AAC Apps,Service dogs and life with autism, I have a blog!! !

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So I finnaly did it! I created my own blog! That's something that I thought I would NEVER do!!

Here is the link http://autismdoggirl.blogspot.com/ if anyone want to read and follow it I would be very great ful, but I will also share my first two posts in this thread a to give you an idea of what it is about and B so we can also discuss it here! I am always happy to get more imput!

My first post

Introductions
Hello,
I figured I would start my first post off with a little bit of an introduction to myself as well as a bit about what this blog is all about. I will be completely honest, I am new to this whole blogging thing so this may come off as a bit choppy. I am and adult living with Autism and though I have managed to accomplish many things in life it has taken many years of hard work and struggling to get to where I am today. Before I go any further I want to make this very clear as a write this that I am only ONE adult with autism and so can only speak for my own experiences in life. please keep in mind that no two people on the autism spectrum are exactly the same. I will be using this blog to write reviews on AAC apps that I test out, I also plan to do some writing about service dogs for Autism and about my life experiences as a person with Autism in general.
Who am I
I am just one girl with autism who is trying to make her way in this life and maybe hopefully I can find a way to help others along the way. I am verbal now but when I was a child I had a moderate speech delay. I was very fortunate to have gotten early intervention from the age of 8 months and I largely attribute that to making it possible to get to where I am today. In-spite of my early intervention it still took many years of intensive therapies such as speech, play and occupational therapies. Animals also played a major role in helping me learn to interact with others. This is kinda just a brief and vague description of my past. I managed to graduate high school and am now in college. One day I would like to work training service dogs. Against all the odds I am also happily engaged and I spend a fair amount of time advocating and educating people on autism service dogs.

Why am i reviewing AAC.Apps?

Recently I have developed something of a special interest in AAC apps and their use. This interest started as I started thinking on my own thought processes and communication struggles(yes I am verbal but i still have trouble communicating my thoughts, feeling and needs at times) I really wish these apps were around when I was little and learning how to communicate verbally. I do think they would have helped me a lot. Not only with learning to communicate but also with getting my wants and needs out when I could not get the words to come out. This interest grew stronger last year after having my thyroid removed as I was predominantly non verbal for a while. Until my voice came back I utilized AAC apps to communicate my wants and needs. Since then I have spent a lot of time researching various AAC apps and thinking on ways to improve them. Earlier this week I began wishing I could get paid to test and review various AAC apps but that didn't seem likely to happen so I put it on my list of jobs that would be awesome to have but don't exist or that I'm not likely to get, and went on with my life. However the other day while I was walking, my now retired to the title of at home service dog, Nim I decided I wasn't going to just give up on that dream. I may not be able to get paid for it but I can still test out and review AAC apps! So that is what this blog is for. My reviews and writing my experiences while testing these apps out! I do this in hope that my reviews might help others along the way.

My testing process

I plan to spend 2 weeks testing out each app, during those 2 weeks I will utilize that AAC app as my sole means of communication, only using my voice for emergencies, should I need to utilize a second app I will note that in my reviews as well as write how often I had to use a second AAC app. Through out the two weeks may write up a short post on experiences that I have had using the app and any funny stories. When the two weeks have finished I will write a review on the app. I still have to work on coming up with the exact criteria for exactly how I will review them, however some areas will include versatility (how well can I use this in different plat forms, sound quality, ease of use, ease of editing, cost and practicality.these are only a few areas I will be rain ting these apps!

I hope to be doing my first testings and review in the next few weeks, I plan to keep you updated until then.
- AutismDogGirl



My last post I posted this tonight


What to expect int the up coming weeks!
Hello,
I know I have not posted in a few days, however things have been pretty busy and I have not had that much time to post. I just wanted to keep everyone updated I am currently working on the criteria I will use to rate each AAC C application. I will be publishing it here with in the next few days. I will be starting my first testing phase Monday May 20th!! Between now and then I will be setting up the AAC app for use! I will be reviewing the app I will be testing on Tuesday!

What to expect between now and my review,

Between Sunday and Monday revealing of review outline *the outline will be subject to change as need be *

Tuesday- the revealing of what app is up for testing

Tuesday until the 20th posts on,The initial impression, Set up phase, and I may also post on other topics such as service dog and current life events.

May 20th-June 3rd testing phase. Expect posts about experiences with the app and testing, any amusing stories. I may also post on other things of interest such as service dogs *note this blog is always subject to posts on service dogs*

June 3rd last day of testing I may or may not get in a final post before I start my review
App review published between the dates of the 4th and the 8th *this is subject to change* depending on time it takes to write the review and the amount of time I have to write the review.

That brings us all the way into to June! Once the review is complete I will then decide and post the schedule for my next testing phase!

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!! !! !! !!
- AutismDogGirl

Kim was also wondering if anyone has any. Suggestions either for apps or posts?

Looks fine to me! I'm gonna put it on my list of autism blogs now.

Just have fun with it--don't feel obligated to post; just post whatever you think is interesting. Sometimes I make a post and nobody really seems to be interested; sometimes I post something I think is inconsequential and it starts up a big discussion. You never know. And, anyway, blogging is something we do mostly for ourselves, as a way to express ourselves, get our ideas down in a concrete form so we can look at them properly.

Reviewing apps sounds like a good idea. Coincidentally, I might soon be able to have access to a lab where it's possible to create new apps. While I won't be able to do that for some time, until I learn how, said learning is probably going to involve checking out apps somebody else has made, and if I find any interesting ones I'll chuck 'em over to you.

I use a app called grid player on my iPhone 4S used to be iPad. 2

I use dynavox maestro now