I developed TapToTalk for nonverbal kids even before we realized my grandson would have speech delays.
— Phil Bookman, grandfather and developer of TapToTalk
TapToTalk is a 2012 Apps of Distinction recipient. Congratulations to Phil Bookman and the Assistyx team!
TapToTalk is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) aid. The program allows nonverbal people to communicate by touching pictures to produce speech through the mobile device. TapToTalk works on many different mobile devices. In fact, one user account can be associated with multiple devices at no additional charge. We talked with Phil Bookman about how he developed the app and what makes it different from other communication aids.
Why Did You Develop TapToTalk?
Phil Bookman: When I retired, I joined the board of a special education non-profit called AchieveKids. I was struck by how many children in the program were nonverbal or had limited verbal skills.
I learned that there are many children with limited verbal skills, due to autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and a myriad of other conditions. And I learned that adults with aphasia due to stroke, head injury, Parkinsons or ALS have similar needs. Because I have a background in software development as well as 10 years of experience as a mental health therapist, I was in a unique position to help these people. I wanted to develop an AAC device that was affordable, socially acceptable, portable and customizable.
My former colleague Lenny Greenberg joined me as chief technology officer, and our project became TapToTalk, which today works on a wide range of handheld devices, including smartphones, tablets and Nintendos. All of the content is stored in the cloud and can be updated via the TapToTalk Designer website. If they lose the device, they don’t lose any programming because it is stored on remote servers. Also, kids can use different devices at home, school or daycare with access to the same vocabulary on any device.
I started working on TapToTalk in 2008. The project became more personal in 2009, when my then 18-month-old grandson was not developing speech and was diagnosed with autism.
How Does the TapToTalk App Work?
Phil Bookman: Parents, teachers and other caregivers can log into TapToTalk Designer to create albums from the 2,500 pictures in our library, the 12,000 SymbolStix images or pictures from their own cameras or the web. They add sounds to the pictures. A child then uses a mobile device to express needs or wants by touching pictures within the albums. As the child gets older and needs a greater vocabulary, caregivers can add more images to his albums.
For example, a caregiver can create a mealtime album. The nonverbal user can touch a picture of a hamburger on an iPhone, and the iPhone will “speak” the sentence “I want a hamburger, please.”
We offer free player apps for many devices: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle Fire, Nintendo DSi and DSi XL, Android phones and tablets, Nook Color, Nook Tablet and BlackBerry PlayBook, as well as web platforms for Mac, PC and SMART Board.
While the player apps are free, users pay to use TapToTalk Designer to create and store albums. There are different price plans for individuals, therapists and schools, depending on the number of users per account. If a child has an account through a school, he can use TapToTalk on a device at home as well.
The program supports English, French, German, Spanish and Italian text-to-speech. Because it is customizable, anyone can record their own language with their own accent or use any alphabet. In fact, the product is used in more than 40 countries in more than 20 different languages.
Wynsum Arts’ mission is supported through the purchase of apps from i.AM Search – available in iTunes. That’s how we can do what we do for free!
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