While there are a variety of apps targeting articulation, Articulation Station Pro is the app I open most on my iPad for articulation treatment. I've seen a variety of comparative lists that talk about the differences in speech apps. You can compare number of pictures, difficulty levels, and drawn pictures versus real pictures. All that information is great but sometimes you just want to know a person's personal preference! This is my 'go-to' articulation app. It's easy for me to quickly use and my kids love it!
The app targets articulation sounds (p,b,m,d,n,t,k,g,f,v,ch,j,z,sh,th) in initial, medial and final position of words, sentences and stories. Blends are targeted in (l,r,s). Each word has 60 target words and all together Articulation Station Pro has over 1,000 target words. The photo above demonstrates the interface for single words in the flashcard mode. SLP's can choose the target sound and position within the word. Select the green or red button to keep data. The record button allows you to record a child's answer and play it back for self monitoring. The other option for single word level practice is a matching game. It's what my students ask for the most!
The sentence level allows the SLP to pick two levels of difficulty. The student can select to rotate a single word within a sentence, as seen in the picture above. You can also select novel sentences.
The story level includes short stories that include picture prompts. The stories are loaded with target words.
At end of each story, a short comprehension check in included. Another great way to work on carryover and generalization during reading.
The scoring function provides data tracking for multiple students. Up to 6 students at one time may be targeted for group sessions.
An update was released 7/24/12 that includes the ability to select and save word lists. Check out a video tutorial here. Making lists is a big improvement for children with multiple articulation impairments. It allows therapist to remove words with other conflicting errors.
In future updates I would love to see the ability to 'repeat' a word list! For example if I am working on initial /k/ with a student in single word flashcards, after the great 'You did it!' award at the end - I'd love to select 'repeat!
Overall, I don't think I can give a better recommendation than to say that of all my articulation apps, this is the one I use most. It's user friendly and what I recommend most to parents. Parents can buy the regular version of Articulation Station and select only the sounds they need to practice.
Little Bee Speech is being very generous and giving me two copies of Articulation Station Pro to giveaway! Enter via rafflecopter below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
**Edit: I forgot to mention, you can try out Articulation Station by downloading it here. It comes with the sound /p/. A great way to test it out and determine if it will fit your needs! On the iTunes store you will see both Articulation Station and Articulation Station Pro. The Pro version includes all the phonemes included. The regular version allows you to buy sounds individually.
