Many families utilize the aac applications LetMeTalk and Speak For Yourself to interact efficiently with their children and clients. Many autistic persons have one of these applications as a communication medium. It might be difficult to choose from LetMeTalk and Speak For Yourself. Pricing, motor planning features, and device compatibility vary per model (like android tablets vs iPads). Many families prefer LetMeTalk because of its many customizable features, whilst others prefer Speak For Yourself because they want to include members of their care team in the process of language learning. It might be tricky to sort out which app is the greatest fit for communicating. Continue reading to find out how both applications compare in terms of vocabulary levels, parent onboarding, customer support, and more.
LetMeTalk |
Speak For Yourself |
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|---|---|---|
| Good for Early Communication |
Not ideal for users who have no foundation of language.
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Speak For Yourself is extremely overwhelming for early communicators. The screen is complex and the symbols are often confusing.
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| Affordable Pricing |
The app is free. However, there is no support included and the quality of the application is low and is not recommended by speech therapists.
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Speak For Yourself is $299, with no free trial.
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| Easy to Get Started |
All the video tutorials on the associated website are in Spanish, and little support is offered.
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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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| Behavior Supports |
No features that develop behavioral skills are offered.
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No behavior centered features are built into the Speak For Yourself app.
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| Multiple Devices |
Available on iOS and amazon, but is no longer available on the Google Play store for android devices.
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Speak For Yourself is only offered on iOS devices as a downloadable app.
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| Easy Parent Modeling |
Very little power is given to parents to interact with their child's new language. They would need to download the app on their own phone and point everything out, or take the device away from the user.
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Parents can search for a word on the device to model the location and picture of the word
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| Incentives to Practice |
No incentives to practice LetMeTalk, and many users get frustrated with the interface and no longer look forward to practicing.
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No incentives to learn the Speak For Yourself software are included.
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| Natural Voices and Language Availability |
16 languages are available, but there are very few voices to choose from. There also seems to be a consistent glitch where the sound does not play when tapping words.
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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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| Customer Support |
Very little support offered in English or in real-time. When clicking "support" in the app, users are taken to an "error" page.
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Customer support is offered by phone or email.
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| Motor Planning |
No clear organization or strategy to helping users learn language consistently.
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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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| Simplicity of the Screen |
The image-to-text size ratio is confusing to users and makes it difficult to read.
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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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| Reminders to Practice |
No reminders to practice AAC included with your purchase.
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No reminder features are included.
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| Image and Symbol Quality |
LetMeTalk uses 9000 pictograms of ARASAAC.
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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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| Fun Games to Build Skills |
There are no games in LetMeTalk that help AAC users improve their finger dexterity.
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Speak For Yourself does not have any skill-based games included.
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| Affordable Dedicated a Device Option |
LetMeTalk is only offered as an app to be downloaded on a device already owned.
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Speak For Yourself does not offer a dedicated device of their own. It is app-only.
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| Communication with Spelling |
There is an alphabet included but no spelling words included.
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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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| Levels of Vocabulary |
The vocabulary responds to PECS or a more traditional AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication).
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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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