Thoughtful Thursday/Appy Friday ~ aacorn

***This review has been updated with information regarding the latest update and "pruning" feature of the app as well as a fantastic giveaway!!!***

If you were to ask me what the main reason was that I decided to change from wanting to be a Gifted Education teacher to wanting to major in Speech-Language Pathology, the answer would be a simple one: AAC.  When I was in High School I was interning with an amazing gifted ed teacher (that I actually work with now... how funny?!?) and had the opportunity to observe another educator.  At the hinting of my SpEd teacher mother, I observed an SLP.  He worked with a student with cerebral palsy who utilized an AAC device to communicate.  I fell in LOVE!  How amazing is it that children who would otherwise not have a "voice" are heard via a device?  Anyway, I digress...

In the fall I learned of a new AAC app named "aacorn" that was being released.  I poked around their site to learn more and watched a video:

It looked good, it seemed to be a possible addition to the current tablet AAC options but you never know how an AAC app will work until it is in the hands of the students with whom you work.  I was excited when I was given the opportunity to try it out when it was released and have trialed it with 2 students recently.  Here's a bit more about the app, my experience, and the trials.

When you first open the app you are greeted by a friendly robot named "Buddy" who takes you through the initial set-up and orientation to the app.  There are some differences with how this app is set up so the tutorial is helpful.

One feature is the voice.  These are actual children recorded so there are currently 3 boy and 3 girl options.  They are relatively young-sounding but the developers plan to add new voices ASAP.  This can always be changed later if needed.

These screenshots show the options available right now.  You can change the size of pictures in relation to words, the voice, turning off/on the speak immediately option, interface sounds, volume, record level, swipe gestures on/off, bell on/off, customize shortcuts, lock type off/swipe/pin, backup data to dropbox/iTunes, and reset.  In the user accounts you can switch between 5 users!  Great for therapist trialing with students (as I did).  The last screenshot is the "ID Card" which is customizable with as much/little information as you'd like.  It is also how you access the change user/settings options

 So, the basics are that this is a word tree setup.  Basically to begin, the person picks a word/starter.  Then the app "suggests" what the next word might be.  At first this is pretty limiting but as the child uses it more and more, the words they use frequently move up in the word tree and are easily accessible.

 Here is an example of a sentence that I created by moving through the word tree.  I had to add a few words but now that I have, I will not need to in the future, they are in my word tree.  Notice how the sentence is pretty long.  I'll get to that in a bit but it's a good feature of this app.

If you create a sentence that you will use a lot, you can hit the little star in the sentence box and it will be saved to the favorites screen which can be accessed by hitting the big star at the bottom.  I haven't used this much but for children who use the app this could be very convenient.

This is my favorite setup of the "shortcut" side buttons.  It comes pre-programmed but it can be changed in the settings.  I like to have greetings, yes/no, and the "I" starter word because most of their sentences start with "I" at that young age.  Then you hit the down arrow and another set of "shortcuts" is revealed.  I use this for endings of words and frequently used categories.  It's nice to have these accessible.  Teaching ing/ed/s to AAC users has always been difficult and I like that this option allows for that teaching to occur without much pre-programming of the device.

 The available words are customizable as well.  You can add and delete words to groups through the settings.  This is a nice option if you want to limit available words for any reason.

When you hit the little + button on a tree you are brought to the library.  One of the downfalls of the current app is that it is limited.  However, adding new words is relatively easy.  When I searched for "Speech Therapy" there isn't an icon so I press "New +" and am taken to this screen:

 I add a photo or drawing of "Speech Therapy" then record the voice saying it.  If you want to have another peer say the word it may help with it not sounding differently as an adult voice would.

Then you choose the category and it's ready to be added to a sentence!  You can also see a drawing above as an example.  The student or adult can draw!  You can also draw on photos, existing words, etc.

In the newest release of the app, a great new feature was added.  "Pruning" allows you to trim words from the word trees to limit words available, correct a tree that was accidentally added to, etc.  Above you see that to utilize the pruning, you select the scissors icon on the right, select the word(s) that you want to delete from a tree, and then select the scissors again to confirm the deletion.  The words can always be added back but this great addition was a most-requested feature that is now available!  We will be pruning some word trees this week for sure!

But, of course, you will never actually need to prune "speech therapy" from the "love" word tree!  Here is a sentence that a student ACTUALLY did for me last week!  Best ever!

