Using TD Snap to Build Multimodal, Inclusive Learning Environments

Hey Tek-ninjas! Today, I'm excited to share a guest blog post from my colleague Michelle Lassiter. Michelle is a speech therapist, and the Tobii Dynavox Solutions Consultant for South Carolina. She's super smart, and I loved this idea she had and shares with the SLPs she works with! Naturally, I asked her if she'd write up a post for me and you, and here it is!

Using TD Snap to Build Multimodal, Inclusive Learning Environments
As an SLP and AAC consultant, one of my favorite ways to enhance both therapy and classroom instruction is by integrating the Tobii Dynavox TD Snap Core Pageset with customized pages for articulation, phonology, and literacy support. Over time, I’ve built-out pages within TD Snap that function as my digital therapy toolkit. This allows me to be always organized, always accessible, and always ready to meet the needs of every student who walks through the door.

Using TD Snap during lessons and therapy helps not only me, as the SLP, but also my teachers and AAC teams feel confident navigating the software. And before you tell me it’s “too much work to learn another app,” hear me out, because this setup is designed to make your life easier, not harder. And it is a free tool for all SLP’s and AAC professionals!

A Reality Every School‑Based SLP Knows Too Well

Before moving into AAC full‑time, I spent years as a school‑based SLP with zero therapy budget. Like so many of us, I purchased countless materials from Teachers Pay Teachers, stayed up late laminating and cutting, and tried to build a library of visuals and activities I could grab quickly.

But the reality was:

• My preschool groups would pivot activities with no warning
• A new group would walk in needing completely different materials
• The laminated resources I spent hours prepping were never in front of me at the right moment

TD Snap completely changed that. Instead of scrambling for physical materials, I could preload everything directly into my free TD Snap for Professionals app. Therapy became smoother, more flexible, and far more responsive to the moment‑to‑moment needs of young learners and my busy SLP schedule.

Therapy Tools Right Where You Need Them

Inside the Topics section in TD Snap, I create one main button, which I typically labeled “Therapy Tools.”

 
That button opens to a dedicated page containing:

• Articulation & phonology pages for specific targets
• Literacy pages with book‑specific vocabulary
• Core‑based book supports that preload key words from stories or activities
• Quick‑access visuals, sound‑production videos, routines, and supports

The result is a neatly organized, instantly accessible digital therapy bag. So, no more digging through folders, losing materials, or juggling multiple apps!

Supporting Teachers and ELL Students
When teachers connect TD Snap to their smart boards, they gain immediate access to the same vocabulary students are using on their devices. This allows them to:

• Model AAC naturally during instruction
• Support ELL students with visual and linguistic scaffolds
• Aid students with learning and thinking differences
• Reinforce academic vocabulary in real time

Because therapy and instructional vocabulary live in the same place, AAC becomes a natural, consistent part of classroom learning and provides multi-modal learning supports for ALL learners while modeling AAC for those who need it!

Building Confidence for AAC Teams

Customizing Pagesets this way helps SLPs, teachers, and paraprofessionals learn the software without feeling overwhelmed. Embedding therapy and literacy materials directly within the TD Snap for Professional’s app system gives teams experience with the software providing:

• A predictable structure
• Familiar navigation
• Hands‑on confidence editing buttons, linking pages, and modeling AAC.

The result is a classroom where communication is supported across the entire day; vocabulary is accessible, and AAC becomes a shared language for everyone, and not just the student using it. All that from a tool I can access for free as an AAC Professional! Definitely a win-win in my world.

If you are a Speech Therapist, and you'd like to get your professional license of TD Snap, just reach out to your local Solutions Consultant, and they can help you out!

Your Voice Matters: Contribute to AAC Research

Hey Tek-ninjas!  I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday if you celebrate. Right before the break I shared the post on the Augur AAC research results. There is a new US based study now open for AAC users and/or their care givers. This is an independent study which aims to capture real-life experiences from AAC users, families, and caregivers. The goal is to show how high-tech communication tools make a difference in everyday life. It's my belief (and other's) that this study isn’t just about numbers, but rather stories, impact, and advocacy.

