App Spotlight: AVAZ Together

New augmented communication (AAC) app integrates communication beyond weekly 1-hour therapy sessions and into the child’s daily life.

 About Creator of AVAZ Together App

Ajit Narayanan, the creator of Avaz, started working with children with complex communication needs in 2008. As he spent more time with the kids, he realized that they were unable to express themselves in a social environment or an educational setting because they are impaired by deficiencies in language and communication. If the children are given the power of communication, not only will it reduce behavioral problems but also help them achieve their true potential. This led to the creation of Avaz, a picture based communication app (AAC) for children with special needs that helps them communicate and develop language. Ajit and Avaz won India’s highest award for empowerment of people with disabilities (2010). Ajit was on MIT’s prestigious TR35 list of top young innovators worldwide – a list that has previously included Sergei Brin and Jonathan Ive.

Why did you create AVAZ Together?

Avaz soon became very popular around the world. Children in the US, UK, Denmark, France, Italy and India were using it.

During the process of studying Avaz’s impact on users, we built wonderful relationships with some of the best speech therapists around the world; and we sought their input on how to make Avaz work better for children worldwide. When asked for ways that we could improve Avaz, many therapists told us the same thing: kids see therapists for about 1 hour a week, so, even with the best therapists, a child with special needs is exposed to dramatically less “communication opportunities” than a typically developing child. The key to improve communication development was to find ways of integrating augmented communication (AAC) use in the child’s life – at their home, in school, at the park or even while having a bath.

So, to put the child on a “fast track” of communication, we had to find ways to involve the child’s family, and the child’s teachers, to complement their therapy. We had to find ways to design our app and our system so that the entire ecosystem of the child would provide those communication opportunities — together. Hence, we created Avaz Together. Avaz Together empowers the parent and the family to contribute to the child’s communication development. The more the child communicates with people around them, the more they grow in confidence and the better their chances are at achieving their true potential.

How does AVAZ Together work?

Avaz Together helps integrate augmented communication (AAC) into the child’s life in a step-by-step way.

Parents start by picking an activity which they frequently do with their child and introduce AAC during that activity. For example, they can start by using AAC to communicate during meal times, and then slowly bring it into other activities. Avaz Together also gives them sample ideas for conversation that they can have with their child using AAC. The parents use the same picture symbols to communicate with their child. This helps the child to learn by imitation, and they will slowly start using those symbols to communicate.

Avaz Together also helps parents “think like a therapist” by teaching them communication strategies that they could use with their child. For example, a parent will learn how to expand upon their child’s vocabulary or how and when to prompt the child correctly.

Avaz Together encourages the parents to use picture symbols to communicate while talking to their child. Slowly, over time, the child will learn more words and start communicating.

Avaz Together tracks the progress of the child i.e. the words that they have learned or the sentences that they have spoken. This can be shared and reviewed with a therapist.

What makes AVAZ Together different from others who offer similar products?

Avaz Together is different from other apps in the following ways:

• This is the first-time an AAC app-developer has realized that communication should move out of 1-hour therapy sessions and has to be integrated into the child’s life. Moreover, Avaz Together executes this promise in a very seamless and intuitive way.
• Typically, therapists guide the children with the use of AAC apps. The parent is ill-equipped to extend the therapy sessions at home. Avaz Together is the only app which can be easily used by parents, who do not have any background in therapy, to methodically improve the communication of their children.

Who could benefit from using AVAZ Together?

Avaz Together is for parents of children with complex communication needs who are keen to learn about the communication strategies and extend the therapy of the child at home. Avaz Together is for parents who realize that increased communication opportunities can enrich the lives of their children.

Avaz Together empowers the parent and the family to contribute to the child’s communication development. 

Will you be providing monthly, or new, simulators that help parents learn strategies, that therapists use, to develop their child’s expressive and receptive communication skills?

The app is shipped with communication strategies that therapists use to develop their child’s expressive and receptive skills. With each app-update we intend to add more strategies to the app.

 Available on what Platforms:

Available on iTunes

Available on Android

For more information visit: www.AVAZapp.com

Communication and Connecting are Gifts to be Celebrated!

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