Breakthrough To Language, an interactive software series developed over the past seven years to aid people with aphasia in regaining functional communication skills, is available now for sale worldwide. Aphasia is a neurological disorder that limits the ability to use language to communicate and can be caused by a stroke, accident or illness. Breakthrough to Language has been developed and is marketed by Creative Learning Inc of Austin, Texas, as part of the company’s Multisensory Curriculum Language Series. The product evolved through company co-founder Barbara Dean Schacker’s efforts to help her father recover basic communication and literacy skills after he suffered a severe stroke. Using the learning methodology incorporated in Breakthrough To Language, Ms Schacker’s father was able to expand his vocabulary from 10 words to more than 700 words over two years. The product is also being used with autistic, brain-damaged and Down’s Syndrome patients. It is available in English and Spanish for use with MS-DOS and Apple Computer Inc Macintosh systems. It is designed for use at home or in a clinical environment. Breakthrough To Language comprises a series of multisensory programs that works with sight, sound and a touch screen. The programs teach more than 700 of the most frequently-used words and enable the patient to construct more than 540 sentences. The company says that the digitised human speech and picture commands can be understood by patients and other learners who are unable to understand abstract verbal commands. The pace can be set to suit individual needs and abilities. Independent practice is possible. Creative Learning has begun volume shipments of the product, which costs $1,000 for the home edition, and $1,500 for the clinical edition. Creative Learning offers turnkey hardware-software packages and touch and sound devices.
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