Barry, Feb. 11

Transcription from AssistiveWare Interview

Cathy Kingeter
Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Proloquo2go released in 2009. "It was the first augmentative and alternative communication app at that time for Iphone and Ipod touches. That was before the ipad was released."

Who does the app target?

"It is a communication application that provides a voice for people who are unable to speak. Many of our users are children with autism, people with cerebral palsy, apraxia, ALS, stroke victims, people who do not have or have lost the ability to use their natural speaking voice."

How many downloads has the app received since it was released?

over 75,000 people

How are people that could benefit from the app made aware of it?
"Often when people who either cannot use or have lost the use of their voice, 
-they are working with a clinical professional like a speech and language pathologist, a rehabilitation therapist, a speech therapist
AssistiveWare reaches out primarily to that community to make them aware of the app, and the professionals recommend it to their patients. 
-Other than that, family members may stumble upon the app while  doing research on ways to help their loved ones.

Other technology?

"They're called AAC, that's augmentative and alternative communication. AAC devices have been out for 11 years, and they have traditionally been dedicated devices, meaning that's all they can do, provide alternative speech. They've historically been very, very expensive for people to be able to purchase and have these solutions. So, when Proloquo2go came out as an app on an IOS device then now for..."

Now people can have a solution for a lot less. The traditional AAC can cost thousands of dollars, but the app costs about $250.

"It became a very, very affordable solution to many more people than what was traditionally available to them."

"There are different types of AAC devices, and different types of vocabulary that are out there. With some communicators, they're communicating their basic wants and needs: "I want," "I need," "Thank you," and "Please." And others are communicating exactly what they 

"They're typing exactly what it is they want to speak, so it really varies."

-one of the things that makes proloquo2go great is that it meets the most basic needs, but it also grows with the user as their knowledge and literacy grows.

-Porloquo2go is symbol based and Proloquo4text is text based.
"Porloquo4text is primarily for those that are literate. They can read, they can write, they are looking for a way to promote conversation and to participate in conversation that's word and sentence based."

"Proloquo2go was introduced in 2009, and it has been very, very successful. A large population, like I said over 75,000 users, it's won awards as a communication app.It's brought benefit to people around the world."

Proloquo4text is being well received.

"I don't believe it would fully every replace those. There are certain users, especially for access, they can't touch the device. They need alternate ways of being able to access the device. They may need the device mounted on their wheelchair. They need certain things that only that dedicated device can meet for them. I think there are certainly differences in people's communication needs and also their access needs that make having a variety of solutions available to best fit them is of great benefit to the users themselves."

"Proloquo2go certainly brought a lot of visibility, back in 2009, to the whole idea of providing assistive technologies on mobile devices. It has certainly brought a lot of innovativeness within the industry, which has benefited users around the world."