You may have heard by now that April is Autism Awareness month. Did you know that Jamberry nails has an Autism Awareness wrap? Yup, we do, and $2 from every sale goes to the Autism Society of America! I used it as an accent nail with Jamberry's Cardinal Lacquer...
I know that many of you have students (or children) with Autism, so I wanted to host a giveaway. I'm raffling off a half-sheet of these Autism Awareness wraps (9 wraps total, enough for a full manicure and possibly a full pedicure too)!
If you're anything like me, you may have heard of the Logan ProxTalker. You may even have seen pictures of the device. And, if you 're anything like me, you probably weren't sure exactly what the Logan ProxTalker was or what it did! I was given the chance to try one out and I'm going to share my experiences with you today.
A Little Background:
The ProxTalker was developed by Glen Dobbs, a father and engineer. Glen's son Logan was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at the age of two and a half. When he was 4, Logan was introduced to PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) by his Speech-Language Pathologist. Logan became very good at using PECS to make his wants and needs known, but Glen still wanted him to have a "voice." As he states, "the engineer in me took over" and the Logan ProxTalker Was developed!
So what is it?
The Logan ProxTalker is a mid-tech communication device that pairs PECS with voice output. The PECS, or tags, are printed on or adhered to sturdy plastic cards that have radio frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded. When the symbol is placed on any one of the buttons and pressed down, the message is "spoken." The device has a built in microphone, adjustable volume control, and is run with 4 C batteries.
When I opened the box, this is what I saw (minus some packing material to prevent damage!):
Based on the information on the Logan ProxTalker website, this device is available in one of two formats. First, you can purchase with a backpack. The device snaps in to one side of the backpack, which has a zippered pouch in the front. There's an extra strap if you choose to carry it over your shoulder:
Inside the back pack, the device is on one side, and there are Velcro pages for you to store/access your tags.
Not planning on transporting much? The Logan ProxTalker also comes in a binder format. The binder is actually mountable to a wheelchair or to a wall. The binder also comes with Velcro pages for tag storage:
Logan ProxTalker Binder closed (l) and open (r)
The device is the same with both purchasing options. You can purchase the device with the binder and then purchase the backpack separately if you wish. They are easy to switch with just a screwdriver or flat butter knife. When you purchase this device you get:
80 symbol tags
20 blank tags (I'll go into these in a moment)
4 Velcro pages
Maintenance tools
Set of programming tags
*You can purchase more of any of the accessories listed above from the ProxTalker shop.
Using the Device:
Again, this device is really, really easy to use! You grab a symbol, place it on any button and press! The pre-printed symbol tags come with a message already recorded, but you can change the recording if you like (more on that in a bit as well!). So, if you have a child working on Phase 1 PECS and they are requesting a puzzle, they would place the puzzle symbol on the device and press. It doesn't take a major press to activate the button, so this device can be used with students with weakened muscles or low tone (I would consult with a child's PT/OT if you are considering this device, however, because it will require some control/accuracy to find a symbol, pick it up, and place it on a button).
requesting a puzzle
Further along in the Phases of PECS, you can use the ProxTalker to generate sentences of up to 5 symbols in length:
In the example above ("I want pink crayon"), the child would need to press each symbol to have the message spoken aloud. Ugh! I have kids that wouldn't be patient enough to do that. Do you? Well, good thing for us the ProxTalker comes with the little green circle button on the right in the picture below:
This is the "Speak All" tag. When using this button, you line up your tags in the order you want. Instead of pressing each one, you press the green circle and it will speak each tag in sequence from left to right!
Some more things you should know:
The ProxTalker comes with these programming tags. When you press one of these on a button, you can modify the settings.
The available actions on the programming tags include: RECORD (this allows you to record a new message on a tag), ERASE (erase a preset message on a tag), INCREASE VOLUME (self explanatory!), DECREASE VOLUME (ditto), CHECK BATTERY (useful if you traveling, camping, on a field trip, etc.), DIAGNOSTICS (troubleshoot any problems you might be having).
