Meet ISAAC’s newest sponsor, SayIt!, owned and run by Owen McGirr – a software engineer from Ireland living with cerebral palsy.

In 2016 Owen felt the need to start building his own Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app for iPhone and iPad to help people with speech difficulties communicate their needs and wants to the people around them. 

The SayIt! app is his solution. EnabO, Owen’s company, began sharing SayIt! with the world four years ago. As a first-hand testament to the capabilities of the SayIt! app, Owen lightheartedly reports that he is his own happiest customer. In fact, he recently asked his fiancé to marry him using SayIt!  “I can honestly say the app made it possible for me to form a deep human connection,” says Owen.

How does it work?

Owen is passionate about what he does. He wants to make as many people as possible aware of what he believes is a very valuable product.

The SayIt! app allows the user to type what they want to say using a specially designed onscreen keyboard, which features an advanced word prediction system. The user can add their most commonly used phrases and just tap on them to generate voice output. Its speech synthesis is very human-like, thanks to artificial intelligence. It offers an array of different voices from different parts of the world. A key feature is built-in switch access for people who cannot touch the screen but are able to use accessible switches. It will sequentially scan each key of the keyboard and the user hits the switch when the desired key is highlighted.

Who is it for?

SayIt! is intended for people who have speech difficulties and who use text-based AAC systems. It is ideal for people who want to have full-fledged conversations.

How much does it cost?

SayIt! is free to download from the App Store. You can type 15 characters at a time and add two phrases free of charge. To remove these restrictions, you can either pay a monthly subscription of $0.99 or pay a one-time fee of $19.99.

Take a few minutes to listen to Owen describe SayIt! and its many features and advantages, in his own words: