SPEAKplay!

SPEAKplay!™ is an evidence-based therapy app to introduce mobile interfaces to prospective users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). SPEAKplay! offers a series of gesture-based games that directly target the difficulties in learning complex and multi-step motor skills to access content on mobile AAC devices. The intended outcome of engaging with these games is to enhance motor functioning of the young child or first time AAC user to maximize operational competence in navigating touchscreen-based content. With better gesture and operating skills, children can get started earlier on mobile devices and benefit from AAC applications to the full extent.

Training with SPEAKplay! focuses on the critical gestures of (1) Directed and Sustained Touch, (2) Drag and Drop, and (3) Vertical and Horizontal Swipe. The gestures are introduced through a series of fun and engaging games, including “Pop the Bubbles” (for Targeted Touch), “Fly the Rocket” (for Targeted and Sustained Touch), and “Feed the Dino” (for Horizontal and Vertical Swipes as well as Drag and Drop).

In the “Pop the Bubbles” game the user is faced with multicolored bubbles that emerge from a bathtub on the bottom. When the bubbles are tapped or “popped” by the user, they disappear from the screen with an auditory “bubble pop” cue. The task for the user is to “pop” all the bubbles till the “You win!” screen appears. To increase the game’s difficulty, the size and number of bubbles available to “pop” can be modified.

The “Fly the Rocket” game teaches its users to respond to a visual stimulus, the movements of the stars. The stars either pulse, shake or flash, signaling the user that they need to be touched to fly the rocket through space. With each star that is pressed the rocket moves closer to the moon, and once it reaches the moon the user wins the game. Three levels of difficulty involve four, six, or eight stars to be tapped. Randomization of the sequence in which the stars appear makes the game different each time and unpredictable.

The “Feed the Dino” game teaches the user to press and hold onto a dinosaur and move it around to collect food and bones scattered across the screen. To reward and encourage the user to keep playing, the dinosaur dances for a moment as bones are collected before continuing. Once all the food and bones are gathered, the user drags the dinosaur to its home to complete the game and reach the win screen. The game has two modes, one with a free moving dino and one with a path that the dino must follow. This path can be adjusted to be shorter or longer to change the difficulty for completion.

SPEAKplay! is a research-based application and complements intervention provided through SPEAKall!® and SPEAKmore!®. The SPEAK application suite has received strong recognition in the AAC industry as documented by prestigious awards including among others: ● 2025 European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD) Technology & Innovation Award, First Place ● 2018 Anna Kennedy Online Autism Charity, Autism Hero Award – First Place, Entrepreneurial Category ● 2017 Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize and Overall Winner, Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition ● 2017 ChanceLight Behavioral Health and Education Prize, Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition ● 2017 Edison Innovation Award – Gold, Language Learning Products

Thank you for your continued support and please continue to send us your feedback and ideas! (www.speakabilities.com)

Product Features: ● Gamification elements to keep the user engaged and motivated ● 
Active training of motor capabilities needed for operating AAC apps ● Different levels of difficulty to adjust for learner growth ● Easy programming through intuitive admin mode ● Manage multiple learners on a single device ● Direct access to SPEAK Abilities YouTube Channel ● Haptic feedback when moving Dino character ● Compatibility with both iPhone and iPad