Explore these free, inexpensive and full-featured communication apps for iPad through these screen shots. These apps can be used to assist emergent communicators who are nonverbal in finding their voice and controlling their world across early language stages.

1. Just the Apps:
Free, inexpensive, full-featured
communication apps for iPad
Gwendolyn Meier, MA, CCC-SLP, MT-BC
Speech Language Pathologist, Music Therapist
Villa Esperanza Services
Pasadena, CA

2. 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

3. AAC Evaluation
• Is essential
• Must be conducted by a
Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)
experienced in augmentative and
alternative communication

4. AAC Evaluation will determine:
• Current communication skills and needs
• Language stage & literacy development
• Symbol/icon familiarity
- Present ability to visually discriminate between symbols and locations
- (NOT necessarily a prerequisite for using symbol-based systems)
• Physical access
- Motor ability to point to, give, push a button, turn page, look at, other?
• Categorization and Memory
- Cognitive ability to find stored vocabulary needed for expression
• Trial period
• Recommendation of an appropriate communication system
- Picture cards, choice boards, buttons, screens, etc.

5. The iPad is not a fit for everyone
Play on the iPad may not necessarily lead
to communication skills

6. Included here - Info on apps for...
• Building finger isolation and pointing skills

7. Apps for Building Pointing Skills
• Toddler Counting ($0.99)**
• Starfall ABCs ($2.99)**
• Stop and Go (FREE; $0.99)
• Wheels On The Bus ($1.99)
• Garbage Truck ($0.99)
• Preschool Toddler Teasers
(FREE)
Toy Box game
• Injini Lite (FREE)
Farm game, chick

8. Toddler Counting

9. Starfall ABCs

10. Early Language Stages
1. One word at a time
2. Two- and three-word phrases
3. Building phrases and early sentences
4. Learning grammar and sentence structure
5. Sentences with more grammatical endings
Translate to....

11. Early Non-Verbal Language Stages
1. One word/picture card/button at a time
2. Two- and three-word/picture/button phrases
3. Building phrases and early sentences
4. Learning grammar and sentence structure
5. Sentences with more grammatical endings

12. Language Stage 1
1. One word at a time: In autism, largely
Cause-and-Effect
2. Two- and three-word phrases
3. Building phrases and early sentences
4. Learning grammar and sentence structure
5. Sentences with more grammatical endings

13. Stage 1 EARLY Goal - In Autism
One-word/One-button Requesting for
preferred items or actions
• Builds“buy-in”
• Adds pay-off to the effort of communicating

14. Stage 1 EARLY Goal - In Autism
App features to look for at this Stage
include...
• Small set of whole-message buttons
• Digitized (recorded) voice

15. Apps for Language Stage 1
REQUESTING
• Answers:YesNo
• Sounding Board
• Picture Card Maker

16. Apps for EARLY Language Stage 1
Answers:YesNo (FREE and $1.99)
• Technically an iPhone app, works great on iPad ($3.99
for HD, iPad version)
• 2-button choice (can program only single message)
• 6 Text and 6 Picture pages can be programmed
• YES/NO installed; No image library - your own pics
• Minimal visual discrim. and motor skill required (field
of 2)
• Recorded voice

17. AnswersHD (FREE, $1.99)

18. AnswersHD (FREE, $1.99)

19. AnswersHD - FAVORITES

20. AnswersHD - FAVORITES

21. AnswersHD - FAVORITES

22. Traditional SGD vs.App
Big Mack Button ($117+)
iTalk2 ($150+)
Answers:YesNo ($1.99)
Lacks the feedback of
an actual push button

23. Apps for Language Stage 1
Sounding Board (FREE) iPhone/iPod app, works on iPad
• Choice/Phrase boards - Single word/button
• Links/navigation between boards via message or function
button, not simple
• 1-16 words/buttons
• Minimal visual discrim. and motor skill required
• Limited image library & find/take/use your own photos
• Recorded voice
• FOLLOWING SLIDES ARE FROM A PREVIOUSVERSION

