Speech Therapy
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Articulation Station Pro for iPad
by Little Bee Speech
So, the reason I’ve waited so long to add Articulation Station Pro to the website (besides the fact that school has kept me really busy) is that I wanted to compare it to ArtikPix for student interest. Honestly, they are neck and neck. My students really like both and I’ve found that having two articulation apps allows me to maintain student attention during therapy sessions. When purchasing this app you can opt to buy the Pro version which includes all of the sounds or the free version with in app purchases of the sounds that you need. I purchased the Pro version since you never know who’s going to show up on your caseload!
- Amanda
- Amanda
Articulation Station Pro
How I use this app in speech therapy:
The app opens with the cutest little bee ever and then a screen full of all of the possible sounds you would target in therapy. I was very excited to see the often forgotten sounds /h/, /y/, /w/ and /ng/ . A huge thank you to Heidi Hanks (the SLP behind the app) for adding these sounds. You’ve made my job a little bit easier!! Since I use this app primarily with my little headstart students I would have loved to have seen easier words for the forgotten sounds: hop instead of hedgehog, hello or hi instead of hamster (although the hamster picture is adorable). Overall the words are much more appropriate than some of the competitor apps. All of the /r/ variations are present as well as s-blends, r-blends and l-blends.
The most amazing part of this app is the picture quality. Wow! They are beautifully photographed, perfectly aligned with the target word and were obviously selected with great care. I’ve had several students comment about the cuteness factor of the pictures. The orangutan is one of their favorites. It’s almost as if the developer hired a photographer and gathered all of the target words in a room for a photo shoot.
From the amazing pictures comes the usability features. Heidi provides word practice at all levels, which is not found in other apps. She includes flashcards of words, words in sentences and words in sound loaded stories. At the word level, students can engage in drill/practice via flashcards or in a matching game. At the sentence level you can select rotating sentences or unique sentences. My students love the rotating sentences and I love the fact that it’s similar to the carrier phrases we all have been using for years. In rotating sentences, students are presented with a sound loaded sentence and one word in a square (example: Will washed the wolf (word in square) with water). Then after they have practiced the sentence (multiple times in my sessions) then can push a spin button to get another target word. They LOVE it!! They would spin words for the entire session if I let them. Unique sentences provides a sentence for the target word. Thank you Heidi for adding the word “one” for /w/ : Big help for my headstart students!! So, through this one app, you can target sounds in words, sentences, and short stories (2 per sound) and have the ability to use it in groups. To access the group feature for flashcard practice, simply choose the thought bubble with the plus sign from the bottom menu. You can keep data for each student via the brightly colored circles on the right (green check mark and red X) and record student productions via a record button. In addition to all of the therapy features, you also have the ability to turn scoring buttons on and off, turn scoring sounds on and off, turn off the narrator and set the passing score (default set at 90%).
I do have one small request, and perhaps this has already been remedied via an update, but I would really like to see blends removed from single phoneme practice (ex: /f/: remove frog, flower, flag, flute, fly). Since /f/ is an early developing sound, the blends are way too difficult (and often frustrating) for the young students to say. I skip by them quickly, but they always request that we go back to frog and fly because they like the pictures. (These could be replaced with face, foot, fin, feed, fog, fig, or fir). Ok, one more request: More words please for /r/ and blends!! Overall, this app was worth every penny spent!
Addendum 5/15/12 - just got an email from the developer with the following: " …we are working on some exciting updates in the near future. We are separating those pesky blends that snuck into the other word lists (/f/ especially) and working on some awesome sorting options as well as additional content for the /r/. It's a lot and will take us a bit of time so there will be several updates that will cover all of our changes as we want to make this app the best we can!"
