TECHNOLOGICAL AIDES and the CHILD with DVD

by Belinda Hill
Speech Pathologist
(B. App. Sc. Sp. Path. M. App. Ling.)

Most people would only consider using technological aides for communication if the child did not possess the ability to make sounds or communicate using verbal means. Technological aides can be used however to augment or assist communication (oral and written) with children, adolescents and adults. Technological aides are available in different shapes and forms, and for a variety of purposes. Some of these are discussed below:

• Machines that enhance speech
• Machines that produce a pre-recorded message when a picture/button is pressed (some have up to 144 messages)
• Talking screens for computers
• Typing speech devices with voice output
• Programs for devising symbol systems to assist in communication
• Programs for computers to create sentences
• Accessories for those children who have physical restrictions (ie. difficulty depressing buttons on a keyboard)

Aides can be used when communication is

• Absent
• Unclear (pictures and voice output can clarify what a child has said
• Restricted with vocabulary (pictures can "fill in" words a child cannot say)

Can assist by

• Clarifying messages articulated
• Prompting the child with a picture to initiate a spoken word
• Encouraging written expression by prompting with visual pictures
• Providing a mechanism by which a child can communicate how they feel, what they want, like or need in situations where they may have never been able to