http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/called+Proloquo2Go+whets+appetite+verb
al+child/4598777/story.html




App called Proloquo2Go whets appetite of non-verbal child
 
 
 

Inexpensive iPad program helps reach and teach autistic boy
 
 
 
By JESSICA HOWARD, The Gazette April 12, 2011 7:25 AM
 
 
 
 
 
.Story
 .Photos ( 2 )
 
 
 








 
 

More Images >
 
  


In Montreal, a child with autism uses an iPad application called Proloquo2go
to ask for food at his home in Montreal on Monday, February 21, 2011.
Proloquo2go is a communication tool for people with developmental disorders.
 
Photograph by: Dario Ayala, The Gazette
 

MONTREAL - Banana, orange or pudding? It's snack time and 6-year-old Connor
has a choice to make.
 
But he is autistic and doesn't communicate verbally, so understanding his
daily wants and needs has often been a struggle for his parents, Enzo and
Carmie (who don't want to identify their son by using family names).
 
For about six months, the family tried a Picture Exchange Communication
System, which involved placing laminated images on a Velcro strip to express
requests or responses. But Carmie said its success depended on them to
always have the right images on hand. "I had all these little pictures in a
big box . and I'd have to change them . I got so fed up with it." Connor's
own frustration at not being understood often led to tantrums.
 
"When I didn't know what he wanted, I felt helpless," Carmie says. "That was
the hardest part."
 
They're now trying a communication tool that's considerably more
userfriendly. The family bought an iPad and an app called Proloquo2Go a few
months ago, and it's helping them connect with Connor. They learned how to
use the app from Andrea Prupas, whose company, Inov8 Educational Consulting,
trains families of special-needs children, schools and other organizations
in assistive technology tools.
 
Because the iPad is a consumer product that's more widely available than
many dedicated communication devices, "this is a grassroots movement coming
from parents who are trying this with their children at home," Prupas says.
 
An iPad starts at about $420, and Proloquo2Go, which is so far available
only in English, costs $189. Recently, Quebec's allowance for special needs
program, which provides coverage to students for resources including
communication devices, has begun accepting applications for iPads.
 
Since starting to use the iPad, Connor has learned that when he wants
something, he grabs an image of the device off the door of the fridge and
takes it to his parents. They get the device and open Proloquo2Go, which
allows people who have difficulty speaking to tap a series of images to form
sentences. At the moment, he's more interested in fun than food.
 
"I want," the iPad says as Connor taps images, "to play ball." Later,
between bounces, he comes back to choose from a menu of snack options. "I
want to eat orange," the iPad says, as Connor taps. The app has more than
7,000 images, and users can upload their own photographs, customizing it to
specific people and situations: home, the grocery store, therapy sessions,
school. The app grows with users' ability to communicate, Prupas says, and
is continuously being updated with new features.
 
Connor's progress led his mother to show Proloquo2Go to his behaviour
therapists, who "flipped out" at seeing how Connor interacted with it. She
also considers it a must for Connor to have the iPad with him at REACH, a
St. Lambert school for children with moderate to severe intellectual
disabilities, where he will go in September. "I want to know that my son has
a tool to make requests. I don't want him to be lost there because he's
non-verbal."
 
REACH, which is part of the Riverside School Board, has been using iPads
with success since last fall, says principal Caryn Shacter. They are shared
among classrooms and used by students for both communication and learning.
 
But consumer tablets and apps address the needs of only a fraction of the
special-needs community, says Ed Donnelly, CEO of DynaVox, which has been
producing speech-generating devices for 25 years. Donnelly says the
company's devices offer a more complex level of communication than apps now
do.
 
Still, for those who can use an iPad, the relatively low cost offers the
opportunity to try it and various apps out without a major investment, says
Ross White, computer specialist at Giant Steps, a private school for
autistic students in Montreal West.
 
A free, hands-on demonstration of Proloquo2Go for parents and caregivers of
children with autism and developmental delays will be held June 5 at the
Apple store, 1321 Ste. Catherine St. W. Registration required at
www.Inov8-ed.com
 
C Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette


Read more:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/called+Proloquo2Go+whets+appetite+verb
al+child/4598777/story.html#ixzz1JJ77OqUB

-----------------------

To change your mail settings or leave the C-PALSY list, go here:

http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?SUBED1=c-palsy