Parenting Pointers: TapToTalk

Did you know that the latest research shows that 1 in 88 children are identified with an autism spectrum disorder and 1 in 6 children in the U.S. had a developmental disability in 2006-2008, ranging from speech and language impairments to intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and autism.

 

The good news is modern technology is making a difference! TapToTalk is an app that allows non- or partially-verbal kids to explicitly tell parents, siblings and teachers what they’re thinking about and need. It runs on virtually all popular hand-held devices including smartphones, tablets, computers and more.

 

I had a chance to interview the app's creator, Phil Bookman, as well as a parent currently using the app, Susan Tarr.

 

Phil Bookman:

1) What was the inspiration behind launching TapToTalk?

A few years ago, I joined the board of directors of AchieveKids, a non-profit agency that runs schools for special needs kids in Silicon Valley. I was immediately struck by how many of our students were non-verbal or partially verbal. This would soon be brought home to me more personally when we discovered that my grandson was autistic. The early diagnosis was made because he was not developing speech. Thus I started the project that, in 2009, became TapToTalk. Our goal was to make AAC—augmentative and alternative communication—affordable, socially acceptable, portable and customizable. The emerging handheld devices would be the way to do that. We started with the Nintendo DS models, than added the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android devices, the Kindle Fire, Nook Color and Nook Tablet, and Windows and Mac computers.

Our vision was that you could author your AAC content (albums), store it in the cloud, and play it on as many devices as you want. So we made an online program called TapToTalk Designer to customize the content. Then we made free player apps for all sorts of devices. So a child can have TapToTalk running on a Nintendo at home, Mom’s iPhone, Dad’s Kindle Fire, an iPad at school, whatever. No extra charge, no matter how many devices. All you pay for is TapToTalk Designer. We also wanted to empower parents to create a child’s AAC albums and change them as their child’s needs evolved. At the same time, we wanted a design tool that was deep and powerful, to meet the design needs of speech and language and other special education professionals. So TapToTalk Designer comes in Home, Pro and Agency versions to meet those needs.

Today, TapToTalk is used by thousands of children in over 40 countries and in over 20 languages. The vast majority of the children we serve are autistic. Anyone, anywhere can download a free version of TapToTalk, complete with sample content, to their handheld device for their child to try. The model is simple: Tap a picture. A sound is played. Another page of pictures may appear. Repeat.

2) What type of kids will benefit from this app?

TapToTalk works well for non-verbal and partially-verbal kids of all ages with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, apraxia or any similar condition. It is especially effective with kids who cannot type words and sentences on their own and benefit from a “tap a picture, play a sentence” communication interface.

3) Can you give a brief explanation of the process involved in using the designer?

With Designer, you organize pictures onto pages and associate sounds and text with each picture. You can also have a picture lead to another page of pictures. You group these pages are organize in albums, for example, a school album, a home album, a summer camp album, and so forth. You save your albums on our server and  the free TapToTalk apps on your devices download them automatically.

Susan Tarr:

1) How were you communicating with your child before using TapToTalk?

We used a communication book with Mayor Johnson pictures.  It was ok when it was in one piece… Kaitlyn is a “ripper”- she tends to rip paper and books; not to be mischievous, but as a calming device. Mostly, when we were at home, Kaitlyn would bring us to what she wanted. Out of the house was challenging. When out to eat, we would draw pictures of choices on a napkin (restaurants don’t usually have pictures of foods kids would eat on their menu).

 

2) How did your child figure out how to use the app?

Kaitlyn caught on very quickly. I tried to set the albums up to look like the communication book that we had; that way, she was already familiar with the idea of pointing to a picture. The really great thing was/is that the auditory import really helped Kaitlyn. If she didn’t touch the picture she wanted, it would say what she picked, and Kaitlyn would self correct. For example if Kaitlyn wanted a hot dog but wasn’t really looking and hit the hamburger picture, she would hear, “I want a cheeseburger please” and she would quickly look at the device and pick the hot dog. Kaitlyn quickly learned that if she wanted something that was not right where she could point, she could get her iPad or one of our phones and get us to go to TapToTalk. 

The biggest difference is that Kaitlyn has a voice. If we are at a restaurant, Kaitlyn can push the button that says, “I want a cheeseburger please” or “French fries” or what she wants to drink, she doesn’t need mom or dad to order for her. That is empowering for a child (any child). Also, we never knew what Kaitlyn wanted to do for an activity. We know her favorites, but she couldn’t tell us. Now we can ask her what she wants to do, and she can tell us! (stay home, watch a video, go to the play ground, library, pool, etc.) Kaitlyn is less frustrated since we discovered TapToTalk, so are we.

We still have trouble understanding what Kaitlyn is trying to tell us when we do not have the picture in an album, BUT it is so much easier than it was, and her albums are a “work in progress.” I feel like a detective; I watch Kaitlyn and try and figure out what she wants to tell us, then I search for pictures that will help her do that.   

3) What is the biggest difference you notice between TapToTalk and other solutions?

The biggest difference(s) are that TapToTalk is affordable AND user friendly. I am not a computer savvy person. Before TapToTalk, I rarely used my computer except to answer emails and create word documents. The creators of TapToTalk are always making changes, adding things to help the user, they listen to their customers and really support them when they have a problem with something. When I got my new smart phone, I could not get TapToTalk to “load” on my phone, I followed the directions on the web, but after several failed attempts, I emailed TapToTalk – within hours, they emailed me back with their suggestions to help get it on my phone, and then checked in later to make sure that I was successful. TapToTalk is also user friendly for the people that use it to communicate. 

We looked at other communication devices, but they were complicated to use or “above” Kaitlyn’s capability. Also, most communication devices are amazingly expensive. You cannot use them on more than one device, and often cannot personalize them; you have to go with the program the creator sets up. Price, ease of use for programmer and user, and customer service, (I feel like I am creating an advertisement) BUT seriously, I am so thankful that we found TapToTalk and I tell anyone who will listen about how wonderful it is.