Both LAMP Words for Life and Coughdrop are AAC apps that are often utilized teach kids how to grasp language. There's many communication options available, and each person's style of communication is unique. It can be tricky to figure out which of these applications is best suited for your family. That's why we've split each app down into its individual capabilities so you can come to a decision! Is it simple to get going with them? What do they cost? Is it ideal for autistic children? To evaluate if a talker app like this is suitable for you, check out our comparison table.
CoughDrop |
LAMP Words for Life |
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|---|---|---|
| Good for Early Communication |
Cough drop can work for early users but is often helpful for adults and users that do not have good dexterity. Users can enable eye tracking to sync with eye gaze.
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LAMP Word for Life is great if you want your user to only have to tap ONE time on the screen, but for younger users, the small symbol size and overwhelming vocabulary makes it difficult to start slow.
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| Affordable Pricing |
CoughDrop is $6/mo OR $200 for a lifetime payment. However, they charge a $25 fee for a "superviser" account, which allows other caregivers access to edit the board. There is a 2-month free trial option.
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The app is $299.99 and only available on iPad. No trial version. You must go through a third party source for hardware, adding to the cost.
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| Easy to Get Started |
Estimated time: 15-20 minutes. CoughDrop guides the user through set up. Although customizing coughdrop's AAC talker app is pretty straightforward, there is not much onboarding support from the CoughDrop team.
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Very little guidance offered to new users. Support is only offered if a Support Plan is purchased.
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| Behavior Supports |
CoughDrop's only form of behavior supports come in the form of badges and external feedback from caregivers.
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No behavior support included.
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| Multiple Device Options |
CoughDrop is built on basic web standards. This means that while it works on computers, Android devices, IOS devices, Chromebooks, Windows devices, and Amazon devices, it does require access to browser storage to work right when accessed from the web. They do have an app version available, but no distraction-free device.
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The app is ONLY available on iPad (not even iPhones). Expensive dedicated devices can be bought through other companies.
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| Easy Parent Modeling |
Modeling is done through a search function on cough drop's interface. It will highlight a path, but the search must be done on the AAC device itself, leaving search and other settings exposed for user to get distracted by while in speak mode.
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WordFinder™ gives users and caregivers the option of both viewing and touching the button sequence to practice the movement for motor planning.
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| Incentives to Practice |
CoughDrop allows users to set goals and badges for practicing within the application.
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While there are no supporting features like token boards to incentivize practice, LAMP Words for Life does allow users to use the app during FaceTime calls and to share messages to social media. This does make practicing AAC a bit more fun!
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| Natural Voices and Language Availability |
CoughDrop's premium voices are only available on iOS, Android and Amazon apps. Voice settings also depend on the device being used. Although there is a multitude of languages and accents, the flexibililty in voice selection is not consistent.
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Offered in Spanish, English, and Hebrew. 35+ voice options are available.
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| Customer Support |
The only support available is through FAQ articles, videos, and email communication.
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Requires customers to purchase tier 1 or tier 2 support plans to be helped in a reasonable time frame.
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| Motor Planning |
Yes. CoughDrop's users learn through muscle memory. Words do not move, and others can be hidden.
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Yes. Lamp Words for Life aac app is heavily focused on language acquisition through motor planning and muscle memory patterns. Words do not move on the screen, and there is no scrolling.
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| Simplicity of the Screen |
More advanced users are set up with an overwhelming grid with very small buttons.
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LAMP Words for Life has one the most complex and overwhelming screens because users are not able to scroll or tap into folders. All words are laid out on the home screen. Once programmed, their placement will not change.
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| Safety and 9-1-1 Calling features |
Outside of speaking through the CoughDrop AAC talker to say that they are in a difficult situation, CoughDrop has no safety functionality.
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Little functionality to help kids out of stressful situation. Communication via the talker is its only function.
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| Affordable Dedicated Device Option |
No dedicated device offered. Users have to go through a third party and pay separately for CoughDrop software on the device.
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All dedicated devices must be bought outside of the company and mostly thousands of dollars.
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| Communication With Spelling |
CoughDrop has a keyboard screen that provides the ability to spell words from scratch. This keyboard is used by many older users. The keyboard can be found in a side bar shortcut.
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Offers "spell mode" so users can type out words.
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| Reminders to Practice |
CoughDrop does not have reminders that help encourage users to practice.
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There are no integrated reminders to practice language and communication via the Words For Life app.
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| Image and Symbol Quality |
CoughDrop uses Open Symbols, an open source collection of symbols for communication.
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Uses Minspeak symbols that don't often actually match the word it is supposed to represent. This is confusing for most users. The symbols also represent multiple words.
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| Fun Games to Build Skills |
CoughDrop offers little in regard to improving dexterity outside of consistent AAC practice. No supporting features.
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LAMP Words for Life does not include any external or accompanying games that help AAC users improve their finger dexterity.
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| Levels of Vocabulary |
The beginning set up asks users to pick from 3 levels of boards: brand new, some experience, and very experienced. However, they don't guide with size of buttons very well.
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Has 3 levels of vocabularies: 1-hit, transtion, and full.
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| Care Team Access |
CoughDrop charges per-communicator, so all care team members can create an account for free.
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LAMP Words for Life is interaction is limited to either the dedicated device or the iOS iPad that it was purchased on.
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See why Goally's AAC app has become the cheapest, most impactful AAC app for families and speech therapists all over the world.
Goally's language learning apps are just $12 a month. If it does not work for your family, you can cancel at any time.