In the true spirit of trialing a device, I had to replace the batteries. They are really simple to access and replace!
ProxTalker in therapy:
I took this device to school and used it with a little boy who is (aside from a couple of words that are few and far between) non-verbal. This boy picked up the concept of PECS in one therapy session, so I figured he would be a great student with whom to try out the ProxTalker! He figured the device out pretty quickly as well! We are still at the stage of using a single tag to make a request, but he's doing very well! I also used this device with other students who are verbal. See below for a description.
If you want to see the ProxTalker in action, check out this video:
Customizing the tags:
There are a few options for customizing the blank tags that come with the ProxTalker. The blank tags come in both small and large sizes. You may wish to use the larger ones for children with poor fine motor control.
1. The ProxTalker website has templates available for Communicate In Print, Boardmaker, and MS Word.
2. There's an app for that!! The ProxTalker App allows you to create communication boards using your own photos and preset symbols. The boards you create can be organized into books and emailed to yourself, colleagues, and/or parents for printing. You can use the boards on their own, or print on adhesive sheets and use with the blank ProxTalker tags! (That means you don't need to have a ProxTalker to benefit from using this app!) You can find the lite version HERE and the full version HERE.
3. LessonPix also has a template for the ProxTalker device! (If you don't already subscribe to LessonPix, you will want to head over there and check it out! It's definitely worth the $36/year subscription fee!). Simply add the icons you want to the tray and hit "Create Materials." You can choose ProxTalker from the list of Materials Type and select the size of the tags you are using.
Since I was using a pirate theme in my therapy sessions this week, I created some tags so less verbal kids could participate in therapy sessions. I printed the LessonPix symbols onto a sheet of labels that came with the ProxTalker:
Then I just peeled them off and stuck them to the blank tags:
Then I pressed the "record" tag and followed the instructions provided by the machine (press the tag you wish to record. At the beep begin your recording, etc.). Each tag allows for 8 seconds of recording time, so choose your message wisely! This tag now says "Yo-Ho-Ho!" (check back next week for my book of the week and you'll see why I chose this message!).
4. I noticed the shiny surface of the tags and thought, "I bet I could use a dry erase marker on here!" I was right. :) I wrote some sight words on the tags and worked on sentence forms/copula verbs with some of my kids:
My son was super excited about this activity and swapped out the food/color tags for about 20 minutes!
In Summary:
I really enjoyed trialing this device with my students (and my own child)! It is a fantastic next step for kids who have learned and/or mastered the PECS system and want a "voice" as well. I love the portability of the backpack. I did find the binder to be a bit cumbersome, but I think you would want that format if you are planning on mounting the device. With that said, I've trialed other devices before and found this one to be really, really user friendly! ProxTalker is simple for SLPs, parents, and students to program and use...in fact, I only read the manual to figure out how to remove the ProxTalker from the backpack and how to change the batteries! I also love that there are a variety of options for creating your own tags. With all the options, you will definitely want to purchase more blank tags! The possibilities are endless!
The price tag on a ProxTalker is up there (but not nearly as much as the popular high tech communication devices). Chances are, an SLP won't be purchasing this item themselves, but may make a recommendation for a student. If you'd like to try this device yourself, here's the link you will need. If you have a student who would benefit from this device, the ProxTalker website has documents that you can download to request Medicaid funding.
Finally, I'd like to say "Thank you" to Glen for contacting me and letting me try out the ProxTalker, and a special shout out to Logan for inspiring his dad to create this amazing device!
Disclaimer: Although the ProxTalker was provided for me to trial (yes, I have to return it!) for the purposes of this review, the opinions expressed are mine alone.
When Kyle at Mobile Education Store contacted me about their newest release, Conversation Builder Teen, I knew it would be a hit! He asked me to review it, but since I don't work with teens, I asked Kyle if he would agree to let one of my co-workers use the app and write the review. He was kind enough to agree.