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What’s This Survey About?

Responses should come from:

• AAC users
• Caregivers or assistants to AAC users

Responses are completely anonymous and will help better understand the value of communication tools for users, caregivers, and society at large. And like the study discussed in the previous post, while this study is commissioned by Dynavox Group, similarly, participants can use any AAC product.

Survey Details:

• AAC users: 15–20 questions
• Caregivers: 20–30 questions
• Optional extra questions if you have time
• You can pause and resume later on the same device
  By participating, you consent to the collection and use of socio-economic information, including aspects related to health and well-being.

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Why Participate?

• Your responses help researchers understand the true value of AAC.
• Your responses has the potential to inform policy, funding, and access decisions.
• Your responses can amplify the voices of those who rely on AAC every day.

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Ready to Make a Difference?

Click here to join or share the study
It’s quick, confidential, and your contribution could help others gain better access to communication tools.  

Exploring the Benefits of Augmentative and Alternative: A Game-Changer for AAC Users

 Hey Tek-ninjas! I’m excited to share some fascinating findings from a recent study out of Germany that shines a bright light on the real-world impact of high-tech AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) solutions. 

This research, conducted by Augur and Prof. Dr. Tom Stargardt at the Hamburg Center of Health Economics, was commissioned by Dynavox Group. I'd want to to point out that the study is agnostic in nature, and users of any AAC SGD are welcome. The researchers were not looking at one manufacturer, and instead hoped to show the power of AAC as a whole.

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What Did They Do?

From October 2024 to March 2025, researchers interviewed:

• 12 users and caregivers (physical/digital interviews)
• 6 professionals
  That’s 18 in-depth conversations to start.
  Then they added:
• 188 online surveys with users and caregivers across Germany.

With a relatively large sample it’s a robust look at AAC in action.

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The Big Takeaways

• Quality of Life:
  AAC nearly doubles a user’s quality of life. For someone who struggles to communicate, these tools aren’t just helpful, but can actually be transformative.

• Return on Investment:
  High-tech AAC solutions pay for themselves about 1.4 times over. I think that anecdotally, clinicians have always thought AAC was good for individuals, but this study suggest that AAC is also good for economics. I'd go so far as to say that investing in AAC pays dividends for society.

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Why Does This Matter?

For years, we’ve known AAC changes lives. This study gives us data to back up what clinicians, caregivers, and users have been saying all along:
AAC isn’t a luxury or party trick, but rather it is an essential investment.

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Want to Dive Deeper?

You can grab:

• The full Germany study
• An executive summary
• A poster with key findings

All free of charge. 

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As someone who’s spent years in the AAC space, I love seeing research that validates what we do. If you’re a therapist, educator, or advocate, share this with your team. Let’s keep pushing for access, because communication is a human right.

Stay sharp, Tek-ninjas, and happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate!

DAGG-3: assess, reassess, goal writing, strategies, lessons all in one!

 Hi Tek-ninjas, are you familiar with the DAGG-2? If you’ve not heard yet, I have good news for you. There is a new version - the DAGG-3 and it is better than ever!  

The DAGG-3 (Dynamic AAC Goals Grid, edition 3) is a highly effective assessment tool used by SLPs and other professionals to assess, plan, implement and track goals for augmentative and alternative communicators of all levels.

The DAGG-3 was developed by Tobii Dynavox in conjunction with Vicki Clarke, MS, CCC-SLP (2023) based on the original DAGG created by Clarke and Schneider, 2009. Informed by the works of Patricia Dowden, PhD (1999), and Janice Light, PhD (1989, 2014).

It’s available to all at no cost. And you can get your copy here. Historically, as an occupational therapist working in the school systems I found the DAGG tools to be uniquely, helpful in breaking down complex speech concepts for all stakeholders, and getting a whole team on board understanding both deficits and affordances faced by the student.

Happy therapy!

Mandatory Boardmaker Updates!

