Communication Disorders

I agree with Karen, Barb has opened all of our eyes to the world of Apple and all of its possibilities within our homes, schools and classrooms. One this I really liked about this webinar was the ability to hear the presentation from the point of view of both a speech language pathologist as well as a technology specialist. It gave the presentation an interesting depth. 

ArtikPix: ($29.99) Available for both the iPhone and iPad. To some it could be considered an expensive app, although some critics do refer to the app as high quality. It could also be used as an addition or for a home support program. We all know that the circuits of SLP allow them very little time with students, and much of the responsability does fall back on the family to maintain the support. You can't put a price tag on quality speech support! Artikpix is an articulation app for children with speech sound delays. Although I  did read on co-creator Eric Sailers', SLP website that there is a lite version available for free. The lite version has individual decks of cards available for purchase. ArtikPix has options to enable varying levels of support for children depending on the need. There are audio and visual options to facilitate speech practice. ArtikPix has sound options in the flashcard, matching activities, and visual options in matching only.Options can be turned off one at a time, and later turned on again. Users can experiment with the various options to determine which ones are necessary for the student.

*Eric Sailers and his buisiness partner Jason Rinn created Artikpix and PhonoPix to support students with speech sound difficulties. 



Proloquo2go: Non-verbal AAC ($189.99) can be adapted to suit the needs of a wide range of users with varying literacy levels. What I especially like about this app, from the few hours of experience is the endless possibilities of the app. You have so much choice. Choice in the levels of boards, how simple or complex to make the boards, the variety of colors, sizes, voices and accessibility and customization features seem endless. It allows the user to communicate at home, in school, in their community all via an iPod touch, iPad, or iPhone.     






Speech Tutor($4.99) - I have heard SLPs at my school talking about one of the major difficulties they encounter when working with students and their families is how to get them to "see" how the different sounds are being made within the mouth. I remember one noontime conversation asking where someone could get wide-mouth straws. Our SLP needed them for a therapy session the next day. It was determined that Burger King was her best option! I know as a parent, "teaching" my own daughters to properly pronounce certain sounds was a challenge for me and for them. I was somewhat fascinated with this app. Just watching the 3-D pictures move to make the sounds, made me pay closer attention to my own mouth as I made the sounds. We don't often think of all the muscles that work together to produce what we consider to be simple sounds. Depending on the sound you choose to be demonstrated, the speech tutor may also include air flow through the mouth for the different sounds. A really interesting and useful app!