speaks4me® is a unique, patent-protected, ‘hi-tech’ Voice Output Communication Aid (VOCA) that was developed by Steve Lodge for his severely non-verbal, autistic son Callum.
Callum using his speaks4me® at school
He quickly learnt to use a physical Picture Exchange system but became demotivated by its’ limitations as his vocabulary developed to hundreds of images.
Steve researched the AAC market for something that would stimulate and motivate Callum to have consistent access to even more words and symbols and include voice output. Since nothing existed that specifically addressed Callum’s needs, Steve pioneered speaks4me®.
Quick drag-and-drop action
The patent-protected ‘drag-and-drop’ action promotes intentional communication through movement and allows for quick and accurate placement of pictures by dragging them from the page and onto a sentence strip.
The words and phrases created can then be spoken by a male or female computer voice. As an over-stretched special needs parent, Steve ensured that the speaks4me® configuration and setup was quick, intuitive and consistent, so that equally busy parents, carers and professionals can maximise access to the widest set of digital images, photos and full symbol sets.
Great success at school
speaks4me® users quickly learn to navigate within and between the pages to start constructing short sentences to express their needs. Following the introduction of speaks4me® at a leading Special Needs Academy, great success has been observed, with students using speaks4me® to support timetable routines, tell Social Stories and confidently initiate communication – most noticeably at snack time!
speaks4me® is downloadable, as a stand-alone Windows desktop application running on any compatible Windows 7 or above touchscreen device, or supplied pre-installed on an 8”, 10” or 12” inch Windows 10 tablet.
Each device includes a 3-year Manufacturer’s Warranty and 3-years Accidental Damage insurance cover, as well as either a male or female computer voice.
speaks4me® can import and support all major digital image formats and is fully compatible with the Mayer-Johnson PCS, SymbolStix and Widgit Symbol Sets (included in the price).
What is AAC?
Augmentative and Assistive Communication (AAC) helps people unable to speak to communicate and express themselves. Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCA) often use touch-screen technology to display symbols or graphics on screen instead of on physical paper sheets.
The VOCA device can store multiple ‘pages’ and the user can navigate between them by selecting an appropriate key or picture on the screen to output as speech. Symbols are widely used in everyday life as an effective way of conveying information. Examples such as road signs, care symbols on clothing or direction symbols at an airport demonstrate how images can be read, irrespective of language or literacy skills.
People with communication difficulties sometimes benefit from using symbol vocabularies to understand what other people are saying, as well as to express what they want, feel, see and understand.
Contact us at speaks4me®
For more information email info@speaks4me.com, call 0330 555 0220 or visit www.speaks4me.com
