Speech Therapy for Apraxia (App Review)

I'm back today with another app review! The app was provided to me in order to review but you'll find all these comments to be my very own! Speech Therapy for Apraxia is an app designed by the National Association for Child Development Team.

The app works on sounds in 8 different groups. These groups are mostly grouped by place and manner of each sound (ie: F/V, P/B/M, etc.) The SLP selects one consonant group to target.

Next select the target level. The app starts at single CV words and nonsense words. The difficulty is then increased while continuing to use CV targets. Each picture can be touched to provide a verbal model.

The price of the app is $4.99, making it a very reasonable choice in the market. The app is only available for ipad on iOS at this time.

Pros: The price is right! Simple to use for parents. I like that the difficulty is labeled 1-8. This makes it easy for parents to use. It's quite obvious that starting at level 1 is the easiest.

Cons: No data tracking. The app only contains CV words making it pretty lacking for a busy SLP with a variety of kids on caseload!

All in all, the app might be most suited for parents of children with apraxia or other severe phonological delays. It's lacking variety of syllable structures and data collection for SLPs.

Apraxia Ville {app review}

Smarty Ears has been busy once again. They have recently published their first Apraxia app, Apraxia Ville. Apraxia Ville is a farm full of words! You might remember a recent apraxia activity I used included animals, because two of my sweet little ones are OBSESSED with animals! I couldn't wait to try this app out on them! 

Start Apraxia Ville by choosing players. Select multiple players as needed.

Sound windows are for practicing sounds production. The avatar will produce the given sounds. Tap the picture to change the target sound. Use the sliding bar at the bottom to change the speed of the production. Slow it down and let your students watch the lips of the avatar. Tap the camera button and use the camera to let your student watch himself produce the sound.

The second activity is the Farm House.  For each student select the syllable structure (level 1: CV/VC and level 2: CVC) and the sounds to target. If you have previously used the app, you can select your last used settings at the bottom, and save yourself some time!

The target word and picture will be seen in the barn doors. Select the student who is working by clicking on their name in the top windows. You will see data collection above their head, just click those buttons to collect data. Voice recording is available in this portion of the app. Along the right hand side you will also see the Window Cues. Tap the magnifying glass to go watch a closer model.

The third activity is the Words Farm. In this portion of the apps, students are combining words. First select two or three words to be combined. Here you can determine syllable structure and phonemes right on the play screen. If you press the green play sign between the words it will read the two given words (pie, mad). Change the picture with a finger swipe up or down.

The data collection records the accuracy, targets, activity, time, etc. You can check out graphs for consonants and vowels.  This data can be shared on the Therapy Report Center, printed, or emailed. 

When you’re in the ‘select player’ screen you will see the icon for settings. The settings allow for specific words to be modified. You can either unselect specific words or add your own words. To add a word, select ‘edit’ and press the  plus sign. Here, when I added a picture of the ‘Bean’ I selected it be added to the /b/ targets and that it is a CVC word.  

Homework is included within the app. You can print directly from the iPad or email it as an attachment.

Pros: The app takes into consideration the increasing complexity we use to target words including sound, syllable, words and combining words. I love the ability to select very specific targets included vowels and individual consonants. Printing homework is a huge plus, because  finding words in just CV or VC can be difficult! 

Cons: I would love to see other syllable structures introduced as well (CVCV, CCVC, etc). Since prosody is such an important part of apraxia I would LOVE to see some type of sentence activity available as a part of the Words Farm. I think the app could employ some common carrier phrases (I see..., The ..... is on the table, Is that a ...?) This would allow the clinician to  collect data on prosody. As the app is developed the combining words section only connects nouns, which doesn't require attention to prosody. 

Apraxia Ville is currently listed at $21.99 on the itunes store. 

Disclosure Statement: This app was provided by Smarty Ears for review. No other compensation was provided. The opinions expressed are the authors. 

Speech Box {App Review}

Today's app review is for Speech Box. Speech Box was developed by a parent of a child with apraxia with a focus on simple one syllable words. My first response was excitement! Finally a new format for articulation flashcards! Can you believe my clients are sick of the same articulation apps already?!

The Speech Box apps are organized on  the home page like this one. Pick the sound you want to target and click on a box.

The pictures are shown in a pile on the page (it does take a moment for them to load - I used that time to practice our sound in isolation). When you on the buttons at the top left, you can see a list of the targeted words. Here you can easily unselect anything you might not want to work on. For example, when working on /k/, I removed any words with contained /t/ and /d/ to reduce the complexity for a student with a severe phonological disorder.

To practice a target words, just tap the picture. It will get larger on the screen and the target word is produced. To move to the next card, just swipe it away. The kids loved this feature! Plus, when looking at the pile, they are in control of which items are

To add a new card, touch the (+) button. Add the picture and record the word.

 The SLP can also add new boxes.

Pros: 
+The novel format draws student interest and gives this some autonomy because they pick what card is next. They can visually see how many cards are left to finish (that was surprisingly motivating my for guys!)

+Almost all of the 700 photo's included are one syllable words, something often not found in articulation apps.

+The fact that there are photos rather than graphics is a plus for use with other populations

+Once you make a 'box' it can be sent to others (I'm thinking home to parents if they own the app.) I also suggested to the developer to have somewhere SLPs can upload created boxes to be downloaded by other SLPs! Save time and hassle!

+The app is fully customizable, you can add boxes and pictures easily.

+The app is adaptable for much more than articulation/apraxia. Vocabulary and more can be added!