How I use this app in speech therapy:
The app opens with the cutest little bee ever and then a screen full of all of the possible sounds you would target in therapy. I was very excited to see the often forgotten sounds /h/, /y/, /w/ and /ng/ . A huge thank you to Heidi Hanks (the SLP behind the app) for adding these sounds. You’ve made my job a little bit easier!! Since I use this app primarily with my little headstart students I would have loved to have seen easier words for the forgotten sounds: hop instead of hedgehog, hello or hi instead of hamster (although the hamster picture is adorable). Overall the words are much more appropriate than some of the competitor apps. All of the /r/ variations are present as well as s-blends, r-blends and l-blends.
The most amazing part of this app is the picture quality. Wow! They are beautifully photographed, perfectly aligned with the target word and were obviously selected with great care. I’ve had several students comment about the cuteness factor of the pictures. The orangutan is one of their favorites. It’s almost as if the developer hired a photographer and gathered all of the target words in a room for a photo shoot.
From the amazing pictures comes the usability features. Heidi provides word practice at all levels, which is not found in other apps. She includes flashcards of words, words in sentences and words in sound loaded stories. At the word level, students can engage in drill/practice via flashcards or in a matching game. At the sentence level you can select rotating sentences or unique sentences. My students love the rotating sentences and I love the fact that it’s similar to the carrier phrases we all have been using for years. In rotating sentences, students are presented with a sound loaded sentence and one word in a square (example: Will washed the wolf (word in square) with water). Then after they have practiced the sentence (multiple times in my sessions) then can push a spin button to get another target word. They LOVE it!! They would spin words for the entire session if I let them. Unique sentences provides a sentence for the target word. Thank you Heidi for adding the word “one” for /w/ : Big help for my headstart students!! So, through this one app, you can target sounds in words, sentences, and short stories (2 per sound) and have the ability to use it in groups. To access the group feature for flashcard practice, simply choose the thought bubble with the plus sign from the bottom menu. You can keep data for each student via the brightly colored circles on the right (green check mark and red X) and record student productions via a record button. In addition to all of the therapy features, you also have the ability to turn scoring buttons on and off, turn scoring sounds on and off, turn off the narrator and set the passing score (default set at 90%).
I do have one small request, and perhaps this has already been remedied via an update, but I would really like to see blends removed from single phoneme practice (ex: /f/: remove frog, flower, flag, flute, fly). Since /f/ is an early developing sound, the blends are way too difficult (and often frustrating) for the young students to say. I skip by them quickly, but they always request that we go back to frog and fly because they like the pictures. (These could be replaced with face, foot, fin, feed, fog, fig, or fir). Ok, one more request: More words please for /r/ and blends!! Overall, this app was worth every penny spent!
Addendum 5/15/12 - just got an email from the developer with the following: " …we are working on some exciting updates in the near future. We are separating those pesky blends that snuck into the other word lists (/f/ especially) and working on some awesome sorting options as well as additional content for the /r/. It's a lot and will take us a bit of time so there will be several updates that will cover all of our changes as we want to make this app the best we can!"
For SLPs
This site was created primarily to share my experience using the iPad in speech and language therapy. The apps discussed are (mostly) ones I personally use on a regular basis, and include a synopsis of how I use them in therapy with my students.
This site was created primarily to share my experience using the iPad in speech and language therapy. The apps discussed are (mostly) ones I personally use on a regular basis, and include a synopsis of how I use them in therapy with my students.
How To Use This Site
The categories are pretty standard: Articulation, Expressive/Receptive Language, Grammar, Pragmatics, and Augmentative Communicaiton. Sections, grouped by age, feature a tab for each app, and contain a synopsis of how I use it in therapy.
The categories are pretty standard: Articulation, Expressive/Receptive Language, Grammar, Pragmatics, and Augmentative Communicaiton. Sections, grouped by age, feature a tab for each app, and contain a synopsis of how I use it in therapy.
Resources
Free downloads of homework sheets to complement ArtikPix, Toca Boca, Millie, and many other apps!
In this section I also share links to the web sites I have found helpful to use both during speech and language therapy and in lesson planning.
Free downloads of homework sheets to complement ArtikPix, Toca Boca, Millie, and many other apps!
In this section I also share links to the web sites I have found helpful to use both during speech and language therapy and in lesson planning.