{"id":3850,"date":"2013-05-08T13:04:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T13:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/?p=3850"},"modified":"2023-11-08T10:24:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T18:24:16","slug":"can-an-ipad-app-evaluate-a-childs-speech-and-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/speech-therapy-techniques\/can-an-ipad-app-evaluate-a-childs-speech-and-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Can an iPad App Evaluate A Child’s Speech and Language?"},"content":{"rendered":"

These days, you can do most anything with an app, check into your flight, get driving directions, transfer money between accounts or check the latest celebrity gossip, but can you evaluate your child\u2019s speech? A few speech therapy<\/a> applications boast \u201cevaluation\u201d or \u201cscreener\u201d in the title, what are they and should we be using them?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is an assessment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, it\u2019s important to know what a speech and language assessment<\/a> is. A speech pathologist first collects an extensive history of the patient (heath, development, education) and then performs and evaluation to determine their current level of functioning and areas of weakness. Their evaluation can be formal or informal. Informal is usually observations made in the clinic or during play, while formal might use a standardized evaluation tool to evaluate a child\u2019s speech and language. According to ASHA,<\/a> the \u201cResults of standardized tests provide the speech-language pathologist with valuable information regarding the communication abilities in specific areas.\u201d They are useful because they provide standard scores and age equivalent information about a patient\u2019s skills. They also give a consistent platform for SLPs to draw comparisons (if the same test is administered yearly, it is a good way to measure progress). Regardless of the instrument or process used, SLPs are always encouraged to use \u201cevidenced based practice\u201d when making clinical decisions. This means grounded in science and not just risky, looks appealing or seemingly favorable treatment protocols without support for their efficacy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why would you want an app for evaluation? The pros<\/strong><\/p>\n

When apps first joined the speech and language evaluation market, they initially appeared to be from independent SLPs or small conglomerations of them seeking to create quick and easy evaluation and screening tools for SLPs. \u00a0The traditional test methods can be cumbersome in size and often involve many materials. Using only an iPad, evaluation tools in this platform are easy to transport. They are also convenient for note taking and data collection which can easily be shared or stored on the device. Further, many app producers have noticed how engaged patients are with the iPad format and look to capitalize on this in order to get better participation. It\u2019s important to recognize the cost of apps is relatively low in comparison to standardized tests so app makers new they had a market of eager SLPs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"child<\/a>

Source: everhear.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Why wouldn\u2019t <\/em>you use an app for evaluation? The Cons:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many apps on the market that try to \u201cevaluate\u201d speech and language are not evidence based. Because iPad apps are a new area<\/a> in the field, it is possible that more evidence to support their use will come with time. Further, apps are not usually \u201cnormed\u201d meaning they are not tested by collecting large amounts of data and comparing age and grade groups. Therefore it\u2019s hard to use an app score and compare the patient\u2019s performance to their peers. The iPad format itself might also be distracting for some learners and not the ideal platform for instruction.\u00a0 Finally, there is not guarantee of who<\/em> is administering such a test. Because anyone can download it, anyone could be using it as an assessment tool. What\u2019s challenging about this is that often in evaluation, SLPs need to use their clinical judgment to modify or re-do certain test items during evaluation. Knowing who is performing the test is critical.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"receptive<\/a>

Source: speechroomnews.blogspot.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Assessment apps:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some common apps being marketed for language assessment<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunny Articulation Phonology Test<\/a>: Made by Smarty Ears, this app, according to it\u2019s description in the iTunes store, \u201ccan be used to identify articulation errors patterns in children as well as adults, while supplementing data obtained from standardized assessments.\u2028\u2028The Sunny Articulation Test (SAPT) is an individually administered clinical tool for screening, identification, diagnosis and follow-up evaluation of articulation skills in English speaking individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Receptive Language Assessment : Made by\u00a0 The Speech and Language Store LLP, it\u2019s makers say it \u00a0was \u201cdeveloped by experienced Speech and Language Pathologists\/Therapists to assess language comprehension skills from Preschool level upwards, the Receptive Language Assessment is the first and only of its kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peter and the Cat Narrative Assessment:<\/a>\u00a0 This app from Black Sheep Press is a \u201cis a narrative re-telling task that yields a descriptive profile of a child’s development of key narrative competencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apps are not a substitute for a speech and language pathologist. While they might sound appealing, there are many pros and cons to using apps<\/a> to evaluate language. \u00a0They can be helpful in screening for a possible language difficulty, in which case an thorough evaluation from an SLP would be the next step in defining the problem.<\/p>\n \n \n \n \"Parent's<\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These days, you can do most anything with an app, check into your flight, get driving directions, transfer money between accounts or check the latest celebrity gossip, but can you evaluate your child\u2019s speech? A few speech therapy applications boast \u201cevaluation\u201d or \u201cscreener\u201d in the title, what are they and should we be using them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":7450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1115,1210],"class_list":["post-3850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speech-therapy-techniques","tag-ipad","tag-ipad-apps-for-speech-language-evaluation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/finger.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3850"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12099,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions\/12099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}