YES!!! Sorry if that hurt your ears.
People who use augmentative communication are so varied that I rarely make any generalizations. However, I firmly believe that everyone who uses a speech generating device needs a simple non-electronic communication system too.
To begin, let me explain what low-tech communication methods are. They are any, non-speech, communication method [...]
How would you like a call chime that doesn’t just ring? It actually tells the person in the other room exactly what you need. For example, it lets your caregiver know if you need him immediately or you just want him to pop downstairs when he gets a chance. Maybe it instructs him to turn [...]
Two extremely useful buttons I program on virtually all my clients’ speech devices are variations on call chimes. They are included in the AlphaCore page set that I designed for people with ALS that is offered through DynaVox Mayer-Johnson (so now I don’t need to program them over and over again – Yay!). AlphaCore runs [...]
Appropriate call chimes or alerting systems are an essential, but often overlooked, part of a complete communication system for most pALS. In my last blog, I focused on standard and hands-free (aka: switch adapted) call chimes for summoning someone in another room of the house.
Now I want to look at personal emergency response systems (PERS) for [...]
Possibly the most overlooked and arguably essential element for a complete communication system is a call chime. Typically this is most critical for those who can’t walk or are in danger of falls. A person should never be left without a way to “call out” to others. Everyone must have the ability to signal to [...]
A patient and her family sit across from me and she has just made a confession: “I still mostly use handwriting to communicate.” She can’t even make eye contact when she reveals this. Two months ago she received a keyboard-style speech generating device (SGD). Her device was carefully selected during an evaluation and trials with [...]
We take it for granted that AAC users will require some training in strategies for adapting to a brand new method of communication. Frequently overlooked though, is the educational needs of AAC user’s communication partners.
At our ALS center, patients and their families occasionally recount being confounded by others’ lack of skill in interacting with a [...]
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