Two years in the life of Jayne, an AAC user with the Allora 2 communication aid.

Jayne has an amazing sense of humour and lives with her partner Chris and her cute little Yorkshire terrier dog, Lilly.

Jayne was diagnosed in her early years with OlivoponticerebellarAtrophy (OPCA), one of the Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) group of conditions.  This condition affects her movement and ability to speak.  In the UK, there are 3000 people diagnosed with an MSA condition every year.

In May 2013, Jayne’s speech and language therapist recommended that she supports her verbal communication with the Allora 2.  The Allora 2 is a keyboard based communication device that reads out text that is put together through typing or through using a switch.  The Allora 2 at first seemed to be a good fit because Jayne was able to put sentences together using one switch scanning with her left hand and then press the buttons that allow her to speak the text or access menus with her right hand. 

Jayne used to use a similar device but the brightness of the display and the size of the text started to become problematic.  So with a brighter daylight readable display and an adjustable display font, Jayne was able to clearly see what she was typing.  With the detachable partner display and loud speakers, Jayne’s partner Chris was able to hear and see what Jayne was saying to him clearly thus ensuring that he could meet her needs and requests.

When she first got the device Jayne said, ‘I can see the letters very clear and nice and big.  I have tried other communication aids but I have found that the Allora is the best one for me’.  But that was almost two years ago.  How is she doing now, many months later?

In that time, Jayne has been in frequent contact via SMS text using her Allora 2.  She regularly keeps in touch with her mother as well as her speech and language therapist.

I visited Jayne, in March 2015 to see how she was getting on.  I arrived at about 15:30 in the afternoon and I checked the battery level on Jayne’s device which showed a healthy 60% .  Jayne and Chris charge the Allora every night but Chris stated that the Allora easily gives Jayne all the battery life she needs to get through the day.  This is useful as this builds confidence in leaving home with the device and relying on it for communication.

Chris mentioned that he often needs to go out for shopping and other tasks and is comforted by the fact that Jayne can send him an SMS Text directly from the Allora whenever she needs to contact him.

When talking with Jayne I noticed that she is still using her right hand to press function buttons and the left to use one switch scanning to write sentences.  We discussed various aspects of her use of the Allora and it seems that her device is only a part of her strategy for communication. She still has a little ability to use verbal communication and she uses body language a lot too, to get her message across.  The Allora seems to fit in nicely with her communication strategy.

Jayne and Chris talking using the Allora 2 communication aid.

Before I visited Jayne, I contacted her speech and language therapist for her comments on Jayne’s use of the Allora.  Anna responded by saying ‘I would be happy to make some comments for you- as you know though- Jayne will be able to give you some great feedback herself I am sure. ‘

I was delighted to see that Anna was right and that Jayne could indeed tell me what she thought!

For more information on the Allora or other communication aids go to the Techcess website.