JCPSLP Vol 17 No 3 2015

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Fresh science and pioneering practice
166 JCPSLP Volume 17, Number 3 2015 Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
Charlene Cullen
4 Websites for alternative access
When we are visiting therapists, schools, or families, it is
always helpful to have a range of activities on hand to
assess and determine if the eye gaze devices will be
suitable. Sometimes this will be commercial software such
as Look2Learn with activities to learn eye-gaze technology,
but there are also some great free websites with simple
“mouse click” and “mouse over” (hover) functionality such
as and mrwatson.education or you can
create some art using These are
also great for teaching a range of different language skills!
5 Facebook groups and pages
Social media is a fast way to find information in a particular
area and also to share what you know. It’s not just in our
own circle of influence now: we can reach all over the world
and get access to in-depth discussion that would have
taken a long time to achieve in past years. Some favourite
pages and groups to follow in the assistive technology field
of speech pathology are:
Augmentative Communication Resources & Help: www.
AGOSCI Inc.:
Assistive Technology:
technology.group/
Tobii UK:
6 Blogs
Reading blogs is a great way to stay fresh and know what’s
happening with AAC and assistive technology (and any
other field in speech pathology for that matter). Highly
recommended blogs with frequent and practical content
are “PrAACtically Speaking” by Carole Zangari (www.
and “Teaching Learners With Multiple
Special Needs” by Kate Ahern (www.
. And if
you have too many blogs to keep track of, then use a blog
aggregator such as Feedly ) where you
can read all your blogs in one place.
7 Evernote
No matter which field of speech pathology you are working
in, Evernote would certainly be a useful tool. It is a
cloud-based software service for creating, organising, and
storing all sorts of media such as text documents, photos,
videos, audio files, and webpages. Use it as an app, on the
web, or download the software. It’s fabulous for storing
Charlene Cullen works at LinkAssistive as a speech
pathologist and assistive technology specialist.
She spends time providing training and support
and keeping up to date with new technologies available
for people with complex communication impairments.
LinkAssistive is an Australian supplier of assistive
technology products and services. Augmentative and
alternative communication (AAC) devices and software,
computer / device access products, products for special
education and mounting equipment are part of their
product portfolio.
Charlene has identified the following top 10 resources as
essential tools for assessment and training in the assistive
technology field of speech pathology.
1 Skype, Viber, Tango
These tools have been around for a while but are often
underutilised. Most of us use Skype for a
group phone meeting or for a chat, but the video function
has been a lifesaver for diagnosing technical issues on
someone’s AAC device. It often helps to “see” the screen
and we have had families ring in with Viber )
or Tango and use the video function, and
we have solved technical issues on the spot rather than
having to organise for the device to come in for repair.
Imagine the ways you can use video features for training
and other speech pathology practices!
2 Google sheets
We use a number of cloud-based options for storage of
shared files, but creating spreadsheets for the trial waitlist
database in Google Sheets means that we can access the
database across multiple sites and work on the
spreadsheet at exactly the same time with no conflicting
document issues. You can use Google documents,
presentations, sites, sheets, and forms with your colleagues
and make comments and edit collaboratively – no more
messy track changes!
about/
3 Teamviewer
Remote control any PC or Mac over the internet. A great
option for providing remote technical support or
demonstrating how to do something in communication
software on a speech-generating device. This is extremely
handy when you can’t physically be there to show someone
what to do or see what gremlins might be playing up in the
device!
Top 10 essential tools in
assistive technology
Charlene Cullen