SmallTalk Aphasia Female

My wife and i have been looking for an app to allow our son with autism to easily communicate in school. This app has the right idea but lack functionality. The pricing system is disappointing. Other apps like Posco allow you to pay a one time fee and have everything. I recommend you look at the alternatives.

This app delivers a very poor user experience. Once you select your method of communication, either video or icons, you cannot switch between the two until you restart the application. The icons are arranged linearly, meaning that in order to communicate pain for example, you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the list. There are definitely better ways to deliver a user experience on an iOS device. This developer has just taken the lazy way and converted what must have been a printed manual into an app. A shame really ...

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder, which can occur after a brain injury such as a stroke. Lesions to different areas of the brain can result in qualitatively different impairments (i.e. difficulty expressing or comprehending language). Psychologists who have worked with such patients know all too well the debilitating effects it can have on someone's life. Often times, the patient can understand what others are saying, but simply lack the ability to communicate through speech or writing. Several of the patients I have worked with became depressed, withdrawn and isolated after their stroke. Fortunately, certain patients can benefit from augmentative or alternative communication (ACC). To that end, technology can sometime help patients regain some basic communication skills. I have recently reviewed this app on my blog for psychologist and refer to it as, "small, but potentially life changing tools". They allows patients to scroll through common phrases designed to facilitate communication such as, "I have aphasia, I had a stroke, I have trouble speaking, yes, no etc." Other similar similar apps include common phrases related to activities of daily living. Pictures are provided beside the text to facilitate communication if reading is difficult.