INFO FOR NEW AAC USERS, and those who care for AAC users.
AAC is expensive, its an investment and it shouldn't be. It should be outlawed how expensive these apps are, several apps only allow subscription. You can get on a waitlist, the list is long and hard to get without a social worker. Several apps allow a trial period, but fail to properly inform users that they will be paywalled out of a voice. All of these prices do occasionally go on sale. This is still not acceptable.
List of Apps that have hard to understand paywall trials, removing users voice after a time period, and how much they think this is worth.
Snap Core First/TD Snap: Allows a 60 day free trial, After this it is $9.99 PER MONTH ($119.88 per year). or $199.99 one time payment, only on Windows
Proloquo2Go: Allows 30 day free trial, After this it is $249.99
Unity AAC Discover: Allows 30 day free trial, After this it is $299.99
Avaz AAC: Allows 2 week free trial, After this it is $9.99 PER MONTH (119.88 per year), Year trial for $99.99, or Lifetime for $299.99
What about AAC apps that rarely or do NOT have even trials? How much are they?
Touchchat: Only offering trial for SLP is $149.99 or $299.99 for Wordpower.
LAMP words for life: Only offering trial for SLP is $299.99
Does this feel like an acceptable amount of money, for an autistic adult or parent of a dependent person to spend on TTS with user interface? Medicaid often does not cover AAC, Especially when coverage is requested for someone who previously was considered verbal. Should a parent who is struggling with spotty healthcare services in the US be expected to go without their childs voice until insurance can cover an expense they cannot handle? What about AAC devices themselves, (Components only costing $600 total, Inflated without coverage to $800-$2000 for a low powered tablet with a screen protector and AAC.
As a community, we need to be more vocal about how egregiously this is priced, and we need to come together to start cracking this software if needed to get children and adults the voice they need.