Cons: 

- Several of the picture cards were in the wrong 'box'. This is likely due to the fact that it wasn't developed directly by a SLP. For example in the /g/ box there were many words that end in /ŋ/ (fang) and /dʒ/ (page.) Those sounds are different from /g/ although spelled with the 'g' letter. I also learned my lesson to prescreen all the cards, when 'keg' came up and the sweet 5 year old asked me what is was! (I asked the developer and he's going to remove it. Many low income or ESL families wouldn't frequently use that term unless to mean alcohol. All the other pictures seem appropriate.)

-I wish the app had more variety of syllable complexity. I'll likely add new boxes that contain 2 and then 3 syllable words with each sound. Although children with apraxia need simple syllable structures to start - they eventually move into more complex syllable types (YAY!). The app isn't set up for that, and the SLP will need to add more pictures. Most SLP's don't have much extra time.

-No data collection is included in the app. An SLP app without data collection is really not up to par with the standards by other SLP apps.

-Blends aren't included. 

-Since the app focuses on one syllable words, many of the sounds only have 4 or 5 cards. I wish it had more variety in those sounds. It's only therapy ready for single syllable words. Much of my apraxia caseload is working on medial consonants and two syllable words (CVCV and CVCVC).

-The app currently only functions with a single player (or with only one sounds at a time.) I typically have preschoolers in a group of 2, so I wish I could do a 'split screen' or flip between sounds more easily. As it is now I need to exit the box and load another one.

-Links to twitter and Facebook on the home page are unnecessary.  Those quick little fingers can get a kid onto my Facebook page in just a split second! There is a lock function to disable, but these links still don't belong on a kids app in my opinion!

Overall, the app  has great new way of presenting target words. I love it as a starting place for apraxia therapy. While the app is customizable, it will take prep work and customizing by the SLP. The app is not meant to replace your full set of articulation cards. Limited syllable complexity and lack of data collection are major current concerns with its design. If you're looking for single syllable stimulus items, I'd recommend this app, but if you're looking for a full set of syllable complexities, be prepared to do some work yourself. It's currently priced at $19.99, which is listed at 50% off.


In talking with the developer, many good updates are on the way. This includes blends, data tracking and sentences! Follow Speech Box on Facebook and Twitter(@speechboxapp) to keep up to date with all the exciting new features on the way.


A copy of this app was provided in order to complete this review. No other compensation was provided.

In other news... I'm joining the big TPT sale on Sunday! Don't forget the promo code! If you're looking for materials check out my Resource List with over 80 different SLP stores!

Motor-Speech Articulation Method Packets {Review & Giveaways)

If you have seen any of the links in my side bar, you might already be familiar with the blog, Testy Yet Trying.  Amy Ellsworth, M.A., CCC-SLP writes the blog Testy Yet Trying, where she goes by Dala. Amy has started a new therapy product business. She recently opened a shop on her website and is offering instant PDF downloads of  therapy worksheets. Amy asked if I'd be interested in looking over her materials and of course I said yes! It's so great to be able to support other bloggers and small business SLP's! 

These eBooks are sold by sound. She currently offers /s/, /s/ blends and /k/. Amy sent me her /s/ blend set to check out. The 126 page document was full of a variety of treatment activities. 

Amy has designed her books to be a one -stop shop for each sound.  The kits can be used to move from isolation all the way through sentence level productions.  They are written to be accessible to both therapists and parents.  You get well over 100 cards, minimal pairs, pivot phrases, three levels of homework sheets, printable activities and more in one place. 

 Having the therapy materials in pdf format puts you in control.  You can print the materials as many times as you need to and for different purposes.  If you want to send a practice set of cards home with a child, simply print another set.  If you want to cut up the pictures to use in an art project you can because you can print another set. 

The words are all carefully chosen based on motor-speech principles.  The words have simple syllable shapes and include all possible vowels to practice the target sound in a variety of co-articulation contexts.  Further, the words are sortable by difficulty, so that you can progress fom the simpler ones to more complex ones.  

This makes my sets ideal for working with children with apraxia, hearing impairment, very young children, or any other children for whom the typical articulation sets are too complex. 

The cards are sortable by difficulty, vowel, position, and phonological process.  You can mix multiple decks together and easily sort them apart again.  

If you want to work on a specific vowel, you can easily sort out words with that vowel (or eliminate vowels that are particularly diffiult).  Particularly if you have multiple sets, you can begin to build phonological process sets that incorporate all the advantages of the phoneme sets (simple syllable shapes, target words chosen on motor-speech principles). 

Overall, I love the diversity in the activities included. Amy has taken special consideration into the complexity of each activity. It was a great activity for my student with Apraxia. 

Amy wants to give two lucky readers a free eBook of their choice. Enter via rafflecopter below. She also set up a discount code in her store for Speech Room News followers. Just enter the discount code SRN2012, to receive 30% off your order through the end of November.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apraxia Bones

Happy Friday! Just wanted to share a quick picture of my therapy room this week. One of my students with apraxia is working on  initial /b/ + vowel combinations. The many repetitions this requires, gets boring quickly.  I frequently use this Feed the Dog set with our 'drill.'

I cut a strip of words (from SPARC Artic JR) and place it next to the dog bowl. Once he says all four words he gets to feed the dog one bone. He's supposed to use the tweezers as work on fine motor, but as you can see, he usually just uses those fingers :) I make the puppy bark everyone he feeds it!


What do you use to encourage drill for your little ones with apraxia or severe articulation/phonology delays.