Living Room
Communication Aids
I want information about...
- help with communicating with friends and family
What can it be used for?
A communication aid is a device that can be used to help someone to communicate, a communication app is a programme that can be downloaded on a smartphone, tablet or computer that can be used to help someone to communicate. There are many different types of communication aids and apps which work in different ways. Some of the different ways aids or apps can help communication are:
- use of pictures to overcome difficulty thinking of or understanding words or to offer simple choices
- reading out written text or handwriting
- scanning written information and reading it out
- speaking out loud text that the person has written
- speaking out loud words that the person has chosen through clicking on them or touching them on the screen or saying words when the person clicks on a picture that represents that word
- making sounds louder so the person can hear them
- making written text or pictures bigger
Search for 'communication apps' or 'communication aids' on the internet. Adding the type of communication barriers the person faces and whether they are an adult or a child to the search can help to find more specific responses. For apps you can also search in the App Store. If these types of easily accessible communication aids aren't working, then a specialist assessment by a speech and language therapist might be needed you can find more information on the LCHS website: Adult Speech and Language Therapy :: Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust
If communication difficulties relate to hearing or eyesight difficulties, then sensory services might be able to provide more specialist advice: Lincolnshire Sensory Services – Sight and Hearing Loss Support
Benefits
- Improved communication: Apps and aids for communication can help a person to be able to communicate what they want to say and understand other people more easily. They can help people to overcome communication barriers related to speech, hearing, eyesight and difficulty remembering words or putting sentences together
- Independence: being able to communicate more easily with others means the person can usually be more independent with tasks such as going to the shops
- Increased choice and control: being able to communicate more easily can mean that the person can make more choices about their life
Things to Consider
- Suitability: What causes barriers to the person communicating? It might be difficulty with speech, hearing, eyesight, using the right word or putting sentences together, choose the right kind of aid or app to help the person in the way that they need. Think about how and where they will need to use it. If they are going to use it when going out is it small enough to take with them? Does the person have the skills or ability needed to use the app or aid or could they learn this with support? Is specialist advice needed to find the right communication aid for the person.
- Compatibility: If it is an app that is going to be used will it work with the smartphone or tablet it will be used on, some only work on Apple/ Android, for example.
- Maintenance: Upgrades are required to make sure apps continue to work, will the person be able to do this or is someone able to set it up to update automatically if this function is available on the smartphone or tablet. For standalone devices, check if they will need any ongoing maintenance or upgrades and think about how these will be completed.
- Cost and value for money: Look at the initial cost and whether there is an ongoing subscription cost, compare different apps and devices to find the best value for what the person who will be using it needs.