Devices and Software are highlighted!
DTA Vendor Cubby:
DTA is sponsoring a "Vendor Cubby" by donating a small area of our offices to be
used by different assistive technology manufacturers' representatives each
month. Every month, representatives for Dunamis, Inc; Dynavox
Technologies, Prentke Romich, Saltillo, Blink-Twice and Tobii/ATI come to work
in our Vendor Cubby. You can make appointments with the individual vendors
for training and product demonstrations. Click here to see the
Vendor Cubby Flyer!
One of the leading providers of simple assistive technology, Ablenet
consistently provides us with exceptional light technology options. You've
heard of the
Big Red
and the
All-Turn-It?
Well, these guys have it- along with a HOST of other products! This is my first
stop for light technology options. Go check out their newest, extremely cool
communication device, the
FL4SH- too innovative
to explain here- just go look!
Manufacturer of the
MyTobii P10,
Mercury,
MiniMerc and
L.E.O,
this company brings us impressive integrated communication device options
(computer/communication device). I have been very impressed with the
MyTobii for eye-gaze access. This is the best eye gaze device I have seen
to date. It has an 11" window of acceptable movement within which it
maintains calibration. I could even walk away from this device and come
back and still access the communication software and computer with my eyes.
Amazing! I have had good experiences with
their software including
Evaluware (see Tools
for Professionals page),
Stages and their
newest communication software option,
Viking 4.
Wonderful company with responsive staff. Wayne Jones, GA/FLA Sales
Representative for Tobii/ATI is in our office once a month for appointments and
to share the company's information. Call us for details on his next visit.
A brand new company with a fresh look and ideas about communicating.
They come to us with an exciting new product, the
TANGO, a dynamic
display device that looks like a PSP, feels like a Nickelodeon product and packs
a powerful communication punch with communication page sets designed by the top
thinkers in the AAC world. The TANGO and Blink Twice are definitely worth
a look! We're having some really great results with this product for our
patients. Give us a call to talk about the exciting things we're seeing!
Crick Software is a wonderful software company focusing on innovative
educational software. Here at Dynamic Therapy, we've just become a "Click
Center" and are offering information and activities to support these impressive
products. We're all just digging into the capabilities of the software and
we're impressed. Expect to see more from us as we hone our programming skills
and learn all the features of the preprogrammed content. Join us as we look at
Clicker 5, Cloze Pro, Click Paint and more!
"Crick Software promotes the inclusion of children of all abilities by creating
flexible products that can be tailored to the needs of individuals. Most
products have the option of switch access, for people with a disability who are
unable to use a mouse or keyboard.
The Company’s best-known product is Clicker, a supportive writing and
multimedia tool. Clicker has won numerous awards and is consistently one of the
top-selling educational software titles in the UK and is the #1 best selling
language arts products with several top educational resellers in the US.
Ready-made sets of learning resources to support Crick’s products can be
downloaded free from www.learninggrids.com. In addition to materials created
in-house, the site also offers teachers the opportunity to share materials they
have created for their own classrooms."
Dynavox Technologies and Mayer Johnson:
www.dynavoxtech.com
One of the very first companies to create and sell dynamic display
communication devices-and now the largest manufacturer of speech-generating
devices- Dynavox continues to WOW us with cutting edge software and hardware in
their speech generating devices. Dynavox provides us with the
V/Vmax,
M3,
Dynawrite,
Lightwriter
SL35 and more. This company provides exceptional software and
hardware, teaching ideas, training, technical support and warranty after
purchase. Dynavox software is powerful, with more features than I can
mention in this brief paragraph! Ron Steinberg, GA Sales Representative for
Dynavox is in our office once a month for appointments, technical support and to
share the company's information. Call us for details on his next visit.
Mayer-Johnson, Inc
www.mayerjohnson.com is a subsidiary of Dynavox Technologies. Many of
you know Mayer-Johnson for their
PCS symbols,
Boardmaker,
SDPro
and tons of light technology solutions. This company is the place to go for ALL
of your AAC training needs!
Eye Response System has the most amazing hands-free access for communication
I've ever seen. I immediately am reminded of one of my first AAC students
years ago back in Raleigh who had no consistent body movement we could harness
for switch access. At the time, my mentor, and good friend, Gracie
Williams, developed an amazing eye gaze system for him using a tremendous
plexiglass board and color-coding system- amazing! What could this young
man have done with the
ERICA,
from Eye Response? The ERICA is a Windows PC Tablet with an eye-tracking
camera for mouse control. And it actually works! The beautiful thing
about this system is that it's also accessible with keyboard, touchscreen,
mouse, and switch. What an option for our patients who have changing
access needs. This system was a recommendation straight from David Beukelman for
our ALS patients. You MUST go check this one out!!
Since 1966, this company has been helping our nonverbal friends communicate.
I've worked with their products since I was in graduate school in the late 80's
and have always had very good experiences with their hardware, software and
support team. Prentke Romich company prides itself on providing not just
the "box" but the language system needed for communicating effectively.
With its Minspeak language system, PRC provides exciting and time-tested means
of communication for children and adults. Devices include the
ECO14, Vantage/Vanguard,
Springboard/Springboard Lite and
Pathfinder An exceptional company with good interne resources
with a nice selection of teaching ideas and therapy materials on-line. Will
Stark, GA support for PRC products from Dunamis Inc., is in our office once a
month for appointments and to share the company's information. Call us for
details on his next visit.
Viking is a norwegian software company developing impressive communication
software options. I've had a chance to play around with their
VS Communicator
3, a flexible, dynamic display communication software that
allows use to change size, shape and color of buttons, launch computer programs,
send emails, play your music and more. Freebies are available on-line for
download. A company to keep an eye on!
Who hasn't heard of the Macaw? The Macaw was only the second AAC device
I ever had my hands on (the Wolf was the 1st!). I loved it then, and still
find myself coming back to it now. Zygo's static display device, the
Macaw, has been an industry standard for at least the 17 years I've been around!
The Macaw 5
is the latest version with flexible 1-32 locations (buttons), easy real-voice
programming and 32 levels (pages) that accepts direct input or a multitude of
switch scanning options. Zygo has also jumped into the dynamic display
communication device market with their
Optimist 3HD and
Dialect.
Take a look!
Words+ is one of the oldest companies in the AAC world. Words+ was
founded by Walt Waltosz many years ago and brings us
EZ Keys software. I haven't worked with this company in
quite a while. A visit from representative, Luis Dominguez, last week,
reminded me of the power of this software. EZ Keys software comes with the
impressive distinction of being the chosen software of Stephen Hawking (yes,
that Stephen Hawking, the astrophysicist ). I figure any software
coming with that recommendation deserves a moment of our attention! Here's
what the website says about EZ Keys: "EZ Keys XP is designed for users who
have at least a third-grade reading level and cannot speak or for users who
speak and desire adapted computer access. Users with a wide range of
disabilities find EZ Keys XP simple to operate and essential to everyday
communication. EZ Keys XP allows the literate user to do everything from typing
a letter, to engaging in conversation with a friend, to exploring the worldwide
web. World-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking uses the software to
communicate, write papers, and deliver lectures around the world." Go see
EZ Keys and the other products from this company including
Say-It-Sam
communication devices,
Freedom
series and some REALLY TOUGH equipment for those energetic patients!
Please note: This is not an exhaustive list of AAC device and
software manufacturers. These are companies with which we have had
positive experiences. New products and companies appear all the time.
We will continue to do our best exploring their products and bringing
information back to you!