Hey Tek-ninjas! This one goes out to anyone using Boardmaker.  On February 21st Boardmaker announced "On Thursday, March 2, we will be releasing version 7.2.5 of the Boardmaker 7 Editor and Boardmaker 7 Student Center. This is a REQUIRED update for all users." 

If you don't run updates by April 1st, you risk losing ability to log in to your Boardmaker Account.

Those of you who have updated the Editor since last summer will get the Editor update automatically and just need to click "install".

Those who didn't update the Editor last year will need to download and install it. Everyone will need to download and install the Student Center update from get.myboardmaker.com.

All Boardmaker subscribers should receive a notification to this effect. You can read more about this here, and if you have questions about this process, you can ask them here. 

Good luck, and happy therapy!

Supporting GLP with TD Snap and Caroline

Hey Tek-ninjas, if you serve individuals with Autism and possible AAC needs, I want to recommend this 1 hour course “Supporting Gestalt Language Processors with TD Snap" from Tobii Dynavox. This presentation discusses how features within TD Snap can facilitate language development for Gestalt Language Processors who are AAC users. In this session you'll explore potential page set ups to support their language learning style.

Recently I posted about the upcoming NCACA Conference and how great those presenters are. This offering is presented by one of them, Caroline Gaddy, who is both a friend and a colleague. Caroline is uniquely qualified to teach this course because she is Autistic, the mother of neurodivergent children, a Speech Therapist, and a Tobii Dynavox Solutions Consultant. This presentation received so much positive feedback from SLPs and Caregivers, imo it's not to be missed. 

You will of course need a free account for the Tobii Dynavox Learning Hub if you don't have one. As I've posted before, if you already have a log in for www.mytobiidynavox.com or the https://efunding.tobiidynavox.com, those are Single Sign-ins, and you can log in with that username and password. 

Happy therapy!

TD Snap Motor Plan in the US!

 Hey Tek-ninjas! A number of you are already aware that Tobii Dynavox is releasing a new Motor Plan page set in the US. It was released a month or so back in the UK, and the feedback so far has been pretty terrific.

If this is news to you, here's what Tobii Dynavox has to say about the page set: "TD Snap Motor Plan is an efficient way for learners with complex access needs to develop language. This page set focuses on core words and word-by-word sentence construction. Each word appears only once with a distinct path, or motor plan, to find it. Over time, the communicator will automatically locate words, allowing them to focus more on what they want to say.

The page set comes in 30 and 66 position layouts and are optimised to find words faster, customise vocabulary and grow language with the brand new vocabulary filter. Join us to learn all about how these exciting new page sets can support early language learners and advanced communicators alike."

One of the many aspects I'm excited about here is that if you are already familiar with TD Snap, you already know how to edit and customize the page set because the Motor Plan is run by the same engine. 

Tobii Dynavox has posted on their website that they anticipate the page sets will be released at the end of January. If you'd like to learn more they ask you to fill out and submit this form. 

There are live trainings planned on the following dates via Zoom. Each session has 300 seats, but I'd wager, they will fill up quickly!

Wednesday, January 25th 8-8:45 ET

Thursday, January 26th 3-3:45 ET

Friday, January 27th 12-12:45 ET

These trainings are free of charge. While you are there, check out all of the other great live trainings. 

Happy therapy!

NCACA 40th ANNUAL CONFERENCE VIRTUAL

 Hey Tek-Ninjas! I'm writing today to inform you of the upcoming 40th Annual NCACA Virtual
Conference. It will be Friday, February 24, 2023, 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM EST. The folks at NCACA always put on a great conference, and this year will be no exception. 

If you were at ASHA this year, you may have heard Caroline Gaddy present. If you missed it, well, good news, she is presenting here. Caroline's topic title is: "Applying a Neurodiversity Framework to Supporting Autistic AAC Users". Caroline is an Autistic & multiply neurodivergent SLP and AAC Tobii Dynavox Consultant based in Virginia. I get to brag to people that we work together!

Also presenting is Emily Diaz, Emily is a school-based SLP with a robust Instagram following. I'm a big fan of her IG account, and encourage you to check it out if you have not. Emily's presentation is titled: "Unlocking Their Potential: Coaching Habits That Increase Stakeholder Buy-In for AAC".

