Android App Review: AAC Talking Tabs

Here is another app that is a free AAC program available on the Android market: AAC Talking Tabs,  This is an AAC (Alternative Augmentative Communication) program that allows you to make icons for for words and phrases to give speech options to non-verbal or low-verbal patients.

This is not the best program, but it is useful for some.  Unfortunately, you cannot edit what tabs are shown or the icon for them, but you can add any pictures and change the text to anything you wish.  You can also alter the icon size, but it's a little unreliable for whether or not it will show the picture properly.  I have made a "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" page by adding lots of rows and only putting pictures where two at a time show, so with a little creativity you can find ways to make this useful.  I also changed all the tab colors to black so that my kids don't try to look at them when I want them to focus on the book related page.  If you have  a person who already uses a dynavox or similar device independently and can handle a 1" by 1" inch icon size this would work.

Since it's free I think that it is well worth the time to play around with it and see what you can come up with to make it work for you.  Also, for parents who can't afford an AAC device might find it helpful as well.  Unfortunately another drawback is that I have not found a way to upload pages, but again, if there is nothing else available it has potential to be useful.

Pros: Free, gives a voice to our clients who don't have an AAC device, offers the ability to upload pictures, good for small/simple communication boards
Cons: Not very customizable, diffcult to navigate when programming in edit mode, limited voice choices.

Give it a shot and comment on what you think of it and whether it was useful to you.