24. Sounding Board (Requests)
Field of 1 up to 16 now (newer version than pictured)

25. Sounding Board (FREE)

26. Sounding Board (FREE)

27. Sounding Board (FREE)

28. Sounding Board (FREE)
Recess choices

29. Work Phrases, with link to Break choices

30. Apps for Language Stage 1
Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)
• Choice boards - Single button messages, enlarges on selection, requires
back button. Portrait only.
• Sentence strip - 2-, 3-, or 4-button strip.Touch each in sequence in order
to “speak” the sentence. No back button required. Portrait or Landscape.
• No direct link/navigation to another board.
• Back/Album button, scroll to another board - carries sentence strip over
• 1-16 words/buttons to a page/Album, 2 size options (4 or 16)
• Some visual discrim. and motor skill required
• No image library - Find, take, use your own photos
• Recorded voice
• Full version $5.99 (no banner ads)

31. Requests in blow-up
view, swipe to scroll
Requests in expanded
view, 16 max

32. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)
There are 3 important
items on this Home screen

33. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)
1.

34. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)
2. 3.

35. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)
4. 5.

36. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)

37. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)

38. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)

39. PicCard Maker (FREE; $5.99)
• Request preferred

40. PicCard Maker (FREE; $5.99)
One-button
Requests at work

41. Traditional SGD vs.Apps
Sounding Board (FREE)*
PicCard Maker (FREE; $5.99)*
GoTalk ($157-229)
Communication Builder ($254.95) *iPad = no keyguard*

42. Stage 1 Goals - In Autism
Moving Beyond Choice-Making
1. One word at a time: Greetings,
Comments, Sharing Opinions
(Model and demonstrate)
Hi - Oops - Sorry - I like it - I don’t like it -
Look - Oh man - That’s funny - etc.
• Small set of messages
• Digitized (recorded) voice

43. AnswersHD ($1.99)
“Do you
want
to dance”
“You look
nice”

44. Stage 1 Goals - In Autism
Greetings, Comments, Sharing Opinions

45. Static board or single page in Full Featured app,
TouchChatHD ($149.99)

46. Stage 1 Goals - In Autism
Arts & Crafts - Requests, Comments, Sharing
Opinions

47. Stage 1 Goals - In Autism
Book Reading - Requests, Comments, Directions

48. Work Phrases, with link to Break choices

49. Language Stage 2
1. One word at a time
2. Two- and three-word/button
phrases
3. Building phrases and early sentences
4. Learning grammar and sentence structure
5. Sentences with more grammatical endings

50. Stage 2 Goals - In Autism
Elaborated requests: “I want” + item, “More” +
item/activity
Directing other’s actions, core vocab: Help
please, give me, my turn, put in, you go, open it
Greet using names
• More message types
• Digitized (recorded) voice OR synthesized (text-
to-speech) voice

51. FREE Apps for Language Stage 2
2-Button Phrases
• Sounding Board (FREE)
• Picture Card Maker (FREE)

52. Sounding Board (FREE)
- Link between pages

53. Sounding Board (FREE)
- Link between pages

54. Sounding Board (FREE)
- Link between pages

55. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)
Sentence Strip

56. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)

57. Picture Card Maker (FREE; $5.99)

58. Picture Card Maker (FREE)

59. Picture Card Maker (FREE)

60. Creating phrases from a single page in
Full Featured TouchChatHD ($149.99)

61. Traditional SGD vs.App
Communication Builder
8 and up
GoTalk 9+ and up
($195-250)
Sounding Board
Picture Card Maker
(FREE-$5.99)

62. Multi-Word Language Stages
1. One word at a time
2. Two- and three-word phrases
3. Building phrases and early sentences
4. Learning grammar and sentence
structure
5. Sentences with more grammatical
endings

63. Multi-Word Language Stages
1. One word at a time
2. Two- and three-word phrases
3. Building phrases and early sentences
4. Learning grammar and sentence
structure
5. Sentences with more grammatical
endings
3+ words
in length

64. Stage 3+ Goals
Beyond 3-word phrases...
• Visual sentence strip or message window
• Useful for the learner
• Useful for the
communication partner

65. Stage 3 Goals - In Autism
Adding verbs and adjectives to requests:
I want + to go + to recess
Describing phrases: Agent+Action+Object
• Navigation between pages
• Increased need for vocabulary
• Icon library included
• Larger vocab: Synthesized (text-to-speech) voice

66. Full-Featured
Communication
- Expanded, Word-based Vocabulary
- Variety of Phrase Types
- Multi-Word Language Construction
- Grammatical Endings
- At this level - AAC Assessment and Therapy is
Essential!