Now, I know what many of you are thinking... "What about Motor Planning?!?".  I hear you, I get it.  This is completely different.  It's new.  It's untested.  No research articles can attest to this type of technology yet.  Yet.  So, I trialed it with 2 students that I see and provide that to you here.

Student 1:

Elementary

Nonverbal student with some basic sign/nonverbal communication.  Currently uses a grid-based AAC app.

This student figured out the app relatively quickly but the word trees were frustrating to them as they are used to a grid-based system.  They became frustrated when I needed to program a new word for them to use.  They preferred to move to the grid-based section of this app but that is not how the app is intended and they became frustrated.  While I do believe that they could eventually figure out this app, it may be a bit limiting for them in their current level and knowledge base.  They, with work, move very quickly through a grid-based system and appears that they will be able to use that system very quickly in the future.  Motor planning appears to be beneficial for them and the way to approach their AAC use.  We decided to stop the trialing of aacorn with this student and return to their previous app.

Student 2:

Elementary

Nonverbal student with very limited communication.  Currently uses a grid-based AAC app.

This student has used several AAC devices/apps in their elementary "career".  They need hand-over-hand assistance to utilize the device for communication purposes.  At times, they press the same word several times in a row without apparent communicative intent.  When we first utilized aacorn with this student, they were able to independently introduce themselves!  This has never happened without hand-over-hand assistance.  Since then, the student has also been able to independently request activities, rewards for hard work, and more.  Because they are not able to hit a word multiple times, that behavior has decreased.  The word tree seems to help this student add words to their "sentence" that would not otherwise be utilized.  It is also appears that only having 5 options at a time is helpful in narrowing down possibilities.  The previous AAC app was fully programmed with thousands of words that were unnecessary and beyond this student's apparent knowledge base.  Because of the success and progress, we have decided to continue trialing this app with this student during their time at school for further information.

Overall, this is a wonderful and relatively inexpensive AAC app!  There are constant improvements being made to the app as they develop it and hear feedback.  Here is my quick pros/improvements list:

Pros:

• It's a new approach to AAC and the interface is gorgeous.
• Good symbols - easy to understand and fun.
• Real children were recorded for this app - gives the child a "real" voice.
• Promotes language learning in-app.
• "Learns" to anticipate what a child may be wanting to say.
• Designed for children specifically which is a pro if you work with children.
• Editing is "locked" by swiping or a pin.
• Every word is customizable at any time.  Using drawings, photos, recordings of words, and placement in categories.
• Words can be disabled if need be or added back into the library.
• Search bar included when adding words to the tree.
• Included "favorites" page creates easy access to frequently used sentences.
• Shortcuts remain on the screen at all times to have easy access to those needed frequently.
• Unlimited users/profiles.
• Students who have struggled with grid-based systems may benefit from this setup.
• "Connector" words are a huge part of this app and encourage full sentences (eg. "I want to eat apple" instead of "want apple")
• "Pruning" allows you/the user to cut words from a word tree temporarily/permanently.
• aacorn staff is available to help users if difficulties arise.  They can even skype with you.
• It is cheaper than many current AAC app options.  It is $189.99 with a 50% discount on volume orders from education institutions and 15% donated to further research about children's health issues.

Improvements:

• It's a new approach to AAC and there is no research regarding it at this time.
• The included library is fairly small compared to some other apps.  I'm hopeful that they will add more words in future updates.  (for example, common words such as "shoe" is not included which seemed odd)
• I wish the speech bubble was a bit closer to either the word tree or the sentence bar.  Though, you can touch the first word in the sentence bar at any time to activate the sentence as well.
• The voices are quite young.  I would say using this for students that are teenagers or above at this time may be strange.  However, all words can be re-recorded so it is possible to use with any age if words are re-recorded.
• Students who are used to grid-based systems may experience difficulty.
• The editing tools and robot can be distracting - we utilize "guided access" to avoid this when needed.  The robot will be lock-able in future updates though.

Overall a great app that I have enjoyed using with several students.  As always, please consult a Speech-Language Pathologist or other qualified individual when considering AAC options for a child.  It is currently available for $189.99 in the app store:

Do you think this app is appropriate for your students or child?  Enter below for a chance to win one of 5 copies of aacorn!  How awesome?!?

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Thanks for reading,