Proloquo2Go

Brilliant tool helps kids with speech difficulties communicate

Learning rating

Community rating

Based on 4 reviews

Privacy rating

Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

K–12

Subjects & Topics

English Language Arts, Health & Wellness

Price: Paid
Platforms: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac

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.

Create a username for the first user, and then choose a main category that fits their 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 languages and includes different regional accents and voices. Or buy a database through an in-app purchase that offers a different way to customize word choice. Proloquo2Go contains extensive customizations and many helpful tutorials.

Proloquo2Go 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 type pad 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 multilingual use.

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 the basics are mastered, choosing or adding new words and organizing choices in more effective ways will likely become second nature for teachers and therapists who work with multiple kids. Proloquo2Go 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. With new updates, the developers are also making efforts to be inclusive, with gender-neutral pronouns, more representative voice selections, and female superhero icons.

Learning Rating

Overall Rating
Engagement

Once it's 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

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

Support

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.

Community Rating

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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Privacy Rating

Data Safety How safe is this product?

  • Unclear whether this product supports interactions between trusted users.
  • Unclear whether users can interact with untrusted users, including strangers and/or adults.
  • Unclear whether personal information can be displayed publicly.

Data Rights What rights do I have to the data?

  • Users can create or upload content.
  • Unclear whether this product provides processes to access and review user data.
  • Unclear whether this product provides processes to modify data for authorized users.

Ads & Tracking Are there advertisements or tracking?

  • Personal information is not shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays traditional or contextual advertisements.
  • Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.

Continue reading about this tool's privacy practices, including data collection, sharing, and security.

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