LIMERICK Institute of Technology student Rob Laffan has won the 2015 Engineers Ireland Innovative Student Engineer of the Year Award for his project ‘Tippy Talk’ that he designed to help his daughter communicate.
‘Tippy Talk’ allows Rob’s daughter Sadie (4), who has autism, to communicate her desires, feelings and needs to him and his wife Emily through the transfer of pictures to text messages.
‘Tippy Talk’ allows for the child to send messages to her parents no matter where they are in the world and can also be adapted to cover other areas of non-verbal disabilities.
Rob (38) from Old Cork Road, who recently completed his studies in Industrial Automation and Robotics at LIT said: ““Those with autism view the world differently to you and I. Communication is difficult and is usually visual through the use of simple laminated pictures.
“I have designed a touch screen communication system for those with autism who cannot communicate verbally. This system allows for the person’s personal pictures of their desires, feelings and needs to be communicated directly to another person via text message.”
Rob is currently in talks with Enterprise Ireland to develop and market the device, and filed a patent application for his idea in March.
The ‘Tippy Talk’ system can be personalised to accommodate the preferences of each user, and includes a language reinforcing tool to help develop verbal skills.
While apps with this functionality exist there is currently no dedicated device on the market.
