Give Speech Foundation: FREE AAC App

 

  
Check out their website at givespeech

 This new organization is dedicated to providing affordable assistive technology to people who are nonverbal.  Their founders have fantastic technical credentials and a great background as some have worked at the Yale Child Study Center with some of the top autism researchers in the world.  One founder has a sibling with autism who is non-verbal who uses the product. 

 Their flagship software, FreeSpeech, is an AAC app that can be used to assist those with communication difficulties.  A great entry software for those looking to get started with AAC - this app allows you to customize it by taking your own pictures and recording your own voice.  Much like Boardmaker share, this app intends to allow you to share your creations with others in a unique online community.


 We love this concept!  Check it out
  iTunes Link
** Please note  iOS 5.1 is required for this app

FREE App sale: ends Thursday

Temporarily FREE app until end of Thursday EST.

Aeir Talk is a custom flashcard applicatio.

You can find it in iTunes here.

Also look for more info at these websites:

techcrunch.com

aeirtalk.com

bestappsforkids.com

New Free Trial Version AAC App

From Heidi LoStracco, SLP and app developer:

SFY-Lite, a FREE Lite version of Speak for Yourself, is now available! The full version price has been reduced to $189.99 USD for the month of May for Better Speech and Hearing Month.

You can check it out here on iTunes.  

Introductory video is here.

FREE App May 18th ONLY

Thanks to contributor Rebecca Williams Billings for sharing this app and it's sale price for today only.  Check it out!

Touch and Write
"Touch and Write has moved to the top of my list for learning to write. It's extremely fun for my 4 year old with classic autism and the easiest app for me to customize!" - a parent review


Find it in iTunes here.

FoxNews Article

Bronx school PS176X has more than 700 students special needs, most of them autism.  This article briefly discusses how they use the iPad in the classroom for a snack time activity.  The video shows some great examples of how this looks. Kudos to the fantastic teachers and therapists and administrators who are using this resource in a  meaningful way. 

 Read the article here.

CNN News Item

CNN iReport ran a story on the iPad and autism.

A quote from the story:

David Niemeijer, founder and CEO of Amsterdam-based AssistiveWare, creator of Proloquo2Go, said that 90% of AAC users use an iPad for communication, and more than 25% use an iPhone or iPod Touch, according to the company's surveys. About half of them reported improved speech abilities.

Check the rest of the story our here.  

Some Interesting Suggestions

A reporter from Mashable.com wrote an article entitled "10 Ways to Optimize Your iPad for Kids With Special Needs" that has some nice recommendations for tweeking your iPad to your child's specific needs. I am still interested in learning more about key-guards and this was the first article that I have seen mentions a DIY keyguard for the iPad which I know will explore further. Check out the article here.