Part 1 - Language Development & AAC apps for iPad Autism Society of the Inland Empire and University of Redlands hosted Gwendolyn M. Eberhard, SLP, in a conference entitled "Autism: Technology & Communication" on 11/15/14. Don't miss Part 2 of this 4-hour presentation (also posted on SlideShare)

1. Autism:Technology &
Communication - Part 1
Gwendolyn Meier Eberhard, SLP, MT
Villa Esperanza Services
!
geberhard@villaesperanzaservices.org

2. Disclaimer
• The speaker has no financial or non-
financial interests in the information or
products in this presentation
• The speaker received an honorarium from
the Autism Society of the Inland Empire for
this presentation

3. Learning Objectives
Participants will:
1. Identify 3 iPad apps that can be used to build early language skills
2. Recognize the difference between operation of a touchscreen
tablet for recreation and the potential to use a tablet for
communication
3. Identify visual supports that can be used to increase the
understanding of language vs. expressive communication
4. Understand the important role that modeling aided language
plays in the language-learning process
5. Identify 3 activities that can be used to teach and support
functions of communication beyond labeling

4. Agenda
iPad
Apps
for
Language
Development
iPad
Apps
for
Augmenting
Communication
Teaching
Language
through
AAC
!
BREAK 10:45-11:00

5. Hi!
Who’s Here?
Parents
Teachers
Speech People
Other professionals

7. Today’s screen shots can be found in the full
presentation - link on the Redlands 2014 tab at
scaacn.blogspot.com/p/redlands-2014.html
Redlands 2014

8. What an iPad CAN do:
• Engaging apps for practicing skills
previously paper-based
• Lure of the backlit screen
• Touch access vs. mouse
• Portability a computer lacks

9. • Opened up AAC consideration
previously out of reach due to lack
of SLP exposure
• Provide relatively low-cost options
in a very expensive AAC landscape
What an iPad CAN do:

10. Play on the iPad may not necessarily lend
itself to communication skills

11. Speech vs. Language
The means of communicating
!
• Articulation
!
• Voice
!
• Fluency
!
!

12. Speech vs. Language
The means of
communicating
!
• Articulation
!
• Voice
!
• Fluency
!
!
!
Shared rules of the symbolic
system
!
• What words mean
• How to make new
words
• How to put words
together
• What word
combinations are best
in what situations

13. Language Domains
• Vocabulary
(aka. semantics, word meanings, verbs,
adjectives, prepositions, pronouns, )

14. Language Domains
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
(aka. syntax, word order, verb agreement,
complete sentences)

15. Language Domains
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Concepts
(categories, opposites, location, direction,
time relationships, emotions)

16. Language Domains
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Concepts
• Understanding
(receptive language, making sense of what you
hear and read)

17. What are your student’s
language goals?
•Vocabulary
•Grammar
•Concepts
•Understanding

18. Language Goals
• Multi-word utterances,
Grammatically correct
sentences
• Answering Questions:
Wh-Questions,Yes/No
• Categories,Word
Relationships, Similarities
and Differences,
Compare and Contrast,
Definitions
• Verbs: Past tense, future
tense
• Story problems (math)
• Parts of speech:
• Adjectives (colors,
number, describing
words)
• Prepositions (under,
between, above)

19. App Match
Goal Goal Goal
app app
app
First ask:
What is the goal?
!
Then ask:
Is there an app for
that?

20. Bad App Match
1.Really great looking
app.
2.How can my student
benefit?
Goal
app

21. Warning #1: Goals Guide Activities
• This is what the teacher or SLP will do
when they individualize any learning activity
to student needs
Needs Goals Activities

22. Warning #2: Apps are Not Language
Therapy
• But they can help us help students!
• Many times, the app is most useful when
structured and/or mediated by an adult

23. Warning #3: Apps are Not
Communication
• The essential aspect of communication
should be in face-to-face interaction and
play, not on a computer or app

24. Let’s look at the
Apps!

26. First Phrases

27. First Phrases
• Early language development
• 2- to 4-word phrases
• Animations bring verbs to life
• Record your voice speaking the phrase
• Text - ON or OFF

