This app is designed for people who have communication deficits—medical conditions such as Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. It is not rigid, which allows for personalization and customization to suit the user’s need or level of impairment. The app includes a support interface where images and audios can be imported to serve certain needs as they arise.

Website: https://www.mycoughdrop.com/

What Users Love About the App

“As an augmentative communication app, I think CoughDrop is in a class of its own. The program can run on just about any type of device and, since it is cloud-based, the account information is saved in the cloud rather than on a single device. You can then access the account from just about any device and the speech boards and buttons are exactly the same. We loved using the app, and it was a big help to my student who had been quiet and withdrawn. He became engaged and excited. I credit CoughDrop for a lot of that.”

“I used this with my 5-year–old who is nonverbal on an iPad Mini 4. Overall, it is nice to have it across devices, should she need a backup. It’s also great for modeling and having her team at school and I sync up easily. It’s pretty user–friendly and their customer support is amazing. The app itself sometimes freezes or lags way behind which causes frustration.”

“From Speech and Language Therapy Cafe: I have successfully utilized this app for an entire year with various students in the public schools and now in telepractice. I have ample AAC/AT SLP experience and can give testimony and highly recommend this app as the best AAC app for communication in the market! Through telepractice ST services, I work with students across state lines and this app allows me the ability to create and synchronize boards from the comfort of my home to students in other states. This past year, after collecting data in the reports sent by the app, two of the districts I contracted with purchased lifetime apps for three students on trial. So what makes it a Guru AAC App? It is cloud–based, user–friendly, one can use the picture library within the app, or use your own cam pictures or web pictures, not to mention the great 1:1 communication from its developers any time I have reached out to them. I have recommended this app to every SLP I work within the public schools, in telepractice, and in the medical field.”

“My son has been using this app for three years now and it has been fantastic! Being able to cloud it to any device means it is never without his voice! Customer support has always been amazing and goes above and beyond! We are so thankful for this app as it has given our son a way to communicate with us and express himself!”

“CoughDrop has allowed my students and clients to have a voice, in very unique ways. It’s incredibly flexible allowing us to support a variety of needs and support them wherever they are, and collect data that we can’t with other systems!”

What Users Dislike About the App

“This works if you don’t make changes to it. Half of the time, the changes I make on either the computer or iPad do not stay changed. With it only doing a few features it should be a lot easier to navigate. I don’t want to troubleshoot it or watch hours of videos to figure out why it isn’t working. Surely, there’s got to be something better. Keep looking unless you have a therapist that’s well versed in making changes. I wouldn’t bother with this.”

“Trash app. Without parent training, this can cause regression in ASD language delayed children. After three weeks of use, with an SLP who failed to provide adequate parent training for proper implementation, the app alone is a failure. I would not recommend this product to an ASD family as a stand-alone product.”

“Their software capitalizes my email address, so I can’t register. I also can’t use cough drops or contact them. My rating is actually less than zero.”

“It’s difficult to use for young kids, I’m not impressed. There are better options out there for free.”

“I really love this app. However, it’s not so good for practical use on my device. I‘m 16 and have non–verbal autism. I use typing and symbols. However, I have found that the CoughDrop keyboard function is very slow, it takes me minutes to type one word. I also can’t use the settings which turn off “voice at every button press” and “vocalize linked buttons,” as these seem to stop any linked buttons from working. My device is quite old and only runs on Android 4. I am running out of characters, sorry.”

“This app won’t work. I hate giving such a low rating when I’ve heard good things about this app, but I have tried it on two separate devices and it won’t work There may be a bug for new users from the last update. I say this because if you haven’t signed up, it prompts you to click “New to CoughDrop? Find out more.” Then, it takes you to a blank page where it does nothing. I hope it gets fixed soon because I was looking forward to working with my son. I’ll look for another AAC app but I’ll check back in on this one and hopefully be able to leave it a better review once I can get it to work.”