Custom AAC

[nishant]

All,

Often I read posts here about folks looking to sell a used AAC for couple of thousand dollars, often I read posts about folks looking for advice on AAC or assistive software. One that frustrates me about all this is the price of either AAC or the software and even with such a hefty price tag how much these devices lag behind in terms of technology. I am not trying to advertise any product here but what I want to know is: would folks here be interested in purchasing a new laptop computer which is latest in the market and loaded with the all the assistive software and hardware needed to make it work and costs a lot less than what a branded AAC costs? In short I want to find out if a cheaper alternative to say DynaVox would interest the community. And also what you might be willing to pay for it.

Nishant

 

[Miss]

Several PALS - joelc and BarryG in particular - have come up with alternatives for around $500.

 

[joelc]

Text-to-Speech

Here is what Barry did and I followed with his guidance.

 

[sadiemae]

The problem as I understand it is that Medicare will only pay for approved products(such as DynaVox), and for many the deductible is more affordable than what a similar yet cheaper and better device would be. Also, some dealers have told people that they do not need to worry about paying the Medicare deductible. See Laura's post on how not to believe that!