More AAC apps for FREE!

by | Jul 15, 2023 | AAC, blog, modeling

Time for an update!

In a previous blog post, I shared how I was working my way through the fantastic chart shared by Angela Moorad, MS CCC-SLP,  from Omazing Kids AAC, LLC – Free AAC apps chart. Now, I’m back to update you on my progress, apps that I’ve added to my iPad through the steps in this chart, and the next steps, now that I have access to these apps.

Here are the apps that I have added to my iPad so far: 

hand drawn image of an iPad with a communication device grid drawn in

  • TD Snap
  • Proloquo
  • Grid 3
  • Touch Chat
  • LAMP Words For Life
  • Speak For Yourself
  • Proloquo2Go

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge how easy this process has been and I 100% attribute that to the chart referenced above. Download this chart, follow the steps listed for each app and you too can add a variety of AAC apps to your iPad. 

Before we move on, I want to be sure that I remind you that, just because you CAN get access to all of these apps, doesn’t mean that you SHOULD, or HAVE to! Let me explain…

laptop keyboard with yellow post-it attached with red text reading "remember"!

While the companies are generous and provide free codes for downloads for their apps, these free download codes are not unlimited. Therefore, if you primarily use one app, want to learn more about a specific app, etc then that would be the app to start with, look at first and then wait on the others. However, if you are an SLP or other professional that provides AAC evaluations, it might make sense for you to have a variety of AAC apps available to you in order to trial them with learners, clients, etc. to determine which app works best for each individual. With that being said, I have downloaded these apps because I am actively providing AAC evaluations for a variety of learners and/or clients.

After being provided access to these AAC apps, my next steps, and what I would encourage you to do as well, is to continue your professional learning about each of these apps. Because, while all the apps provide a way to assist communication for those that need it, each app has its own, individual language system, organization, features, etc. Increasing your knowledge of the different features within systems will assist you when you are completing an AAC evaluation and determining which feature(s) will be best for each individual user. 

With the ever-increasing variety of AAC apps available, this task can seem overwhelming, but remember, as I shared in a previous post – it’s ok to take your time. Start with one app, learn the features of that app, practice using that app, etc and then, when you feel confident, move on to a new app, then rinse and repeat. 

Have you downloaded the chart yet? Are you working through learning more about AAC apps?  Comment below and let us know how it’s going!

Ready to add some AAC apps to your iPad – for FREE?!?!

by | Jul 2, 2023 | AAC, blog, training

You know how you hear some things and think that they are just too good to be true? Well, getting a bunch of AAC apps for your iPad for free may sound too good to be true, but I promise you it’s both – it’s good AND true!image with a full coffee cup, glasses, pen and post-its with a the note "first things first" written on it.

First things first, I want to share that some of these apps that are free are the “lite” version of the full app, meaning that they may not have all of the features that the full app has, such as speaking, editing, etc. However, these “lite” versions are great to access to help determine what a system looks like, how to navigate throughout it, etc as this may help you decide if you would like to pursue the app further for your child, student, client, etc. If you were to pursue the full purchase of an app that you trialed in the “lite” version then all of the features would be opened up and fully usable once the purchase was complete. 

 

image of a yellow post-it with the word "free!" written on it in red inkWith all of that being said, there are some apps and companies that do provide FREE access to the FULL apps for various professionals working with AAC users to use for evaluation purposes. Angela Moorad, MS CCC-SLP,  from Omazing Kids AAC, LLC has created an amazing resource that you can download for free from Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) that shares a variety of AAC apps as well as how you can access the “lite” version and/or the full version for evaluation purposes. You can find this TPT resource here: Free AAC apps chart. She also has a wealth of information on her website about this and a ton of other AAC resources so make sure you check that out too!

To reinforce the fact that this is not too good to be true, I have been following her chart and the information provided within it and have started adding new AAC apps to my iPad for evaluations without paying a penny! In order to gain access to some of the free, full versions of the apps, the various app development companies may have some additional training that you need to complete prior to receiving the code for downloading the app. These trainings, etc are very helpful to ensure that you know how to best utilize the app to best serve the students, children, and clients that you will be using the app with. 

I will share more about the processes I complete while adding various AAC apps to my iPad in future posts so stay tuned!