This review is written by Jennifer Malloy, MS, CCC-SLP. Jenn splits her time between an elementary and middle school in my district. Take it away Jenn!
Carrie was kind enough to let me trial an app on the iPad
that is designed for the population of students I work with at the Middle
School. The app is called Conversation Builder Teen. I was very excited to
trial this app because I already use other “Builder” apps from the Mobile Education Store (Story Builder, Language Builder and Sentence Builder) This app
did not disappoint.
The first thing the app prompts you to do is create a user profile. I chose “Miss” seeing as this is what most of the students call me. You
can select the conversation type with the choices being 2 or 3 players or
Group.
The app allows you to select specific topics of conversation
you would like to use. The choices included are: clothes, bullying, summer,
entertainment, sports, sarcasm, relationships* and school. Or you can play all
of the conversation choices at random.
*Some topics are
sensitive and may not be appropriate for all students, such as sex and
pregnancy. In order to select these topics a password must be used to unlock
the setting.
2 or 3 Player Mode:
This screenshot above shows the format the app uses when in 2 or 3 player mode.
A field of choices is used to aid the students when formulating conversation.
This picture depicts a situation in which the student must provide the best
response to their friend who is beginning a conversation by stating, “I’m so mad at my
parents.” Students select the BEST response to the question and are then able
to record themselves saying the chosen response. Once all of the responses are recorded,
the students are able to listen to the conversation in its entirety.
Group Mode:
The above picture coincides with the group player setting.
The students in the group are able to have a conversation with each other
without prompts from the app.Again, the
students are recorded and can listen to the playback after the conversation is
complete.
Therapeutic Applications:
I work at a middle school and treat students ranging from
10-14, with varied speech and language targets. I found that this app was
flexible enough to target a variety of IEP goals for every student I treated
throughout the day:
Articulation This
app is excellent for working on the carryover of articulation skills to the
conversation level.Students record
their statements into the app in order to have a mock conversation. They can listen to the recordings and monitor their productions.
FluencyStudents with fluency goals utilized speech
strategies (e.g., easy onset, pull out) while using this app. The fact that the
app allows for students to record their own utterances improved self-awareness
of disfluent moments and strategies that helped to improve fluency.
Pragmatic Students with goals addressing pragmatic
language skills also benefited from this app. The students were given a field
of three responses to each open-ended question or comment from the app. The
students were able to see other responses that could work, however, not all were the BEST choice for the
situation.
Expressive/Receptive
Language This one is a no brainer! Students are cued to answer questions
appropriately and utilize appropriate grammar and syntax in their responses.
The Bottom Line:
Every student I used this app with had a great time! I was
having such a positive response from the students while utilizing this app that the other speech therapist I worked with asked what we were doing. I
showed her the app and we collaborated groups for the rest of the day. It is VERY
hard to find something this age group enjoys doing, targets a variety of speech
and language goals and, most importantly, is cool! I highly recommend this app!
~Jenn
See Conversation Teen Builder in action: click here to see a short video tutorial. Conversation Builder Teen sells for $29.99 in the App Store. Enter to win a copy using the Rafflecopter below!
Disclaimer: Mobile Education Store provided a copy of Conversation Builder Teen for the purposes of this review and giveaway. However, opinions expressed are those of the SLP who provided the review.
As part of Back to School Week, today I will be reviewing "What Would You Do at SCHOOL If...," a Fun Deck app by Super Duper Publications. This is essentially the app version of the Fun Deck card series. You can input the students on your caseload, then select which ones will be playing during your session.
I haven't added kids yet, so my list is lacking!
You can also select the questions that will be asked during your session. You can choose to use all of the questions, or just a few. I opted to use five questions for my trial.
When you're ready, you will be shown a colorful picture with a common school problem. If you tap on the picture, the question will be read aloud. The app allows for data collection as well. Tap the red dot at the bottom for an incorrect response, the green button for a correct response.
