A Kid-Friendly & Affordable AAC Device? TapToTalk is the Answer

Tammy Lessick has been writing about TapToTalk since it first came out. She was kind enough to invite the TapToTalk team to do this guest post.

One of the key features of TapToTalk is that you have a choice of kid-friendly, socially acceptable, low cost devices for assistive communication. With your subscription, you can use TapToTalk on the web, any of the Nintendo DS models, the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can run your TapToTalk on any of them. In fact, you can run your TapToTalk on as many of these devices as you wish. You can move it from one device to another, or run it on several at the same time. And there is no extra cost. You only pay for a subscription to TapToTalk Designer. The apps that run on the devices are free. And even if you are not a subscriber, you can download the iPhone/iPad App for free at the App Store.

We also want to share with you some of what we’re hearing about how TapToTalk is helping non-verbal kids communicate:

This is a dream come true! I am a mother of a 9-year-old boy who has ASD. He has some speech but is not that great communicating. This is going to help him so much and it won't even point him out as different because it's a game machine that every child has. Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart for finally making my child feel average! Nicole Lynn MacNeil, Parent

(My son) was able to say Merry Christmas to everyone this year for the first time, thanks to TapToTalk. It really made it a special Christmas. A North Carolina Parent

My son is starting to get the hang of TapToTalk and we are having a blast building his albums! Thank you so much. I am going to shout the praises of your product and technical support from the rooftops and to anyone who will listen to me. A great inexpensive, fun, socially acceptable, voice output device. It is great and we love the DSi XL to run it on. Big screen easy for him to tap on given some very significant fine motor issues. Erica Weber, Parent

For more experiences from parents, SLPs and special ed teachers, check out News & Reviews on taptotalk.com. We also invite you to join us on our Facebook Page and check out the TapToTalk website for more information.

Tips for Using TapToTalk

This is my final post for my TapToTalk review. I wanted to cover a few tips about using it and what kind of albums to design. If you missed the other two posts, you should go back and read them first. The first one TapToTalk Communication for Autistic Children
and the second is TapToTalk and Our Reactions.


When you first use the TapToTalk on the DS Lite, you may notice that you are only getting picture and sound. There is a “text” feature to the program that you may find helpful to use with your child. When you push the letter “A” on the DS Lite, the names of the pictures will show up on the screen.

This can be helpful in establishing identification of the written word to the picture for your child. It help’s my son to see the words, so he knows what the picture is going to say when he touches it with the stylus. My son can read and has a great memory. Once he has used one picture, then he knows what it will say the next time he needs to use it.

The problem with this, is that I am always changing and adding to his album. I have even started creating a second album. I’ve loaded it onto his memory card and he now has two albums to choose from. I did notice that on the DS Lite, when you are working with more than one album, the last album accessed is the one that comes up the next time you turn on the DS Lite. All you have to do is push the “start” key and it will display the pictures of the albums you have stored on the memory card.

I have used the started album as an album for general topics like “I want to go” and then the choices, “I want to eat” and then the choices. Of course, the ever important “I have to go to the bathroom.” I then created from scratch another album for talking to people. These choices include “I want”, “Will you play with me” and choices of things, and several others. I am still building this up as we are going.

This is one of the reasons that having the membership to the TapToTalk website is important. You can go into the Designer Login and add, take out, modify and create new pictures and albums. It’s also easy to use once you have watched the video tutorials. (I really love them. I learn better by seeing vs. reading). They also have a support team you can contact if you are having problems or just have a question.

In case you are still wondering, I love TapToTalk. I want to thank Lenny Greenberg of TapToTalk for sending me this product to me for free to review and for setting me up with a free three month subscription to their website. I have tried to cover everything with this review. I didn’t want to leave anything out. If I did, just leave me a comment. I’ve tried to get my son on web cam using the TapToTalk, but he doesn’t like to sit still to be recorded. I will try again when we get into our home schooling routine.

TapToTalk and Our Reactions

If you didn’t read yesterday’s post about TapToTalk, click here to go and read it. Then come back and read this post. Yesterday I wrote about the TapToTalk StarterKit and the design process of for setting up your albums. Today, I want to share how using the TapToTalk has affected our family, especially my son.

My mom has a Nintendo DS Lite that she keeps at the house for the grandkids that come visit. My daughter loves playing it when we go there to visit. Mom was going to give this to us for my son to use the TapToTalk on, but my husband and I decided it would be best to go out and buy one for our son. This way, when we go visit, our daughter can use my mom’s DS Lite to play games and our son would be able to communicate with his.

I love the stylus that comes with the DS Lite. It allows my son to choose pictures without using his fingers. Since my son hates using his fingers to touch (because of his sensory aversion issues) the stylus is an important necessity in making this a successful communication alternative for him.

The stylus is small, another good point and the screen on the DS Lite is very sensitive. This means that my son doesn’t have to apply pressure to the screen to activate a picture with sound. Another great thing about the DS Lite, is that it is fast becoming a common accessory for young kids. Carrying his around does not set him apart from other kids. In fact, it helps him blend in. It is also light and easy to carry.

