Speech Therapy for Apraxia by Blue Whale: App Review

If you follow along on this blog, you know that I am not an “app person.” I am pretty much the last person you will want to ask for app recommendations because I just don’t use them very often. However, when I recently contacted by the developer of a new app for Childhood Apraxia of Speech (an area of interest for me) I decided to take them up on their request for a review. I was provided the App code at no cost in exchange for my honest review of the product. As always, all thoughts and opinions are mine alone and are not influenced by the free product. 

About This App

Speech Therapy for Apraxia was developed by the National Association for Child Development team, including a certified speech-language pathologist. The developer, Blue Whale,  says this “app provides choices of different phonemes to target and moves through a progression of levels that challenge motor planning for speech” and “working at the syllable level, it begins at the production of single syllables and progresses through increasingly difficult production sequences all the way to the production of sequences of random syllables.”

Who is This App For?

According to the developer, this app is designed to be used with the following:

• Childhood Apraxia of Speech/dyspraxia.
• adults with apraxia
• speech therapists working with individuals with apraxia
• parents working with children with apraxia
• traditional articulation practice

What are the Features of This App

According to the developer, features of this app include:

• Choose from 8 different consonant groups (for a total of 19 consonant sounds) to target.
• For each group, choose from 8 levels to practice
• Detailed instructions explain how to choose an appropriate consonant group and practice level.
• Move through a logical progression of 8 different levels for motor planning for speech.
• Illustrations and audio provided for each syllable.
• Option to repeat levels, reset, or move to next level.
• Can also be used for straight articulation drill for particular phonemes.

The App in Use

On the first page, you will find a small menu where you can go to instructions, or just head straight to getting started

When you get started, you will be prompted to pick a consonant sound group, which are generally in developmental sequence as well as being organized into approx place of articulation. You cannot pick phonemes individually in this app.

For my example, I picked G K H.

When you pick your sounds set, you then need to pick a level to work on. There are 8 levels:

Level 1: productions one syllable at a time

Level 2: productions of three reps of one syllable

Level 3: productions of five clear reps of the same syllable

Level 4: productions of 4 reps of the same syllable, then changes to a different syllable at the end containing the same sound but a new vowel

Level 5: productions of two syllables that alternate back and forth in sequence

Level 6: productions of syllables that start with the same sound, differ in vowel, and have a random arrangement in the sequence

Level 7: productions of random arrangements of syllables with varied consonant and vowel sound, but all consonants are from the chosen sound group

Level 8: productions of random combinations of any of the syllables that have been worked on in previous levels.

Some of the syllables are real words (those have pictures) and some of the syllables are nonsense syllables (the syllable is then written out). As you tap the image/syllable, the app provides the auditory model that the user can then practice. At the end of a level, you are asked to repeat the level or start a new level. Selecting the next level will automatically move you to the next level (as described above). You can then move through the levels in sequence.

The Pros and Cons of this App

What I liked:

• This app is very cheap at only $4.99
• This is a great app for those children/adults who are just starting out in therapy, or are very limited buy their apraxia and are starting at the simplest of syllable shapes, as the app focusses on syllables and incorporates a lot of nonsense syllables.
• This is a good app for drilling students/clients at the different levels
• The app is easy to use
• This would be a great app for home practice due to its low cost and ease of use

What I’d like to See:

• This app is fine for for a beginner with CAS, but it is limited once the client is moving into real multisyllabic words. 
• I’d love to see a way to keep data and keep track of different children/students
• I’d love to be able to pick one phoneme at a time, rather than groups of phonemes.

Bottom Line

I think this is a pretty comprehensive app for the cost. I wish there was a way to track data for individual clients, but for $4.99 you can just do that with penn and paper.

Where Can You Buy this App?

You can purchase this app at the iTunes App Store for only $4.99.

So, have YOU used this app? What do you think?