heard of lingraphica?

[lschick]

Hi,

My husband's SLP has recommended a very expensive speech device called the lingraphica. Has anyone tried this program?

 

It's actually a gutted Mac iBook with the lingraphica software installed. The website makes it look very promising, but the price is very high...

 

Just wondering if anyone has tried this. If our insurance will pay for it, we will most likely try it. But, just looking for feedback.

 

Thanks,

 

Lyn

[jriva]

Lyn,

 

Our speech therapist recommended one for my husband and another patient in the clinic. I really struggled with the decision, too, because it's a ton of money...even though it didn't come out of our pockets.

 

The other patient who got one never used it at all. His wife couldn't handle programing the sentences in and they just generally weren't computer savy enough to figure it out the program. I found it pretty easy to do, though.

 

My husband used his for about four months and became very bored with it. He much prefers the one-on-one speech sessions. Did it help in those four months? I don't know. Progress is so slow with him it's hard to tell. I do plan to get him back into using the Lingraphica again come May when his speech classes will be finished until September. Trying to over come aphasia and appraxia is an on-going and slow, 24/7 deal at our house. (The orginial thread about the Lingraphic 6 months ago. http://www.strokeboard.net/index.php?showtopic=2564 )

 

If you get one, you'll get a short trial period that you can use it for free and you have to work with your therapist during that time frame. What I would suggest, if you decide to get one, is to pay every close attention to your husband's and your feelings about using the machine during that trial period. If you get those little feelings of doubt during that time, don't buy it. I wish I had listened to my doubts, I had to push my husband too much to do his homework on it during the trial period and that should have told me something. You have nothing to loss to go through the trial period and you might have an entirely different outcome.

 

Jean

[lschick]

Jean,

 

Thanks for your input! I feel pretty optimistic at this point, as Steve really seems to enjoy the homework more than the one on one. (He's always tended to be a little anti-social) Only problems I anticipate are the cost and the fact that Steve is totally computer illiterate.

 

I know my way around a computer pretty well, so hopefully our trial will work out. Steve also seems to be better able to get words out when we're at home, and also later in the day. He seems pretty interested in it, too. We have detected he is able to read a little, so that's also very encouraging.

 

Jean, thanks so much for your guidance! You have great wisdom, and you must be a saint! I have read many of your posts and have taken your advise numerous times! :You-Rock:

 

Lyn

 

 

[Kim W.]

I am a speech pathologist with extensive experience working with people who have aphasia and apraxia. I also have a lot of experience in recommending computers to these same individuals. I am familiar with the Lingraphica, as I have gone through the training. I have to tell you that I would NEVER recommend this system to any of my patients. The reason being is that the company markets the device as a piece of equipment that patients can use to help with their communication, with a secondary feature of having built in therapy programs. You need to understand that they MUST market it this way so that insurance, specifically Medicare, will pay for it. In my clinical opinion, it is essentially a $7,000 piece of equipment that patients can use to complete therapy exercises, and oh by the way, you can also use it to communicate. The company recently completed a survey and found that most of their clients used the device everyday for about an hour or so. What they failed to inquire about was: what were these clients using the device for? I suspect that most were sitting down for an hour and doing the drill-based therapy exercises and then putting it away. I suspect that most client were NOT using the device for daily communication, such as being able to express opinions, make requests, order their food at a restaurant, tell their family that they love them, etc. THAT is what these types of devices should be used for. Unfortunately, there are speech pathologists out there who are simply recommending this device based on a clients diagnosis, without consideration of their needs for communication and without consideration of other pieces of equipment. This area of communication technology is very competitive and there are many, many other devices that I would recommend for a client before I would EVER recommend the Lingraphica. And, if a client of mine is interested in doing computer based therapy exercises, they would be much better served with getting either Parrot or Bungalow software programs. In addition, they are more effective, and much cheaper. I am sorry to hear Jean that your husband no longer uses it. Although I obviously don't know all of the details surrounding your husband's language abilities, if he had been my client, I would have recommended a different computer system that would help to increase his ability to communicate and would then have recommended Parrot or Bungalow software on the side. I hope that my response didn't come off too strong or offend anyone, but I honestly wish this device would just go away. I found the company and their representatives to be somewhat similar to used car salesmen, and I think they are preying on people's desperation to find something to help their loved one. The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

[jriva]

 

Kim

 

Back when my husband got his Lingraphica last spring, you had recommended other software programs and I sent for their sample CDs and tried them at speech class, but he either couldn't do them or had no interest in them, so we went ahead with the Lingraphica which at the time of his trial he said he wanted. (My husband cannot write or type.) He's a very social person and much prefers the one-on-one ST sessions to sitting alone with a machine. Using it for communicaiton, as it was designed to do....he will never in a hundred years use the machine for that. He will try for hours to get a word out, but he wants the eye contact and no computer program or machine is going to give him that.

