SLP Mommy of Apraxia

Category: Childhood Apraxia of Speech

  • Vowel Viz Schools App Review and Giveaway!!

    Vowel Viz Schools App Review and Giveaway!!

    The people over at Complete Speech and Michelle over at Trust Me, I’m a Mom and myself all teamed up to offer you a great giveaway for the visual feedback app VowelViz!   I was not paid to review the app and am only offering my personal opinion not only as a mother with a child who has a speech delay, but also as an SLP who works with kids.

    I was really excited about VowelViz because I love visual feedback to aid in therapy. The price for this type of programming has typically been very expensive, but since tablets have made many more things easily accessible, the people at Complete Speech created a quality and affordable app that provides visual feedback for vowels and the vocalic R sound. 

    The company has offered great video tutorials to start using the app as well.   They are available at:

    http://completespeech.ning.com/tips-main

    The first thing you must do before using this app is go to settings (seen below) and play with the mic sensitivity.  Even though I watched the video tutorial, I failed to do this initially and I would have saved myself a lot of time had I remembered this step.

    Once the mic sensitivity is adjusted, you can begin using the application.  You can also adjust the vowel tail lengths and choose varying themes.  If you are an SLP, the picture above probably brings you back to your grad school days learning the vowel quadrilateral.  We don’t often reference the quadrilateral, but this is a great visual reminder of where vowels are produced in the mouth. Quadrants within the vowel quadrilateral act as relative targets and help users orient themselves to where in the mouth they should be producing the vowel. According to the website, “Learners are also able to see how their vowels compare with the researched averages of others.”  Personally, I wasn’t always exactly on the target; however, my clients and I did at least manage to hit within the range that is highlighted around each vowel.  (seen below)

    If you upgrade to VowelViz schools, there are options to vary the themes and add flash cards, which is nice.  These simple upgrades make the app more fun and visually appealing.

    My daughter and my 1st grade clients with R goals loved using Vowel Viz!  They loved seeing a visual representation of their voice and trying to move the ball into the target range.  I can see this being a great, practical tool to supplement therapy and/or provide great practice for correct production of vowels and the vocalic R. 
    For Childhood Apraxia of Speech, vowel inconsistencies are a common characteristic.  Vowel distortions make a child extremely unintelligible.  Unfortunately, vowels and the R sound are difficult to teach because there is not a specific explanation for what to do with the tongue and other articulators in the mouth to make the sound correctly.  A visual feedback tool like Vowel Viz would be helpful for the client to visually see what the tongue is doing in the mouth.

    What I don’t love:  Though the company offers incredible videos on how to use their app, I was still initially challenged to figure out the right configuration so the app would work correctly and accurately.  However, once I adjusted the mic sensitivity and played around with it more, I really started to get the hang of it and feel it can be a valuable tool at home and in therapy.

    What I love: I would definitely recommend upgrading to the VowelViz schools to get the full perks the app has to offer.  The change in themes are fun, and the flashcards are nice to have so accessible being within the app.  The vowel quadrilateral as a general frame provides another good visual feedback tool to help explain to clients what the tongue is doing in the mouth when making the vowels, and just having an affordable visual feedback tool is amazing.  I really look forward to more apps from this company, because visual feedback is so powerful in therapy.

    To enter to win this great app, click on the link below!!  Like SLPmommyofApraxia on Facebook through the link below for easy entry!   Raffle closes May 12th at Midnight.  Winners will be contacted via email and have 48 hours to claim the prize, or it will be awarded to someone else! Good luck!!

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • God Bless Grandma Green

    God Bless Grandma Green

    Ashlynn’s Great Grandma Green has been out for about a week now visiting. This isn’t the first time Ashlynn has met Grandma Green. She usually comes out in October each year to stay with Ashlynn’s Grandma Smith who is of course her daughter. 

    Last year she bought Ashlynn a dress for her Birthday that was purple with big colored polka dots that was instantly her favorite. Unfortunately, at that time, Ashlynn didn’t have many words. She couldn’t really express how much she loved the dress (besides pointing to it when she saw it in the closet), she couldn’t say I love you, and actually, she couldn’t say grandma and mama the same way at that time, which meant she couldn’t even expressively differentiate between any of the maternal women in her life.
    This year though, is different. Oh what a difference a year makes. Grandma Green has only been here a week, but each day I picked Ashlynn up after work, she was sitting as close to her hip as possible. Today, circumstance would have it that she could go out to lunch with just her and her two Grandma’s. When she got back, she once again kept trying to get close to Grandma Green, asking her, “Read this book?” Or “Ashlynn sit here?” She still confuses names, and in a sentence may call Grandma “Mama” or Grandma Green (Dama Deen ) “Grandma Smith (Dama Smi).” We all would have to pause frequently saying, “wait, who am I?” 
    However, there was no mistaking tonight who made a guest appearance in her nightly prayers. We usually go through and say, “God bless daddy, mommy, Jace, and Sahara.” Then, depending on the day and who she was with, I add names of the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc. Half the time I have to remind her to include Cody and I!
    Well tonight, I started out, “God bless…..” As I waited for her to fill in the blank, out popped “Dama Deen.” I couldn’t believe it! She has never added anyone novel before without me modeling it first! Heck, half the time she forgets her parents or Jace! Well, tonight, she finally had found the words to express her love for Grandma Green, in a simple prayer to our Heavenly Father. I really don’t know how much bigger it gets than that. 
    She still has few words, but with them, she expresses profound things.  God bless “Dama Deen.”

