LAMP Words for Life and Avaz are two AAC applications that are commonly used to facilitate learning and how to acquire language ability. There are many possibilities present, and communication takes on different forms for different people. This might be tough to determine which of these tools is the greatest option for your family. That's why we've broken down each app into its particular components so you can come to a conclusion. Are they simple to use? What is the pricing of them? Is it appropriate for children with autism? To evaluate if a talker app like this would be beneficial for you, look at our comparison table.
LAMP Words for Life |
Avaz |
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|---|---|---|
| Good for Early Communication |
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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Avaz can be customized for most learners who have little language skills established.
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| Affordable Pricing |
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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Offers a 14-day free trial with limited functionality, after which users must choose to subscribe to a monthly ($10 per month), annual ($100 per year) or lifetime plan ($200).
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| Easy to Get Started |
Very little guidance offered to new users. Support is only offered if a Support Plan is purchased.
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Estimated time: 15 minutes It's easy to get started with the free trial, but it's because there is little customization allowed until fully purchased.
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| Behavior Supports |
No behavior support included.
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No features that develop behavioral skills are offered.
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| Multiple Device Options |
The app is ONLY available on iPad (not even iPhones). Expensive dedicated devices can be bought through other companies.
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Available on both iOS and Android devices, but not Windows or any other type of device.
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| Easy Parent Modeling |
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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There's a function called Avaz live that allows therapists to remotely connect to the app during teletherapy sessions and model externally on the user's app.
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| Incentives to Practice |
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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Avaz offers no rewards to users for practicing language.
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| Natural Voices and Language Availability |
Offered in Spanish, English, and Hebrew. 35+ voice options are available.
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Available in English US, English AU, French, Sinhala, as well as 6 Indian languages: Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu.
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| Customer Support |
Requires customers to purchase tier 1 or tier 2 support plans to be helped in a reasonable time frame.
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Avaz does have a customer support number and email, but it is an Indian number, so accessibility is not always ideal for international users.
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| Motor Planning |
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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While Avaz is more about picture communication, there is an option for users to enable the Page-Up and Page-Down keys instead of scrolling for users who learn best through motor planning.
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| Simplicity of the Screen |
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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The screen is color coded and simpler than many AAC apps, the "home" button is very small and the distinction between foldres and words is not clear.
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| Safety and 9-1-1 Calling features |
Little functionality to help kids out of stressful situation. Communication via the talker is its only function.
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There is no calling ability offered by Avaz. However, it does have a ‘mistake’ & ‘alert’ button that can alert a caregiver.
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| Affordable Dedicated Device Option |
All dedicated devices must be bought outside of the company and mostly thousands of dollars.
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Avaz does not offer a dedicated device. It is app only.
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| Communication With Spelling |
Offers "spell mode" so users can type out words.
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Users can toggle between a keyboard and symbols depending on if they want to create sentences or not.
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| Reminders to Practice |
There are no integrated reminders to practice language and communication via the Words For Life app.
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Reminders to practice are not included with Avaz' software.
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| Image and Symbol Quality |
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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Avaz uses 15,000 pictures from Symbolstix.
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| Fun Games to Build Skills |
LAMP Words for Life does not include any external or accompanying games that help AAC users improve their finger dexterity.
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While the Avaz app does not have any built-in games, it does have information on its website about games that can be helpful in motivating and building skills of AAC users.
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| Levels of Vocabulary |
Has 3 levels of vocabularies: 1-hit, transtion, and full.
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Beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels are included for Avaz's text-based and picture vocabulary.
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| Care Team Access |
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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Avaz has a unique setting that gives teletherapists access to remote modeling.
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Try Goally's AAC talker app to see your child learn language more effectively than they would with other apps.
Goally's language learning apps are just $12 a month. If it does not work for your family, you can cancel at any time.