 

 

Jean

[Kim W.]

Other companies that sell augmentative/alternative communication (AAC) equipment include: Prentke Romich, Zygo, Dynavox, Words Plus, Saltillo. There's probably a few others that just aren't coming to mind. Most of these companies have websites where you can get an idea of the products they sell. The bottom line is that if you are interested in these types of systems, you need to be evaluated by a speech pathologist, preferably one who has experience in evaluating clients for these systems. It is definitely a bit of a specialty area.

[lschick]

Hi Kim,

 

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate hearing another outlook.

 

We have been working with the Parrot software in our SLP's office, and we feel the program is to "picky" regarding responses. That and the fact the client is supposed to type in the responses.(??) That just won't work in our case, at least not yet. Also, my husband doesn't know how to type, and most likely would lose interest if he had to try it at home.

 

I've been looking into a lot of options, but the Lingraphica was recommended by our SLP. We will most likely do the trial, but I will continue to research other options.

 

Thanks much!

 

Lyn

[Kim W.]

Just out of curiosity, have you asked your speech pathologist why they recommend the Lingraphica versus another system? Have they done what is called an Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) evaluation? If not, then it sounds like they are recommending the Lingraphica primarily based on your husband's diagnosis of aphasia and the fact that it has the built-in therapy exercises. I hate to say this but I'm going to call a spade a spade. If insurance, and in particular, Medicare, is going to pay for the Lingraphica, the speech pathologist has to submit detailed documentation to justify reimbursement. The primary reason to justify Medicare/insurance paying for the device is that the client intends to use the device primarily as a means to communicate; NOT to sit down for an hour each day and do the therapy exercises. If the speech pathologist is recommending the Lingraphica for the purpose of the therapy exercises, and is seeking reimbursement from insurance and especially Medicare, then that is fraudulent!! I would ask your speech pathologist what their experience is with AAC. Are they familiar with other communication systems? I'm not saying, don't go through the trial, but if the primary purpose is NOT for him to use it to communicate, then 1 of 2 decisions need to be made: 1. the Lingraphica may not be the best system for your husband's communication needs. Therefore, other AAC devices should be looked at/trialled. Or, 2: You and your husband are only interested in the computer therapy exercises. Therefore, NO AAC systems should be pursued, and you may want to consider another computer software program, such as Bungalow software. I'm not sure where you are located, but I'm in the state of CT. If you would like to talk further, feel free to contact me through my PM button.

 

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[jriva]

 

 

Kim,

 

I must say in defense of the company that we did not feel that they were pushing this device as in the "used car salesman" kind of way that you are suggesting. They were easy to work with and we did not feel pressured. When my husband got his Lingraphica, it was made clear by both the company and his ST that it was primarily a communication device. He did the testing you mentioned and we tried other software systems as well and it was anything but an off the cuff recommendation. The ST who oversaw the trial has 16 years in the field.

 

For my very social husband, there isn't going to be a communication device anywhere that he'll prefer over holding your hand, making eye contact and trying to get the words out on his own. I regret that I didn't figure that out before we got the Lingraphica but I can't fault the company for that.

 

Jean

[lschick]

Kim and Jean,

 

FYI, we will not be trying the Lingraphica for financial reasons (turns out they want a huge deposit). We are not on Medicare at this point, we are considered "self pay". We are pursuing other options. Our SLP is not pushing anything. We have discussed several options~ not only computer based stuff.

 

I'm hopeful we'll find something my husband will be willing to learn to use. We are not looking for anything to replace speech. We are still very hopeful he will eventually learn to communicate, but we're just looking into our options at this point. The loss of speech is the worst possible disability we can imagine. We both agree if he could communicate, the physical issues would be much easier to deal with.

 

Again, thanks for your input. If we find something "wonderful", I'll let everyone know!

 

Later,

 

Lyn

 

 

[jriva]

 

 

I just wanted to let anyone know who might be considering the Lingrapica that they just came out with a new verison (4) that improves on some of the issues Kim above had a problem with. Anyone who has a machine under a year old can get the upgrade for the cost of shipping. We're sending Don's machine back this week for them to install more memory and the upgrade. I'll try to update this thread again when we have a chance work with it again in speech class.

 

 

Jean