28. First Phrases
• 3 Levels of Play - Easy, Normal, Challenge
Easy, Normal Challenge

29. Let’s play a round
• Level - Normal

30. Let’s play a round
• Level - Normal
• Text OFF

31. Let’s play a round
• Level - Normal
• Text OFF
• 3-part phrase

32. Let’s play a round
• Level - Normal
• Text OFF
• 3-part phrase
on the iPad!

33. First Phrases
• Verbs: Close, cut, drink, drive, drop, eat, kick,
open, play, pop, pour, pull, push, ride, roll, throw,
wash, go on, jump off, jump on, jump over, put
away, put on, sleep on, step over, take off, take
out, turn off, turn on
• Lite: Close, drink, drive, sleep on, turn on

34. Additional Language Targets
• Unlock Girl and Boy characters to create
your own phrases and target pronouns
“He”
“She”

35. First Phrases
Additional Language Targets:
• Pause the animation and talk about what the
character did (past tense)

36. Picture the
Sentence

37. Picture the Sentence
• Auditory processing
• Create a picture of what you hear
in your mind
• Auditory working memory - hear
and retain
• Respond to multiple cues - Attend
to the important elements
• Find a corresponding picture

38. Picture the Sentence
• Hear and see a phrase (option for audio only)
• Wait time between is optional (5-40 seconds)
• Then choose the best picture

39. Picture the Sentence
• 3 Levels of Difficulty
• Easy - visuals stay, slow presentation
!
• Intermediate - visuals flashed, moderate
!
• Advanced - no visuals, moderate-fast
!
• Text with the presentation - ON or OFF

40. Picture the Sentence
• Visual cues - color drawings, stick figures, none
• Nouns (boy, girl) or pronouns (he, she, they)
• Simple sentence types:
• subject+verb
• subject+verb+object
• subject+verb+prepositional phrase
• subject+verb+object+prepositional phrase

41. Picture the Sentence
Respond to multiple cues:
“The children are drinking orange juice on the couch”

42. Picture the Sentence
“The children are drinking orange juice on the couch”

43. Picture the Sentence
• Progress tracking

44. Apps for Similar Goals
• Splingo’s Language Universe
!
• Auditory Workout

45. Fun with
Directions
More Fun with
Directions

46. Fun with Directions
• Easy -
• (No foils) Color the ball.
Close the window.
!
• (Field of 3) Open the door
on top. Give the girl a bed.

47. Fun with Directions
• Intermediate
• (F:5) Touch something that says
meow.
• Look on the middle shelf.There is
something yellow. Put it in the
basket.
• Open a red door on the top row.
On the bottom row, open a red
door.

48. Fun with Directions
• Advanced
• (F:5) Touch something you make by
blowing on it.
• Look for something on the middle shelf
that goes on a foot. Put it in the basket.
• Open the second door in the bottom
row.
• Give the boy without a hat or glasses
something that you put food on. It goes
on a table.

49. Fun with Directions
FWD Concepts:
• Location words (bottom,
middle, top)
• Actions (erase, touch, open,
close, push, give)
• Colors
!
More FWD:
• Location words (above,
below, behind, in front, on,
under, up, down)
• Actions (put in, take out,
turn on, turn off)

50. Fun with Directions &
More Fun with Directions
GOALS:
• Auditory memory
• Auditory processing
• Following directions
• Spatial concepts

51. Fun with Directions
• Progress tracking - similar to Picture the Sentence

52. Social Language
• Level 1, Level 2, Advanced (teen/adult)
• 3 Activities (65-75 tasks per activity)
1. Listening & Facial Expressions
2. Body Language & Perspective-Taking
3. Idioms & Slang

53. Back-To-$chool $ALE
• 30-50% off all Hamaguchi Apps
• Through 9/15/14
X

54. Apps from

55. Preposition Builder
• Drag the word to fill in a
blank
• Reading required

56. Preposition Builder
Most Important:
• Settings
• Play

57. Preposition Builder
• Settings changes the set
• Correction procedure
• Audio recording
• Progress tracking

58. Preposition Builder

59. Preposition Builder

60. Preposition Builder
+Correction+

61. Rainbow Sentences
• Formulate sentences about
what you see
• Order the words

62. • Word grouping
• Color coding
• Progress tracking

63. Rainbow Sentences
• Listen back - Play
• Check your work - I’m done
• Extra step: Recall and retell
your sentence

64. More Advanced Language Goals

65. Conversation Builder
& CB Teen

66. Conversation Builder
• Elementary and Teen versions
• Respond in role-play with an in-app “peer”
• Multiple choices (text and audio)
• Records your voice

