Caleb and Joshua Hurd

Minspeak Is Easy!

I am the mother of 4 boys. When my twin sons, Joshua and Caleb, were 4, it became obvious that they were not going to be speaking any time soon. They have identical, multiple disabilities and one of the many things they needed were "talking machines" to help them communicate and develop language. For a mom who was not skilled with technology, learning to use and program a talking machine (AAC device) could have been overwhelming.

I was not knowledgeable enough to program all of the words they needed into a talking machine. With Minspeak, thank goodness, I didn't have to.

The Minspeak Application Program (MAP) in the device provided a framework that had all of the basic, core words people use every day. Minspeak made it easy. I could spend my time teaching my children to use words. I was comfortable with that. The boys and I found it easy to learn how words were organized with Minspeak. Together, we learned the rules of how a Minspeak system works. We learned the patterns in the system. Before long, we could all guess where new words were stored.

My boys are now 11 and are ready to transition to a new device. Minspeak makes that easy, too. Familiar icons and similar locations on the device make the transition to a new device very easy.

For any other parent who is overwhelmed by using an AAC device, my message is simple - Minspeak is easy. I can teach it to my sons and so can you!