The Functional Communication System contains the following core components.
Click on the components below to read on and find out more.
Functional Skills System – InternetThe Functional Skills System teaches freedom and independence. Our new internet version is developed in HTML5 so users have access to the assessment and curriculum anywhere, even on the iPad. The program assesses eight critical life skills, including:
The Functional Skills System contains over 4,500 videos, which can be broken into two different instruction formats: The Signs and Words Series, and the How To Series. The Signs and Words Series teaches the meaning of various signs and words, and what one should do when seeing a certain sign or word. The How To Series teaches how to do various activities, with a break down of the sequence of steps to perform to complete the task.
The Signs and Words Series can be used in conjunction with our Functional Communication System App. The Functional Communication System App is the first fully customizable video-based communication tool for the augmentative and alternative communication industry. The How To Series can be used in conjunction with our Functional Planning System App, which is the first fully customizable, video-based scheduling, planning, and prompting mobile assistive technology tool to increase functional independence.
The Internet version of the Functional Skills System contains over 3,350 videos and over 4,000 hours of instruction. The Internet version gives you the luxury of access anywhere, even from your iPad. The program has built-in accountability with many different user and administrator report options. You can also create viewer accounts so that parents can easily log in and see their child’s progress. Sign up for a free trial to see what the Internet version of our Functional Skills System is all about.
Management SystemThe Management System within the Functional Skills System provides built in accountability with our revolutionary data tracking system that can be used to build, modify, or use our programs on a computer or any mobile device. Using the Management System, you can create communication boards, create to-do lists in the Functional Planning System, assign curriculum and access reports that allow you to have appropriate documentation when needed. The Management System makes it easy to administer to multiple users. For each user the Management System:
Functional Communication SystemThe Functional Communication System is a customizable, video-based communication tool for sentence and phrase building. It utilizes real life images and videos from our Functional Skills System library, eliminating the need for the user to learn a second language. The Functional Communication System includes 500 core vocabulary which are broken down into pre-made categories.
The Functional Communication System is fully customizable, so if you don’t like the way things are organized or the color scheme doesn’t make sense, you can customize it to your liking. You can create your own items and categories or purchase additional pre-made categories through in-app purchase, which allows you flexibility in creating your boards or categories. You can even record your own videos using the camera on the iPad 2. If you don’t want to create your own, you can use videos that are stored on your camera roll or purchase our FCS DVD, which includes over 4,500 videos you can use in your Functional Communication System app. Finally, you can utilize the keyboard view for times when you don’t have pre-made items for what you want to say. This is enabled through a $1.99 in-app purchase of a high-quality text-to-speech engine.
Using the “Favorites” tab, the user can bookmark and store their most commonly used phrases. Just tap on any of the phrases listed here and the whole phrase will be sent to the sentence box. You can then organize your favorites into categories you create.
Functional Planning SystemThe Functional Planning System is a video-based, customizable video prompting tool for the iPhone, iPod touch, and the iPad. Think of it as a cross between a calendar and video playlist, where you can actually plan out a user’s entire day using short digital video clips that prompt them through the completion of the activity. Each activity is broken down into several different steps. As the user views the videos and completes the steps, they automatically get checked off as completed.
Additionally, each activity or task has 3 different types of media that can be associated with it: picture, audio, and video. The camera and microphone on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad allow you to customize the application and add your own activities and tasks. You can also purchase pre-made activities through in-app purchase. The application ties back to our Functional Skills System video library, which has over 4,500 videos to choose from.
The user can also set alarms as reminders to do different tasks and activities throughout the day. For example, you could set an alarm that goes off every day at 7:00 am that says “Brush Your Teeth”. When the user clicks “OK”, it takes them to step-by-step videos on how to complete that activity. You can use the “Calendar” tab to view all the tasks you have to complete in a given day, week, or month.
Functional Shopping List SystemThe Functional Shopping List System is a visual prompting system that ties into our four shopping software programs – Grocery, Pharmacy, Clothing and Restaurant shopping.The Functional Shopping List System is focused on taking newly acquired knowledge and skills learned from our Functional Skills System software out into the community.
The Shopping List Generator allows you to make different shopping lists for different stores. Each list can have its own categories and items (i.e. clothing, department, grocery, pharmacy, etc.). The Shopping List Generator is pre-populated with the 240 items and categories from our Grocery Signs and Words program, but you can also create your own. This flexibility allows you to completely customize the application to the individual’s needs. Users can further customize the Shopping List Generator by adding additional information, such as price, quantity, and the aisle the product is located in.
When the individual takes the application to the store, the built-in text-to-speech engine can read aloud the product information (if desired). Items that are in the cart already will be checked off, and the application will even tell the user how much money they need when they get to the cash register.
You can purchase the Functional Skills System app from the iTunes Apps Store. Go to iTunes, go to the Apps Store and type Conover in the search bar.
HardwareThe MacBook Pro come preloaded with everything you need. No downtime trying to access, download and then set up the necessary video files, apps, or software to make the system work.
Content preloaded:
The iPad 2 is also pre-loaded with the same programs as the MacBook Pro. Because the system comes with the iTunes account set up on the MacBook Pro you have immediate access to your iTunes/apps account and to all future program updates. Updates are at no cost.
Worried about dropping the iPad? Worry no more! The iPad comes with one of the most durable rubberized protective cases in the marketplace. A bonus feature is the built-in speakers that can enhance the audio output when at the ball game.
Worried about losing or damaging the contents? You don’t have to because of our 2” foam-lined, lockable case to protect the contents. It is ready to use right out of the box!