  • Ashlynn update 3:10

    Ashlynn said her first compound sentence yesterday. It took me so much by surprise that I almost ruined it by interrupting her.

    I picked her up from school asking the usual questions and getting the usual answers,
         “How was school?”
         “Good.” (Dood)

         “What did you do?”
         “Play” (pay)

         “Who did you play with?”
         “PLAY!!” she says impatiently.

         “I know, but WHO did you play with?” I asked.
         “Evelyn (Eveyin)

    As I was about to interrupt she said,
    “She’s nice and she’s funny (sunny) too.”

    A six word compound sentence!!! Music to my ears!

  • “You say it best, when you say nothing at all.”

    “You say it best, when you say nothing at all.”

    Today I took Ashlynn to one of my BFF’s bridal shower.  There weren’t going to be any other kids there, but Ashlynn is so good around a group.  When I think of people who have charisma, I think of great speakers and people gifted with words.  The Martin Luther King’s and the John F Kennedy’s of the world.  But Ashlynn makes me realize charismatic people don’t need to speak.  There is so much else to them.  Their presence, their unseen light that people can feel and gravitate toward, their inner goodness that shines brighter than words can resonate.  The latter I believe, fits my daughter.

    She is talking now in 3-4 word phrases, but in a group she gets shy and I have to prompt her to even utter one word responses.  Somehow though, she manages to light up the room.  Flitting by from person to person, looking at them with her curious, kind eyes; touching them with her baby soft hand.  Yes I’m in a room full of women, but even so, strangers reach out to touch her hair, take joy in her smiles, feel happy in her presence.  They hold her hands, give her hugs, and let her sit on their laps.   I know I’m her mom, but I’m telling you, I can see it and not just because I’m her mom.

    She is so special to me, and even though she’s not this outwardly verbal person, she somehow demands attention in the room.  Eyes are drawn to her, smiles are cast upon her, and mutual love is relayed from each other.  All this, without her hardly speaking a word.

    There’s a country song by Allison Krause entitled, “You say it best, when you say nothing at all.”  Ashlynn truly personifies this.

    Dear Ashlynn,

    “The smile on your face lets me know that you need me, there’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me.  The touch of your hand, says you’ll catch me whenever you fall.  You say it best, when you say nothing at all.”

  • Lessons from a tricycle

    Lessons from a tricycle

    We bought a tricycle for Ashlynn three months before her third birthday. My husband and I took her to Toys R Us, excited, full of hope and expectation. I had seen two-year old children on Facebook gleefully riding their trikes with big goofy smiles on their faces, and I couldn’t WAIT to snap that happy gleeful face on my little girl.
    Pregnant with my son, we all left the store and I had visions in my head of me walking to the park, with her riding her trike in front. I would occasionally have to call for her to stop so she wouldn’t get too far ahead………….
    ….but it was me getting too far ahead that night. One year later, with aching backs and frazzled patience, my Ashlynn still can’t ride a trike.  She has made progress though and can now not only keep her feet on the pedals, but can also keep them “straight” on the pedals where her heel isn’t constantly coming into contact with one of the bars.  As for the actual alternating pushing motion, that is still to come.  
    You’d think she would be frustrated, but the opposite is true.  As kids whiz by on their bikes, she happily laughs, giggles, and asks me, “See bicycle mama?”  and then with determination in her face she gets up on her tricycle again, ready to practice. Like most other motor tasks, this one too will take time.  It will be a journey to success, but success will surely be there; waiting more patiently than me.
    However, I’ve learned success is never really about the outcome, just as riding a bike is never really about the destination.  Every bike rider will tell you the fun and the meaning are found in the journey.  The sights seen, the hills climbed, and even possibly the falls taken.  The lesson learned from the tricycle is more than just learning to ride.  It’s a metaphor for life, and of one thing I”m certain.  Ashlynn will always be a success because she has already learned: the fun is in the journey.
  • Nine year old Katie with apraxia sings “Brave” and dedicates it to Ashlynn :)

    Nine year old Katie with apraxia sings “Brave” and dedicates it to Ashlynn 🙂


    CASANA has a parent support group on facebook called APRAXIA-KIDS – Every Child Deserves a Voice.  If you have a child with apraxia, I highly recommend joining this group. Sharon Gretz, the founder of CASANA, is an active member, but there are also other SLP’s, advocates, educators, and of course parents who care about these little ones.

    I recently vented to the group about my sadness over the park incident, but then shared my blog post about hearing the song “Brave” and how it made me feel better.  A parent to a nine year old girl sent me the following note:


    when Katie was diagnosed at 2 1/2 with CAS she was 

    considered severe and significantly delayed. She just turned 

    9. She told me to tell you this song is dedicated to Ashlynn. 



     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5q907Ojdfc

    The video is her daughter singing “Brave!”  How awesome is that?  So inspiring for all of us with little ones who are struggling to talk.  

    Katie sings beautifully.  All the therapy, all the tears, all the sadness her mother felt are a distant memory when you hear her sing.  Katie found her voice and then some!  Ashlynn loved the video and told me, “sing dood.”  Yes, Ashlynn, Katie sure sings good and YOU will too some day 🙂