67. Full-Featured Communication
for Multi-Word Language Stages
Traditional Devices
• DynaVox - M3, V, Maestro,
Xpress
• Prentke Romich Co. -
Vantage Lite, Springboard
• Saltillo - ALT-Chat, NOVA chat
App for That
• ProLoQuo2Go
• TouchChat HD
• WordPower version

68. Full-Featured Traditional CO$T
Traditional Devices
• DynaVox - M3, V, Maestro,
Xpress ($4,000-8,000)
• Prentke Romich Co. -
Vantage Lite, Springboard
($2,600-7,500)
• Saltillo - ALT-Chat, NOVA chat
($3,500 ea.)
App for That
• ProLoQuo2Go
• TouchChat HD
• WordPower version

69. Full-Featured iPad CO$T
Traditional Devices
• DynaVox - M3, V, Maestro,
Xpress ($4,000-8,000)
• Prentke Romich Co. -
Vantage Lite, Springboard
($4,000-6,000)
• Saltillo - ALT-Chat, NOVA chat
($3,500)
App for That
• ProLoQuo2Go ($190)
• TouchChat HD ($149.99)
• WordPower version
($299.99)
iPad2, 16 GB ($499)
GRAND TOTAL = $650-800

70. Apps for Stages 3, 4, 5
• ProLoQuo2Go
• $189.99
• The first, not necessarily the best
• Easy to create a button
• Does not intuitively support
motor planning due to button
location shift and manual (vs.
built-in) navigation
• TouchChat HD
• $149.99
• $299.99 (Word Power)
• Highly customize-able
• Unique features: Button
Actions, iShare, Copy and
move pages between users
• Intuitive navigation
• Language Stages 4, 5 -
WordPower version $299.99

71. 3 columns
6 columns
4
8 columns
12 columns also
available...
Proloquo screen shots

72. ProLoQuo2Go 2.0
IndividualizedVocab Built From Scratch

73. Comments Greetings
Let’s Go Work

74. Campus Store Script

75. Proloquo Button Actions new in 2.0

76. TouchChat Family of Apps

77. Variety of pre-programmed
vocabularies
TouchChat HD - AAC

78. TouchChat HD - AAC:
Visual Scene
Display
Read more on how it’s done:
scaacn.blogspot.com

79. TouchChatHD - Starter Vocabularies
• MultiChat 15
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Student
• Primary Landscape
• Primary Portrait
• Spelling
• VocabPC Landscape
• VocabPC Portrait

80. Custom button
size and color
Custom to replicate Gateway 40
Custom to mimic a GoTalk 4+
button arrangement
TouchChat HD AAC

81. TouchChat HD AAC
Customized early page layouts

82. Use only the area of the screen that is accessible to the user
TouchChat HD AAC - Customization

83. TouchChat HD AAC - Hide Feature

84. TouchChat HD AAC

85. TouchChatHD
Wide Variety
of Button
Actions

86. TouchChat HD will play a video from your iPad camera roll
Linking using the Navigate action helps students to be
successful at a 3-hit sequence...every time!

89. TouchChat
TouchChat HD AAC
- FREE iShare account (1 year life per

90. • Monthly email blast - write to join
socalaacnetwork@gmail.com
• Blog - www.scaacn.blogspot.com
Updated weekly with AAC-related news,
info, materials, trainings, jobs
• Facebook - SoCal Aac Scaac-n
• Twitter - @SCAACN

91. Thank you!
Gwendolyn Meier
Villa Esperanza Services
gmeier@villaesperanzaservices.org