Development and Study of AAC Application of Communication for Autistic Children

Let’s Talk!” is a new AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) application for personal digital assistance for autistic children. This new and remarkable application has many particular advantages compared to existing AAC. We especially focus on an easy and simple manipulation. By tapping a symbol on a screen of a PDA with this application, a user can show his/her thoughts with pictures and sounds to others easily. There are 2 modes that can be switched depending on different situations of users. It has 120 symbols based on daily life and a user can also modify the original page with new icons made by pictures or sound. A user also can customize an original page by arranging icons she or he made or existing symbols. On the newest version of this application, we added Task Schedule System to stimulate motivations of children to do something on their own. In the last part of this study, we show some case studies. We introduced this application to students in a school for handicapped children.