You’ve submitted your benefit check and received your QuickTalker Freestyle! Congratulations…now what?

Your funding process for the QuickTalker Freestyle (aka the ableEXPERIENCE), will vary depending on several factors. Where you live, your insurance, and the speech app or SLP plan will change your timeline.

While parts of the process differ, one thing we have in common is access to the same resources and services from AbleNet. We’ll take you through the first 30 days of receiving the QuickTalker Freestyle, how to involve AAC in your daily routine, and more!

If you haven’t started the funding process yet, check out Starting the AAC Journey: A Family’s Guide.

Unboxing Your Device🔗

When the QuickTalker Freestyle arrives, it’ll come in an awesomely packaged box from AbleNet. Some families will have their device shipped directly to their home, while others will have it sent to their SLP’s office. There’s information in the box for both families and SLPs!

Inside the box, you’ll find information for both SLPs and families. You might be tempted to skip over it. Please don’t! By scanning the QR code, you’ll be taken to the Getting Started With QuickTalker Freestyle page that gives you a great overview of the device. Just to be safe, we’ll cover some of those topics here too.

Your QuickTalker Freestyle will arrive ready to be used right out of the box! It will come with your selected speech app and a few other apps like Dropbox.

Although you now have the device in your hands, you’re not quite done! Beneath your QuickTalker Freestyle, you’ll accessories for the device that are both useful and fun.

How Do I Use This Thing?🔗

The QuickTalker Freestyle looks like a tablet, but you’ll discover it doesn’t function like one. You won’t find anything on the device unrelated to communication: no YouTube and no games!

If you’d like an step-by-step introduction to the QuickTalker Freestyle, head to Get to Know Your Device and follow the steps.

You can connect the device to Wi-Fi by following the steps in Connect to Wi-Fi.

What is a Speech App?🔗

The speech app on your device is what your loved one will use to communicate. Each device comes with a speech app downloaded on it. The app that is chosen depends on your loved one’s needs:

• Proloquo2Go is a symbol-based speech app that supports users who can tap buttons directly and users who use a switch to make choices.
• Grid for iPad supports both text- and symbol-based vocabulary so users can grow with their speech app.
• Flexspeak is a great choice for multilingual users with support for over 27 languages.

Knowing which speech app you’re using is important when you’re trying to find help. If you ever need help with your app, you can find resources for it on the Speech Apps guides page.

Welcome to Your Speech App🔗

When you open the speech app, you might feel intimidated. For many parents, it goes a little something like this:

You open the communication app and see a grid full of pictures. When you press a button, a word appears at the top of the screen. Then, you press one that looks like a folder, and suddenly you’re on a completely different page with another grid of pictures.

You might be tempted to set it aside and let the SLP handle it. We get that feeling, which is why we encourage you to get in touch with the SLP Empowerment Team. They’re a group of certified SLPs that you can schedule one-on-one time with to help you with all your AAC needs. Better yet, it’s free!

Common Caregiver Concerns🔗

I’m scared the device will get lost or break!🔗

There’s a pretty good chance that sometime during the first 30 days, your device will tumble down a flight of steps, fall off a table, or become a chew toy for an overexcited puppy. The good news is that every QuickTalker Freestyle comes with a no-questions-asked five-year warranty. All you have to do to make sure your loved one has access to their voice is submit a warranty request.

• Screen cracked?
• Lost the device?
• Want a smaller device size?

Submit a warranty request and get a new device ASAP.

What if I need a shoulder strap or an external speaker? 🔗

The five-year warranty covers accessories too! Submit an accessory request for:

• Device mounts
• Shoulder straps
• Retractable car chargers
• Bluetooth speakers
• Keyguards
• and more!

I gave my loved one their device and they only press random buttons! 🔗

You’ve given the QuickTalker Freestyle to your loved one and they decided they will only press the picture of the giraffe. Over and over.

This is totally normal! This seemingly random button pressing is a part of language development called babbling. Whatever you do, don’t mute the device. Give them time and space to babble and learn the device.

The Fellowship of ableFamilies🔗

If you’re not part of a large community of special needs parents, having a QuickTalker Freestyle can feel isolating. Modeling feels awkward in public, having to explain that it’s a communication device and not just a tablet can be tiresome.

Our Parent Enthusiasts have felt the same way. Not knowing any other families going through the same experience makes learning to use the device even harder. That’s why ableFamilies exists.

A family- and caregiver-led community, ableFamilies connects parents, caregivers, and family members with other families of QuickTalker Freestyle users. It’s filled with families who understand exactly what you’re experiencing, want to share what they’ve learned, and love celebrating every milestone along the way.

A Parent Enthusiast from AbleNet will even reach out to see if you’d like to join.\

The first 30 days with your QuickTalker Freestyle can feel like a lot. You might feel overwhelmed as this new device becomes part of your already complicated life.

Don’t worry.

With time, patience, and a little support, it won’t just help your loved one communicate.

It’ll improve your life too!