Review by Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Education | Updated September 2016

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Proloquo2Go - Symbol-based AAC

Name: Proloquo2Go - Symbol-based AAC
Item: Proloquo2Go - Symbol-based AAC
Rating: 5
Author: Mieke VanderBorght

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Brilliant tool helps kids with speech difficulties communicate

Subjects & skills

Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.

K–12

Great for:

Special Needs

Common Sense says (See details)

Teachers say (3 Reviews)

Take a look inside

5 images

The grid can include as many as 64 buttons per page or as few as nine.

Students are empowered to express their needs, wants, and emotions.

The app contains a typing-style text-to-talk function.

Organize by color outline, row, and more.

Pros: Numerous options allow adults to customize the app to suit students' abilities and needs.

Cons: There's potential for frustration if customizations and settings aren't chosen carefully.

Bottom Line: The price is hefty, but Proloquo2Go carries its weight by providing students and teachers an effective, one-of-a-kind communication tool.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Create a username for the first user, then choose a main category that fits his or her current communication level: Core Word (for kids who are able to combine words and make sentences); Basic Communication (single-word communication); or Blank Vocabulary (all customized). The Home grid appears with basic words and images in buttons on a six-by-six grid, which you can increase or decrease to suit each student's needs. Kids tap on the desired buttons, and they appear above the grid where the words are spoken consecutively.

Use the default vocabulary database, which can switch easily between English and Spanish and includes different regional accents. Or buy a database through an in-app purchase that offers a different way to customize word choice. Proloquo2Go - Symbol-based AAC contains extensive customizations and many helpful tutorials.

What Is It?

Proloquo2Go - Symbol-based AAC is an app designed to help teachers and therapists empower kids who have limited or no speech with an alternative way to communicate. It uses an adaptable, multi-size grid format to present images and words on "buttons." Buttons represent different groups of items, actions, "little words," and more. Students can choose from single words or combine words to make detailed sentences that express their wants, needs, or emotions –- almost anything. You can add buttons using your own pictures or images that are meaningful to each user.

As students use the typepad to spell or tap buttons -- which you can set to adjust for fine motor-skill delays or for repetitive movements –- they can form detailed and meaningful sentences ("I am tired. I need a break, please"). The app can speak students' messages using many voices, some youthful (British or American, boy or girl, and more), if desired. Words are categorized by type (such as verb, noun, or pronoun) and by a multitude of categories (food, family, or jobs, for example). There is also support for bilingual use, with the ability to switch between English and Spanish.

Is It Good for Learning?

It requires some setup and knowledge of each student's needs and preferences. Then, ongoing customization will optimize the user experience; it's very easy to change settings and use each option. Once you've mastered the basics, choosing or adding new words and organizing choices in more effective ways will likely become second nature for teachers or therapists that work with multiple kids.

Proloquo2Go - Symbol-based AAC can help students grow in communication as well as emotional identification. This may reduce frustration in the classroom, improve social interaction between students and with adults, and help many speech-limited students increase academic skills.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Once it is set up, Proloquo2go is highly engaging and fun. An adult will first need to customize the app to meet a kid's current needs, and show the student the basics of interacting with the interface.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Proloquo2Go - Symbol-based AAC readily adapts to a kid's needs once it's customized. Students are then empowered to learn word recognition, vocabulary, labeling feelings, and speaking skills.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Included is an extensive in-app help section, plus a downloadable user's guide, webinars on the developer's website, Facebook- and Twitter-based social support, and more.

Common Sense Reviewer

Mieke VanderBorght Researcher

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Featured review by
Matthew N. , Special education instructor

Special education instructor

William Fleming High School
Roanoke, United States

Robust yet flexible AAC application

Proloquo2go is the best AAC application for iPad that I have come across. It is a robust communication tool, with a large library of images and voices, but is flexible enough for novice users and administrators to adjust and create communication boards and setting in seconds.

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