We exhibited TapToTalk at the Morgan Autism Center Conference at Santa Clara University Saturday. A boy about eleven years old stood about 15 feet from our booth, eyeing the TapToTalks on our table. After a few minutes, we invited him over. He shyly approached, then picked up a TapToTalk, and said with clear delight, “Nintendo DSi. I have one.”
He started “tapping and talking.” At one point he exclaimed, “I did it.” Then his dad told us that he is autistic and, though he can talk, says very little. Then his mom came over. We all watched him “tapping and talking.” After a while, he declared, “I won.”
No one had to show our little friend, our little winner, how to use TapToTalk to communicate. Actually, he showed us. And we all had tears in our eyes.
If you have a TapToTalk idea or story you'd like us to share with other TapToTalk users, please email us at blog@taptotalk.com.
The TapToTalk Team
www.taptotalk.com
blog@taptotalk.com
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
TapToTalk At Morgan Autism Center Conference
TapToTalk will be at the Morgan Autism Center's 8th annual autism conference at Santa Clara University on Saturday, September 26. If you're there, drop in to our booth and say hello.
If you have a TapToTalk idea you'd like us to share with other TapToTalk users, please email us at blog@taptotalk.com.
The TapToTalk Team
www.taptotalk.com
blog@taptotalk.com
If you have a TapToTalk idea you'd like us to share with other TapToTalk users, please email us at blog@taptotalk.com.
The TapToTalk Team
www.taptotalk.com
blog@taptotalk.com
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A Child's Emergency Information On TapToTalk
We always want to pass along ideas others have for using TapToTalk. This one addresses the problem a non-verbal child may have if they become lost or just have a medical emergency: create an "about me" album.
One of the great features of TapToTalk is that you can have several different sets of pictures and sounds for different situations, all on the same TapToTalk. We call these albums. For example, a child may have one album for use at school and another for use at home.
An "about me" album can contain a picture that, when tapped, displays the child's address, another with emergency contact phone numbers, another with medical information, and so forth. Using the optional text descriptions that appear on the top screen of the Nintendo, you can have a lot of information displayed.
Another picture can be used to play something like "I'm lost. I don't speak. Please help me."
If you have a TapToTalk idea you'd like us to share with other TapToTalk users, please email us at blog@taptotalk.com.
The TapToTalk Team
www.taptotalk.com
blog@taptotalk.com
One of the great features of TapToTalk is that you can have several different sets of pictures and sounds for different situations, all on the same TapToTalk. We call these albums. For example, a child may have one album for use at school and another for use at home.
An "about me" album can contain a picture that, when tapped, displays the child's address, another with emergency contact phone numbers, another with medical information, and so forth. Using the optional text descriptions that appear on the top screen of the Nintendo, you can have a lot of information displayed.
Another picture can be used to play something like "I'm lost. I don't speak. Please help me."
If you have a TapToTalk idea you'd like us to share with other TapToTalk users, please email us at blog@taptotalk.com.
The TapToTalk Team
www.taptotalk.com
blog@taptotalk.com
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Introducing TapToTalk
Through his work on the board of directors of AchieveKids, a non-profit that runs schools for the most behaviorally challenged autistic and developmentally disabled kids, Phil Bookman saw a need for a sturdy, economical, portable communications device that helps non-verbal children communicate. This led Phil to team up with tech guru Lenny Greenberg, and they started an assistive technology company, Assistyx. After a year of development, we at Assistyx have just released our first product, TapToTalk (www.taptotalk.com).
TapToTalk gives a non-verbal child a voice with the tap of a picture. It turns a handheld Nintendo DSi or DS Lite into an economical augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device.
If you know anyone who works with kids with speech problems regardless of cause--autism, developmental disability, mental retardation, Down syndrome, and many diseases--please let them know about TapToTalk. And, of course, we want to let families of these kids know about this option.
Visit www.taptotalk.com.
The TapToTalk Team
TapToTalk gives a non-verbal child a voice with the tap of a picture. It turns a handheld Nintendo DSi or DS Lite into an economical augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device.
If you know anyone who works with kids with speech problems regardless of cause--autism, developmental disability, mental retardation, Down syndrome, and many diseases--please let them know about TapToTalk. And, of course, we want to let families of these kids know about this option.
Visit www.taptotalk.com.
The TapToTalk Team
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