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Could 17, 2023
FEATURE
AssistiveWare ushers in subsequent technology of augmentative and different communication expertise
How app growth firm AssistiveWare is innovating augmentative and different communication software program
Each afternoon, 9-year-old Jay accompanies his mom Meghan Ashburn and his twin brother Nick to Virginia Seashore, the place they unwind from the day’s stimulation in school, of their residence, and out in the remainder of the world.
When Ashburn asks Jay why he loves the seashore, he picks the “sundown” button, then says, “No faculty. Sure seashore.”
In 2015, Jay was identified with autism. By the age of 4, he began utilizing Proloquo2Go, an augmentative and different communication (AAC) app created by growth firm AssistiveWare, obtainable for iPhone and iPad.
“The seashore has all the time been a spot the place Jay can discover and chill out on his phrases,” Ashburn explains. “As a household, we go to as usually because the climate permits. He loves the sand, the waves, and the attractive sunsets.”
Proloquo2Go embodies AssistiveWare’s mission: to make AAC an efficient and accepted technique of communication. A wide range of folks undertake these instruments once they’re unable to supply oral speech, together with these with ALS, cerebral palsy, autism, and extra.
Bringing this expertise to Apple units represented a substantial shift for AAC customers and David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare’s founder and CEO. With AAC obtainable on client units, the quantity of people that might afford and use the expertise ballooned. This additionally enabled AssistiveWare’s fast progress.
“One of many coolest issues concerning the iPad and the iPhone is that they’re not separate units,” says Niemeijer. “They’re cool units that everybody else makes use of, too, and that has already made a serious distinction in its acceptability. However we nonetheless have extra work to do.”
AssistiveWare’s subsequent technology of AAC apps, Proloquo and Proloquo Coach, grew to become obtainable in 2022. Past producing speech, Proloquo helps customers construct phrases or sentences, be taught associated phrases, and develop their language and grammar. Proloquo Coach offers households and educators with the instruments to assist youngsters and college students of their studying.
Proloquo options 49 real youngsters and grownup’s text-to-speech voices and 12,000 phrases — about 3 times greater than different AAC apps. AssistiveWare apps additionally assist VoiceOver and Swap Management for customers who’re blind or low imaginative and prescient, or have restricted mobility.
For AAC customers, Niemeijer believes discovering a customizable expertise is a vital step. Apple’s new accessibility options — previewed this week — embody Assistive Entry for folks with cognitive disabilities, and Private Voice for these vulnerable to dropping their means to talk, giving customers extra choices to tailor their experiences to their wants.
“We’re actually excited to combine these new options into AssistiveWare’s apps,” Niemeijer says. “We not too long ago launched assist for iOS’s built-in voices in Proloquo, so customers have entry to an excellent wider vary of voices to select from. The introduction of Private Voice has the potential to supply our customers with much more choices to personalize how they impart. This, mixed with options like Assistive Entry, will enrich the alternatives obtainable to us to customise the consumer expertise and permit customers to tailor our apps to their persona and desires.”
In the present day, Jay makes use of Proloquo and different modes of communication to talk to his household, academics, and pals. Kids make up 80 p.c of Proloquo customers: Jay is without doubt one of the app’s 100,000 each day customers and 300,000 general customers world wide.
“The attention of AAC among the many public will enhance within the subsequent 5 years,” says Ashburn, who beforehand taught elementary faculty. Jay learns in a basic third grade class. “It’s a giant deal, as a result of he’s nonspeaking they usually are likely to get separated.” Jay’s third grade classmates additionally use Proloquo as a technique of interacting with him.
“Proloquo’s limitless sharing functionality might be my favourite characteristic. I can construct an AAC staff for Jay. His academics, prolonged household, and even classmates have entry to Proloquo on their private units totally free,” Ashburn continues. “I can’t even describe how helpful that’s. It’s such a sport changer when it comes to leveraging AAC.”
Jay is at present experiencing enchancment in his speech, and makes use of Proloquo to apply talking. To be taught new phrases, he presses the button time and again, till he can begin talking the phrase or phrase himself. “Shut the door” is a phrase Ashburn says she often hears, as Jay enters his preteen years.
“Many AAC choices restrict the phrases a baby can select from,” says Ashburn. “Proloquo has such a big vocabulary that Jay can select virtually any phrase he desires. The built-in keyboard makes his choices limitless.”
Again in Amsterdam, AssistiveWare’s staff of researchers, AAC specialists, designers, builders, and high quality assurance engineers — together with 27 native workers and a further 35 world wide — innovate the expertise behind the merchandise and push ahead analysis and advocacy work round AAC. “Most analysis on this subject appears to be like on the change that occurs upon an intervention for a single individual,” Niemeijer explains. “We as an alternative have consent-based nameless knowledge on tens of hundreds of AAC customers. That’s not widespread. We convey insights from a bigger scale to the desk, which ends up in attention-grabbing conversations.”
Apple’s Guided Entry, an accessibility setting launched a decade in the past to limit units to a single app, radically improved the app’s potential. “Earlier than that, one of many challenges households and faculties had was that the kid would begin in a communication app, however then leap out and go to a different app,” says Niemeijer. “With Guided Entry, it was attainable to maintain the give attention to studying and speaking.”
Growing for the Apple ecosystem holds one other key benefit: Apple maintains software program assist for years, making it a sound funding for households and faculties.
“It provides us the time and area to give attention to innovation,” Niemeijer says. “That approach, AssistiveWare doesn’t get caught prior to now.”
For the following technology of AAC customers, Niemeijer hopes this type of communication turns into as extensively accepted as texting. Greater than creating the expertise, the stigma round AAC represents the most important hurdle for its customers.
“I nonetheless suppose we’ve got a protracted option to go,” says Niemeijer. “For those who can’t converse, the idea remains to be that you just in all probability don’t have a lot to say. That assumption is the most important drawback. I hope to see a shift towards respecting this expertise so it may well have the most important influence.”
Press Contacts
D’Nara Cush
Apple
d_cush@apple.com
Apple Media Helpline
media.assist@apple.com
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