Hands-On Activity
Autism myVoice App
This week i was requested to do any sort of 'hands-on' activity that pertains to my perspective career goal. I have been interested in apps that help children with special needs for some time so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to explore one. Professionals in the SLP field use apps as a way to help their clients. I choose the app Autism myVoice, downloaded it and began to experiment.
Autism myVoice application is cheap at only $2.99. This makes it a good application to suggest to parents/care givers. The app is programmed to help mainly nonverbal children with communication skills. myVoice has a unique design that uses pictures of verbs and nouns as buttons, which the user can press to form simple sentences.
The main verbs include:
- I want
- I enjoy
- I need
- I feel
- Food
- Feelings
- Toys
- Numbers
The only flaw to this app is that it is not easily customizable. It took a rather long time for the app to upload and process my personally added pictures and words. I did find the application came with many pre-programmed words, probably enough to get said what needed.
After playing with the application I tried to put it to use, like a professional would. I had my roommate, Taylor, try and communicate with me using only the application and only words pre-programmed and already added by me. After just a few minutes, sh got pretty frustrated with her lack of proper communication. I, innately tried to keep her relaxed and coheres her into working with the app more. Eventually she got accustomed to the application and began to understand more what she would be trying to communicate.
Applications like myVoice can be extremely useful for people with special needs. It is clear why the use of technology is becoming so prevalent in the SLP field. Being able to work with myVoice gave me some insight on what it will be like to work with similar applications as a professional.
Works Cited
"MyVoice | Communication Aid Apps for Speech and Language Disorders." MyVoice. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
Hey Madeline! This sounds like a really cool app. Since Taylor got frustrated easily do you think other people would also? That might be a downside to this app, but it also sounds like it could be really helpful.
ReplyDeleteKelsey-
ReplyDeleteI do think that because Taylor got frustrated at first that other users (especially ones who actually do have special needs) will get frustrated too. The application, with some practice, can prove to be useful though. Thanks!
-Madeline Crile
Hi Madeline, I'm actually curious about the same thing as Kelsey. Do you think they will soon come out with more user friendly versions of this app? And by the way I enjoyed the main uses of the app as bullet points.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good idea for a 'hands on activity.' The app sounds really cool
ReplyDelete