Toca Boca has done it again! An amazing free app for the iPhone, iPod and iPad called Toca Monsters. How it works: Begin by selecting your monster. Gomez is the brown monster, and Nebula is the blue monster. Choose from 8 ingredients to feed to your hungry monster. Prepare the food by choosing to cut, blend, boil, fry, mix or ...

Last time, I blogged about being a member of a state speech-language-hearing association. In that blog I mentioned my state association's upcoming annual convention. Today's post is about some of my experiences at the PSHA Convention. I'll write about the other presentations I attended in my next post. My time at the convention was split among ...

I have spent a fair amount of time here complaining about winter, so it's a good time to let you know that I LOVE St. Patrick's Day, mostly because to me it is the beginning of spring. Also, I am Darn Well Irish (the MacSweeneys, one of them being my grandfather, hail from County Cork, Ireland). This is sort of a weird holiday to target ...

Thank you to everyone who has been writing in over these past few weeks regarding the iPad apps and the many ways that the iPad can be used in speech therapy sessions. I love hearing your feedback and the various ways you are using these apps in your sessions! This week I would like to share my next iPad passion, namely the full version of ...

Books continue to be my heroes in my school position, sometimes showing up to save me from ennui when I least expect it. I was recently doing a pull-over sort of session in the literacy center (the kindergarten class is nearby and my room is, well, not), and spied the colorful cover of Alphabet Rescue, by Audrey Wood and her son, Bruce. ...

What better way to get children excited to learn language and communication skills than a birthday party? Toca Boca's ''Birthday Party'' is an interactive app that provides numerous opportunities to help speech-language pathologists expand language use and teach social skills, as well as AAC skills, in a fun and motivating way. ...

During my first two weeks with the iPad, I used it solely during my individual therapy sessions. After having much success and feeling more confident about how to use the iPad appropriately, I decided to expand my horizons and try out my new passion in a group therapy session! In planning out the session, several questions came to ...

So, after another week of using the iPad in many of my speech therapy sessions and after hours of my own exploration, I have a list of several FREE apps that you many find helpful for preschool-age children with speech and language delays.  These apps were not necessarily created for children with special needs. However, there are ...

This past week, as promised, the Assistive Technology representative from our county paid me a welcomed visit, bringing with her the much anticipated iPad! Very exciting! When we met, she walked me through several of the applications that were previously downloaded onto the device. I quickly fell in love with a select few. I also learned ...

Over the last two weeks we have been discussing the specific use of iPads with preschoolers and many of you have written in with wonderful ideas, suggestions and your own personal preferences for various apps for children ages 3-5. Thank you! In last week's post, I shared the entire process that we follow in our county when obtaining an ...