AlphaTopics vs Lite MedConcerns

Sometimes just giving a hint or context is all your listener needs to understand you. The first letter or two. The general topic. AlphaTopics is the perfect AAC app for people whose natural speech is not always clear. Stop wasting time navigating to the right word or typing it out. Get your point across faster by touching just the first few letters of the words you say. Give your listener context by starting the conversation with the topic. Write it out with your finger or draw a picture. Don’t let overly complicated apps slow you down. Tactus Therapy, a trusted name in speech therapy apps, brings you a new take on a classic communication tool. AlphaTopics includes 3 AAC communication boards loaded with features: 1) Letter Board - 26 letters in alphabetical order or 2 variations of frequency order - 10 single digits allow you to express any number - Vowels highlighted and aligned for faster navigation - Natural or automated speech reads out the name of each letter or number - Yes, no, question, smiley, space, and backspace buttons for prosody and function 2) Topic Board - Fully customizable text you can re-order - Voice output with adjustable speech rate - Two sizes of grid to display 12 or 24 topics - Pre-filled with functional topics for adults 3) Whiteboard - Write or draw on the screen - 6 colors and 4 widths - Export to Photos or e-mail When used together, alphabet and topic boards have been scientifically shown to make the speech of people with motor speech disorders far more understandable. Combined with the whiteboard, these tools help people with aphasia express themselves more clearly with self-cueing and strategy use. Stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and motor neuron disease are all conditions that can impair speech production. Pointing to the first letter in each word not only gives the listener more information about the word, it also encourages the speaker to slow down and separate words, actually making the words clearer! Using alphabet supplementation, studies show intelligibility of sentences improves 25% on average. Pointing to the topic before speaking narrows the range of possibilities for the listener, giving context. Studies show using a topic cue improves word understanding by an average of 28%. Topics can also be used by people with aphasia, a language disorder, to help pinpoint the intended message. Additional Features: *Adjustable settings for visual, physical, language, and cognitive impairments *Works with built-in scanning and guided access *4 color schemes *Pick which board comes up when you start the app *Export any board you've customized to print or share "People whose speech is hard to understand often just want to provide extra clues to their listener and don’t require all the features of a comprehensive AAC app. It’s terrific that we now have an app that provides this level of support on a mobile platform.” - Lois Turner, SLP & AAC specialist Visit tactustherapy.com for more information on how to use this app, the evidence to support this form of AAC, and a day-by-day account of how this app was made.

The MedConcerns app serves as an interpreting tool for healthcare providers to use with people with aphasia and other communication barriers when completing a medical assessment. It is a communication aid for reporting medical symptoms, but does not diagnose or recommend any treatment options. Please seek a doctor’s advice before making any medical decisions. Created by a speech language pathologist (SLP) and physician team, the MedConcerns app combines the physician’s comprehensive medical assessment with built-in evidence-based communication techniques of the SLP. This combination enables the healthcare provider to truly find out what is bothering their patient with aphasia. It’s time to break down communication barriers in healthcare! For people with aphasia and other communication barriers, it is imperative that healthcare providers use proven communication techniques, but training is often a barrier. NO TRAINING IS REQUIRED to use this simple tool! WHO IS IT FOR? Healthcare providers, caregivers, communication partners, people with aphasia or other communication barriers, including those following stroke or brain injury, respiratory failure, progressive neurodegenerative diseases. WHO CAN IT HELP? Anyone that would benefit from pointing to a symptom because they can't say it aloud - And anyone that wants to help someone to communicate their medical concerns! ............................ The MedConcerns app combines nonverbal symbols, spoken output, and print to make patient-provider communication easier and more effective. BUILT WITH APHASIA-FRIENDLY TOOLS: ● Pictured options combined with written and spoken words ● Options representing common and comprehensive medical symptoms and concerns ● Expanded options following each selection for a detailed assessment of severity levels, onset, and exacerbating factors! ● Confirmation pages following each selection to verify understanding or to revise a selection ● Zoomability to more clearly see and comprehend images, especially when vision is difficult! ● Customizability - the ability to select the number of icons per page, gender, and language (Spanish/English), and to eliminate options on the concerns page and needs board for an individualized selection! ● Aphasia-friendly education pages in English and Spanish ● “Needs board” to request help and express wants and needs ● “Topic board” to allow the patient to guide the discussion with the provider ● Immediate access to a Yes/No board and Whiteboard from the navigation bar ● Summary pages to review all details provided and to monitor progress each day! More than a medical assessment, the MedConcerns app is an interactive tool to help people with aphasia and other communication barriers to share information and drive conversation with their doctors and healthcare providers. Looking to try before you buy? Look for the MedConcerns Lite app to see how it works! DISCLAIMER: This product does not diagnose or treat any illness or disease or provide medical advice but supports users in communicating medical concerns to their medical providers. Any medical/health information provided is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, consult with the appropriate professionals. Seek a doctor’s advice in addition to using this app and before making any medical decisions. Again, this product does not provide any kind of medical/health advice and is intended only to be used as a communication aid. ......................... Visit us at medconcernsapp.com Contact us at info@communicationrescue.com