SPEAKER
Meet another winning team of Social Innovation Competition – Natia Chachkhiani and Elene Kobidze, authors of Speaker. Their idea foresees the creation of a PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) application for children with disabilities, especially for (and not limited to) children with autism spectrum disorder and severe intellectual disability. The app unites various means of communication-based on consumer needs.
Elene and Natia explain their idea: “we represent Hand in Hand organization and the Movement for Change – a coalition of organizations of PwDs and Parents, which provide support and assistance for PwDs. Parents of children with physical, social, or mental disabilities, and we, who have frequent interaction with children with communication disorders as part of our work, are well aware of those problems that these children have to face in their everyday life. We see how these problems trigger severe behavioral and learning difficulties. Speech barriers negatively affect the potential of human independence and sharply restrict the opportunities for broader participation in social life.
To meet the needs of these children, we began to look for alternative means of communication and found that there are several ways of assistance, including the following:
- Sign language, which is PwDs with mental development delay and/or motor skills disorder find difficult to learn;
- Assistive devices approved and used in the USA, however, they are expensive and hardly available for most people;
- PECS – Picture Exchange Communication System. It can be used in two forms – a book, and an application. Book PECS is not comfortable in a number of situations: it can be easily destroyed, and its renewal is a complicated, costly, and lengthy procedure. The app is far easier to use; however, it remains unavailable due to the price and foreign language (it is not in Georgian).
Discussions of needs and solutions with parents of PwDs led to the idea of developing a PECS format that would match the individual needs of each child and adult. We decided to design an application that will be equally comfortable for all persons with communication disorders in any country. The app will help to improve the quality of independent life and social inclusion.”