The final presenter is Lauren (Enders) Gonzales. Lauren is an SLP and AAC/AT consultant working for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit in Eastern Pennsylvania. Lauren's presentation is titled: "AAC for Me! Considerations for AAC System Personalization".

All three of these presenters have been presenting on the national level and each one of them alone would make a conference great. Having the three of them guarantees a stellar day of learning. Don't miss it! When I registered, there were only 98 slots open. 

"His vocabulary has grown tremendously...."

Hey Tek-ninjas! A while back, I posted how Kiyah uses her AAC device to effectively navigate her life. More recently, Tobii Dynavox posted a short clip of a boy named Brock and how he uses the TD i110. I've shared it below.

I'm sharing Brock's video, because I believe many folks don't understand the power of AAC, and it is simply a joyous clip!  Similar to the video of Kiyah, this video of Brock provides a terrific look into AAC. On the linked page, Brock's mother is quoted saying: "His vocabulary has grown tremendously, and we love seeing our lil’ man finally being able to speak his mind". Those are powerful words!

Check out the link to read more about Brock's success, what life with Assistive Technology can look like, and the benefits of having a solid team helping our AAC users. 

Happy therapy!

Opportunity for End of Year LEARNING (and CEUs): Deep dive into implementing AAC.

Hey Tek-ninjas, the Tobii Dynavox Learning Team is excited to announce a virtual conference that you and your colleagues won't want to miss! They have great new content that takes a deeper dive into implementing AAC.

When: December 6th and 7th, the Learning Team is hosting a two-day learning event where learners can earn up to 10 PDH or 1.0 ASHA CEUs. Also, they are all free of charge.

Tobii Dynavox is not saying this.... Just me.... I've taken all of the ASHA approved courses and received full credit from AOTA. Just say'n. 

 
Where: use this link to view the conference landing page, and explore the courses offered.

Hope to see you there!

Hurricane Books: Let's get ready!

Hey Tek-ninjas! In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on many of us on the East coast, I wanted to take a moment and remind you have the collection of printable books Tobii Dynavox makes available that help explain and prepare all communicators for natural disasters, including blizzards, earthquakes, wildfires, and more timely - hurricanes. These books are free and available to anyone. 

Go ahead and log into the Learning Hub - you can use your single sign-in account from Tobii Dynavox's mytobiidynavox, eFunding platform, or Boardmaker online to log in. If you don't have any of these accounts, they are free to make. 

Once logged in, go ahead and search for "natural disasters". This 'course' will provide the downloadable PDFs to support discussion of natural disasters. 

I think both the "We are Ready", and "Hurricanes" books would be useful for families and schools this week. 

To reiterate, I believe these books can be useful for any of your folks who might struggle to understand natural disasters that are coming their way, regardless of the language system they use. 

I hope you all stay safe! 

How the rubber hits the road for teaching and integrating AAC

Hey Tek-ninjas! It's been a minute. So much happening professionally and personally. The two most significant milestones.... my 21 year old son just moved to Portland, Oregon, and my 25 year old son is moving to Berlin in mid-September. Sigh. Such good stuff, but I am going to miss them tremendously. And we will officially be empty-nesters again. Fortunately, my wife and I still really like one another! 

But. that's not what I intended to share today. Long time readers may remember that I blogged about the integration of the Boardmaker Activity Player into TD Snap a few years back. Today, I want to share a new video that was made by the Tobii Dynavox Learning team. The video titled "Communicate and Learn with the Boardmaker Player in TD Snap really does an amazing job at showcasing how well Boardmaker integrates into TD Snap for communication, AND supports occupational performance in all environments. 

Speech Therapists, caregivers, and other professionals are eager to know concrete skills like "how to edit a button" or "link to a page" - but - what is sometimes harder to teach is how to integrate and teach AAC. This video does an amazing job at show-casing both of these tasks leveraging the integrated Boardmaker Player. 

I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to share it with your fellow AAC oriented colleagues! 

