OCALI Day 3

TapToTalk is at the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence 2009 Conference and Exposition in Columbus, Ohio. Here are some of our impressions, observations and quotes from day three of the conference as we pack up booth 424:

Today is the last day of OCALI. The energy at our booth was as strong as the first day. People kept stopping by after hearing from friends and co-workers about the "cool" communication program on the the Nintendo DS.

Four people sought out the booth without knowing the name TapToTalk because they saw the 2 second "flash" of the product in the NBC 4 news report the night before.

We have been struck by the number of moms we met who became professionals in some aspect of autism because their child is on the autism spectrum. There were many others who are involved as advocates, dedicating their time and energy to their kids and gathering information for other moms. These are true heros, who volunteer their time and abilities or changed careers to help others.

A woman from the Social Security Administration took some literature so that she could tell some of the people she visits that their are low cost AAC solutions available.

A common theme was the difficulty that schools and parents have acquiring the expensive "communication boards," and children not wanting to use them after a certain point because they make the child "look different," and their weight and size make them hard to carry around. They told us that the cool Nintendo DS and TapToTalk's price solves those problems.

The challenge of "programming" communication boards also came up often. When we showed how TapToTalk Designer makes this a snap, we got nods and smiles.

Another frequent comment was that many educators don't like the "stick figures" and graphics that are commonly used in the industry. The California State representative who spoke said that she recommends that professionals only use real photographs. The question of adding photos came up frequently. When we showed how to do that in TapToTalk Designer, we got nods and smiles.

We leave OCALI tired but gratified. It was a great experience.

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

OCALI Day 2

TapToTalk is at the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence 2009 Conference and Exposition in Columbus, Ohio. Here are some of our impressions, observations and quotes from day two of the conference from out vantage point in booth 424:

The official conference began today with special needs professionals from all around Ohio. There is a smattering from other states including Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas and New York. The majority are from public school districts, though state agencies and many small private clinics are represented. We spoke to very dedicated, hard working people who provide a lot of support for the kids they serve. When they try TapToTalk, they name the specific kids they think it will help or the parents they will recommend it to.

The booth was busy all day, with a real crush during session breaks.

Quote of the day: “Get out of here…you did what?” TapToTalk received that reaction more times than we could keep count of from the twenty-something special needs professionals who love the idea of an AAC device on a DS.

Second most frequent quote: “You’re geniuses.” Always good to get ego strokes on a busy day.

Third most frequent quote: “My co-worker told me I had to see this.” Usually a psychologist sending a speech therapist or a speech therapist sending an administrator.

We'll be back tomorrow with our OCALI Day 3 report.

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
http://www.taptotalk.com/
blog@taptotalk.com

OCALI Day 1

TapToTalk is at the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence 2009 Conference and Exposition in Columbus, Ohio. Here are some of our impressions, observations and quotes from day one of the conference from out vantage point in booth 424:

Professionals and parents who see TapToTalk and need it are delighted. They get it quickly, ask a little bit about how it works, take our handout, and are figuring out when they are going to buy a Nintendo. Holiday time is on their minds.

Comments included:

“Brilliant!”

“I was hoping someone would do this.”

“I can’t wait to tell our speech therapist."

"I think we're going to use that DS that your brother doesn’t use anymore."

One school sent three groups of people over to see us. Then the administrator came by herself and said, "They are telling me that I HAVE to see this."

Another school came by as a group: administrator, behavioral therapist, psychologist and speech therapist. The speech therapist loved TapToTalk. The administrator said, “She decides this stuff."

Our favorite line came from a mom who walked by, looked the booth over, and said, "Hmm, TapToTalk, my kid is verbal, I don’t need that." She also got it quickly!

Every kid who gets close to our booth is drawn to our Nintendos like a bee to honey. They immediately pick one up and start "tapping and talking." No instruction necessary. But lots of smiles.

The evening also had entertainment. A special needs marching band that is going to play at half-time at the Rose Bowl. Piano players, and signers too. They were wonderful.

We'll be back tomorrow with our OCALI Day 2 report.

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
http://www.taptotalk.com/
blog@taptotalk.com

Using American Sign Language (ASL) And Signed English (SE) Symbols With TapToTalk

Many non-verbal children who are not deaf learn American Sign Language (ASL) and/or Signed English (SE), or are taught to use ASL and/or SE pictures, or both. There is a great resource for pictures of these symbols on the Lesson Tutor web site.

These pictures are gif files that can be uploaded to TapToTalk Designer. When doing so, be sure to honor the Lesson Tutor copyright and use terms.

To upload one, first save it on your computer by right-clicking and using the menu that pops up. Then upload to TapToTalk Designer as you would any other picture file.

To access these symbols here are two Lesson Tutor links: Learn American Sign Language (ASL) and Signed English (SE) and American Sign Language (ASL) and Signed English (SE) Available Vocabulary Index.

We list this and other useful picture sources on the TapToTalk Product page.

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
http://www.taptotalk.com/
blog@taptotalk.com

TapToTalk Teams With Widgit Symbols

One of the great features of TapToTalk Designer is that you can add your own pictures, in addition to having access to the over 2,000 pictures in our library. We've also been working with the good folks at Widgit Software to assure that you can use their pictures in TapToTalk.

Over a 25 year period, Widgit Software has developed a large database of symbols which currently stands in excess of nine thousand images spanning a forty thousand word vocabulary, specifically designed for childern with special educational needs. These can be very useful in assistive communication, and we are pleased to let you know how to use them in TapToTalk.

If you are already a Widgit Symbols customer, you can use them in TapToTalk. When doing so, be sure to honor the Widgit Symbols copyright and license terms. If you're not familiar with Widgit Symbols, you can check them out at http://www.widgit.com/symbols.

We have posted instructions for using Widgit Symbols in TapToTalk on TapToTalk.com.

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
http://www.taptotalk.com/
blog@taptotalk.com

New TapToTalk Demo Widget

Bloggers and webmasters, now you can embed a little TapToTalk demo in a web page with one line of html! This is a great way to show people how TapToTalk works. This TapToTalk widget displays the interactive, online TapToTalk demo in a small window right on your web page!

For more information and "how to" instructions, go to www.taptotalk.com/webmasters.aspx.

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
http://www.taptotalk.com/
blog@taptotalk.com

Alphabet And Starter Album Added To Library

We heard from some TapToTalk users that you wanted us to add the letters of the alphabet to our standard picture library. So we just did. We already had a Numbers category, and now we have letters too, in the cleverly named Alphabet category.

We've also added all the pictures and sounds used in the Starter Album. These pictures are in other categories in our library, but a number of customers told us they liked them so much they wanted us to make it easier to find them. We went wild with creativity here as well, and called the category Starter Album. We also included our newly re-recorded Starter Album sounds. No more robot-sounding voice. You can hear the new recordings in the web demo.

These changes are available to you now in TapToTalk Designer.

Of course, you can always upload your own pictures and record your own sounds in TapToTalk Designer.

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
http://www.taptotalk.com/
blog@taptotalk.com