AAC Help for the Visually Impaired

The Nintendo DSi XL and Apple iPad have helped many visually impaired kids use TapToTalk. They still get portable, affordable, socially acceptable AAC, but with larger screens and thus larger pictures.

You can do even more to help a visually impaired child on the iPad. With its zoom feature activated, you just double-tap the screen with three fingers and swipe up to zoom in. Then you can move the screen around with the usual finger gestures, tap things, and so forth. To zoom out, double-tap with three fingers again and swipe down. Zoom only works with three fingers, so your child won't accidentally zoom in and out.

For information about turning on the iPad accessibility features, see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4064.

There are similar features on the iPhone and iPod touch, and for Windows and the Mac OS. And remember, you can use your TapToTalk with any or all of pur player apps: the Nintendo App, iPhone/iPad App and/or Web App, and these apps are all free.

Easier accessibility means your child will communicate more. We like that idea!

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

Give the Gift of Communication - A TapToTalk Gift Certificate

You asked for it (well, at least some of you did), you got it! We're happy to announce that, by popular demand, we now have gift certificates available.

Anyone can buy a TapToTalk Gift Certificate, which can be used for a new one-year TapToTalk Home subscription or a one-year renewal. The cost is $99.95.

Find out more, or buy one! For future reference, there's also a link on the Store page on taptotalk.com.

Also, remember that you can renew your TapToTalk subscription at any time. So if you receive a gift certificate, you can use it right away to add another year to your TapToTalk subscription.

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

TapToTalk at the 2010 National Conference on Childhood Apraxia of Speech

TapToTalk will be exhibiting at the 2010 National Conference on Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Pittsburgh, PA on July 8-10. This important gathering is sponsored by the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA).

But what exactly is Childhood Apraxia of Speech? Wikipedia defines Apraxia as follows:

"Apraxia is a disorder caused by damage to specific areas of the cerebrum, characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. It is a disorder of motor planning which may be acquired or developmental, but may not be caused by incoordination, sensory loss, or failure to comprehend simple commands (which can be tested by asking the person to recognize the correct movement from a series). Apraxia should not be confused with aphasia, an inability to produce and/or comprehend language; abulia, the lack of desire to carry out an action; or allochiria, in which patients perceive stimuli to one side of the body as occurring on the other."

Wikipedia further defines Apraxia of speech, a specific form of Apraxia:

"Symptoms of Acquired Apraxia of speech (AOS) and Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) include inconsistent articulatory errors, groping oral movements to locate the correct articulatory position, and increasing errors with increasing word and phrase length. AOS often co-occurs with Oral Apraxia (during both speech and non-speech movements) and Limb Apraxia.

"Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) presents in children who have no evidence of difficulty with strength or range of motion of the articulators, but are unable to execute speech movements because of motor planning and coordination problems. This is not to be confused with phonological impairments in children with normal coordination of the articulators during speech.

"Acquired apraxia of speech involves the loss of previously acquired speech levels. It occurs in both children and adults who have (prior to the onset of apraxia) acquired some level of speaking ability. Unlike Childhood Apraxia of Speech, AOS is typically the result of a stroke, tumor, or other known neurological illness or injury."

CASANA's mission is "To strengthen the support systems in the lives of children with apraxia, so that each child has their best opportunity to develop speech." We at TapToTalk are proud to play our small part in helping this effort. If you are at the conference please stop by our booth and say hello.

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