April 3rd 2023
we got the speech device for just over a month the freedom its given me is astounding. unlike the other device its louder and far clearer. I’m far more confident with this device i am far happier with the support team. For those of you who know me I stuck to Toby churchill like glue because of there amazing personal support even when they stated selling the dynavox range. i agree to help with publicity.
then tobii churchill was brought by ablia . and dynavox part was brought by tobii. (yeah i no confusing) tobii changed its name to tobii dynavox and toby churchill became ablia .
some where in the middle i ended up using dynavox compass on an ipad mini. which then changed to a dynavox t10. but still under ablia at this point.
Dynavox T10
I had tried the dynavox mestro but didnt get on with it so the dynavox t 10 was my last try . It was on Android 4 there wasnt much in way of accessibility features . so i had a head mouse to use with it but to calibrate the zono head mouse you need a windows pc. ( so the instructions said) it didnt seem to calibrate very well.
but on days when my hands went off line it was great i used the zono on the pc i think the most and sent the t 10 back to The Sequel Trust
So I have no speech aid also no speech therapist. so we have a hudge proble. The Sequel Trust wanted to help but can’t without a report from a speech threpist.
so we contacted Smart box who loaned us a few devices. but i still need my own
we manage to fundraise for one but it was stolen. so for comparison i got grid vpp which is the reps version of grid the public can buy. it was also what the then speech therapist recommended i use. so i got the software but no hardware.
and that when we thought we ask the dr again and take it to the top. So we did then covid 19 hit all appointments etc got put back or cancelled people died. eventually i got yes you have got an appointment with a c t. . then i got told i don’t fit the criteria. then i was told yes you do have an appointment. confused so were we.
The problem
in the meantime my ot retired, so i was not only getting use to that idea, and getting use to the new ot who i really like. but im getting my head round the idea my godmother died of covid 19 related problems and my uncle had just had a stroke so with family in australia,, new zeland , new york etc and no one can even be near each other it was hard for everybody .
The td pilot Device Sucks!
so the night before i’m nervous i don’t no weather to stick to pick the Tobii Dynovx TD Pilot or go with the Liberator Accent 100 or the hiru and oskal bundle .
So i asked users and experts. watch you tube etc day of the appointment i still didnt no what to do i knew what i wanted it to help me with but still didnt no which device could do everything i need. So we discussed it we said we couldnt cope with 3 reps doing demos, but could manage 2 reps. in my head that meant tobii dynavox and liberator or hiru ipad bundle
following appointment a c t booked the tobii dynavox rep to bring two device . The T D Pilot and the i13 ( i think it was the i-13 cant be sure as it never left the bag. so the rep got the t d pilot out. relised he forgot the floorstand. So we put it on a box. now its at this point things were getting confusing in my head
firstly i wad tried on td snap but not the one we were trying to port my compass pages to so im not sure. i was uncomfortable so we switched to a drawing app , should of know then this was a bad idea a very bad idea. i couldn’t work the reps program not nly that but the reps mobile went off on the t d pilot and he said” i didn’t no it could do that” which then made me think if there loaning these out are all the reps unaware it does this.
i then get told “if your ordering the t d pilot i will cancelled your loan as there no point” i’m in a no coping or thinking mode by now. I ask can i try something else got told no if you do we have to start all over again.
this confused me completely i thought A c T ment go to the bottom of the list and start from the beginning or just redo paperwork. couldn’t decide which and panicked. A C T ordered the t d pilot. which came last september before claire left.
problems start
1 the td pilot cant be removed from the floor stand
2if the td pilot is own it talks to its self ,
3 td pilot wont stay still when in pause mode
4 it will unpause its self
5 any movement what so ever and it stats talking to its self ( we have blackout curtains)
6 Can’t use it on my power chair because tobii dynavox want it sticking out longer then my are even though julie calibrated it on her knee ( with help from my partner when the quick start guide cards were missing info)
7 cant use any of my apps ( claire forgot to write down i could as we discussed the risks) but as claire left julie only has my word she said that and can’t contact claire that annoying)
8 how u supposed practice if u cant use apps other then what it came with .
9 had to ring apple for help it locked me totally out, they have never worked with tobii dynavox ( they just sell the apps tobii dynavox make) they never heard of tobii dynavox, they never heard of the td pilot. the td pilot a c t loan me isnt even listed on apples product database no serial number , no mft number, no mac number nothing.
10 a c t said they can remote in if need. they can’t only apple are allowed do that. im even locked out of the td snap app and that one they want me use. which i dont like but dynavox compass which i could use no longer egsist. so im stuck
this is after 3 days talking to apple technicians to give me back to the td pilot.
then apple ask me to synchronise the ipad with computer there romote loged in so can see im doing it. i turn on the computer ask them that i need there permission to unplug the eyegaze. so they agree. and the minute the td pilot conects to the pc and starts syncing to apple itunes the phone line to apple tec support goes dead. not only that but the ipad changes its name twice. so i let it sync and im left with a ipad that changes identity so i syc on a different computer we re plug in the eyegaze and put the td pilot back in the bag. that was last year. havent been able to use it since.
We tried explaining to A C T birmgham. but were getting no where. all we’re getting is they wont change the device. so i stuck with a td pilot i cant use . just cus she seen me press one button she wont change it
So my suggestion is try as many devices before you decide which is the best device to last you five years . cus i can’t get on with the td pilot , you might but i can’t
so the td pilot went back to act so were back to trying devices
currently im using a accent 100 thats going really well but i cant get my head around nuvoice ( yes that spelt right)
we tried liberator ipad which was great it came with touch chat and it was fine except our loan device kept over heating to the point it was hot enough to cook ur breakfast on it.
so we decide to go for touch chat and use it on my ipad till we decided what to do next
we tried go a windows 11 accent with nuvoice but ive hit a big problem it automatically load’s nuvoice which i didn’t expect and i can’t understand windows 11 no matter how much help im getting for that or nuvoice, we manage get by but i feel that im constantly bothering everyone to help me with the little things.
so were looking at the hiru for my ipad because
1 i can figure out touch chat it easy but powerful
2 my ipad is always with me so it makes sense to put the eyegaze on that
3 we might need find an ir senseer as i dont remember if the hriu has it built in or not
so u may be thinking what about the accent 1000
well i use that for day time i can turn tv on and of also i can turn the heating on or off too which gives me more independence
hopefully the ipad with hiru can do this too
and the hiru is more accurate doesn’t run away and select apps on its own like the tdpilot did. ( td pilot is about 4 years old approximately at time of writing and ipad was on ios 14 i think)
so im really looking forward to buying the hiru and oskal to fit my ipad
Sian's World 