Hi Everyone,
I have a question. I work with a student that has great eye control and currently uses a single switch to access a communication device. I have seen how great the mytobii is with someone else, and what an improvement it is over a single switch. However, I was wondering what you think are maybe some other prerequisites for the mytobii. For instance, do you think they should be at a certain age, reading level, a certain spelling level, or communication level before they purchase a mytobii...or...
do you think access to something like a mytobii will improve all of those things anyhow?
I'd love to hear from users, parents, and professionals.
Thanks guys!
-Jess
Hi Jess,
The chance that acces to MyTobii will improve reading, spelling and communication is enormous if you use the right applications and you can make and update grids/scrips suitable to the level of the child. Our experience is, especially in the biginning, the school has not enough time to make scripts, so we have to do it ourselves. It is a lot of work but it is really worth. You can not imagine how happy Andrei (our son) is with his achievements, thanks to his Tobii device.
Mihaela (mother)
I have to aggree with Andrei`s mum. As the communication softwares - I don`t know a great deal about the VS comuunicator but the Grid 2 certainly is - are personalisable they may be used for all who are willing to have a go with the tobii. If the user has reading and spelling difficulties than using symbols might be a good choice. On the other hand all the skills listed above can and will improve by using one of the tobii devices gradually. Not to mention word prediction with which typing and cunstructing words can be a really fast procedure once set up.
Chris
pro tobii user
Dear Jess,
I think the question of whether there are 'prerequisites' for using a MyTobii is a complex question. With regards to age: that is not necessarily an issue - I know of users as young as 4 years old using the system, and certainly many older people use it too. Spelling is not necessarily required - there are so many ways of communicating without text/spelling, for example using symbols.
I would say that if your client is already accessing a range of activities and communication methods using a switch, then there is a good chance that trying a MyTobii would be worth it. Naturally, having fairly good eye control and fairly good vision are important, but these can also be accommodated to some extent if there are difficulties.
It is very difficult to predict whether having a MyTobii would improve your client's reading level, communication, spelling etc. It depends totally on the individual and their abilities, or the level of their cognitive disability. In some cases, I think that having a more comfortable way of communicating/writing/spelling etc may well encourage doing it more often and thus possibly develop improvement, and I have seen this happening with a user in school before, but it is also very possible that a user is simply not able to develop more complex communication/literacy levels.
This is not a definitive answer but I hope it helps to give you some things to think about!
Best wishes,
Lisa.
We've just assessed it with a 4 year old girl. The grid 2 software is excellent for any age, and she started using it very accurately, very quickly. It was so easy for her, the motivation was clear and from a therapist's point of view, she stayed relaxed and it was so much more accurate than a switch.
I have to aggree. As I had used switches for years the swap to eye gaze technology made things much more accessable. And the Grid 2 is just the right type of software for all ages.
Chris
pro tobii user
Hello Jess,
If you just think of the MyTobii as a direct access device (which eye control essentially is), then that might help you with your question.
If your student is able to currently access a device using switches, I do not see why there should be any difference with the MyTobii. In fact, because eye control with the MyTobii is essentially direct access, it is my experience that the user is able to access targets faster and therefore has more immediate feedback at a cause-effect level.
You are able to re-create most communication boards with VS Communicator so it is unlikely that your student would need to learn a significantly different format from what he/she is currently using.
I am happy to discuss this further with you if you'd like. Please feel free to send me a private message or e-mail if you'd like to discuss this further.
Kind regards,
Erin
MyTobii Training/Education