A very small percentage of people will have severe dyspraxia that will always make it difficult for other people to understand. For these people, it is worthwhile to consider whether a communication device is a possible alternative. Adults who have acquired dyspraxia through an event like a stroke can sometimes find that a communication device allows other people to understand them.
These pieces of equipment are often referred to as AAC devices, or Auxiliary and Augmentative Communication. They are usually roughly the size of a laptop computer. They may be as simple as having buttons with pictures or as complex as innumerable layers of words to work through. If a person is able to write and spell then devices similar to computers can be used with a voice output – typically you write a sentence, push a button and the device says the sentence out loud.
There are also aps that can now be added to equipment such as iPads that turn them into communication devices. This can be a cost-effective way to try AAC communication.
The obvious benefit is that, for people who can’t talk clearly, other people can then understand them. The disadvantages include the amount of time and effort needed (compared to talking) and the need to take the device everywhere.
Each person, adult or child, needs to be fully assessed to decide whether a device is appropriate, and what sort of device will best meet their needs. What they can do is taken into account, as well as their difficulties.
A young child, for example, may do well with selecting pictures on a simple keyboard. An older child with good comprehension skills may be able to negotiate their way through may words grouped by categories, such as ‘home’, ‘school’, ‘greetings’, ‘me’, ‘food’. An adult who has been computer literate, and who has good understanding, is likely to prefer a full keyboard with added shortcuts for often used sentences and phrases.
A Speech Pathologist can help you decide if a communication device is appropriate, either as a long term way of communicating or for the short term while someone is learning or recovering speech. They can also help you work out what device would be appropriate. Often the companies that make and market the devices will have a loan system that allows devices to be trialled before they are purchases so that several can be tried. A Speech Pathologist can help you to organise this process.