Mom is losing the last of her ability to communicate by typing

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bemindful

Active member
Joined
Jun 25, 2013
Messages
61
Reason
Loved one DX
Diagnosis
01/2008
Country
US
State
Missouri
City
St. Louis
Mom is losing her one good arm. She uses an I-Pad to communicate and now it is becoming exhausting to just type a lot. Especially when she is tired, which is most of the time now. Everything seems to be going and quick.
Does anyone have any low-tech, low price ideas for flashcards with pics or something of the sort? We could always get the laser pointer glasses and chart, but in the meantime as she transitions to skilled nursing, we need something. Just the task of handing her her I-Pad and stylus is the first challenge to communicate to the person that walks in the room. To be able to type out "I'm feeling constipated" or "I need the nebulizer" can be hard when she is tired.

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
You can download the "speak it" program from the Apple App Store. Load it with phrases your mom needs to communicate and she can use her finger or stylus to select. She can choose from a couple different voices. My PALS was disappointed George Clooney was not one of them!
 
I got "predictable" for my PALS with his iPad mini.

It seems to be the only one that will work with a switch, and you can put lots of phrases into banks of categories, and even when you 'type' it predicts words really well and learns from what you say.
 
You can check out speakbook d o t org. I use that for letter board and you can customize with any phrases you want. And it is flexible that you can mix and match full pointing with hands or whatever to full eye movements only.

For a bit higher tech you can look into a headmouse with simple windows tablet or netbook.
 
Before i got an eye gaze computer, i used an Android smart phone with swype and a type to speech app. The app allowed me to program phrases, and swype with word prediction allowed me to use only my thumb and only pick it up between words. That way, she would only have to use one finger, instead of the whole arm in combination with grasping a stylus. It can just be a used smart phone, and doesn't even need to be connected to a network, but you do need to download the app.
 
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https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trapp.tts&hl=en

This is the app i used. There are tons of text to speech apps, but i chose this one because it was the first one i came to that had all of these qualities: worked correctly, was free, had a pleasant voice, and pre stored phrases were one tap away. It looks like they also added words per minute speed to the voice.
 
Letter boards that you can customize are free online. You can put people's names and short phrases for wants and needs. Meds, drink or food, turn, washroom, change, etc. Yasmin.
 
Cervus,

I did see the letterboards. Pretty cool. I am looking into something like this mainly b/c Mom is now in skilled nursing. Often there, they are in a hurry and mom is tired from typing. It would be good if she could just indicate by pointing or looking at a cue to indicate what she needs. I saw the 'laser glasses' on line. But I am wondering if anyone has used them. They look awkward.

I am looking mainly for something to substitute, when she is super tired, using the I-Pad all together.
 
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