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Pros and Cons of the Proloquo2Go AAC App

Proloquo2Go AAC App

Proloquo2Go AAC App

There are many AAC devices and apps out in the market now to choose from. It can be overwhelming to decide what might be the best for a particular person. I recently completed the online training for Proloquo2go and wanted to share what I believe to be the pros and cons of this app.

PROS of Proloquo2go AAC App

  1. Vocabulary: Proloquo2go has a large customizable vocabulary system that is folder based. There’s vocabulary set up on the main page that are core words, with fringe folders to go to in order to add more specific vocabulary to your sentence.
    • Organized with modified Fitzgerald Key for easier word finding:
      • People-orange
      • verbs-pink
      • prepositions-green
      • folders-black
      • nouns-yellow
      • adjectives-blue
      • question words-black
  2. Advanced grammar option allows you to easily conjugate verbs, or add plural or possessive markers.
  3. The clues folder allows a user to learn to describe an object and talk around a word that may not be programmed in his/her device. This folder is a great way to expand expressive language and describing skills as well as repair communication break downs when a word is not easily accessible. In the clues folder you can tell a person:
    • it is not on my device
    • ask me a question about it
    • I don’t know
    • you are way off, getting close etc.
    • the word is part of ___
    • the word is the opposite of ___
    • it is in ___ category
    • ask a yes/no question
  4. Action words are divided into groups for easier navigation:
    • helpers: auxiliary verbs
    • thinking verbs
    • feelings
    • sensing verbs: words that deal with our five senses
    • telling verbs: words that deal with communication
    • thing: actions you do to an object
    • body: actions you do to a body
    • having: possession verbs
    • making: action words that create
    • place: travel or location verbs
  5. Adjectives are divided into groups for easier navigation:
    • positive
    • negative
    • feelings
    • looks
    • sounds
    • smells
    • tastes
    • feels
  6. There’s a variety of access methods: Proloquo2go can be accessed using direct selection (touching the iPad with your finger to make a button speak) or by using the iPad as a switch or an external switch. In addition there are different scanning options you can adjust depending on a person’s physical limitations to make it as easy as possible to use desired words.
  7. It’s easy to edit: Proloquo2go is very easy to edit. You can change the location of vocabulary to fit your needs. You can easily add or delete words. You can move words that are more frequently used to more primary pages and less frequently used words to secondary pages. You can also choose how many buttons are available on the screen at a time to decrease visual distractions.
  8. It’s kid proof: You can set a password so that a child cannot get in to the editing and accidentally create or delete buttons.
  9. A variety of resources are available: There is a users manual on the AssistiveWare website as well as videos and FAQs. In addition there are Facebook groups for users to get questions answered from the developer or other users.
  10. Supports social sharing capability: A user can email, Facebook, Twitter or copy and paste a message created in Proloquo2go so that they are able to communicate with peers with social media.
  11. It’s easy to save, transfer and restore data: Using an iTunes, Dropbox or wifi connection, you can save any editing you completed so that if something happens to the iPad or app, you have all of your user preferences backed up and don’t have to start from square one.
  12. Recents view: A recent view allows you to see what buttons have been activated in the last 15 min., 30 min., day etc. This feature allows you to go back to say phrases you say frequently without completely retyping the phrase. It also can give you an idea of what vocabulary the user is using to track what vocabulary may need to be taught.
  13. Macros buttons: Macros buttons change over time allowing you to have buttons that do things such as tell you the correct day of the week, time, battery charge level, year etc.
  14. Expressive power: This is a great feature that allows users to express themselves in a more natural tone of voice. It uses the many programmed voices to provide natural expressions such as excitement, frustration, boredom etc through change of intonation and pitch of the voice.

