Ask Flexspeak Guide

Ask Flexspeak is an in-app assistant in the Flexspeak web app. It helps SLPs, educators, and families plan lessons, create Studio visuals, edit an open board, and answer product questions. It proposes changes. You review them and click Apply before anything is saved.

Overview

• Ask in your own words. Type a request, tap a starter prompt, or use Dictate to speak into the composer.

• Review, then Apply. Edits, new visuals, and file changes appear as cards. Nothing is written until you click Apply or Apply all.

• Edit the open visual. When a Studio visual is open, Ask Flexspeak can propose shorter labels, new symbols, colors, layout changes, and custom images.

• Plan and create visuals. Ask it to plan a lesson or create a First-Then Board, social story, or other Studio template. You approve the card before the visual is created.

• Find files and how-tos. Search your saved visuals, or ask how Studio and Flexspeak AAC work. Answers can point to Help Center articles.

• You stay in control. Close the panel, start a New chat, or Dismiss a suggestion. Close and reopen on the same page to pick up the same conversation.

Getting started

Open Ask Flexspeak

1. Sign in at app.flexspeak.com.

2. Open Studio, or stay on another page in the web app.

3. Click the circular Ask Flexspeak button in the lower-right corner.

4. The chat opens as a Side panel (the page shrinks) or as Floating (a window over the page).

On a narrow window, Ask Flexspeak always uses Floating.

You will not see the button on the AAC talker board, Settings, sign-in pages, or a shared Play link.

Send your first request

1. Read How can I help? and the starter prompts, or type in Ask anything….

2. In the Studio editor, the field says Edit this visual, ask, or plan….

3. Press Enter or click send.

4. If Ask Flexspeak asks a follow-up, answer in the card or skip it.

5. When a suggestion card appears, click Apply to make the change, or Dismiss to leave things as they are.

Starter prompts on Studio (dashboard and most pages):

• Prep for my next lesson

• Create a social story

• Explain how Studio works

Starter prompts when a visual is open in the editor:

• Give every tile a blue background

• Generate a chew necklace symbol

• How do I use the Studio editor?

The line under the composer says AI can make mistakes. Please double-check info.

Edit an open visual

Use this when you already have a Studio visual open.

1. Open the visual in the Studio editor.

2. Click Ask Flexspeak.

3. Select tiles if you want the request to target those cells. A chip above the composer shows the visual name and any selected tiles.

4. Ask for a change, for example "Make these labels shorter" or "Give every tile a blue background."

5. Review the card, then click Apply. Use Apply all when more than one change is listed.

6. If the board changed while the suggestion was waiting, the card may say Apply anyway.

Ask Flexspeak can propose:

• Tile text and translations

• Symbols and photos, including a generated custom image

• Tile colors and cell borders

• Adding tiles or changing the rows and columns on a Communication Grid or Minimal Pairs visual

• Clearing tile text and images without shrinking the grid

A white outline around the artwork inside a tile is not available. Ask Flexspeak can offer a tile border instead, or a custom image edit on a photo you uploaded.

Plan a lesson or create a visual

Use this from Studio or from Ask Flexspeak on other web pages.

1. Click Ask Flexspeak.

2. Try Prep for my next lesson, Create a social story, or type something like "Create a first-then board for lining up."

3. If a question card appears, describe the activity in your own words. You can attach a file.

4. Review the plan or the Create card.

5. Click Apply to create the visual. The card may show the template name, such as First-Then Board.

Ask Flexspeak can also search your saved visuals and summarize what is on a board.

Dictate, attach files, and manage the chat

Dictate

1. Click Dictate (the microphone to the left of send), or press Enter in an empty composer.

2. Speak. A waveform replaces the text field while you record.

3. Click the check mark or press Enter to turn the recording into text. It does not send until you send the message.

4. Click X or press Escape to cancel.

A recording stops at 10 minutes. The transcript is added to the composer, and you will see Dictation time limit reached. Your organization can turn dictation off.

Attach a file

1. Click Attach a file (paperclip).

2. Choose Upload files or Google Drive.

3. Use Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), or PDF. Legacy .doc and .ppt files are not supported.

Chat display and history

• Chat display (desktop): Side panel or Floating.

• Close side panel or Minimize hides the chat. Open it again on the same page to continue the same thread.

• New chat starts a blank conversation.

• Rename and Delete are in the more menu after the chat has been saved.

Feedback on a reply

On an assistant message you can Copy text, mark Helpful response, mark Not helpful, or Try again. Not helpful asks How can we improve this response? That message and your note are stored so we can improve answers.

You can also click a sent message to edit it, then send again to regenerate the reply. Send stays disabled until the text is different from the original.

Custom images

In the Studio editor, you can ask Ask Flexspeak to generate a custom symbol, edit a photo, or remove a photo background.

• Review the preview on the card. Click Edit to change the prompt before you Apply.

• You can generate a new custom image or edit a photo you uploaded.

• SymbolStix and Default library symbols cannot be edited or have their background removed, because of their licence. Ask Flexspeak will say so and offer to generate a new image instead.

• Free accounts have a limited number of generated or edited images. Removing a background does not use that limit.

• Your organization can turn custom image generation off.

Students, files, and organization tools

Ask Flexspeak can also:

• List students on your caseload by display name only, summarize board folders, and propose folder or tile changes (you still Apply).

• Propose rename, move, duplicate, or delete for visuals you can access.

• Draft measurable IEP or AAC goal shells. A certified professional must review any draft before you use it in an IEP.

• Point you to the Admin Dashboard if you can view organization analytics. It does not summarize counts or trends in the chat. If you do not have access, it will say that is out of scope.

Ask Flexspeak does not use student emails or last names in its replies.

Tips

• Suggestions are proposals. Click Dismiss or Dismiss all if you do not want the change.

• Closing the panel on the same page keeps the chat. New chat starts empty. Opening a different visual or a different part of the app starts a new thread.

• Changing rows and columns in Ask Flexspeak applies to a Studio Communication Grid or Minimal Pairs visual. It does not change how many cells are on a Flexspeak AAC talker board.

• For a full Studio walkthrough, see Flexspeak Studio Guide.