Daily care of a device

Also called Device maintenance, Charging and cleaning a communication aid, AAC device care

Charging, cleaning, backing up and updating, and who is responsible for each. A flat device is a silent person, and it is always somebody's job.

What it is

Daily care of a device is the unglamorous routine that keeps a communication aid working: charged every night, cleaned, updated when the software asks, backed up when the vocabulary changes, mounted and positioned each morning, and checked that the voice comes out. It is the same as looking after a wheelchair, and the same thing goes wrong: when it is everyone's job it is nobody's, and the person spends the afternoon with a dead screen.

Named responsibility is the entire solution. It is also the part nobody writes down.

Who it can help

Everyone who uses a powered device, and every household, school, service and hospital ward that has one in it. It matters most where the person cannot do it themselves and where staff change: care homes, respite, school holidays, hospital stays.

It is not only about high-tech aids. A paper board gets lost, torn and wet, and it needs the same named owner.

How it works

The tasks, and the questions to answer for each. Charging: where is the charger, when does it go on, who checks the battery in the morning. Cleaning: what the screen can take, since some cleaners damage screens and eye-gaze cameras, and how often. Updates: who approves them, and when, because an update during the school day can take a voice away for an hour. Backups: after every vocabulary change, to where. Mounting and positioning: who sets the device up each morning and after each transfer, and at what height and angle; see device mounting. Checks: is the volume up, is the right page open, does the voice speak. See when the device breaks for the day one of those fails.

Each task gets one name, and a deputy for when that person is not there. In a school it goes in the pupil's plan; in a service it goes in the care plan and the handover. At home it goes on the fridge.

The person themselves should own as much of it as they can. Knowing how to charge your own voice is independence.

Getting started

This week, write the list: charge, clean, update, back up, mount, check. Put a name next to each and stick it where the device lives.

Set a charging routine tied to something that already happens: the device goes on charge when the person's teeth are brushed. Buy a second charger for the second place the person spends time.

Check the backup this week, by finding the exported file and opening it. And ask the person what they can do themselves, and teach them the next thing.

Where to get help

The supplier's support line and manual cover cleaning and updates for the specific device; Smartbox, Tobii Dynavox and Liberator all publish care guides. Communication Matters has guidance for schools and services on supporting devices. ACE Centre runs training for staff teams. The person's speech and language therapist or specialised AAC service can set up the backup and mounting routine.