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Avaz Sri Lanka is the first Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app launched in Sinhalese. The picture and text based app contains pre-recorded words and phrases and has the capability to record thousands more so that a customizable version can be used by the people of all ages experiencing difficulties in speech. It is a collaboration between Invention Labs the creators of the Avaz app and the National Centre for Cerebral Palsy and other Development Disorders (NCCCPDD) and is now available on the App store for iOS devices.  

 

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and other Developmental Disorders experience difficulties in speech. They are unable to express themselves including their needs, thoughts and feelings leading to difficulties in dealing with everyday life. The app aids people with communication difficulties and can be used to supplement or if necessary replace natural speech. It also offers an alternative to paper based versions that need to be replaced with use, wear and tear. 

 

The app is appropriate for young children as well as for adults. Children can say words and create sentences by touching a picture symbol that can speak it out in a voice. For example, if the child is hungry and unable to say the word “biscuit” he/she can touch the picture of biscuit on the Avaz SL app and it would speak the word aloud. 

 

“Most therapists and parents in Sri Lanka currently use an English app or have to continuously replace paper versions of images and texts. Avaz Sri Lanka has been localized to include culturally specific words and phrases and the pre-recorded vocabulary has been designed by a leading speech and language therapist in Sri Lanka.” says Gopi Kitnasamy Director of the NCCCPDD and the Chairman/Founder of the Cerebral Palsy Lanka Foundation. “It offers the option for parents and speech and language therapists to customize the vocabulary on it to suit the needs of each individual child or person and extend AAC beyond therapy into the home and classroom – as the child or person grows and their ability to communicate increases, the app is able to grow with them” he added. The app is also currently available in Tamil, a customized Sri Lankan Tamil version as well as an app for the Android platform is in development and will be released shortly.

 

Narayanan Ramakrishnan Team Leader, Avaz India says “Effective implementation of AAC can increase a child’s confidence, independence, social interaction, academic performance, feelings of self-worth, improve social relationships, life activities and overall quality of life. The speech and language therapist along with the support of a multi-disciplinary team working with the child (parents, teachers, occupational therapist, pediatrician) can facilitate this child’s use of AAC to communicate effectively. We’ve developed Avaz as an alternative that is user friendly, can be customized efficiently to ensure that therapists, parents and children are able to communicate easily.”

  

“This app targets a dearth in resources of this nature in Sri Lanka especially in the local languages; there is no better opportunity that we can provide children who have difficulty speaking and their families than the ability to communicate better so that they too may have voice”says Merrill J. Fernando Chairman and Founder of Dilmah and the Settlor of the MJF Charitable Foundation.

  

Avaz SL is currently available on the Appstore; a 15 day free trial version is available along with a monthly subscription of just under LKRs. 500 and a lifetime subscription available for LKRs. 10,000. It is also available in: Danish, English, French, Swedish, and Spanish as well as 6 Indian languages: Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telegu. 

 

Download from – www.bit.ly/avazsrilanka

 

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