App helps disabled boy speak through use of iPad, iPhone

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C.

Victor Pauca will have plenty of presents to unwrap today, but the 5-year-old Winston-Salem boy already has received the best gift he’ll get this year: the ability to communicate.

Victor has a rare genetic disorder that delays development of a number of skills, including speech. To help him and others with disabilities, his father, Paul, and some of his students at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem have created an application for the iPhone and iPad that turns their touch screens into communications tools.

The VerbalVictor app allows parents and caregivers to take pictures and record phrases to go with them. These become “buttons” on the screen that Victor touches when he wants to communicate. A picture of the backyard, for example, can be accompanied by a recording of a sentence like “I want to go outside and play.” When Victor touches it, his parents or teachers know what he wants to do.

The app, which should be for sale for $10 in Apple Inc.’s iTunes store by early next week, is one of dozens of new software products designed to make life easier for people with a range of disabilities.