Starting Out with TouchChat HD with WordPower

Picture of a screen in TouchChat HD

The following videos provide a brief introduction to setting up the TouchChat app for use with a new student, or consumer.  The purpose of these videos is to help you follow the recommendation given to you by the person or team evaluating the consumer for AAC.  Recommendations may include a specific “field size”, or number of buttons visible on the screen.   This recommendation depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the consumer’s vision, fine and gross motor skills, and method of access.

By their nature, these videos provide visual descriptions of how to set up the app.  If you need this information in a different format, for accessibility reasons, please feel free to contact Kathryn Helland at PIAT.  The email address is tug34189@Temple.edu.

 

TouchChat app icon

 

Introduction to choosing a vocabulary set/field size in TouchChat

The next video shows you how to open a vocabulary set, so that you can select the “field size”, or, number of buttons that will appear on the screen.  In this case, less is not more.  We want to provide access to language, so it makes sense to give access to as many words as possible.   Your AAC consultant may recommend a particular vocabulary set that allows for language generation, i.e., the ability to say new and novel things. Click on the photo below to see the video.

Video showing how to open new vocabulary sets in TouchChat

 

Editing a button in TouchChat 

You can edit any button in  TouchChat to choose a different symbol, change the background color, or add a photo from the iPad.  The following video will show you how to open this editing feature.  Click on the photo below to see the video.

Video describing how to edit a button in TouchChat

How to hide and show buttons in the TouchChat app

This last video shows you how to temporarily hide buttons on a page in TouchChat.  This may allow the communication partner to target a smaller set of words to start with.  The goal will be to provide access to as many words as possible.  Hiding buttons is not necessary for all consumers and the decision should be made in conjunction with the team participating in the AAC evaluation. Click on the photo below to see the video

Video explaining how to hide buttons in TouchChat

Kathryn Helland

Kathryn is a certified speech-language pathologist and works with children and adults with complex communication needs. She has been with the TechOWL team since 2015 and is currently working on her doctorate. She would like to examine how to best support AAC users in higher education.

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