CONS of Proloquo2go

  1. Can be difficult to navigate: Vocabulary in a folder based system can be difficult to navigate if a person does not have the language understanding of what categories an object should be found in. In addition this app allows for words to be found in multiple places so it can become confusing as to where the word is and what is the easiest route to retrieve a word.
  2. Unused and unnecessary vocabulary: Easy editing can mean easily adding many fringe words that are not used frequently by the user. This can mean bogging down a system with vocabulary that may be only used in a certain situation or even only once or twice by a person before the word is abandoned. This may not be as efficient as talking around a word or using core vocabulary to describe.
  3. This app may not be easily used by people with motor planning difficulties: People who have difficulty motor planning benefit from an app that has static buttons that are always in the same place so that they can learn the motor plan to find a word. When words are found in multiple places it is difficult to build solid motor plans. In addition some words may be found a few folders deep making it not the most efficient way to get a word out if a person has trouble with motor movements.
  4. Vocabulary does not stay in the same place: When going from the basic user to the core vocabulary user, vocabulary can move and shift slightly making it somewhat difficult to find words. In addition a slight shift in words may be seen when increasing the number of buttons viewed on a page. This may become frustrating for a user if they are always searching for vocabulary.
  5. Scrolling may become a hindrance to quick communication: If scrolling is turned on a child may visually stim on scrolling words. If it is turned off then they may be slowed by having to press an extra “page up” or “page down” button to find a word they are looking for.
  6. Can be overwhelming and inefficient: A user could possibly become overwhelmed by the vocabulary being in different places, navigating through a variety of buttons to find a word, scrolling through pages for words, and not having consistency with pulling language from the same place every time. If a person has a lot of language programmed in proloquo2go, but that language takes multiple button hits to get to they may become frustrated with the lack of ease of use in which they are able to express themselves.

No AAC application is one size fits all. It is important to talk with a speech pathologist about the pros and cons of any AAC app and to find one that meets your individual needs. This article is intended to be a reference as to features that Proloquo2go contains that may be helpful for successful AAC use.

Top 10 Things About the “Speak for Yourself” App

I recently found a great new AAC app called “Speak for Yourself”, and I’m loving it! I thought I would share the top ten reasons it is such a great AAC app.

  1. To say ANY word in speak for yourself you have to press a maximum of two buttons. In a fast paced world it is important for AAC users to be able to keep up with communication. This is done by being able to say what they want with a device as quickly and succinctly as possible. When you only have to press up to two buttons to get a word you are going to be able to save a lot of time.
  2. There is a search feature. When numerous people are usually involved in programming a device it seems that even when people try to stay on the same page it is hard for everyone to know what has been programmed in the device and where it is located. It is also hard for everyone to learn the device to effectively model it. With a search for vocabulary feature anyone can see where a word is located. If the word isn’t on the device yet it can be added and then will show up in the search feature if someone else looks for the same word. No more having the same word five different places and trying to remember where it is located!
  3. Words can be opened and closed. This app has the easiest way I have ever seen to open and close words so that you can have a way to systematically teach vocabulary and language skills. You can start with a blank slate and add words as needed as quickly or as slowly as you need to.
  4. There is a babble feature. While it’s great to be able to control what words are open when teaching language, it is also great to have access to all the language we hear. The babble feature allows you to toggle back and forth between a screen with systematically opened vocabulary to a screen with all the vocabulary available so your child can practice babbling with the device just as they would with verbal language.
  5. There is a history feature. The history feature allows you to see how the device has been used. It can help you track what words and phrases have been used and how often. It’s a great way to gain data to see how language has developed and see how the device is being used.
  6. It has a hold that thought button. A great way to increase the ease of communication is to store frequently used phrases in the hold that thought button. It is easy to create phrases to store and easy to retrieve them.
  7. It is easy to edit. Even for the non-techy person it is easy to add and modify buttons. Just press the edit button and the button you want to edit and enter the information you would like.
  8. You can lock editing. For all those kids who like to edit their own programs, you can easily lock editing from inside the program. In order to unlock editing you must go out of the app and into the Ipad settings. This will make sure that buttons are not “accidentally” edited by little hands.
  9. It provides a great base of core vocabulary with plenty of room to grow. The main page has core vocabulary words that make up the majority of what we need to say. Most of the core words link to a secondary page where there are more fringe words related to the core word. The app is built on motor planning principles so that once you learn where a word is you will be able to quickly retrieve it through motor memory. There is also a keyboard built in for you to be able to say any fringe words that you don’t say enough to have the button programmed into the device. This app can truly grow with a child from their first word to conversational language.
  10. The developers are speech pathologists. It’s great to see an AAC app developed by someone who has an understanding of speech and language development as well as motor planning skills. They are also very available to answer questions and helpful in providing ideas in how to utilize the app for functional communication in all environments. A couple bonus perks also include a key guard available to help anyone who has trouble with finger isolation access the small buttons, availability on both android and apple tablets, and an active Facebook group full of parents and professionals who are a wealth of information about use of the app.

As with any AAC device speak for yourself may not work for everyone and should be trialed to see if it would be the best fit for your child. Once it is determined the best fit, the child will need to be trained on how to utilize the app through modeling and expansion of language. Feel free to contact us if you would like to trial speak for yourself to see if it would work for your needs.