Avaz is India's first Assistive Device for people with speech disabilities. It can provide a voice to non-verbal people with autism, CP, intellectual disability, aphasia and hearing impairment.

What is AAC?

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Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is a term used to describe methods of communication that are used by people with impairments in speech, language, cognition or hearing.

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AAC in India

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According to a conference on AAC in IIT Delhi in 2009, “AAC in India has grown from mere awareness to a rights-based initiative. AAC users have taken it to new heights and avenues, and it has grown with the users and is raring to go places.”

What is AVAZ

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Avaz is India’s first AAC device, and the world’s first low-cost high-tech aid. Avaz (meaning speech in many Indian languages) is a portable device that creates artificial speech.

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Latest News

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We released Avaz 1.0 at the Global Autism Convention in Bangalore, on May 18th 2011. Thank you to all those who used Avaz (beta) and gave us feedback! And a big thanks also to all those who pre-ordered the new Avaz, and helped us sell out our first production lot in record time!

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Avaz can help people with:

1 Cerebral Palsy

caused by damage to motor control centers of the brain, including the muscles that generate speech

2 Autism

a disorder of neural development, characterized by impaired social and communication abilities

3 Intellectual Disabilities

a broad category of disorders that result in significantly reduced cognitive abilities and IQ

4 Aphasia & MND

affect older people, resulting in impairment of language ability or progressive degeneration of muscle capabilities.

5 Learning disabilities

result in difficulty learning in a typical manner, caused by differences in the way the brain processes and stores information

6 Down’s Syndrome

a genetic condition characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability and poor muscle tone


Description Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the brain, leading to poor ability to control one’s muscles. It occurs in about 2 people per 1000 live births
How Avaz helps

  1. Users of Avaz can switch between scanning and touching interfaces for Avaz, to cater to a wide range of muscle control abilities.
  2. Avaz can be wheelchair mounted, and used with many switch peripherals available in the market.
  3. Since many people with CP also have different levels of vision impairment, Avaz also has support for large sizes and high contrast in both its text and picture modes.
Description Autism is a disorder of neural development, characterized by impaired social and communication abilities. The incidence of autism is increasing, and is nearly 1%
How Avaz helps

  1. Avaz is a natural replacement for picture cards, flash cards and charts. Avaz can be thought of as a nearly unlimited, electronic, speaking version of picture cards.
  2. Since Avaz generates speech, it also stimulates imitation in some children, which in turn stimulates their intent to talk.
  3. Word prediction helps autistic children transition to text by facilitating sight reading.
  4. Using the Avaz Customization Tool, Avaz can also grow with the child’s abilities, experience and age.
Description  Intellectual disabilities are a broad category of disorders that result in significantly reduced cognitive abilities and IQ.
How Avaz helps

 

  1. Avaz Picture Mode has been used very effectively for people with intellectual and multiple disabilities for communicating their activities of daily living.
  2. Avaz is highly customizable by care-givers, and the standard picture library that comes with it can be replaced by photographs taken directly from the lives of its users.
  3. Graded Avaz pictures and sentences can be stored in a PC and loaded gradually, starting with simpler configurations. This helps users learn to use Avaz at their own pace.
Description Aphasia is an impairment of language ability usually developed as a result of stroke. Motor Neuron Disease (MND) is a progressive degeneration of muscle capabilities.
How Avaz helps  

Since aphasia and MND lead to loss of speech for people who were formerly fully verbal, Avaz has a special set of features to help them communicate.

  1. The Avaz picture mode can be used to store activities of daily living, to enable simple communication of wants and needs.
  2. In text mode, Avaz’s powerful ‘Quick templates’ feature allows rapid construction of sentences and phrases, saving key-clicks and time without limiting expressiveness.
  3. The large size option in picture and text modes and scan modes help people with moderate to high amount of muscle tremors control Avaz using touch.
Description  Learning disability is a classification of disorders in which people have difficulties learning in a typical manner. This is caused by differences in the way the brain processes and stores information in some people. It has been estimated that nearly 10% of all people have learning disabilities.
How Avaz helps

  1. Avaz helps people with LD through a multi-sensory system of expression. When a word is selected in Avaz, the stimulus is visual (in the form of a picture), auditory (in the form of speech), spatial (in the form of a specific layout), and tactile (since the screen is touched).
  2. The predicted words provided during the use of the text mode also aids in word and sentence building.
  3. Avaz also has advanced features to assist in integration with classroom learning. The Quick Templates mode can be used for storing assignments and doing exams. Avaz can also be connected to a PC to retrieve and print quick templates.
Description Downs syndrome is a genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra chromosome. It is characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability and poor muscle tone. Its incidence is about 1 in 750 live births.
How Avaz helps

 

  1. Avaz is an effective early intervention technique for children with Down’s syndrome to foster language development and expressivity.
  2. Since early intervention is critical for children with Down’s syndrome, Avaz is also a useful diagnosis tool for assessing the extent of communication disability.
  3. Recent research has shown that AAC intervention does not inhibit speech development in children with Downs’ syndrome, but in fact jumpstarts language and communication development.

The Avaz Community

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Users are at the center of the Avaz community. If you are a potential user of AAC devices, click here to access demos, learning materials and tutorials on Avaz.

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Schools are where Avaz is most effective, when it is used in a systematic program. To learn about Avaz pilot programs at your school and ‘train the trainers’ programs for your teachers,click here.

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Sponsors, corporates and philanthropists form a crucial part of the Avaz eco-system, by funding schools and individuals to use Avaz. To learn more about sponsoring Avaz for schools or individuals, click here

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Volunteers drive the eco-system for people with disabilities in India with their commitment and selflessness. You can contribute as trainers in schools, as interns at Invention Labs, or simply as awareness ambassadors. To learn more, click here