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iPhone App Unlocks World of Communication for People with Disabilities

Thanks to an iPhone app called Proloquo2go, people with autism and developmental disabilities are able to easily communicate with others through text-to-speech technology.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on February 09 2010
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Image: iStockphoto

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If you’ve got an iPhone, you probably use it for lots of important stuff. Like taking photos of your kids, watching YouTube videos, and playing Pocket God—and maybe making a phone call or two, every once in a while.

8-year-old Andrew Patitucci uses an iPhone too—but in his case, the trendy gadget isn’t just for fun and games. For Andrew, who has a developmental disorder called Cornelia de Lange syndrome, the device serves as a lifeline that allows him to communicate with his family, thanks to an app called Proloquo2go.

At $189.99, Proloquo2go is pricier than most of the programs you’ll find in the App Store, but for families like Andrew’s, it’s well worth the cost. Proloquo2go is a text-to-speech program that lets users program in personalized icons, words, or phrases, which the program will read aloud when touched.

The technology is nothing new, but the price is: though the program may seem expensive compared to the majority of iPhone apps, it’s dirt-cheap compared to most Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, which typically cost as much as $8,000, and are commonly used by people with autism, motor disabilities, Down syndrome, strokes, and other disabilities.

While people in need of AAC devices typically have to go through a lot of bureaucratic red tape to get them, there’s no such issue with the Proloquo2go app.

“The fact that users can get it commercially by going to Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Apple retail stores or any other electronics store is a dream come true for me,” Samuel Sennott, Proloquo2go’s co-creator, told ABC News.

For Andrew and his family, who have been using the app for the last six months, the program has helped to break down the communication barriers between them, and has inspired hope in his parents.

“What I’ve learned is that he understands so much more than we thought he did,” Andrew’s mother, Beth Patitucci said. “We were not sure where he was cognitively and just testing him and watching him navigate these buttons and find out what he wants to say, we found out that he has a lot more going on his head than we thought he did.”

Filed under: Health and Wellbeing, Science,

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