AAC

Communication Matters

qtandcp, , , Leave a comment

Big Sister and I had the privilege of spending two days at the Communication Matters Conference earlier this week. Leeds University hosted nearly 500 delegates including 39 AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication) users. It was incredible to meet up with friends, people we know working in the field and to meet new people and make new friends.

A bright yellow cloth bag with CM25 in giant letters lies on a wooden table behind the CM2025 Conference Guide and the AAC Awards 2025 guide.

There were so many talks across the two days that it was impossible to see them all. I feel like we only scratched the surface but we would have needed an entire week or possibly more to cover it all. AI was a big theme. Both the possibilities and the pitfalls for AAC were discussed. The talks that left the biggest impression were the ones where AAC users themselves spoke.

I really wish Quinns could have been there to see the other AAC users in action both speaking and generally being around. He is still a bit too young for such a Conference so it will be a few years before we can bring him along and introduce him to this community.

One of the talks at the Conference was from Smartbox about ElevenLabs voice integration. You may have seen the story on the BBC recently about the woman they created a voice for using 8 seconds of scratchy voice recording from a VHS video. Although Quinns isn’t eligible for a voice at the moment we got to talking about it.

He’s come a long way since he changed his voice to the Queen when he first got the device. This was one decision we reversed as he was only three! In the summer we deepened his computer voice slightly in line with his age and will deepen it further as he heads into his teenage years. He has only ever had a computer voice so it’s difficult to imagine what his accent would be but how amazing would it be for him to have his own unique voice.

It’s been a while since I shared any of Quinns’ AAC journey. In the past year he has got a new eye gaze device which is slightly bigger and has improvements such as a partner screen on the back so that communication partners can work opposite him rather than crowd in beside him.

The new device includes TV controls allowing him to scroll through YouTube or put on a film on our main home tv or maybe I should say Quinns’ tv as he’s the one who watches it the most. When we tried to watch a programme while he was playing games on the eye gaze I couldn’t understand why it had stopped until I remembered Quinns now has control! He clearly did not want to watch what we were watching.

He also now has a mount for his wheelchair so he can use the device when he is out and about. He loves being able to show it off to the librarians in our local library! We are still coming to terms with making sure we have all the bits necessary when we leave the house.

Quinns smiles sitting in his wheelchair with his eye gaze device mounted in front of him. There is a Smartbox CM 2025 Conference sticker in one corner and AAC in graffiti letters sticker on the other corner of his device.
Quinns sitting in his wheelchair with his eye gaze device mounted in front of him. He is focusing on the eye gaze. There is a Smartbox CM 2025 Conference sticker in one corner and AAC in graffiti letters sticker on the other corner of his device.

Following input from CALL Scotland last year he is now much more able to use it for his school work including filling out maths sheets. Apparently he really enjoys learning his times tables! At home he is obsessed with art. Despite our attempts to have him on a communication grid to talk to us he prefers to navigate to his school board, say ‘Au revoir’ and escape to the grid where he can open his art programme. It’s all communication, right?

The photo is taken over Quinns shoulder. He is sitting in his wheelchair looking at the screen of his eye gaze which shows a bright yellow and blue artwork.

We have returned from the conference with lots to reflect on as well as ideas to help integrate Quinns’ eye gaze device into our lives more and give him more opportunities to use it and communicate beyond our family. Although it may be a while before we can take him to the conference maybe there will be a meet up of young AAC users in Scotland soon!

Speech Bubble drama

qtandcp, , , , , Leave a comment

Quinns has been enjoying online drama classes with Speech Bubble drama for a couple of years now. Over the last school term he was supported to produce a short film at the class and in June we attended the premiere of his latest film, Quinns is a Starfighter Pilot. 

Quinns sits in his Gravity armchair smiling up a the camera. His red t-shirt has the Speech Bubble drama logo on it. A framed film poster with the title Quinns is a starfighter pilot leans against the chair.

From Quinns’ suggestions for what he wanted in his film we then worked on the story. Once complete Big Sister drew out a storyboard. We then programmed it into the eye gaze so that Quinns could explain the sequence of events.

After enjoying the results of last year’s film, Quinns, trains, automobiles…and rockets? We went all out this year on the production value with the addition of make up, costumes and special effects.  We had fun filming both at home and on location. It was a brilliant distraction after Quinns had been so poorly. 