My husband and I felt that it was important to purchase the protector case for the DS Lite. The last thing we want to do is replace the DS Lite every time my son drops it. Face it, kids drop things. It happens, and to think that it won’t is like sticking your head in the sand.

My son loves communicating with the TapToTalk on the DS Lite. He does so independently. This is such an awesome accomplishment for him. He had become so dependent on taking someone’s hand and using it to communicate. He has always hated using his own finger to type or touch the computer screen. We could get him to do it, but he would always resist.

It had gotten to the point that I honestly believe that he has determined that the only correct way to type or use the computer touch screen is by using someone else’s fingers. (grabbing their hand and guiding the other person’s finger across the keyboard or computer screen).

Since we started using the TapToTalk, he has been independent with communication. We made it clear right at the start, that he had to use the stylus himself. He did try to give it to us and take our hand to communicate, but no one lets him get away with that.

The first time he used this was to communicate what he wanted to eat and drink for supper. The smile on his face was amazing. He answered quickly and was rewarded with what he wanted. Since then, he has used it to tell us how he feels and where he wants to go. I am still building up his library of pictures and his albums. You can have up to ten albums loaded onto your TapToTalk memory card.

Final post will be tomorrow. Please come back to finish reading my review of TapToTalk.

TapToTalk Communication for Autistic Children

Remember the post I did about TapToTalk? Well, they sent me a free Starter Kit and set me up with a free three month subscription to their website. I was really excited to have the opportunity to review this product. This review came at just the right time.

I have been waiting on approval for an augmentative communication device for several months. It should have been approved in July, but because of the budget changes, it has been on hold. I don’t know if we will get it. The device that we are trying to get approval on is the Say-It! SAM. It is an advanced communication device that is perfect for my son’s intellectual level. However, it costs over $7,000.



The TapToTalk is priced reasonably, for parents to be able to afford. It runs on either a Nintendo DS Lite or DSi. I purchased the DS Lite for $129 at Wal-Mart. I also purchased the car adapter and the protector case for the DS Lite. In all, I spent about $154. The TapToTalk Starter Kit with a 1 year subscription is $99.95. The smile on my son’s face the first time he used it, priceless.

When you order the Starter Kit, you get the following:

1 - 1 TapToTalk Game Cartridge
2 - 1 microSD Memory Card (in the game cartridge)
3 - 1 USB adapter for the microSD Card
4 - 1 SD adapter for the microSD Card

Subscriptions are available for one year for $99.95, or three years for $239.95 (a 20% discount). There are also special plans for professionals that work with multiple children with communication limitations.

You receive the password to use for the Designer Login via email and the Starter Kit will arrive in the mail. When I received my password, I immediately started working on setting up an album to use for my son. By the time I received the Starter Kit in the mail, I was ready to download the album to my memory card and my son was able to use his DS Lite to communicate immediately.

When I first logged in and was ready to begin setting up the album or pictures with sound, I was faced with figuring out how to start from scratch. I quick email to my contact, Lenny Greenburg, and I found out that there is a starter album that you can use to customize to meet your child’s needs.

I was happy about this. It is a lot easier to start off with an existing album then to start from scratch. It allows you to learn about how to set up jumps from one screen to another. It also helps you get a quick start on your child’s communication needs.

I recommend watching the tutorials in the Help section before you do anything. They explain a lot of the finer points of designing your albums and they are easy for moms like me to understand. I am good at figuring out tech applications, but I have had no professional training or classes.

For your next step, Lenny told me I should set up a picture library. At first, I thought “why”? I figured that I would just use the ones they have. As I got into the customization of the starter album, I noticed that there were pictures and sounds that I felt were important to have for my son, but were not in the starter album. Thus begun my development of my picture library. I started copying pictures from their library into mine. I changed the sounds to what I felt were more appropriate for my son. Then I began replacing some of the pictures in my copy of the starter album and adding new pictures, too.

I discovered a problem with the replacement function of the design program. Sometimes, I would replace a picture with sound, and when I copied the album over to my memory card, the sound would not copy over. I contacted TapToTalk and they fixed my picture, and I was able to copy without a problem. I still come across a picture here and there from their library that I have a problem with, but I have found that it only takes them a day to fix it once I have notified them of the problem. I haven’t had any problems with the pictures that I upload.

I have a lot more to say about TapToTalk and will do so over the next few days. I really want to get into my son’s reaction to it and how it has helped us a lot as a family to be able to use this to communicate. I also have plans to use this when we get into home schooling next month. I think it will be great to use to get him to answer multiple choice questions. Make sure you check back Thursday to read more.

Tap To Talk

I've been waiting for the chance to share this with you. Communication devices can be so expensive. They can also draw unwanted attention to our child. Ever wonder why they can't make a device that is reasonably priced and your child would be happy to carry around?

Tap To Talk isn't a communication device, but it is the next best thing. It is a communication software program that turns a handheld Nintendo DSi or DS Lite into an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. When you subscribe to TapToTalk, you will receive the TapToTalk Starter Kit that includes the TapToTalk game cartridge and a standard memory card to copy pictures and sounds from your computer. The subscriptions start at $99.95 for a year.

Here is their YouTube video. If you are in need of a communication device, check this out first. Especially if you already have a Nintendo DSi or DS Lite.