Fun Finds at ATIA 2015

The ATIA 2015 Conference was one of the best ever, with strong presentations, a vibrant exhibit area, lots of fun social events, and great networking opportunities. There were lots of highlights, but here are a few prAACtical ‘finds’ that might interest you.

Spanish version of Word Power: The language options for AAC devices and apps keeps getting better and better! I love that you can purchase the Spanish pageset/voices, then configure Word Power so that the user can toggle back and forth between English and Spanish user profiles. Once configured, your client can independently go from English to Spanish words, phrases, grammar, and voices (and vice versa). This will help our prAACtical friends who speak English in school and Spanish at home. I explored it on the Nova Chat from Saltillo but there is also a Spanish add-on to the TouchChat app.

Book Bridge: We’re all looking for better ways to make grade level texts more meaningful to and accessible by learners with AAC needs. I had a lovely experience exploring the features in this set of instructional support materials (thanks, Maureen Donnelly!). I love how they leverage the resources by interfacing with TarHeel Reader. Look for some great supports for vocabulary teaching, such as having the learner self-evaluate their knowledge of the word. Can’t wait to look at this in more depth!

Cough Drop Data Collection: Super excited to see the built-in data collection and reporting features of this AAC app. In beta now, so snag it for free BUT do take time to give app developer Brian Whitmer feedback. He is eager to improve the app, so this is your chance to make an impact. (It’s just like voting: If you pass on the right to make your voice heard you forfeit the right to complain. Well, not really, but you know what I mean.)

Speak for Yourself (SFY) Features: I learned about some additional features in this great core language based app. Hold That Thought allows you to deal with interruptions effectively by saving the current utterance with a single click so you can go back to it later. Looks like you can save 30+ utterances with that feature. I also REALLY love the ‘No Duplication’ feature. How many times have you added in something that was already stored in an app/SGD? SFY prevents you from doing that, and prompts you to look at where it was stored originally.

Proloquo 2 Go (P2G) Grammar Support: There is some serious support for language development, something I talked a lot about at ATIA15 and ASHA14. If you are using an older version of P2G and or haven’t looked at this app in its current iteration, you may want to update and/or take another look. Chances are, there are more language features than what you are already using. Also: A little bird tells us that there is even more robust language support in the next version. Stay tuned!