Setting up the selection set for Proloque2Go – In Class group task

     Our 2nd double class on Saturday, May 26th expanded on our introduction to Proloquo2Go from our last class. Programming and customization – the designing of a selection set – was our focus for an assigned case study which involved a grade 3 female student. In setting out with the iPad to perform this task, it became apparent to our group of 3 that there was much more thought required than initially expected as there were many considerations: the environment (milieu), cognitive and physical abilities and communication needs of the student. Collaboratively, we decided on 3 buttons (dynamic folders) for the 1st screen appearance: Me, Home and School. To reach this stage we sat down and mapped out – Inspiration style – what we wanted to cover for all 3 main categories. For example, under “Me” we focused on her everyday dealings with others and considered that “…she enjoys friends but has minimal opportunities to play with them because they don't know how to respond to the (previous) AAC”; therefore we spent some time thinking about what she wanted to say to her friends. However, in doing this, we realized that we didn’t have enough time to fully set up this aspect as there were so many thoughts, statements and questions she could potentially convey through the interface. We included a picture of her horse, for example, and a picture of a horse jumping which related to her love of horses that could potentially open up a conversation with her peers about their pets. With more time we could have programmed in questions that involved a give and take of information related to hobbies, likes and dislikes.

     With the other buttons, Home and School, we thought about how ‘deep to branch out’ within each subcategory (sets) and decided our student had the cognitive abilities to handle several layers. We realized that, even after mapping out on paper our ideas in relation to what we thought she would need, there was the time constraint of actually doing it – setting the appearance, selecting symbols (pictures – built-in or added), searching for vocabulary – most of it accomplished by going in and out of edit mode: typing in text to make a sentence and associating it with a symbol for text to speech was a major focus of setting up the category. We visually selected 4 buttons per page but there were many other settings to choose from - one gigantic button to a grid of very small buttons. We found setting up Proloquo2Go is relatively easy once the basics are understood, but indeed time consuming. I can see how the initial set-up could be a challenge – time wise- for teachers, assistants, paraprofessionals, professionals in addition to parents and other significant people involved with a student or person who will use this AT. However, once the basics of setup is grasped, I found it to be user-friendly; for those first starting out with Proloquo2Go, they will find on the web many videos that show the setup of a Proloquo2Go and usage with nonverbal students and adults -the AssistiveWare web site has many downloadable files for a “how to” ease of set-up and usage.
 
http://download.assistiveware.com/proloquo2go/files/Proloquo2GoVisualQuickStart9PerPage.pdf

     I believe that Proloquo2Go on the iPad or iTouch/iPhone is a great AT app for persons who are non-verbal. It provides a voice for communication that allows for positive interactions with others. It surpasses by leaps and bounds other older AT, such as the PEC (Picture exchange program) through its dynamic interface. Additionally, with this AT, I like the fact that real pictures with the camera can be added as well as any other pictures -from a file or the web. Additionally I like that there are several voices to choose from in the set-up. Proloquo2Go can be truly personalized.

     A final thought on setting up Proloquo2Go is that, if I have the opportunity to work with this AT again, I would create a category (button) that would focus on building relationship skills with others and be more situation-specific. Hopefully I will have that opportunity in the near future.