the essential
Florence Battisti, an Albigensian speech therapist for three decades, decided to launch into the design of a game, Ex-Hic or more precisely a networked lexicon to help professionals, but also teachers and nursing homes to work with victims of language disorder.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of analysis, to propose this very specific game, to create it to help speech therapists, but also teachers and the medical profession, in the event of a stroke or Alzheimer’s. » The objective is to offer a “networked lexicon” “to help the language evolve or, for older people, to remember lost words,” summarizes speech therapist Florence Battisti. What is a “networked lexicon”?
“It has nothing to do with the Internet,” she smiles. “Everything happens with drawn images. Unlike many others, who multiply symbols of multiple animals or houses, I decided to concentrate on two very detailed themes. The dog with 54 specific words and the horse with 63 words. I want patients to learn what they eat, how to caress them, analyze body parts. Understand everything about the animal with terms, which can sometimes be technical. »
She has been working on this Ex-Hic project for several years, and has been testing her prototype in her office for several months.
“Honestly, it works very well. It helps the speech therapist in his work and helps to develop the patients’ language in a fun way. » But this game is not intended to be reserved only for speech therapists.
“Many children do not have a disorder, but a family problem that reduces their knowledge of word counts. With these images, we will look into the experience, develop curiosity, their ability to move more quickly in recognition. This is very interesting for teachers. » Florence Battisti also worked for 6 weeks, in a nursing home, to understand the feelings of the residents. “Among the group, there was a former teacher, who I was told I found at school – . Little by little, with his drawn images, certain terms came back among the patients. It was nice to see. If there had been letters instead of images, it would never have worked because we cannot project ourselves with words that we have forgotten. »
Now we have to sell the game
Now it’s time to sell the game. For this, logistics are needed. “I couldn’t take on this project alone, even if today, all my time is devoted to this project. So, I worked with graphic designers, a webmaster, a photographer, a designer. Everything was made with recyclable materials built in the department and in Toulouse. We do not use any plastic. And the game is entirely handmade,” adds the designer proudly.
To increase its assets, it even joined the Innoprod business incubator in Albi. “They found my project interesting. Here too, it’s a plus for me by getting advice from other start-ups. »
She adds: “We created a site on Ulule to collect donations but above all for professionals to buy this game. We must stop orthopedists working with basic games purchased in supermarkets. A situation which unfortunately is developing among the youngest practitioners. Speech therapy is too serious a thing not to use the best tools to help patients improve,” she worries. So, she hopes for success. And already has other formulas in mind and why not a game that could be used by families to continue exercises at home. We’re not there yet.
