Compatible with iPhone
and iPod Touch
iAssist Communicator
The first thing you should know is that the developer of iAssist Communicator has not updated this app in a very long time. So it may not be compatible with the latest iOS on your device. That's a big problem.
Designed by the mom of a child with autism, iAssist Communicator was developed early on to fill the niche between communication apps that offer too much functionality and those that are too simplistic. Cyndy was a mom on a mission and she wanted an app that worked for her son. Since no other app seemed appropriate for her child iAssist Communicator was born.
iAssist is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. If your autistic child can't speak for themselves this is exactly the type of app they may need because you touch an image and this app talks. I'm not saying that iAssist is the perfect app for your child, but that doesn't mean it's not either. There are many quality AAC apps in the iTunes Store and you've got to figure out which one is most appropriate for your child based on your child's level of functionality and where they are developmentally.
The home screen is composed of 4 categories that you can replace at your discretion. You can completely switch out the categories with something entirely different or you can modify the choices within one of the default categories. That's the screen iAssist starts with. Touching "Files" on the bottom of any screen takes you to the full list of every category (and there are many). When you touch a category image, such as Toys, iAssist audibly says, "Toys" and the app pronounces it slowly and clearly. Then the app takes you to the sub-screen for that category where 4 different toys are pictured and named. You then touch one of the images to hear it spoken audibly. You can touch it again and again if you want and iAssist will speak it again each time, which is nice when someone doesn't hear you. Done on that screen? Touch "File" or "Home", which always remain on the bottom, and you are taken back to your full list of categories or the home screen respectively.
You are able to customize the images within the categories by using your own pictures and recording your own voice if you like. You can see on the screen shots that I added the Kitty Cat to the Toys category (that's my humor) and I added Lucy our autism service dog to the Pets category. There's a difference between a pet and a service animal according to the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA), but in my son's mind she's just a pet that goes everywhere.
The downfalls I see with iAssist Communicator are these: Once you load an image into the app, in order to customize the app for your child, there's no way to delete that image. It stays there. But it's not really in the way because you can choose to not use it. It just remains in the User-loaded Images library within iAssist. In fact, you cannot delete a category either (iAssist calls them Templates). So that's a bit limiting.
The "Files" area scrolls vertically and lists all your different categories. iAssist would be more scalable if functionality was added so that you could have more than 4 choices within each category. Maybe add that option within the iPhone's own settings area? That would make iAssist more feasible for a larger population who could benefit from having more choices.
The code behind iAssist is solid. Try as I may this autism app wouldn't crash. That's important. iAssist does what it says. But its limitations rob it of 1 and a half stars.
