iCommunicate!

Key Center recently won a $3000 grant to do some "action research" using an Apple iTouch™ and a highly rated assistive communication "AP" designed for the iTouch™ called Proloquo2go. The grant was awarded by the North Tier Consortium.

As anyone in the special education world knows, assistive communication devices can be quite cumbersome and very costly. An iTouch™ is small, very portable and the touch interface makes it more accessible and intuitive to operate. Proloquo2Go™ is a full-featured communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking. The ap offers natural sounding text-to-speech voices, familiar symbols, and a very large vocabulary. It is easily customized to meet the user's needs.

With the support of the grant, 4 Key Center teachers will receive training in using the iTouch and Proloquo2Go. They will then introduce this communication system to one of their students to determine if this will help improve their ability to communicate. Their experiences will be shared with one another and with others in the education field in the Key Center blog, Breaking All Barriers.

You are welcome to follow our progress as we explore this promising tool for the benefit of Key Center students. If you have any questions about the grant, please contact the school SBTS, Nicole Bracken.