Proloquo2go

This week in class we took a closer look at Proloquo2go (For an introduction to this app see earlier post). I really enjoyed making a personalized set of communication pictures for our case study. The process of reading the case study and trying to figure out how this child might like to communicate was good practice.

We thought of four different environments/settings where our grade three girl would like to be able to communicate. We chose home, school, friends, and a general category called about me. Within each of these folders we placed folders of pictures that a child may like to talk about. We really considered things she would like to say but also gave her choices for replies on what she might like to say back to someone. We wanted her to not only be able to speak, but also respond. With more time we could have developed this much further.

Overall the program was very user friendly. It only took us a few minutes of playing around to figure out how to create new pictures and even cut and paste sets of pictures from other boards. The purpose of making this individualized boards is to give our student many choices that are easy to find and not complicated by too many choices the child may not use. More pictures can be added at anytime and the sets will change with the changing interests and experiences of the child.

Another great aspect of this app is how personalized you can make the pictures. Proloquo2go comes with a set of graphics that are easy to understand. However, there is also an option of searching online for more accurate representations of the word. As well, the camera on the iPad can be used to take real pictures of the student, friends, objects, building, etc. These real pictures will make the individualized set much more personalized for the child.

This app is so easy to use, I feel an older child would be able to add a new picture communication if needed on the spot. We made sure the key word was easy visible for the child when searching through the sets. However, when the child selected the picture, an entire sentence was read out. We did this to make the process of selecting pictures and having a conversation easier for the child.

Anyone, with a child struggling to communicate should give this app a try. It is very user friendly, portable and overall inexpensive.