It took me a little while to figure out how to change players, but if you swipe the top bar (where the player name is listed), the player name will change. The app will keep data for multiple players.
Once your session is finished, you can "View Results" and instantly see data for each of the players.
There is also the option of creating a data report in email form.
What I like about this app:
The questions are great for problem solving, pragmatic language, and expressive language.
The questions and situations presented are perfect for students on the autism spectrum. They will allow students to come up with strategies to deal with the situations depicted.
The pictures are colorful and clear.
The questions are based on common issues that may occur in a school setting.
Data collection! I love apps that allow for data collection!
Multiple player option. Many apps are single player, and I typically work with groups of students rather than one on one.
Areas for improvement:
I love the data collection idea, but, let's face it, many of our kids will respond with answers that are not quite right, but not quite wrong. I'd love to see a middle ground (maybe an "Oh so close!" button).
The data from your previous session will disappear as soon as you start a new session. I'd love to be able to "View Students" rather than just "Edit Students" and see a graph or table of their performance.
I had a hard time coming up with many negatives for this app. Overall, it's a great app that brings more motivation and functionality (with the data collection piece) to the traditional Fun Decks. Super Duper definitely has a hit with the Fun Deck app line. You can purchase "What Would You Do at SCHOOL If..." in the App Store for $1.99 (price accurate as of this posting).
Tomorrow is the last day of Back to School Week. Stop by for activities and printables for "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books"
Chances are, if you're an SLP, you have a child or two on your caseload who could benefit from the use of social stories. Taking the time to write the story with the child can further increase the benefit. Many students may not be motivated to write a social story, but fortunately, using the iPad can increase motivation.
If you haven't found it yet, Scribble Press is an app that allows you to create stories (fill-in-the-blank style or completely from scratch), illustrate your work, export the stories to iBooks, and even have your books printed. With a new school year fast approaching, Scribble Press has a template that can easily be adapted into a social story about starting the new school year in a new school. Scribble Press is an easy-to-use app and allows you to create a book quickly. Here's a sample social story I came up with in less than 30 minutes...
First things first, select a New Book
home screen
You can then select a Category, including: Blank Book, About Me, Aliens, Family, Fantasy, Holiday, Humor, Most Popular, and School (I chose School). From this screen, you will see the book templates that you can choose from (I selected "My First Day at a New School").
Once you select a template, you will be given a fill-in-the-blank style story (above). You can have your student fill in the blanks if they are able to do so, come up with answers with parents/teachers, or fill them in yourself. Don't stress the wording too much, you are able to edit it later. From there, you tap "Create My Book" and will be able to illustrate the book...
For this, you can select many, many different colors and types of markers:
You can change the color of the page background as well...
Now, for illustrating your story, you have three main options. First, you can physically draw a picture:
Second, you can use preset stamps:
Third, you can insert photos from your camera roll, or take a photo directly from your camera (below). This is a great option for the first sentence of this story ("I am going to be starting a new school and I feel very ___. Here is a picture of how I feel") and for taking a picture of the child's teacher and classroom.
While you're working on creating your book, you can edit the text easily as well. When you're finished, simply click "I'm Finished" and you will see a preview of your finished book! Scribble Press will select a cover image for you. From what I've experienced, it's typically the first image of your story.
From this screen, you are able to edit the book, send it to iBooks, share it with parents/teachers via email, and order a print copy though Scribble Press!
Scribble Press has a ton of preset templates. The one I used above is great for a social story about beginning the year at a new school. There are many others that can target language development, vocabulary, sentence structure, etc. You could even use the Blank Story function to create an articulation story. I'm thinking a "Pass-the-iPad" build a story type of game would be tons of fun too!
Do you have Scribble Press? If so, how are you using it in therapy?
Update (12/8/12): When I wrote this post, Scribble Press was free. It is now listed as $2.99 in iTunes.
