“Proloquo has such a large vocabulary that Jay can choose almost any word he wants. “Many AAC options limit the words a child can choose from,” says Ashburn. “Shut the door” is a phrase Ashburn says she frequently hears, as Jay enters his preteen years. To learn new words, he presses the button again and again, until he can start speaking the word or phrase himself. Jay is currently experiencing improvement in his speech, and uses Proloquo to practice speaking. It’s such a game changer in terms of leveraging AAC.” “I can’t even describe how beneficial that is. His teachers, extended family, and even classmates have access to Proloquo on their personal devices for free,” Ashburn continues. “Proloquo’s unlimited sharing capability is probably my favorite feature. “It’s a big deal, because he’s nonspeaking and they tend to get separated.” Jay’s third grade classmates also use Proloquo as one way of interacting with him. Jay learns in a general third grade class. “The awareness of AAC among the public will increase in the next five years,” says Ashburn, who previously taught elementary school. Children make up 80 percent of Proloquo users: Jay is one of the app’s 100,000 daily users and 300,000 overall users around the world. Today, Jay uses Proloquo and other modes of communication to speak to his family, teachers, and friends. This, combined with features like Assistive Access, will enrich the opportunities available to us to customize the user experience and allow users to tailor our apps to their personality and needs.” The introduction of Personal Voice has the potential to provide our users with even more options to personalize how they communicate. “We recently released support for iOS’s built-in voices in Proloquo, so users have access to an even wider range of voices to choose from. “We’re really excited to integrate these new features into AssistiveWare’s apps,” Niemeijer says. Apple’s new accessibility features - previewed this week - include Assistive Access for people with cognitive disabilities, and Personal Voice for those at risk of losing their ability to speak, giving users more options to tailor their experiences to their needs. AssistiveWare apps also support VoiceOver and Switch Control for users who are blind or low vision, or have limited mobility.įor AAC users, Niemeijer believes finding a customizable experience is an important step. Proloquo features 49 genuine children and adult’s text-to-speech voices and 12,000 words - about three times more than other AAC apps. Proloquo Coach provides families and educators with the tools to support children and students in their learning. Beyond generating speech, Proloquo helps users build phrases or sentences, learn related words, and expand their language and grammar. But we still have more work to do.”ĪssistiveWare’s next generation of AAC apps, Proloquo and Proloquo Coach, became available in 2022. “They’re cool devices that everyone else uses, too, and that has already made a major difference in its acceptability. “One of the coolest things about the iPad and the iPhone is that they’re not separate devices,” says Niemeijer. This also enabled AssistiveWare’s rapid growth. With AAC available on consumer devices, the number of people who could afford and use the technology ballooned. A variety of people adopt these tools when they’re unable to produce oral speech, including those with ALS, cerebral palsy, autism, and more.īringing this technology to Apple devices represented a considerable shift for AAC users and David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare’s founder and CEO. Proloquo2Go embodies AssistiveWare’s mission: to make AAC an effective and accepted means of communication. He loves the sand, the waves, and the gorgeous sunsets.” “As a family, we visit as often as the weather allows. “The beach has always been a place where Jay can explore and relax on his terms,” Ashburn explains. By the age of 4, he started using Proloquo2Go, an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app created by development company AssistiveWare, available for iPhone and iPad. When Ashburn asks Jay why he loves the beach, he picks the “sunset” button, then says, “No school. How app development company AssistiveWare is innovating augmentative and alternative communication softwareĮvery afternoon, 9-year-old Jay accompanies his mother Meghan Ashburn and his twin brother Nick to Virginia Beach, where they unwind from the day’s stimulation at school, in their home, and out in the rest of the world. AssistiveWare ushers in next generation of augmentative and alternative communication technology
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