Grid3 and Speak For Yourself are two AAC applications that are frequently used to educate children how to learn language. There are several possibilities available, and communication takes on different forms for different people. It might be difficult to choose which of these applications is the greatest fit for your family. That's why we've broken down each app into its individual features so you can make an informed decision! Is it simple to get started with them? How much do they cost? Is it suitable for autistic children? Check out our table of comparisons to discover if a talker app like this is right for you.
Speak For yourself |
Grid3 |
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|---|---|---|
| Good for Early Communication |
Speak For Yourself is extremely overwhelming for early communicators. The screen is complex and the symbols are often confusing.
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Can help early learners but includes an overwhelming set-up process
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| Affordable Pricing |
Speak For Yourself is $299, with no free trial.
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The app-only is £9.99 per month or £349.99 one-time-payment. But dedicated devices are hundreds of dollars and funding is complicated.
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| Easy to Get Started |
Out of the box, Speak For Yourself comes with an overwhelming learning process for care givers even before they can help their child or AAC user learn it for themselves.
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There are different "Grid sets" to choose from, so setup and process is different for each.
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| Behavior Supports |
No behavior centered features are built into the Speak For Yourself app.
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25 animated activities that help kids learn how to make choices.
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| Multiple Device options |
Speak For Yourself is only offered on iOS devices as a downloadable app.
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The app-only download is only available on iPad. However, some of the expensive dedicated devices offered do include options for eye-gaze, switch, touch, and pointing devices.
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| Easy Parent Modeling |
Parents can search for a word on the device to model the location and picture of the word
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"Find word" functionality has to be added to the grid set to help guide a path to a word
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| Incentives to practice |
No incentives to learn the Speak For Yourself software are included.
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The limited games offered may help children be excited to interact with the talker
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| Natural voices and language availability |
While Speak For Yourself is offered in English, it is powered by CereProc's speech system that offers changes in pitch, speed, etc. for customization.
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Available in 15 languages.
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| Customer Support |
Customer support is offered by phone or email.
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Available by phone, website chat, and email, but limited onboarding support
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| Motor Planning |
This app teaches language solely through motor planning. However, while Speak For Yourself does not allow the location of words to change and the size of the screen to shift, the buttons are programmed in a very small size, making the screen overwhelming.
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Each grid is based on the same layout, which helps with motor planning
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| Simplicity of screen |
The size of the buttons and complexity of the screen is a challenge for most users, and it cannot be changed.
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Depends on the grid chosen. Some are more complicated than others! Deciding which is best can be a bit overwhelming.
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| Affordable dedicated device option |
Speak For Yourself does not offer a dedicated device of their own. It is app-only.
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Funding a dedicated device includes a 4 step process with lots of paperwork and forms. The device costs are not clear up front.
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| Communication with spelling |
There is a keyboard functionality built in to Speak For Yourself to allow users to communicate any fringe words not already included.
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Grid3 does have a keyboard functionality that can be added to a grid
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| Built-In Safety and 9-1-1 Calling features |
Speak For Yourself is an app offering one function, so 9-1-1 calling is impossible on a dedicated device.
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There is no built-in feature for safety.
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| Reminders to Practice |
No reminder features are included.
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No reminders to practice Grid3 are included in-app.
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| Image and Symbol Quality |
Speak For Yourself uses 11,000 Smarty symbols, but the symbols are often used in confusing ways, similar to Minspeak symbols that don't actually mean the word they represent.
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Grid3 uses a variety of symbols: Widgit, PCS, Symbol Stix and Snap Photos
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| Fun Games to Build Skills |
Speak For Yourself does not have any skill-based games included.
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Grid3 does offer interactive learning through 25 animated activities.
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| Levels of vocabulary |
While words can be hidden through an "open and close" feature, there are no easy step-by-step levels of vocabulary to make things simple at the beginning and leave room for growth over time.
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While there does not seem to be a simple step-waise vocabulary, Grid3 does offer core word vocabulary that sits next to activity-specific language.
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| Care team access |
There is not a lot of functionality for inviting care team members like teachers into the process.
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Remote editing can only be done from a Windows computer.
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