A Little Bit of Magic

Whether for accurate production of a target by simply encouraging an autistic child to make a sound, a hearing-impaired child to produce a sound or word accurately, of a stutterer to achieve fluency in connected speech, Video Voice motivates and applauds the desired speech behavior with colorful, graphic animations and sounds.  These reward graphics can be automatic in response to a therapist-defined goal, or manually activated by clicking the Reward button.

A while back, a husband and wife Behavioral Psychology consulting team visited our office to discuss how Video Voice might be helpful in their practice.  They work with children on the low-functioning end of the autism spectrum.  The wife, who is also a Speech-Language Pathologist, was well-acquainted with the power of Video Voice, having successfully used an earlier version (Apple IIe!!) previously in a school setting.   The husband wanted something more than a clickable Reward button, though.  He wanted to be able to activate rewards himself, secretly.  This would give him control over the reinforcement schedule, and let him "applaud" even minimal vocalization.  In his words, he wanted a "remote clicker."  The goal was for the child to associate vocalization with something fun on the screen, something he made happen by using his voice. 

In the release of Version 3.0.129, this idea came to fruition, and works anywhere you see a Reward button.  Simply start the display, then slide the cursor down to any empty space on the red button bar at the bottom of the screen.  Encourage the child to use his voice, and whenever you think he should be rewarded, right-click the mouse, and voila!  A congratulatory message and/or reward animation or progress toward a game goal will happen. Magic!!

If you have a wireless mouse, you can pick it up and place it at your side where the click won't be seen or heard.  Your mouse becomes your "remote control."  You might want to practice this on your own first, to develop a polished "slight of hand."

Hint: for a little more “magic,” remember that you can also customize the reward text and audios to personalize the experience for each child.  See our earlier post on Personalizing Feedback for more details on modifying Video Voice audio and video rewards.

You may find some individuals are motivated by the visual feedback alone - the colorful, changing displays in Pitch Painting and Kaleidoscope, movement of the train, car or horse in Chat-N-U-Go Choo-Choo, appearance of hidden pictures in Voice-A-Sketch, “eating up the dots” in Formant Gobble (Pac Man for speech!) mode. We've certainly heard from many therapists that their “kids” never want to quit trying!

In addition to animated graphic rewards, in some games and displays, performance at a therapist-defined goal reveals colorful congratulatory messages and sounds.  The child seeing his name on the electronic billboard also makes those rewards especially effective.

We're always on the lookout for new ideas on how to improve Video Voice.    Let us hear yours, too!

Yours in good speech,

Video Voice Support Team
mv@videovoice.com
1-800-537-2182
www.videovoice.com

Hey, I Have A Voice!

Over the years, we’ve talked with many therapists who have told us they find Video Voice most helpful with young children who come into their programs with little or no awareness of their voices. In particular, profoundly deaf youngsters often start off with no idea that vocalization is even an option. Visual stimulus for those little ones can be a key that unlocks a hidden door, helping them understand that "I have a voice, and something happens when I use it!" 

Video Voice has many options to assist with this first building block of speech. The simplest are those like Pitch Painting, Magic Box (Magic Blocks option), Kaleidoscope and On The Air, in which any sound results in colorful response from the display.

Others like Chat-N-U-Go Choo-Choo and Voice-A-Sketch can be set so that any form of sound onset or ongoing vocalization will result in a change in the display. With Choo-Choo, it can be the train, car or horse moving after a vocal onset or sustained phonation is detected. With Voice-A-Sketch, a picture will be gradually be revealed. You can use these games to start with simple phonation or onsets (then later move to work on volume control, specific sounds and words).

The Up, Up and Away game, the object it to try a balloon across a mountain range. The balloon only moves when voicing is present, and its height is related to the volume level. If the player This encourages vocalization, and allows for work on speaking volume as well.

With the Jumping Jack race game, you can use the More Volume option, but set the volume level required very low. Then, most any vocalization will make Jack run.

Another simple "cause and effect" game option is Laser Master.  In this game, vocalization activates a laser beam and moves an "alien space ship" out into space (off the screen).  Although the general purpose of this game is for pitch and/or volume work, the Duration goal simplifies operation, and any pitch or volume will make the space ship glide across the screen. 

In addition to the games, Video Voice offers other graphic displays to help develop cognition of speech, such as the Formant Multi-Frequency Spectral display and Formant Gobble.  The Spectral display provides visual feedback with a colorful graph of all three Formant frequencies simultaneously.  The Gobble display is like "Pac-Man for speech" - the goal is to eat up a sound pattern.  The live nature of these displays is a very powerful way to illustrate the presence (or absence) of speech.

These are just some of the ways visual feedback can stimulate the awareness and use of voice. Whether you’re working with hearing impaired children, those with autism who need encouragement to develop their speech skills, or youngsters those who are relearning vocal control after a head injury, you’re sure to find something in Video Voice that will pique their interest and get them talking!

Yours in good speech,

Video Voice Support Team

1-800-537-2182

mv@videovoice.com