The premiere was a fabulous celebration of the work produced by all the participants of the classes. Like last year’s, the films were all shown on the big screen for the creators, stars and family members before awards were given out for each film. This year there was the addition of a panel which allowed the participants in the classes to answer questions about their films.

We knew the questions in advance so after asking Quinns to answer we were able to work out more substantial responses to say at the event. He had an opportunity to practice before the event. On the day he was delighted to tell everyone about his problems with the wings falling off the Space Bug when we were filming and how he was inspired to make his film by Star Wars and the Millenium Falcon. I was so proud of how keen he was to use his eye gaze to answer in front of such a large audience.

He seemed to really enjoy being in the limelight and I think you’ll agree he makes a brilliant leading actor. You can enjoy watching both Quinns’ films on the Speech Bubble drama YouTube Channel along with a range of films from other participants.

Quinns is a Starfighter Pilot 

Quinns, trains, automobiles…and rockets?

Thunderstruck

qtandcp, , , , , 1 Comment

Learning to understand what an emerging AAC user is trying to communicate can be challenging but recently a couple of things have clicked into place for us.

An eye gaze computer grid with symbols and words for vehicles and the words 'remote, plane, helicopter, fire engine' in the speech bar.

After watching a trailer for Back to the Outback, an animated comedy adventure set in Australia, Quinns clearly told us he wanted to watch it by going to his animals board on the eye gaze and choosing the words ‘snake’, ‘spider’ and ‘koala bear’; three of the main characters from the film. Whenever we asked what he wanted to do he would repeat the same three animals followed by ‘remote’ until we finally had time to sit down and watch it. 

Although he loved it, giggling his way through the entire movie, the next time we asked him what he wanted to do he said ‘plane’, ‘helicopter’, ‘fire engine’ followed by ‘remote’. It took us a while but we eventually worked out that he was referring to an already favourite film of his, Planes: Fire and Rescue, a spin off from the classic Pixar film Cars based on fire planes and helicopters rather than cars and trucks.

This is a brilliant step in his ability to communicate what he wants to watch without us having to programme all the films that ever existed into the eye gaze! 

Quickly following this discovery, one evening at the dinner table Quinns interrupted our conversation with an obvious request for music. Dad usually puts some on when he sits down at the table but on this occasion he hadn’t. Quinns chose ‘song’ and ‘piano’ on the eye gaze before looking expectantly at Dad. A playlist was chosen on the basis of what Quinns had just been talking about ‘rain’, ‘clouds’, ‘weather’ (there may have been a film request in there but we didn’t manage to work it out if there was!) First up was Thunderstruck by AC/DC.

With music now in the background our dinner time conversation resumed until suddenly Quinns got VERY excited! His entire body was in such motion he could barely keep still enough to choose the words he wanted to say. He managed to choose “plane, helicopter, helicopter…” before looking around us all hoping that one of us would realise what he was saying. But we all just looked at each other knowing there was something but no idea what so he repeated ‘helicopter’ a couple more times before changing board to say ‘song’.

It still took us a while but suddenly it clicked and we realised the AC/DC song that was playing had been used in Quinns’ favourite film, Planes: Fire and Rescue or as he likes to call it ‘plane, helicopter, fire engine’.

So now we know Quinns can identify films and their songs and tell us about it just as long as we can guess from his clues. Anyone for a game of AAC charades?! 

Quinns’ Voice

qtandcp, , , 6 Comments

Photo of some of Quinns' t-shirtsWe spent ages choosing a voice for Quinns when we set up his eye gaze computer. It’s always been very important to me that Quinns’ voice is appropriate.

He uses a switch (basically a big button he can press) which we can record messages onto. Rather than do it myself I get Big Sister to record his news on it for nursery and they get the other children to record ‘here’ for him to say for the register.

At the very start of the CBBC documentary, Locked In Boy, about Jonathan Bryan you see Jonathan choose one of his friends to be his voice. (I’d really recommend you watch if you haven’t already). It’s all his own words he just needs someone to speak them.

For Quinns we didn’t think the default English computer accent was appropriate. I briefly considered an Australian or Canadian accent but really it came down to the little boy with the English accent or the Scottish man. After much deliberation we chose Stuart the Scot. He sounded soft and less…computer-y and it seemed to suit Quinns.

First thing Quinns did when he got onto the eye gaze? Changed his voice to The Queen! Yet another reminder that he’s the one in charge.