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!

Snap Core First goes lo-tech!

Hey Tek-ninjas! So this is a pretty cool thing.... you know sometimes you want/need to try a lo-tech AAC intervention for a variety of reasons. Well, Tobii Dynavox has a FREE lo-tech option for you to consider. 

You can now download and print PDF books of the core word pages from the Snap Core First app. Such lo-tech communication books can serve as a great introduction to language for symbol-supported communicators before they get their device. Or keep them on hand as a simple solution to be used in the car, at the playground, near the pool, or anywhere else it might be inconvenient to use a device. 

Core First Communication Books are also available to download via Pathways for Core First.

Then you can consider "print on regular paper", or "print on tear-proof paper".... I'm looking forward to seeing the creative ways folks utilize this resource!

Happy therapy!

Tek-merchandise!

 Hey Tek-ninjas! I hope you all will indulge me in a moment of self promotion. 

Over a year ago I made myself a pair of custom shoes to wear for trade-shows and conferences that celebrated PECS and AAC. I received a lot of positive feedback, and people inquired where they could buy them. 

I now have those shoes and a few T-shirts available for your acquisition here, or above in the menu Tek-merch. 

Thanks and have a great weekend!