Barbara   Fernandes,   M.S;   CCC-­‐SLP   is   a   practicing   trilingual   speech  and  language  pathologist   in  the  Dallas  area.  Barbara   is   the  founder  and  CEO   of   Smarty   Ears   and  has   created   over  45  applications   for  speech   therapists.   Barbara   Fernandes   is   also   the   person   behind  GeekSLP.com   a   FREE   blog,   app   and   video   podcast   teaching   SLPs  how  to  implement  technology  into  their  practices.

2012All rights reserved to Geek SLP

Arti

cula

tion

Using Evidence Based Practice to guide the use of apps for ArticulationWith the release of touch devices by Apple, inc and the

development of several applications that target speech and sound disorders, speech therapists have the opportunity to deliver engaging therapy sessions. The feedback heard from speech therapists on how these devices have significantly improved the quality and efficiency of their services does not directly translate into the awareness of how these applications are not only a fun therapy tool that will maintain the student’s attention and interest for longer periods of time, but are also the result of the integration between evidence based research and one of the most advanced pieces of technology of the century. With over 14 applications for articulation on the app store, speech and language pathologists have the opportunity to deliver more entertaining articulation sessions that provide automatic feedback to us as clinicians as well as to the student. Articulation applications range from basic memory games to

more complex apps that were designed to analyze and determine patterns in speech errors.

“The  iPad  is  more  than  a  device;  it  is  a  game  changer  not  only  for  speech  therapists  but  also  for  parents,  educators  and  most  importantly  for  children.”  Fernandes,  2011

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Updated on: November, 2012

USES:The  Sunny  Ar+cula+on  Test  can  be  used  to:  

-­‐ Collect  informa/on  regarding  an  individual’s  ar/cula/on  skills;  

-­‐ Supplement  data  of  a  standardized  ar/cula/on  measure;  

-­‐ Determine  the  presence  of  an  ar/cula/on  disorder;  

-­‐ Measure  treatment  efficacy;-­‐ Determine  a  follow  up  therapy  plan;

-­‐  Quick  administra/on  of  ar/cula/on  screening;  

-­‐ Screens  ar/cula/on  skills  to  determine  needs  for  further  assessment.

Features of the Sunny Articulation Phonology Test:a. Ability  to  enter  student’s  name  and  track  progress  over  /me;  

b. Tests  all  phonemes  of  the  English  language  including  clusters;  

c. Offers  two  op/ons:  Screening  &  Full  Assessment  d.Ability  to  record  student’s  produc/on  with  the  same  tool  you  are  using  to  administer  test;  e.Complements  informa/on  of  standardized  measures;

f. E-­‐mail  test  results  immediately  aLer  administra/on;  

g.Automa/c  analysis  of  speech  produc/on  by:

i. Mannerii.Phoneme  iii.Posi/on  in  the  wordiv.  Voicing  Featuresv. Error  type/phonological  processes    on  Full  assessment  only.  

It  provides  immediate  posi/ve  feedback  to  students  throughout  the  test  administra/on;  Sample  recording  of  target  word  is  available  as  you  touch  each  image;  Compa/ble  with  the  iPod  Touch,  iPhone  &  iPad;  Ability  to  add  notes  on  the  app  during  the  assessment.

The  Sunny  Ar/cula/on  Phonology  Test  (SAPT)  is  an  individually  administered  qualita/ve  clinical  tool  for  screening,  iden/fica/on,  diagnosis  and  follow-­‐up  evalua/on  of  ar/cula/on  skills  in  English  speaking  individuals.  The  Sunny  Ar/cula/on  Phonology  Test  can  be  used  with  individuals  of  all  age  groups.  The  Sunny  Ar/cula/on  Phonology  Test  is  compa/ble  with  the  iPhone,  iPod  Touch  &  the  iPad.

DESCRIPTION:

This is not a test for determining eligibility- it is not standardized. This is a test used for identifying patterns of speech errors.

Compatibility:Sunny is an universal application which makes it fully compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad.

