Tech Tuesday Stories | Stickerly for Texting
January 2021: Jac
What is the goal/purpose?
Like most of us, Jac loves to text. One of the many nice features of iOS AAC apps (iPad apps) is that they easily offer sharing options where a message created within the app can be texted or emailed. One of the tricky things is that if someone responds you have to go back and forth between the message/email program and the AAC app to have a reciprocal conversation.
So, we wanted to find a way of bringing in some of Jac’s AAC vocabulary directly into her texting app. We found Stickerly (and there are other apps that do the same thing). This app allows you to make your own stickers that you can get directly within iMessage or WhatsApp, for example. We imported the same icons used on Jac’s comments page in Proloquo2Go so that she could use the same vocabulary/icons when texting her family and friends.
How is it used?
Once Stickerly is downloaded it can become an available app within iMessage, for example. When composing a message you can add a sticker to your message, just like you would a photo, icon or emoji from the app options within iMessage.
How is it accessed?
Stickerly can be accessed directly within iMessage. However, in order to offer repeated opportunities to practice using Stickerly it takes communication partners that help to create opportunities for communication and engagement. Jac is lucky to have friends and family who she texts often. She also has a couple of impressive team members, like Becky, who create opportunities, model the skill, and help Jac become more and more independent using the tool.