67. Conversation Builder
• 1 on 1 (add half the conversation)
• Group setting (Photo only)
• 4-exchange or 8-exchange
• Record your turns and listen to the final
product

68. Conversation Builder
• Elementary and Teen versions
• 4-exchange or 8-exchange
• 1 on 1 (add half the conversation)
• Group setting (Photo only)
• Record your turns and listen to the final
product

69. Verbal Reasoning

70. Verbal Reasoning
• Identify problem, cause, and solution
• Predicting what happens next
• Negative Wh-questions
• State differences and similarities
• State pros and cons
• What would happen if…?
• Why Questions

71. Verbal Reasoning
3 multiple choices (audio and/or text)
• ID problem, cause, solution
• 150 items
• Predicting what happens next (text
paragraph)
• 50 items

72. Verbal Reasoning
• Features:
• Requires all 3 options be heard before
making a choice
• Progress Tracking
• Report can be emailed

73. Creative /
Customizable Apps

74. My Play Home
• Virtual, interactive dollhouse
• Categorized contents by room
• Various characters
• Many actions possible
• Hours of fun!

75. Let’s take a home tour!
on the iPad!

76. My Play Home Stores
• 4 Stores with employees
• Grocery, Produce, Ice Cream, Clothing
• Two apps connect

77. My Play Home
• Solo play
• Great for promoting symbolic concept
development, reinforcing categories
• Together play
• Unlimited expressive and receptive
language possibilities!
• (Adult holds the iPad)

78. Barrier Games
• 2 or more players
• Some kind of barrier(s) so that players cannot
see each others materials (books, file folders, or
binders can work as barriers)
• Same set of materials
• Without any visual cues
• Goal: Give and receive directions on how to
arrange the materials
• All players’ materials look the same at the end of
the activity

79. Barrier Games
Pick a room or store and arrange items and people in
a certain way.
Take a screen shot, send it to a computer and print
• Receptive: Give the student the iPad with a
“tidied” room and give spoken instructions on
where things should go, which elements to change
• Expressive: Give the student the print out and
have them tellYOU where each element needs to
be placed

81. • Receptive: Give the student the
iPad with a “tidied” room and give
spoken instructions on where
things should go, which elements
to change

82. • Expressive: Give the student the
print out and have them tellYOU
where each element needs to be
placed (you have the iPad)

84. More Goals
Word Comprehension
• Backyard:Touch the watering can, Point to a flower
Following Directions
• Kids Bedroom: Put the girl in bed
• Bathroom: Turn on the shower then brush the boy’s teeth
• Kitchen: Open the fridge and take out a piece of pizza
Prepositions
• Bathroom: Put the shampoo under the sink

85. More Goals
Time Concepts
• Living room: Before you go to the kitchen, turn off the
stereo
Problem Solving
• Kid’s Bedroom: What will make it brighter in this room?
Social Skills
• Any room: Provide dialog for the characters, greet,
ask questions, comment

86. Dr. Panda’s Day Care
• Similar features, plus ongoing actions
• Present progressive tense -ing
Bouncing
Rocking

87. Book Creator
• By: Red Jumper Studio
• Create “books” that include photos, video,
text, drawing, music
• Record narration on each page to make an
“audio book” students can read to
themselves

88. Book Creator
• Consumption - books you write for them
• Production - books they write themselves
(or with help)
Written by three,
4th grade students
who have autism
FREE in the iBooks Store
on the iPad!

89. How To
scaacn.blogspot.com

90. Book Creator
• Expository writing - gives information
• Narrative writing - tells a story
• Create personalized, talking flashcards for
any subject

91. Planets
flashcards

92. • Export to iBooks
and read on the
iPad (within the
book)
• Export as a PDF
and email it
• Print from your
iPad or computer

93. Book Creator
Endless possibilities:
• “What I did on my vacation...”
• Record lines for a play to aid memorization
• Create a Social Story for a new experience
• Video yearbook

94. Tactilly

95. Tactilly
• By:Tactilly, LLC
• Create personally relevant photo albums
• Use your own photos or pics from the web
• Hotspots that talk
• Unlimited pages

96. Tactilly
• Any Language Domain can be addressed
• Albums for each student’s goals
• (Speech too - articulation targets with an
auditory model)
• Consumption - Albums made for them
• Production - Students can create too!

