 142 00:09:03,233 --> 00:09:05,983 And this is always a consideration. 143 00:09:05,983 --> 00:09:10,248 You get what you pay for and sometimes that's 144 00:09:10,248 --> 00:09:13,016 just fine and sometimes it's not. 145 00:09:13,016 --> 00:09:16,433 The model for a lot of apps is that they have a basic 146 00:09:16,433 --> 00:09:20,766 free version, that you can download and use. 147 00:09:20,766 --> 00:09:24,333 Usually in my experience there hasn't been a time 148 00:09:24,333 --> 00:09:27,898 limit on those as there is with assistive technology on 149 00:09:27,898 --> 00:09:33,450 on the computer platform, but there is very 150 00:09:33,450 --> 00:09:38,700 often a series of better voices or more advanced options. 151 00:09:38,700 --> 00:09:44,449 In some cases you will get a certain number of 152 00:09:44,449 --> 00:09:49,731 communication options but if you want to author 153 00:09:49,731 --> 00:09:54,249 your own you have to pay for it and so forth. 154 00:09:54,249 --> 00:10:00,199 So that's the purchase model for some apps. 155 00:10:00,199 --> 00:10:05,049 And some apps simply come in the free version 156 00:10:05,049 --> 00:10:08,013 and that is the primary option. 157 00:10:08,013 --> 00:10:11,263 Many free apps are surprisingly powerful. 158 00:10:11,263 --> 00:10:14,580 So it's certainly worth downloading and trying 159 00:10:14,580 --> 00:10:18,147 some free apps first to see what does and doesn't work. 160 00:10:18,147 --> 00:10:21,596 And if you can't find a free app that meets the needs 161 00:10:21,596 --> 00:10:24,513 of an individual then you can look around at 162 00:10:24,513 --> 00:10:29,416 some of the ones. I have yet to find an augmentative communication app 163 00:10:29,416 --> 00:10:33,332 that's more then about a hundred and ninety dollars. 164 00:10:33,332 --> 00:10:37,082 They're still relatively inexpensive and more of them 165 00:10:37,082 --> 00:10:39,609 are in the $20 to $50 dollar range. 166 00:10:39,609 --> 00:10:44,469 So we are still not talking about a huge amount of money. 167 00:10:45,219 --> 00:10:47,903 Next slide please. 168 00:10:47,903 --> 00:10:51,786 [Karen] Jane do you see the question I forwarded to you? 169 00:10:51,786 --> 00:10:56,919 [Jane] I did not see the question. 170 00:10:56,919 --> 00:11:03,570 Has there been much success in finding a 171 00:11:03,570 --> 00:11:06,263 stylus for augmenting the finger for pointing? 172 00:11:06,263 --> 00:11:10,616 There has, and the good news is it's basically 173 00:11:10,662 --> 00:11:22,920 a do it yourself. 174 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,429 And one thing (Karen, I will put a note to myself) 175 00:11:25,552 --> 00:11:29,255 and Karen will send this out in the followup email 176 00:11:29,255 --> 00:11:33,114 There is a way to basically take any sort of 177 00:11:33,114 --> 00:11:47,423 stick or any sort of existing stylus and wrap it 178 00:11:47,423 --> 00:11:49,577 using I believe copper wire and aluminum foil 179 00:11:49,577 --> 00:11:52,846 and be able to use that as a stylus on the 180 00:11:52,846 --> 00:11:55,131 IPad. And we have seen good results with that. 181 00:11:55,131 --> 00:12:06,124 So what I will do is put a note to myself 182 00:12:07,616 --> 00:12:08,869 to get the URL for constructing those to 183 00:12:08,869 --> 00:12:10,300 Karen and then she will distribute that as part 184 00:12:10,300 --> 00:12:10,877 of the packet after the presentation. 185 00:12:10,877 --> 00:12:11,377 Good question. Thank You. 186 00:12:11,377 --> 99:59:59,999 And what I'm going to do before we get into the 187 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 scenario's is I am going to pause for a moment 188 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to see if there are other questions and rest my 189 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 voice for just a second and see if anybody else 190 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 has any other questions. 191 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Just a reminder you can type your question into 192 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the question pane or raise your hand if you want 193 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to ask it out loud. 194 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [Karen] I have a question for Jane while we are 195 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 waiting to see if there are any audience questions. 196 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Are there websites that review the free apps? 197 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [Jane] There are starting to be. I actually ran 198 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 across one that I wasn't thrilled with 199 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but the best feedback that I've found, is if you go to 200 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 ITunes, people put in, just like Amazon.com, 201 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 People put in their reviews of the various apps. 202 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I've found those to be very,very useful and 203 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 generally pretty much on track. 204 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When considering an IPad for autistic individuals 205 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 how durable is the touchscreen and are there 206 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 any devices that help with the durability of the screens? 207 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Excellent question. They're relatively hardy but 208 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but if someone is into throwing the devices 209 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they are probably not going to withstand that. 210 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 On the other hand if you simply have somebody who 211 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is tapping hard on it that's probably not going 212 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to be a problem. One of the fastest growing 213 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 audiences for IPads apparently is cats. 214 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And so Friskies has released three apps 215 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for cats on the IPad, believe it or not. 216 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And the reports are that the cats are pawing 217 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 them, the cats are scratching, and the screens 218 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 are surviving just fine. So they are relatively 219 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 hardy but they are not going to take being 220 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 broken or thrown.