Developing communication using iPads and apps: from pre ... - batod

Developing communication using iPads and apps:
from pre-school to post 16
Maria Cameron
Steps2Speech
Mark Varley
Independent Speech and Language Therapy
Maria is a Speech and Language Therapist as well as a
Teacher of the Deaf. Having worked for many years at St
John’s School for the Deaf, she now runs her independent
Speech and Language Therapy Practice, Steps2Speech in
Clifford,WYorks. Mariaalsoworksoneadayaweekfor
The Ear Foundation, co-ordinating the Sound Advice
Assessment Team.
If you would like to contact Maria
Steps2Speech:
Email: maria.cameron@cameroncliff.freeserve.co.uk
Tel: 07791 164588
The Ear Foundation:
Email: maria@earfoundation.org.uk
Tel: 01152 9421985
Mark manages the specialist speech and language
therapy service at St John’s School. Since
qualification almost 20 years ago, Mark has worked in
a wide variety of health and education settings with
deaf children, young people and adults. He has a
particular interest in assessing and developing
language and communication skills for deaf people
with specific language impairments, autism
spectrum conditions, learning disabilities and mental
health needs.
If you would like to contact Mark:
Email: mvarley@bostonspa.org.uk
Tel: 01937 840591

Our take home messages………………….
• Start simple
• Organise your apps
• Fast feedback
• Take time to get to know
your apps
• Adapt your apps

Start simple………………….
• Safari/ Internet searches
• Camera/ Video
• Screen grabs
•Email
• Sharing and uploading

Organise your apps………………….
Make folders!
Hold your finger on the screen to open the dialogue box
y g p g
and choose Folder – give it a name and then drag the
appropriate Apps into it… simple!

Fast feedback………………….
Notability
Turns your iPad
into a smart board!

Take time to get to know your apps……
Toontastic
Making sequences

Adapt your apps
This app has appeal for preschool up to 11 year
olds. You can use it for:
My Playhome
• exploring listening to sounds around the house
• developing play sequences e.g. shower, wash
hair, get dry, clean you teeth,
• developing and Informally assessing language
• following instructions.
• listening i in noise (put the CD, washing machine,
tap, shower on!)

1. Make it easy:
• Where’s the cat
• Put the light on.
2. Adda bitmore
• Put the girl in the shower.
• The boy brushes his teeth.
3. Longer instructions
4. Complex instructions
• The baby sleeps in the cot, the boy
sleeps on the bottom bunk and the girl
• Before making mum a coffee, put the
milk in the fridge above the pizza and
sleeps on the top bunk.
turn the washing machine on.

Adapt your apps
• Special Words
•Enables children to learn words through
h
pictures, text and sounds.
• Customisable and up-loadable (photos
and audio).
• Pre-loaded words/ pictures available.
• Useful for assessment and therapy
rehabilitation.
Making it easier
• Use real world objects- favourite or
familiar items can be used.
• Build up links with written words (word-to
picture matching).
• Choose several pictures that are
representation of the same word (to
give repeated/ drill based practice with
the word) whilst learning how to say it.
• Choose items with 1 different feature to
support early use of word level work e.g.
black chair,
green chair
etc…
Making it harder
• Word-to-word matching.
• Use more abstract/ t/ technical/ lower
frequency words.
• Add in distracter items (visual/ semantic/
phonological).
• Record descriptions and pupil has to
name item or vice versa.

Our TOP apps………………….
• MY FIRST APPS: early language concepts such as sorting,
matching, opposites, categories, things that go together /same
different / size / matrix / labelling. Two free sections with each
app;
• ALLIGATOR APPS: for the younger user. MY FIRST WORDS
• FLASHCARD CREATOR uses photos from your album or take a
photo of something you are doing, using it straight away. You
can record a word or phrase. Both have free sections.
• Listening: SOUND TOUCH (free).covers 6 categories e.g. Animals,
birds, vehicles. There are five different pictures and sounds for
each item.

Our TOP apps………………….
• SEEK AND FIND Picture Books (free sections) are based around
a scene eg the farm, the house. Everything is animated,
making a sound.
• Phonics: SOUND SORTING sorts initial sounds. It looks like a fruit
machine. Choose three pictures for the top slots e.g. Fish,
cat, ball. The child moves the picture tokens into the
machine under the correct first sound pictures.
• PHONICS GENIUS is great for older children as it gives just
about every combination of vowels and consonants. A good
resource for less common combinations. Both of these are
free.

Our TOP apps………………….
• BOOKS: NOSY CROW Try lite version
• MY PLAYHOME is brilliant!
• "OUR STORY" uses up to 15 photos to create a story. Save up to
10 stories.
• TOONTASTIC: Make your own animated cartoon, with
recorded conversations and background music. Look at some
examples on line. Make up stories or draw scenes Cinderella
or Macbeth! Both of these are free.
• NOTABILITY: Turns your iPad into a smart board!

Our TOP apps………………….
• SPECIAL WORDS: A customisable picture/ word matching app that
also lets you record audio.
• SPEECHTRAINER 3D: Uses a split screen showing real time to the user
their own face when producing speech sounds and also gives
animations of face on or side-on sections of the vocal tract for a
small but useful range of vowel and consonant sounds.
• AUDITORYVERBAL: A Ling sound check that plays automatically
and stores data on how well the pupil discriminates between these
key sounds.

Our TOP apps………………….
• MAKING SEQUENCES: A customisable app that allows upload of
pictures, text and audio to produce narrative/ story sequences
to support logical reasoning, prediction and inferencing.
• MINIMAL PAIR PACK: A useful flashcard based app that allows
auditory discrimination and production (in sentence closure
activities) for minimal pairs of phonemes with clear well
illustrated images.
• ARTIKPIX & PHONOPIX: A pair of useful flashcard based apps
that supports production of key phonemes/ work on
phonological processes with clear well illustrated images, drill
based work, giving i feedback and and tracking progress.

Even more apps……
There’s loads more out there…have fun searching
and remember…
•start simple: there are many apps you can pick up
and use very easily
• organise your apps: use folders and delete what
you don’t need
• fast feedback: great for motivation
• take time to get to know your apps: some apps
need time to use effectively
• adapt your apps: think creatively how to step up
or down the difficulty level