97. Tactilly

98. Tactilly

99. Tactilly

100. Tactilly

101. Guided Access
Disable the Home
button locks you
into an app

102. Guided Access
How To
• Settings - Accessibility -
Guided Access ON
• Choose a password
• Triple click the home
button
scaacn.blogspot.com

103. Warnings
1. Goals guide activities (and apps)
2.Apps are not language therapy in and of
themselves
3.Apps are not communication

104. AAC Apps for
Augmented
Communication

105. Augmentative and Alternative
Communication (AAC)
• Supports for communication
• Often for nonverbal communicators
!
• Unaided - sign language, gestures
•Aided -
• Communication boards
• Picture exchange
• Speech-generating/voice output devices

106. AAC is more than the
iPad…

107. An AAC system should...
• Increase participation: classroom, work,
community, home
• Address communication goals: IEP, personal,
work
• Support efficient and interactive communication
• Provide the user with meaningful language
• Support language and literacy learning
• Be age-respectful
• Provide a positive support to behavior

108. Currently over 100 iPad apps designed
to be communication tools
Variety of levels of complexity and co$t
Decision-making:
Speech Language Pathologists, special
educators, and parents ALL need
guidance
App Explosion

109. AAC Evaluation
• Is essential
• Must be conducted by, or include, a
Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)
experienced in AAC

110. AAC Evaluation:
• Language stage & literacy development
• Symbol/icon recognition*
-Ability to visually discriminate between symbols and locations
• Physical access
-Motor ability to point to, give, push a button, turn page, look
at
• Categorization and Memory
-Cognitive ability to find vocabulary needed for expression
• Trial period
• Recommendation of an appropriate communication system
-Picture cards, choice boards, buttons, screens, etc.

111. The iPad is not a fit for everyone
Play on the iPad may not necessarily lend
itself to communication skills

112. So, how do we
go from this...
...to this?

113. Initial Questions
• Can they access directly? (point, tap, release)
• Can they navigate between pages?
• Or do they need a single page of choices?

114. • What language stage?
- Similar stages to spoken language
• What do they need to communicate to
control their environment?
• How many different messages? In how many
environments?
Initial Questions

115. • What language stage?
- Similar stages to spoken language
• Can they navigate between pages?
• Or do they need a single page of choices?
Initial Questions

117. LAMP Words For Life
Advantages/ Disadvantages
✓ Fixed number of locations
✓ Excellent “hide” feature to limit visible
vocabulary
- Small button size
- Uncommon symbol system and organization
- No voice recording

118. LAMP Words For Life
✓ One Motor Pattern per Word allows for the
development of quick effortless
communication
✓ Vocabulary Builder shows only targeted
words to limit distractions and increase
success.
✓ Word Finder shows the location where a
word is stored

120. Proloquo2go
Advantages
✓ Relatively easy to program (with practice)
✓ Copy and paste multiple buttons at a time
✓ Suggests symbols for new buttons
✓ Vast symbol library, allows photos
✓ Developer adds features, languages

121. Proloquo2go
Disadvantages
- Requires significant customization to access a
robust vocabulary
- One button size across all pages
- No voice recording

122. Basic Communication

123. Hiding Buttons
in Customized CoreVocab

124. TouchChat with
WordPower Advantages
✓ Robust built-in vocabularies at different levels
✓ Intuitive navigation for message construction
✓ Relatively easy to program (with practice)
✓ Ample symbol library + photos, videos, music,
voice recording

125. - Doesn’t copy/paste multiple buttons
- Requires symbol search for new buttons
- Developer slower with adding features
TouchChat with
WordPower Advantages

126. Full Screen
Hidden Buttons

127. MultiChat 15

128. Don’t forget to look at
Part 2!
Email: geberhard@villaesperanzaservices.org
!
Blog: www.scaacn.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/socalaac.scaacn
Twitter: @scaacn