Post #2 May 26

Today we used the software program, Proloquo2go. This program is light years ahead of the cumbersome devices that I can remember using when I was a learning Center teacher 8 years ago; it is definitely superior to PECS. Anyway, the user interface seemed user friendly. The visual appeal of the program cannot be overlooked. Students with verbal communication difficulties will find this program very helpful, I think. Of course we had to keep in mind the characteristics of our students like physical abilities, sensory/perceptual abilities, linguistic abilities and cognitive abilities of the studetns we were designing these phrase for. Once again I will ask the question, why is this program not available in every Learning Center? I found with this program that the options for use are almost unlimited. The library of images and phrases to compose sentences was excellent when trying to come up with a visual label to accompany a sentence. The ability to import images from the Internet was helpful as well when we couldn't find an appropriate image in the library. The most challenging part for me was to "step outside" of myself and try to put myself in the place of a young person who had communication challenges that I may never have to deal with. So many things are taken for granted in terms of social cues, body language, cues and hidden meanings that are embedded in our pysche. I absolutely agree that a lack of verbal communication instantly assumes a lack of intelligence. Another challenging aspect of this program is the different layers of communication that can be used. To say that it was time consuming is an understatement. I found that my group easily used 2-3 hours to plan and compose the phrases that our students were going to use. Th second part of this weeks post includes some of the apps availaboe for AAc applications and general communication for children. The first program that I looked at was One Voice- an AAC program that I found to be similar to Proloquo2go. The price is comparable to Proloquo2go and the ease of use was simialr. I did like the left menu that allowed the user to easily search for a phrase or caregory.

The second program I chose to look at was Looktel Money reader and Recognizer. These programs allow users with visual impairments or blindness to identify cans, packages, ID or credit cards, DVDs, and denominations of currency. Users can store images of objects in a library or database, and then simply point the iPhone's camera at an object and the phone will recognize and describe the item instantly. A barcode scanner is also included to provide additional labeling help.