Autism Health and Wellness Magazine is always looking for breakthroughs in technology that truly improve the lives of special needs children. As such, we were thrilled when the ProxTalker came onto the market. The ProxTalker has all of the features of the overly complicated talking devices and an even greater range of words. Unlike those complex devices, the ProxTalker is user friendly. This is most important because there’s no reason to buy a device that’s too complex for a child to use properly. This unique balance of quality and ability to use makes the ProxTalker a true benefit to the autism and special needs community.
Universities have been quick to notice this as well. Purdue University, along with Northern Arizona University’s Assistive Technology Center, are launching an indepth study into the ProxTalker, something they only undertake on products that are deemed to be breakthroughs. As communication is especially important, the quality of life for children who are in need of communication devices stands to be truly elevated due to this breakthrough. Allowing a child to communicate is not only one of the greatest benefits imaginable, its benefits also go far beyond just enhancing communicative abilities. Facilitating communication leads to more social interaction, development of social skills, increased positive outlook and less frustration/tantrums.
Dr. Oliver Wendt, who heads the study at Purdue, along with Miriam Chacon Boesch, M.S., & Anu Subramanian, Ph.D., explained the vast benefit that devices such as the ProxTalker can have upon society as a whole. Titling their study: “Combining Exchange Based Communication Intervention and Speech Output Technology to Enhance Communicative Development in Children with Autism,” they explain:
“Given that the prevalence of autism continues to increase, families are seeking more support for behavioral interventions such as PECS (the basis of the ProxTalker) approaches from the professional community…. Second, from a perspective of evidence-based practice, there is an urgent need for rigorous treatment efficacy research in this area to establish the effectiveness of this intervention empirically. After the completion of this study, external funding can be sought from several sources including government agencies and nonprofit organizations.”
It is clear that academics who devote their efforts exclusively to the study of speech development methods see the great value in the ProxTalker. Founder Glen Dobbs, a technology expert who, along with business partner Kevin Miller and their team, invented the device to meet the needs of his son (and named the device after him) has clearly invented a superior product that stands to revolutionize communication among non-communicative children. It is also noteworthy that the Logan ProxTalker is now available with Spanish sound tags as well.
Whether using English or the Spanish sound tags (both can be used on the same unit for bilingual classrooms), the ProxTalker allows non-communicative children to form full sentences with relative ease. Combine that with the fact that the device is made to be water proof, crash proof and child resistant (as far as unwanted opening of the device is concerned) and the ProxTalker seems to have all needed and hard to find benefits of a communication device. It is not only unique. Its numerous quality attributes make the device uniquely beneficial for children and parents alike.
To find out more about this revolutionary device please call (877) 776-9177 or visit www.proxtalker.com.
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