One of the things I love about being a Speech Language Pathologist is that we never stop learning.  Nowadays, with technology and all of the amazing social media sites, keeping up to date is easier than ever.  All you need to do is find the time, which I know for many that may be problematic.  My next set of blog posts will be a ...

Spinal cord injury, stroke, and hundreds of congenital and acquired disorders impair the use of hands--an essential body part for using touch-screen technology. A handful of apps are switch-accessible, but these consist mainly of AAC apps and some early childhood books and games (Jane Farrell keeps a list here). For all other apps, these users are ...

I am sure that most of us search for free iPad apps to keep therapy fun and kids motivated. Here are some of MY recent faves (and sometimes the price changes, so I apologize in advance if some are not free.) 1. EGG ZOO! This is a free app that teaches verbs to the younger set. This app features some cute characters performing actions such as ...

Quick Response (QR) Codes have been a fun and exciting addition to my therapy sessions. I'm going to share 3 ideas for using them in therapy and the easy steps to make your own.  QR codes are advertising codes that you can view on your iDevices (e.g., iPhone, iPod Touches, iPads, iPad Mini's) and Androids. If you scan the code it will ...

A month or so ago, I attended an iPad conference, and not only learned a ton about selecting apps for speech therapy, but also other ways to use the iPad. My favorite trick is the screenshot. It's so easy to do, you just press power at the top right of the iPad, and the ''home'' button at the same time. You will see a flash on your screen and ...

The start of the school year is an exciting time for school based SLP's. This school year in particular I keep reading and hearing more and more about how school districts have purchased iPads for student and staff use. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones who have received an iPad this year, here are 3 tips to help with incorporating ...

Do you find yourself searching for material to use when beginning an AAC evaluation?  If so, I have good news for you, now you can use 1 app to help with this process. The AAC Evaluation Genie is an informal tool that provides valuable information that can help with the AAC evaluation process. Here's how it works.  It has ...

As we've discussed on many of the ADVANCE blogs, the iPad is a wonderful tool to use with our students. It's a wonderful tool but also a somewhat fragile one.     As we know, kids and technology can be a good thing, but also an expensive one! The SLP's in my district will be getting iPads to use this year, and one of the main ...

Last week I shared with you three of my top five iPad tips and tricks.  Here are the top two: #2: Text to Speech The iPad will read aloud any text in Notes, Safari, iBooks, Mail, or others apps in which you can select text.  To turn this feature on, go to the Settings app, select General, and scroll down to Accessibility.  Under ...

In my last blog, I wrote about a little boy I met who had been given an iPad by well meaning grandparents. After meeting with this little boy, 2 other SLP's from my district and I decided he is not ready to use the iPad for communication, but can use it to build language in other ways. This time, I want to share about another little boy, let's ...