Understanding the Sunny Articulation Phonology Test:Transcribed word on top of the screen

Voice Recorder

Target Word

Note Taking capabilities

Sunny Articulation Phonology Test

How to enter the data on the Sunny Articulation Phonology Test:

1. As soon as you hear that the student is making an error on a

specific sound; click on the green transcribed phoneme. A

new window will pop-up and ask you to select one of the

options:

a. Deleted

b. Substituted

c. Distorted

d. A specific phonological process

Simply select the error accordingly and go to the

next image.

The Results:Automatic analyses of speech errors is a dream

come true to speech pathologists. The Sunny

Articulation Phonology Test provides a detailed

analyses of the child’s speech abilities that can be

e-mailed or printed right after the assessment

containing information in six categories:

1. Position in the word;

2. Manner of Articulation

3. Voicing Features

4. Errors within specific words

5. Place of articulation

6. Types of Errors/ Phonological processes

7. Overall intelligibility

The Results (continuation):

This is a view of the results screen for manner of articulation.

On the example provided the student is 60% accurate when

producing liquid sounds. When you look closely you notice that

majority of the errors were on the final position of the /r/

phoneme; therefore the problem in this case is not the fact that

the sounds are liquids, but specifically final /r/.

Note the list of the transcribed words

targeted.

The phonemes in green are phonemes

produced accurately; the phonemes in red

were missed. The error/phonological

process is presented next to the word.

The Voicing tab allows therapists to identify if

articulation difficulties are related to voicing features

of the phonemes.

The error type tab allows clinicians to

identify the types of errors demonstrated

by client.

Using the camera on the iPad 2 to provide feedback:

This is a 3D demonstration of all sounds in the English language.Speech Trainer 3D is a tool designed to help individuals to practice every sound in the English language, including vowels and consonants. With detailed 3D animations that demonstrate the correct positioning of the tongue, lips, and mouth, it is a great model for children and adults who wish to work on learning to pronounce the English sounds correctly. This is a great visual tool for individuals who have suffered a stroke and are relearning speech, children with speech delays, or even as a tool for learning English as a second language.

Speech Trainer 3D demonstrates the sounds in two views: Front and Side View. Speech Trainer uses the International Phonetics Alphabet, which is the best way to represent each sound. Speech Coach has 32 sounds represented; 23 consonants and 7 vowels.

With this application speech pathologists can help students visualize manner and placement for all sounds in English.

The EVIDENCE: “Phonetic placement has been shown to be effective for teaching a child how to say a new sound.” (Powel, Elbert, Miccio, Strike-Roussos, & Brasseur, 1998).

Speech Trainer uses the iPad 2 front camera as a video mirror to provide student’s an opportunity to visualize

themselves while producing each sound.

“Correct placement is essential to progress.” Bauman-Waengler (2004); Secord (2007)

Articulate it! and the Evidence:We know what works...

1. Mass practice is essential to progress (Skelton, 2004). With over 1 thousand target words in very portable and organized placed, speech pathologists can provide drill therapy and mass practice to students, while keeping data and engaging the student. 2.According to Ertmer & Ertmer, 1998,

Cognitive monitoring of speech production is essential to progress.

Articulate it! provides two ways to guide students to monitor their productions: Students are able to check correct or incorrect for each time they produced the words which allows them actively monitor their production. Students are also able to record their own voice during practice and play it back for immediate feedback. It is also possible to compare their own productions to the production of an adult speaker built in the application as they touch the image.

3.It does appear that the decision to work on patterns of speech errors is more efficient and effective than teaching sounds one at a time (Almost & Rosenbaum, 1998; Bernhardt & Major, 2005; Hodson & Paden, 1983, Major & Bernhardt, 1998; Pamplona, Ysunza, & Espinoza, 1999)

Articulate it! is the only application that allows Speech Therapists to group sounds by Manner of Articulation. We have also the selected words based on specific phonological processes: such as devoicing, weak syllable deletion, etc..

Articulate it! is an application des i gned to help children practice their pronunciation s k i l l s .

Articulate it! provides over 1 thousand target words, with associated images and audio modeling organized into three main categories: Phonemes, Phonological Processes, and Mode of Articulation.

