Is there a device that will speak for you?

[grommet]

Does anyone know of a device you can type into and a voice will read your words? I have been imagining something portable with a folding keyboard and screen but I am open to ideas. I do not have a smartphone but I see old iPhones available on eBay, so if there is a program that would work with that kind of phone, maybe I could do that. A more regular keyboard would be easier. I do not know if anything like this exists but I thought it could make things a lot easier when I can't speak.

 

[zurb]

Yes, there are dedicated text to speech and type to talk speech generating devices.
There are also apps for smart phones, as well as on Windows. In fact, I think with some fiddling you can probably do it on Windows just with the bundled applications.

 

[Suzanne]

Well, my laptop, I discovered, recently has virtual keyboard and I can choose whether to speak into it if I wish.

My tablet also does the same ie you can speak the words.

I have seen others with a tablet and a small keyboard that folds up.

 

[Tia Maria]

grommet, Check out this chat app for the iPad called Assistive Chat, & see if this is something you could use. It may work on other smart tablets but I'm not sure. The app costs $24.99.

Separately, kestrel mentioned using a similar type app for her son, on her smart phone, when they had a school meeting awhile back. Maybe you can ask her directly for a recommendation.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

Assistive Apps presents Assistive Chat, an affordable Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) Device, catered to people with difficulty in speech. The biggest challenge for such users when using AAC devices is the number of key strokes or hits required to construct any sentences, which can take up a significant amount of time to have a decent conversation with anyone. To overcome this challenge, Assistive Chat is designed to be simple and efficient, allowing users to communicate at the fastest rate possible, with natural sounding voices.

Features:

- Landscape and Portrait Modes to cater to different needs
- Word Prediction to minimize the keystrokes required
- Adaptive learning of new vocabulary into the word prediction list
- Favorites list for users to save commonly used sentences
- 3 voices included for user to pick
- Adjustable volume and speed for voices
- Large font and buttons for easy access
- Recent list for quick access to previously spoken sentences

 

[grommet]

Will someone look at this and tell me if this could work? It is: 9 inch Google Android 4.0 Tablet PC 8GB Wi-Fi Front Camera +Keyboard Bundle shown for sale on eBay.

 

[zurb]

It should do the job fine. If you can, you might want to see one instore and see how loud the speakers are.
You would need to install a text to speech app like these free ones:
Talk - Text to Voice FREE - Android Apps on Google Play
Type and Speak - Android Apps on Google Play

 

[watersprite]

We used a feee website (but since I don't go to school to observe my son, so cannot say much more about it.)

English Text To Speech, TTS: English, Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, German, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese