SLP Mommy of Apraxia

Category: Therapy for apraxia

  • Speech Stickers App for Apraxia Review

    Speech Stickers App for Apraxia Review

    Speech Stickers is the first app that I downloaded for Ashlynn (my daughter with apraxia) when she had first turned three.  I chose it because it was cheap, and said it was developed for children with apraxia.  The app is simple in design with not a lot of bells and whistles; however, my daughter loved practicing her speech with this app.

    The app is set up for kids in the very early stage of apraxia therapy.  The child can practice sounds in isolation and in CV(consonant-vowel) and VC(vowel-consonant) combos. The app is based around blocked practice with a lot of repetition that is necessary for apraxia therapy.

    After you pick your sound or sound combo, you can then decide how many times times the child has to say it before they get a “sticker” or a little animation as a reward.  Then, the child chooses between five characters on the bottom, all of which have a different pitch to their voice.  This is a bonus too, because children with apraxia have difficulty with “prosody” or the melody of speech.  The characters’ mouths model the correct placement.  The above picture is showing ‘m.’  Below the characters are modeling ‘mo.’ This is also great because it gives the kids a visual cue for the correct mouth posture.

    A scoring bar at the top help score and keep track of data. You must press the green check or the red x to move onto the next practice sound.  The app is designed so that the bar can also turn upside down so that the therapist can discreetly score; however, my daughter picked up on this in a heartbeat and would push the buttons haphazardly just so she could move on!    Once you reach the set number you earn a “sticker” or reward.  You can choose from eight stickers seen below:

    They are so simple, but my daughter loved them.  I chose the bus just so you can get an idea of the animation.

    It has been almost three years since I have used this app for Ashlynn, but the app lives on with all of my clients!  Kids of all ages and disabilities LOVE this app.

    I have a 5th grade boy with Down Syndrome who laughs every time he earns a sticker and watches the animation.

    I have a 3 year old who loves picking the alien because it reminds him of a popular TV show right now “The Octonauts!”

    I could go on!  Really, I can’t say enough about this app, and when I reached out to the creator Carol Fast MSPA, CCC-SLP I realized why this app is soo good.  Here are some comments from her:

    “It’s truly been a labor of love for me and I’m always gratified to find that other SLPs appreciate what we do. I’m glad that you found Speech Stickers to be helpful for your daughter and other students.  I work mostly with preschoolers and have found a special interest and passion in my little nonverbal CAS kids. I really love helping find their true voice. This is probably the most rewarding work I’ve done in over 30 years as an SLP.”

    Thank you Carol!  Thank you for your passion for working with kids who have CAS and for a great app that allows us to get a lot of repetitions of targeted syllable shapes in a fun and engaging way for the kids.

    What I Love: 
    – Works on early developing syllable structures
    – It really helped us work on final consonants when my daughter wasn’t adding them.  Helped us get the final ‘n’ and final ‘t’
    – Gives a reward in the form of a short animation that is interesting to kids
    – Models different pitches and inflections, which is difficult for kids with apraxia

    What it’s Missing
    – I would like the option for the child to record their voice
    – As an SLP, I would appreciate the option to email the data
    – It doesn’t include more complex syllable structures such as CVC and CVCV, so it’s only applicable for the early stages of therapy

    Impressions:
    This app was helpful during the early stages of therapy, when Ashlynn was struggling to sequence basic syllable structures.  She had just turned three, and was motivated to practice speech.  In addition, she loved the sticker rewards.  It did help us get those final consonants that she was struggling with too.
    As an SLP, I have also used this app with a five year old, and he enjoyed it too.  For the price, I would recommend this app if you have a kiddo in the early stages of therapy.

  • ApraxiaVille app review

    ApraxiaVille app review


    ApraxiaVille is an app from Smarty Ears, and is the newest speech app that I have downloaded to use at work and with Ashlynn my daughter with CAS.
    To get started, you create your players.  You can make an avatar, or import your own picture.  The application allows up to four players, which is nice from an SLP perspective, since you can use it during group therapy.
    Next, you choose your activity from a list of three.  The first activity is the sound windows, which allows the child to practice a sound.

    The avatar gives the child a visual and audio cue on how to say the sound.  In the upper right corner is a camera, and if you press it, the child can see themselves in the window as they try to mimic how to say the sound.  I was a little skeptical about this, but I tried it with Ashlynn (my daughter who is 3 and 1/2) on a sound she hasn’t been able to say.  /f/  I have cued her and showed her the current production many times, but she loved seeing it on the avatar and then looking at herself in the camera.  Guess what?  We have /f/ in isolation!  Wahoo!

    The next activity is the Farm house.  In this activity, you can choose from a variety of syllable structures and sound groups.  This is exactly how apraxia therapy is usually structured, from easier consonant vowel combinations all the way to four syllable words.

    What I really like, is that you can customize it for the child.  For example, they have consonant groups, but if your child can’t produce one of them, you can go to settings and just choose the words you want your child to work on.  You can also add your own words and pictures to the rotation, which is also awesome.  My daughter has a tendency to drop medial ‘n’ and ‘d.’  She really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I added pictures of Minnie and Toodles. Then you can record the name to correspond with the picture.  I also think this would be great if you wanted your child to practice family member names, pet names, etc.

    Once in the farm house, you can practice the words.  A scoring system is set up above each child’s picture to record data.  There is a record feature in the chimney to record and playback the child’s production, and there are the avatars on the body of the barn to model appropriate production for a sound if needed.  After the activity, you can obtain a spreadsheet that collects the data with the option to email it.  I love this option as an SLP.

    Finally, the last activity is the Words Farm, where you can choose 2-3 words to practice.  This is great for doing targeted blocked and/or randomized practice necessary when using a motor based approach to therapy.  This activity only allows one child, but again there is a record/play function, and you can take data that will be generated into a spreadsheet at the end of the activity.

    What I Love:
    – Has practice items on a syllable structure hierarchy used with apraxia therapy
    – Can customize sound and syllable combinations to only include those in the child’s repertoire
    – Allows for adding your own additional pictures from your child’s own life with ability to record
    – Avatar’s give visual and auditory cues with a camera feature so the child can immediately practice
    – The second activity allows up to four players, which is helpful in group therapy
    – Data collection feature that is automatically generated into a spreadsheet and can be emailed and/or shared electronically

    What it’s Missing
    – Though the app is colorful and visually appealing to kids, there really isn’t any game or reward to it.  It would be nice to have some fun reinforcement for practicing the words.

    Overall impressions
    Overall, I think this is a great app for young kids with Childhood Apraxia of Speech.  I would recommend this application to parents and SLP’s.