Verbal Me Sampler vs Autism iHelp

This is a sample version of Verbal Me, a basic AAC and choice board app designed by special needs teachers for their students. Non-verbal kids can tap a button and the iPad will speak the button text aloud in either a boy's or girl's voice. This limited version includes 14 screen choices: yes-no, A-B-C, 1-2-3-4-5, Happy-Mad-Sad-Calm, Day-Night, bullying, weather, colors, fruits, letter sounds. Buttons contain text and/or picture so non-reading students can participate. By default, left- and right-arrow buttons allow students to switch screens. Optionally, the screen-switching buttons can be hidden and the adult switches screens by sliding one finger from the upper right to the lower left of the screen. Choose one of 18 screens and girl or boy voice. On the Settings screen, there is a link to the full version Verbal Me app with over 100 screen choices. A Spanish-language version is also available.

Autism iHelp is a vocabulary teaching aid developed by parents of a child with Autism and a speech-language pathologist. Autism iHelp was inspired by the need for specific language intervention tools for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder focusing on their unique strengths and difficulty with expressive vocabulary. Autism iHelp is an invaluable tool for your child with Autism when those first words just don’t come. The colorful real-life photos are presented in an easy-to-label format.  This app includes several features: 24 real world photos; it has been proven that children with Autism respond best to photos as opposed to illustrations and are very visual learners.  - 24 photos chosen based on established expressive language milestones are divided into three sub groups of eight.  With 24 photos, over-stimulation is less likely which increases the child’s ability to grasp the concepts at an appropriate rate.  - Labels of all photos with the option to turn off the label as some children with Autism may be more drawn to the written word. At the end of eight images there will be an option to try again, aiding in repetition and drill required for learning new words. - Option to have images presented at random or not, to additionally aid in generalization and concrete learning.   When audio is selected, two voice options are available—male and female.  This provides the most realistic experience for your child.  There will also be an option to turn the audio off, which would prompt your child to use his or her own voice and spontaneously label the learned words. - This app also includes two Learning Enhancement activities.  These learning activities are presented in a game-like format, and require the child to either match a picture to word given multiple word choices or choose the word that goes with the picture in a field of 4 pictures.  These games check retention of the learned vocabulary and integrate auditory and visual memory.  Additionally, you are able to track your child's gains through progress reports that average the last 3 performances of each learning enhancement activity. Autism iHelp - Play app offers engaging pictures of toys, outdoor activities, and arts and crafts often used in therapy or school.  “with Autism iHelp…..it gets better.”