Posted By: Tracey S Communication Tools - 11-16-2012 01:40 PM
I'm looking for recommendations for iPad apps. My Dad will need communication assistance, at least during recovery. He is 85 and not good with computers, but I've heard there are some aps that are easy to use on iPad. One recommedendation I've received is Touch-chat. Are there others? Are there other tools (on computer) available?
Posted By: Charm2017 Re: Communication Tools - 11-16-2012 02:09 PM
Tracey

For a penny less than two dollars ($1.99), I have found the Ipad app: Speak It! just right. It is the most basic type and talk app out there with no real bells and whistles.
It only has 4 "free" voices: two male and two female. The "American" voice "Ryan" sounds exactly like Stephen Hawkins. The "British" voice: "Graham" sounds a little like the early Beatles, much more human. You can type up phrases and little speeches in advance and save them. You could even type it some of them for your Dad in advance.
I only wish I had discovered it earlier than last week.
OCF is working on an Ipad app but it's not out yet
Oh, and ignore the "bad" reviews on the app store since they all complain that you really cannot import text from books or documents or emails for all practical purposes.(the developer overpromises but hey it's two bucks) For those you would need an expensive application/software.
Bonus: Speak It! is basic and runs on my Ipad one, while many of the newest apps require an Ipad two or three or four since the Ipad one cannot use IOS 6 due to it only having 215MB Ram.
I don't know anything about Touch chat, but for two bucks, Speak It! is worth a try IMO.
Charm
Posted By: tamvonk Re: Communication Tools - 11-16-2012 05:18 PM
Kris has used Speak It for the last 8 months with good success. Yes it makes communication a bit slow and can be frustrating at times. He uses Graham's voice , however you can also download any accent you like, - apart from a kiwi accent that is.
Tammy
Posted By: Anne-Marie Re: Communication Tools - 11-16-2012 05:30 PM
My iPhone 4 (not 4S) already has a speak it function which I noticed after my last update to 6.0.1. I used the little Notes app which was already in the iPhone 4 when I bought it. It does English, French and Spanish. The English sounds like a female voice and talks way too fast. The French is a male voice and has a really good French accent. THe Spanish I can't really tell if it's male or female - also talks too fast. In the "Notes" app you can type in whatever word or phrase, then hi light it and you get a selection choice of copy, past, cut, or speak.

I found out quite by accident when I had typed in a grocery list on the Notes app and I accidently highlited the list and hit the "speak" by mistake button and it started reciting my entire grocery list. I also noted that text messages and emails I get on my iPhone can be highlited and "speak" also. If there is a question mark at the end of the sentence, the "speak" voice goes up.

I think it needs work, though because the voices talk way too fast. When my daughter tried to do the same thing on her iPhone 4S, she couldn't get it to "speak" and we couldn't find anything in the settings that would fix this.

I hope the app that OCF is working on talks a little slower. And it will be nice to have the most urgent or useful phrases already in there so one does not have to type them out. Has anyone else found this on their iPhones?
Posted By: Anne-Marie Re: Communication Tools - 11-16-2012 05:52 PM
There is also "SpeakText for Me" app for iPhone. It's free and has many different languages including Canadian French (as well as "regular" French). Accent is so very good and words are spoken more like normal and not too fast! I just downloaded it and it really works great!
Posted By: Tracey S Re: Communication Tools - 11-17-2012 10:26 AM
Thanks for the ideas. Bought and iPad last night and will set it up this morning and look for the aps.
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