Happy Therapy!

Keep Learning!

Hey Tek-ninjas! Just a quick reminder of all the live webinars available at the Tobii Dynavox Learning Hub. These are zero cost, generally about an hour, and full of terrific content. See a sample of courses, dates, and times below. 

One of my graduate professors, way back in the day, was fond of saying; 'twenties-years of experience don't matter if it's the same year over and over'. Her message was advice to be sure to keep learning!

Maybe bookmark the site so you can come back and visit them when you need content. Some of our clinics treat these like book-clubs either watching together to discuss, or independently. Might be a nice continuing professional development for your group?

Happy Learning!

Living an All Access Life with Brad and Dan!

 Hey Tek-ninjas! Have you heard of "All Access Life"? If not, get familiar with their work. You will be inspired, and educated. That's a beautiful feeling! 

Brad and Dan run the company. They've had a long friendship which you can read about here, and the quality of their friendship comes through in all of their videos with their joking and mutual respect for one another. Their intention in making "All Access Life" was to create a website that showcases the latest trends and movements in adaptive products and assistive technologies. 

Brad was born with nonverbal spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, and he showcases products that have made a difference in his life. Additionally, they also showcase products which are appropriate for folk with various disabilities. 

The videos are not just informative, they are super fun to watch. According to their website, their "mission is to empower people with disabilities to live their best life through adaptive products". That's our jam here at Tek-ninja! 

On the website, they review products which have transformed Brad's life. You can see video reviews about those  adaptive products on their featured products page. 

Perhaps my favorite video is the unboxing of the newest Tobii Dynavox innovation, which I've blogged about before, the TD Pilot. 

So, go check out "All Access Life", you may find a technological solution that helps make someone's life better!

Happy therapy!

South Carolina Solutions Consultant Position

 Hey Tek-ninjas! I have got another opportunity for YOU to help deliver voices with Tobii Dynavox. 

Unfortunately one of our Solutions Consultants needs to relocate, so our South Carolina position is open.

Perhaps this is the opportunity you have been waiting for! 

We prefer candidates with a Bachelor Degree and 2+ years of durable medical device sales experience OR clinical background. 

Maybe you ought to consider checking it out? You can read more here. Come work with me!

Delivering Voices Opportunity!

Hey Tek-ninjas! I know I'm always effusive about Tobii Dynavox. Almost 5 years in, and I still believe this company and the work we do is phenomenal. 

I love delivering voices! Have you ever thought about working for Tobii Dynavox? Well, a Solutions Consultant position has opened in the Maryland/DC area. We prefer candidates with a Bachelor Degree and 2+ years of durable medical device sales experience OR clinical background. 

Maybe you ought to consider checking it out? You can read more here. Come work with me!

TD Snap Discount!

Hey Tek-ninjas! We are coming up on World Autism Day. For folks working with AAC, that often means deep discounts on pricey communication apps. Annual discounts are great, but I believe pricing should not be an obstacle to having a voice. 

I love that TD Snap is so affordable year round. Following the trend of discounting communication apps, April 2nd, TD Snap will be on sale in the Apple store at 15% off. It will be a one day, Apple Store only sale. 

APRIL 2nd, TD Snap will be 15% off.

April 2nd, the AAC app which is normally $49.99, will be approximately $42.50!

If you are in a school district, and leveraging the Volume Purchase Program even when NOT on sale, 20 copies of TD Snap costs equal to or less than the 2 copies of the competition's software. 

Also, I want to highlight, that if your AAC communicator is text-literate, and does NOT need symbol support, TD Talk remains free for your iOS users. That's year round. I blogged about TD Talk a few weeks back here. 

Do you know someone who needs a voice? One of these offerings may be just what they need. 

The more you know....

 Hey Tek-ninjas! I have blogged about the Tobii Dynavox Learning Hub multiple times before. I'm doing so again today. 

If you are interested in AAC, perhaps you are a parent, an educator, or a therapist (SLP, OT, PT, etc) this educational content is for you, and you can choose catered content. There is no cost to access any of it. All you need is "Single Sign On" Tobii Dynavox account. And, if you have a Tobii Dynavox account, that's what you have!

