Language is a system of agreed symbols with which people express their needs, thoughts and feelings, while speech is one of the possible means of transmitting these messages. Children and adults can have difficulties in the form of various language and speech disorders that can be classified into one of the following categories:
- Developmental language disorders
- Specific learning difficulties (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia)
- Articulatory phonological disorders
- Motor speech disorders (speech apraxia, dysarthria)
- Aphasia
- Disorders of speech fluency (stuttering, rashness)
- Voice disorders (dysphonia, aphonia due to laryngectomy)
- Delay in language and speech development due to intellectual disabilities and as part of other developmental disabilities
Language and speech disorders can be reflected in the form of difficulties in understanding, but also difficulties in production, which then cause the impossibility of equal participation in everyday communication.
Assisted communication is a group of components that includes symbols, aids, strategies and techniques that users use to enhance communication (ASHA, 1991). In the context of language-speech disorders, assisted communication allows users support in language development, supports speech development and serves as a primary means of communication. Assistive technology refers to all technological means that support communication. Thanks to it, numerous solutions have been developed for users that can enable them to communicate more equally with the environment.
Simple communicators like BIGmack , Big point and GoTalk . allow recording of speech and playback of recorded messages. Examples of more advanced communication software are Communicator 5 and Grid 3 , which offer users a greater range of communication options. Their installation on a computer or tablet is quick and easy, and they can be operated using a touch screen, switch or gaze control.
When working with children and people with communication and language-speech disorders , the Boardmaker® collection of software packages can provide professionals and parents with the ability to create pictorial symbols that can be used in therapy and at home to encourage communication and language-speech skills.
The ABC Maestro software was designed with the aim of encouraging the pre-skills of reading and writing and building the basics of computer literacy (keyboard management) and as such is perfectly adapted to children with difficulties, but also to children of normal preschool age development. With the use of the Clevy keyboard, children acquire knowledge of letters and numbers in a fun and accessible way and learn how to navigate the keyboard.