Home practice has always been a challenge for speech therapists that usually have to find time on their already limited agenda to set up homework, and lists of words to send for home practice. ASHA, 2004 demonstrated that home practice leads to significantly faster prog ress and genera l iza t ion . Articulate it! not only provides an immediate list of words for practice that can be sent home to facilitate generalization, but with the app store parents also have access to tools for at home practice which can

be shared on a daily basis with SLPs for monitoring progress and generalization.While applications provide a more practical and contextualized therapy session it also has its pitfalls: the need for ongoing research as new technology is developed and the temptation of the SLP to forget that they are still the therapist. Innovation in any field will first face the lack of research. They are almost in opposite sides of the spectrum. However, as more therapists use it, keep data, and explore its potential, we will soon be able to demonstrate the evidence of the therapy tool of the new millennium.

TIP: Articulate it! also allows for individual goal selection, and individual target’s in a group setting; therefore when trying to build cognitive monitoring, clinicians can also facilitate that group members monitor each other’s productions.

Articulate it! allows Speech Therapists to set specific goals for each student.

Features Easy Comprehensive SmartFeatures

1. Over 1 thousand pictures and target words;

4.Ability to track multiple students at the same time with separate goals;

7.Note taking capability: allows SLPs and parents to take notes during practice.

Features

2.Audio recordings for every word present on this app! You child can practice saying their sounds on their own by repeating the voice on the app;

5.Ability to group sounds by Manner of articulation or phonological processes;

8.Extremely specific results screens- give you percentage based on phonemes/ position in the words/ which words were missed and more...

Features

3. Contains ALL consonants in the English language;

6. Built in voice recording allows the children to compare their productions with the audio recording;

9.Note taking capability: allows SLPs and parents to take notes during practice.

List of students on the session

Articulate it! contains over 1

thousand images in all sounds of the English language! Let's take a closer look at the main

features of Articulate it:

Record the voice of

your student as you

practice:

Target word/phrase and

image

Using Articulate it to implement data driven therapy and establish

therapy plans:Speech and Language Pathologists are able to

access a very detailed result summary after each

session. Articulate it! analyses the data, and saves

all the sessions and all the voice recordings from

the sessions.

Speech Therapists are able to e-mail the data

immediately after the therapy session. This data

can be used to demonstrate progress, and share

with parents.

One very handy feature on Articulate it! is “

Words to Work on” section, which were collected

based on each session. These words can be

transformed into a immediate home work list.

If more than one student was present on the

session, each student will have their own results

summary.

This data will be saved on the device until the

therapist chooses to delete it.

This is the end of paper and pencil tallying!

TIPS:

1.E-mail results : Keep a back up of your data. You never

know when something could happen to your iPad or

iPhone;

2. Review words after the session;

3. Send home the list of words practiced as home work to

optimize practice;

Articulate it! allows you to e-mail the results instantly though e-

mail. If you have recommended this application to parents; you can

ask them to share the results of every practice with you. This way

you can monitor carry over of targeted skills.

$19.99

Articulation Scenes comes with 72 stunning built-in scenes and over 1200 practice words. Each scene contains 4 separate activities:

1.Find the hidden items: Allows children the opportunities to listen to targeted words and find them on each scene.2.Tap and say it: Children tap on the items on the scene, which are isolated allowing the therapist to track and monitor their productions.3.The movie theater: Children get the opportunity to listen to a story using the target words.4.The production room: This is the activity that allows children to either create their own stories, record them and continue to practice.

Articulation Scenes includes features that are not generally found

in any other articulation apps, which make it very unique.

The ability to target the phonemes at the word level is a given on

any scene, the app includes models for word level practice.

Production can easily be prompted at the phrase and sentence

level by addressing target phonemes in the context they appear.

The production room also provides a story level sample story for

each scene. The students have two options to practice correct

pronunciation and also narrative skills.

When choosing an app for your articulation therapy, many times speech therapists feel tempted to search for the app with the most features. It is important to compare the

features, and analyze them to understand which features are important to you as a clinician. Many speech therapists do not need an application that will provide group therapy

features such as Articulate it, and will be fine with an app that only allows for individual therapy. I have provided a table that compares two articulation applications developed

by Smarty Ears to serve as a starting pointing when shopping for your articulation application on the app store. Sometimes, you will see that just as you probably have more

than one deck of cards, you will also want to purchase more than one articulation application.

