Nancy Inman, speech-language pathologist (SLP) and innovative leader in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), is the creator of the WordPower® suite of vocabularies. She’s partnered with PRC-Saltillo for many years and authored WordPower using research, clinical strategies, creativity, and technology to expand options for individuals who are nonspeaking.
The SLP profession offers a wide range of opportunities to support clients, and Nancy’s experiences reflect that. When asked about her work prior to developing WordPower, here’s what Nancy had to say. “I worked at the Child Study Center in Fort Worth, Texas for ten years. There, I was part of an interdisciplinary team, supporting pediatric clients ages 0-18,” reflected Nancy. “I did individual therapy, and I also taught a half day class for students with speech and language delays.”
Though she was not involved with AAC early in her career, when “Andrew” was assigned to her caseload along with a new Prentke Romich Company (PRC) device, things changed. Nancy was immediately drawn to the interesting and challenging task of helping her non-verbal client learn to use his AAC device. “I attended a two-day Liberator device training with PRC Consultant Carol Gartenberger,” said Nancy. “I didn’t know that I would be drawn into the field of AAC, but I liked the training very much.” And so began Nancy’s extensive career in AAC.
That same PRC Consultant encouraged Nancy to apply for a consultant job when she was looking to move back to her home state of Maryland. She was subsequently employed as a PRC consultant for six years supporting assistive technology (AT) teams and individuals across the Maryland and Washington, DC area. During this time, she had the opportunity to support a fluent device communicator who held a federal government job. PRC provided Nancy with extensive training and taught her how to program and write macros for the Liberator device. “It's been a long time since I've been a PRC employee, but once you've been a consultant, you always feel a part of that special group,” said Nancy.
Nancy shared this image of PRC Consultants from the 1990s. She is second from the right in the bottom row.
With her desire to return to clinical work, Nancy accepted the program manager position for the Department of Assistive Technology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, supporting adults and children. Nancy founded Inman Innovations, Inc. in 2000. Today, she works with adults and children in private practice, focusing on a varied caseload including assistive technology as well as more traditional speech and language therapies.
With a full clinical career, you may be wondering where WordPower fits into the mix. When asked to share a brief history lesson on the early days of WordPower, Nancy shared this story.
“I was working at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, and was asked to evaluate a young man with cerebral palsy in need of a speech-generating device. ‘John’ used a head stick and a low-tech board to communicate. He used his headstick to point to words and letters on his board, and his communication partners would speak the words out loud and predict words as he spelled. He was an excellent communicator using this system. When I went home that night, I kept thinking, ‘What would be the best system for him?’ And I thought, ‘I just wish I could give him what he already has.’ It was a simple idea, but novel at the time as dynamic display devices were new to the field of AAC. The concept of WordPower consisted of high-frequency words, color-coded and organized by category, along with a keyboard with word prediction.” The structure of WordPower today, based on a client need, continues to reflect these principles.
Nancy established close working relationships with Dave Hershberger and Julie Patterson during her consultant days. Those supportive relationships continued throughout the development of WordPower files for PRC platforms. The first version of WordPower for PRC was programmed on the Pathfinder AAC device. In 2010, when the TouchChat app was being designed, Nancy was given the opportunity to design a version of WordPower for that system, first for the four-inch screen of the iPod Touch, and later that year for the newly introduced iPad. The predictive nature WordPower is known for along with the whole idea of button sets came together during this time.
Logical next words blend the desire for communication and technology. “Real estate is often the most challenging thing about designing an AAC vocabulary,” explained Nancy. “By using strategies such as ‘logical next words’ and ‘word completion,’ core vocabulary can be greatly expanded, using a limited number of cells, and these strategies serve to reduce keystrokes.”
Nancy shared a few examples of logical next words:
Logical next words contribute to the efficiency of WordPower, ultimately creating an easier system to learn and use. Communicators value this attribute of AAC.
As WordPower has evolved, Nancy’s close working relationships have continued with Dave Hershberger, Julie Patterson, Meghan Conover, Lisa Timm, and software engineers Doug Jenkins and Ken Kiplinger.
“The company has been great at helping me to develop my work by expanding the software features,” said Nancy. Software technology has grown to make WordPower more efficient and easier to use over the course of time and this partnership.
Today, the WordPower suite of vocabularies is available on all three communication device product lines (Accent®, NovaChat®, Via®) and in the TouchChat® app. The vocabularies range from 20-locations up to 144-locations. WordPower maintains its core features across all platforms, and it excels differently on each of them. WordPower is now available in Spanish, Canadian French, and Mandarin.
Over time, Nancy has added into WordPower several of the innovative tools provided by the PRC-Saltillo team of software engineers. These awesome tools are pre-loaded in WordPower vocabularies; they can also be programmed as needed. Examples include:
Clinicians who are new to WordPower often start with the WordPower60 Basic file. “This file includes concepts that apply to vocabularies with higher and lower numbers. It's a good file for looking at what your options are.” WordPower60 Basic provides an individual with a great deal of language, and families new to AAC are often willing to try that level and see how their loved one will do.
When it comes to AAC assessments with WordPower, Nancy suggests introducing different vocabulary options and talking to families about what is motivating to their child. Typically, an evaluator will set up motivating activities and explore vocabulary based on the communicator’s specific needs.
“If I'm setting a vocabulary up for someone, I don't mind it being a little challenging for them,” said Nancy. “You don't want it to be too easy because you want them to be able to grow into it.”
WordPower’s latest release features a 60-location vocabulary file for Mandarin/Simplified Chinese. It is available on the TouchChat iOS app. Nancy’s development work continues to help more individuals find their voice with AAC. “I'm working on a vocabulary file which I'll be turning in soon,” said Nancy. “I'll have a WordPower48 Basic file that will correspond to the WordPower48 Español Basico. I'm going to be tweaking the 48 Español Basico to make it correspond as best I can. And we are also considering the addition of a Spanish WordPower with the keyboard included on the main page.”
Nancy’s contribution to AAC is as vast as the number of WordPower communicators around the world. Learn more about WordPower through our free eLearning course on AAC Learning Journey: WordPower: Architecture and Guiding Principles. To explore WordPower options on a speech-generating device, connect with your PRC-Saltillo consultant.