iPads and Communication: Making a Good Choice_Part 4

This is Part 4 of the "iPads and Communication Apps: Making a Good Choice" webinar archive.

[Jane] So a potential solution that is not free is ProLoQuo2go.

ProLoQuo2go was the first augmentative communication program out of the bar.

It's extremely configurable. It provides multiple communication categories.

It has modes for either selecting pictures and uses the Boardmaker pictures so that you've got

in most cases a relatively realistic picture of something

but you can also add other images. You could add a picture of a grandchild.

Or a picture of that grandchild with their name underneath. So that would be good if Cheryl is forgetting

who her family members are, she could use ProLoQuo2go to call them up and associate a name with a face.

Press on the persons picture and have that name spoken. She could also

there is also a typing capability in ProLoQuo2go so she could type it out if she wished.

If you are using it on the iPhone, you can use it make phone calls.

It is about $190 so it is not free but for what it does it's very powerful. It's going to be overkill for some people.

If you need something with pictures and with sophisticated levels of communication and with a typing option, it's good.

It's a good program.

Final scenario is Jonah. He's 25 and in addition to being autistic, he has very low vision.

His goal is to communicate simple needs, food preferences, etc.

So what he needs to communicate is not very complex but he does need an accessible way to communicate.

So in his case, we're going to need something more than just the basic iPad.

One option for Jonah is Alexicom AAC.

It uses auditory scanning. He uses a pair of switches to be able to scan through the various options

and then select (hear) the options and select the one he wants, so for example

in the screen shown, he would press switch one once. It would indicate

the speak row. He would press again to go to the next row.

Unfortuneatly at the moment Alexicom is just saying "Row One, Row Two, Row Three".

I've talked to them about this and they are going to try and put more information so that the user knows

what row they are on, in their next release which hopefully is coming up soon.

When the person selects the row using switch one, the scanning then goes through the row to speak each option.

You use another switch to activate the option that they want. Then that option would be spoken and put

into the text area so that they could combine multiple things and have an entire sentence spoken out.

The sentence that was typed out from the icons was "I'm hungry. I would like fruit salad."

That's not something that is available as a sentence in and of itself but by combining multiple options you can

spell out an entire sentence that way.

So you can use any switch or pair of switches that you like with the Alexicom.

You do need a switch interface. At the moment there is only one option - $99 from RJ Cooper.

That uses a Bluetooth interface to wirelessly interact with the iPad.

I did try using it with an iPod Touch and it did not work.

It does work well with the iPad. The iPad does not need to be in the same location as the switches.

You can mount it somewhere else, say at one location on the wheelchair and then have the switch interface

communicating wirelessly with the iPad and set up the switches so they are very easy for the person to activate.

Alexicom comes with 4 free boards & they have a unique sales model.

You can purchase a subscription for $40 per month that allows boards to be created.

If you sign up for an annual subscription, it's $34 per month.

You do need the subscription to create individual boards which you can download and use as much as you want.

You could purchase a one month subscription, create all the boards that you are going to need and

then cancel the subscription and be able to use the boards indefinitely.

It's an interesting model.

I did mention that there are list two lists of AAC software for devices such as the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone.

There's a matrix: Appsfor AAC. I prefer the Spectronic matrix as it sorts apps that are graphics only or

apps that are text only or apps that have a combination.

That's a very easy way to find apps sorted in that very useful way.

As people have pointed out, many apps have how-to videos available on YouTube.

There's a tremendous amount of information out there about how to use these.

People are picking up on YouTube as a way to provide documentation and tutorials.

It's just tremendously powerful. It's exciting in term of what is possible for easy to use communication.

In summary... [reads slide].

We have upcoming webinars on AAC. The turnout for this has been fabulous.

We'd love to encourage you to watch the ATC website.

[Karen} The next webinar is in July.

[Jane] I know Karen will have some closing remarks but before we get into that, does anybody have any questions?

"Is there a way we can get the Powerpoint?" " Is Small talk being used in hospitals?" We are trying to get it used there.

"Would the free Dragon work for Spanish?" I don't believe so and I have to say I've not been particularly impressed with it to date.

Down the road if the demand is there... I don't know if they have a Spanish version of Dragon Dictate for the Mac

but they do have a Spanish version for Windows.

I don't know if that's coming. "Touch Chat" I'm not familiar with that one myself.

"Do many of the apps allow saving and using the information with other applications?" Not that I've found so far.

That would certainly be a good thing for people to create.

At this point it's mostly for direct communication.

[Karen] Jane, who is it that wrote the question... that I can unmute them? I've unmuted you if want to clarify.

Would you repeat the question again, Jane?

[Jane] "Will you cover TouchChat? I find it much better for my DCD/ASD students." She just wrote....

"TouchChat is the basic software used for years, very good at different colors per square, check silver type."

Thank you. That's a good lead and I will check it out.

I know we are getting close to the end of the time. Karen, do you want to look at the final slides.

[Karen] Sure, just a reminder that these webinars are brought to you by the AT Coalition

and we encourage you to check on the website. We offer a database of articles, the latest news in the AT world,

an opportunity to ask question if you can't find an answer you can ask our expert.

Jane, I'm going to send you a couple more questions and while you are getting those, I will put up contact info.

[Jane] "I liked the scenario part of the presentation. Can you have a webinar going though this section?"

Not sure what you mean, can you clarify?

And someone with more information about TouchChat- it offers vocabulary sets on the scintilla devices Chat PC products , fantastic.

I'm definitely going to have to check this out.

[Karen] Were you thinking we'd put up a whole variety of scenarios? Yes, she says yes, It's a nice idea.

It is a nice idea.

[Jane] and probably what we'd do there is, I'd bring in my colleague Jennifer McDonald-Peltier.

We both work with all ages but she tends to work more with K-12 and I tend to work more with college age & above.

So, yeah, I think that would be a great idea for both of us to do something along those lines.

[Karen] We could set it up so that when people register for the webinar they could put in their own scenarios.