Fairly

For creating visual schedules, visual timers and symbol choices

Visual support only, no audio prompts or voice output

For designing visual schedules, story boards, flashcards etc.

Use your own photos and sound recordings or text to speech

AAC app using symbols, photos and keyboard with word prediction

Use ready made vocabularies or create/personalise your own

Uses text to speech voices

Promotes sentence construction

Purchase and support from supplier or from www.therapy-box.co.uk (if based in England)

Voice recorder to record your own speech

Record reminders

Record conversations (e.g. at the Dr) to remember what was said and to play back later

Send recordings via email

Talking word processor (speaks out letters, words, sentences)

Talking spell checker (identifies potential mistakes and offers alternatives which you can listen to before selecting)

Talking dictionary (simplified definitions given which you can listen to before selecting)

Homophone checker (alternatives suggested with a definition to aid selection)

Who could benefit

• People who struggle to write long sentences
• People who make frequent spelling and/or grammar mistakes

Brief description

• Reading & writing tool designed for children but can be very helpful for people with aphasia who need help with writing & spelling
• Word prediction (can be personalised)
• Word & phrase banks by topic or A-Z (can be personalised)
• Written or picture supported word banks
• Hear words before selecting
• Listen back to what you have written
• Make voice notes to rehearse a sentence before writing it

Who could benefit

• People who have some spelling but who need writing & spelling prompts
• People who have no spelling but who would like to write letters/cards
  
   

Brief description

• Speech recognition program
• As the user speaks into the microphone, the speech is automatically turned into text
• Can read back &/or listen back to what has been typed

Who could benefit

• Someone with good speech & listening skills but compromised spelling &/or reading skills

Comments

• Need to train the program to recognise your speech
• Noise reducing microphones work best
• Requires good cognitive skills to remember commands & adapt speaking rate

Brief description

• Available as an app and/or software
• Word prediction (uses grammar smart word prediction & handles phonetic spelling, letter omissions & reversals)
• List of up to 9 word predictions
• Can customise the dictionary to improve prediction
• Text to speech facility to hear the words predicted before selection
• Can listen back repeatedly to the sentence being composed
• Customiseable, topic based on-screen word lists  to aid writing
• Use in social media, email, word processing documents

Who could benefit

• People who can spell the first 2-3 letters of a word

Brief description

• Word prediction, speech recognition & screen reader
• The program predicts to aid spelling, gives examples of word useage, reads aloud text on the screen (what you’re typing or what you’re reading).
• Can also use speech recognition to ‘type’ in words.
• Can customise the dictionary to improve prediction
• Screen reader, prediction & speech recognition works within all programs/web pages (e.g. can use within email, social networking sites & web searches)

Who could benefit:

• People who can spell the first 2-3 letters of a word before getting stuck
• People who can spell words but sometimes find it easier to say a word

Comments

• All parts of the program work on PC. Mac users only have access to the word prediction & screen reading parts of the program, not the speech recognition part
• Switch accessible only if using Wivick connection cable
   

Type of exercises & brief description             

• 50 nouns for verbal naming of common household items  from 5 visual scenes (bathroom, bedroom, garage, kitchen and living room)
• The user monitors themselves whether they have named the item correctly or not
• A tutorial is provided to demonstrate how the app can be used
• The SLT can use it with a variety of different users, each of whom can have their own profile

Error handling: None

Prompts/cues: User identifies an item to name. If they struggle, they can request a written cue (first few letters of the word), a written and spoken semantic cue/definition, a functional spoken and written phrase, a phonemic cue (first sound) or the whole word written and spoken

Record results: Results are recorded showing the date of practice, the sections practised, % of items named correctly with and without cues. It also highlights the cue which most successfully aids the user. Results can be shown on screen, emailed or printed out

Comments/N.B

• Many of the items are in American English (e.g. faucet, bath tub, refrigerator, garbage can)
• The results recorded are reliant on the user self monitoring and knowing whether they named the item correctly or not. There is no facility for recording speech attempts and the app itself does not determine level of accuracy. This app would therefore not be appropriate for independent use by someone with poor self monitoring