A Single Sign ON account will allow you to access all the courses and webinars in the Learning Hub. That same account will allow you to access mytobiidynavox, the eFunding Platform, AND Boardmaker Online. 

If you are a Speech Therapist, you should know, there are currently 36 courses with ASHA approved CEUs. As an Occupational Therapist, I was able to submit all of them, and received credit from AOTA as well. All of those 36 courses are either 30 or 60 minutes long. While this content is built by Tobii Dynavox, I'm pleased that a lot of the content can be generalized to all AAC interventions. 

So, go get your learning on!

Let's talk about TD Talk

 Hey Tek-ninjas! It's been awhile. Hope everyone is having a good pandemic.  Lot's of busy-ness going on in my work life. All good stuff. Tobii Dynavox recently released an overhauled i110. The changes are subtle at first glance but significant! I'll write more about that later, but for now, let's just say "faster, tougher, and more responsive". 

Today I want to blog about TD Talk. 

TD Talk came out when the TD Pilot was launched a few months back. The Pilot came out to great fanfare. I blogged about it here. With the excitement of true eye-gaze integrated with Apple (actually MFi) folks may have not paid as close attention to TD Talk, which accompanied the Pilot along with TD Snap. 

If you are working with folks who need AAC, specifically folks who are text literate, you want to take a closer look at TD Talk. While it does come pre-loaded on the Pilot, did you know that if you don't have a Pilot, you can still access TD Talk on the iTunes App store? 

TD Talk is available for free! It's not a trial. It's not temporary. And yes, the voices work. 

A significant factor in this decision was the need to help ALS clients who need a voice today, but perhaps don't qualify for funding at this stage of their journey. If they have an iPad, they can have a voice. Later, if they need DME with eye gaze, they can get a TD Pilot funded, and transition straight to that mode of access, without having to learn new software. Ultimately, we've been finding that a number of folks are appreciating the software regardless of age or disability. 

TD Talk offers a large selection of languages and voices to express yourself as naturally as possible. Allowing for fast, predictive sentence construction, and easy in-sentence editing, this is a remarkably lean, fast, and efficient communication app. 

User's will also appreciate the simple keyboard, along with a few quick-fire phrases to balance speed with flexibility. 

Take a look at it, I suspect you too will be impressed. 

Happy therapy!

Accurate AND precise eye-gaze on an iPad!

 Hey Tek-ninjas! Today is a big day for Tobii Dynavox and AAC users. This morning, Tobii Dynavox introduces the TD Pilot.  TD Pilot provides native integration of eye tracking in iPadOS and has been certified to meet Apple performance standards. It enables communication and full use of iPad apps for people with disabilities, via eye control and other access methods. The TD Pilot offers what is currently the only MFi Certified Eye-tracker on the market. 

While there are a few other companies that had dipped there toes into the eye-tracker world with iPads already, none of them (that I know of) have an equivalent offering with Region Base Interaction (RBI), essentially pulling the user's eye to the chosen target with accuracy and precision - indoors OR outdoors. Additionally, TD Pilot uses Smart bright pupil and dark pupil tracking technology which means that the eye tracker is always adjusting to the light conditions and the user to ensure the optimal user experience.

Just like on the proven Windows-based iSeries, TD Pilot has the celebrated Partner Window, and the same powerful speakers. 

TD Pilot when funded, comes with TD Snap, TD Talk, and TD CoPilot. The first many AAC stakeholders are familiar with. TD Talk is a brand new efficient text-to-speech app, and TD CoPilot is the companion app which provides calibration, software updates, and battery status. 

Everyone I've spoken with who has had a chance to test drive the TD Pilot has been very impressed. If you are going to be at ASHA this week, come by, check one out, and say hi to me! If you can't make ASHA, but want to see one for a possible user, reach out to your friendly neighborhood Solutions Consultant. They will be able to help you determine if the TD Pilot is right for you or your client(s)!

Happy therapy!