“The flexibility of the menu was what seemed to grab public school therapists interest the most, particularly the ability to work with multiple

students. "You mean I can have one student working on phonological process while the other is working on a specific sound?" said one

therapist in disbelief as she watched the app automatically take turns between the two students for whom she had selected different goals.

"How many students can I work with at once?" she immediately asked energetically imagining its practicality in her classroom. Articulate it! in

it’s current version allows up to four students with specific goals for each student including one or more phonemes, one or more types of

speech errors or one or more mode of articulation.”

Source: New iPad™ Apps for Speech Therapy and Communication were a Highlight of ASHA 2010 Convention

Comparing Articulation Therapy Apps:

Versus

Articulate it! Articulation Scenes

Total number of images: 1600 74 scenes

Levels of practice: word & sentence word, conversation, narrative, reading.

Age group: All age groups Pediatrics

Number of activities: 1 2

Phoneme selection mode: phoneme, manner of articulation & phonological processes phoneme, position in the word

Built in voice recorder? Yes Yes

None of the apps on this document require WI-FI connection. Once you download them to your device you

will not need to be connected to the internet to use them in therapy.

R Intensive SLP was developed as a result of “intensive” requests made by our Speech Therapists. Smarty Ears is aware of the high incidence of students seen for their difficulties with /r/. This phoneme is one of the hardest phonemes for children to master.  The speech-language pathologist in conjunction with the parents can use this application for helping the child practice correct pronunciation of the various types of /r/. This application can give children the motivation they need to continue practice and eventual mastery of this phoneme.

 R Intensive contains 3 exciting activities: 1.Flashcards: Allows practice of the r at the word, phrase, and sentence levels. Multiplayer mode supports 1-4 players with individual targets for each student.

2.Matching game: 4×5 rows of cards (20 card decks) make working on your favorite type of R a skill of memory and articulation. Supports 1-4 players per game.

3.Guess What game: students will have fun guessing which R word is described, while at the same time practicing their articulation. If the description clue is ever too difficult simply tap on the hidden image to reveal the answer. Supports 1-4 players.

Other little things that make this app great:a.Store, review, and email “report cards” from sessions.b.Print report cards directly from the app (when using an air ready printer)c.Student report cards feature easy to read graphs for the “flash card” activity that make analyzing results and progress simple and clear.d.Import a student photo, or choose from one of 50 quality avatars to represent the player.e.Quick play feature allows those unconcerned with student profiles or data tracking a quick way to start a session.f.Multiplayer capability-All three activities (flashcards, matching, and guess what) can support up to four players.g.Easy to use, intuitive user interfaceh.Build in video tutorial

Compatibility:Smarty Speech-Spanish is an universal application which makes it fully compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad.

I am a bilingual speech pathologist, and for those of you who work with Spanish-speaking

children you know how frustrating it can be trying to get ready for therapy. Most of the time we

are limited to two options: live translation of English materials or spending hours creating our

own Spanish materials. The limited resources in Spanish pushes us to creating our own

materials on a daily basis. This can be very difficult for us with an already very limited time on

our hands to serve so many children. That’s why I created Smarty SpanishArtik!

This app allows therapists and parents to work on specific sounds. It works like flashcards. It contains over 500

flashcards in it separated by specific phonemes, mode of articulation, and phonological processes. This is a very

useful app not only for bilingual therapists, but also for English-speaking clinicians who should work on speech

errors in both languages when treating children with articulation delays.

These results can be shared between therapist and parents.

Results are tracked overtime and can be printed or emailed.

Match2SayBack

Description:

Cancel OK

What are people saying about Match2Say:

Match2Say is the matching game. While children play they say the words and improve their articulation skills at the same time.

1. Each deck of cards represents a specific sound;2. Contains all different types of “r” sounds;3. Audio recording for all images with different voice characters;4. Several difficulty levels;5. Over 1500 images in the whole app;6. Contains a set for /s/ and /r/ clusters;7. Universal app: Fully compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad.

Screenshots:

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