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{Four Faves} 4 apps from Virtual Speech Center: Apraxia RainbowBee, Articulation Games, Social Norms & Social Skills with Billy

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This post is highlighting four of my faves chosen because they each meet a unique need. My comments are based on the features available in the most recent version of the app in the USA App Store at the time of this post. The cool thing about apps is that dependable app developers continue to improve apps over time based on the feedback that they receive from users and release updates to keep apps compatible with the latest iOS operating system.
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Apraxia RainbowBee by Virtual Speech Center Inc.
https://appsto.re/us/gUJUQ.i

How it’s unique / What I like about the app:
* Includes a fun short board game that was very motivating for several of my tough-to-motivate patients.
* Easily toggle back and forth from picture to video stimulus.
* Can add your own customized stimuli.
* Great organization by syllable shape and complexity. This app embraces the principals of motor planning and works by starting with the CV and VC syllable level and then moving to CVC words, 2 syllable words, 3 syllable words, 3 word phrases, 4-5 word phrases, 6-7 word phrases and finally the expanding sentences level.

My wishes for a future app update:
* Include pictures at the VC and CV levels for those that can be easily depicted (ex: boo, my, me, moo, etc). I ended up spending quite a bit of time customizing the app in this way but it would be nice to have these pics included since my younger patients lost interest with word-only stimuli.

More info: https://www.virtualspeechcenter.com/App/apraxia_rainbowbee_app
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Articulation Games by Virtual Speech Center Inc.
https://appsto.re/us/tBACH.i

How it’s unique / What I like about the app:
* Includes 4 games but the two that are my faves are the unique Sweet Spinner (spin the colorful spinner to get a flashcard or a surprise animated candy that actually pours down from the spinner tube) & Artic Wheel (spin the wheel to get a flashcard or an animated pet reward). Both were very motivating for several of my patients who have been in therapy for quite awhile so had become a little burned out on flashcard and memory match artic apps.
* Easily select very specific targets for stimuli. I especially liked how all the blends and the variations of vocalic /r/ can be selected individually instead of being lumped together.
* Easy to toggle back and forth between initial/medial/final position and word/phrase/sentence level within that game.

My wishes for a future app update:
* The design of the memory match game was a little cumbersome. It would be helpful to have the option to have the flashcard pop-up screen automatically close after scoring rather than having to tap the “X” every time.

More info: http://www.virtualspeechcenter.com/app/articulation_games_app
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Social Norms by Virtual Speech Center Inc.
https://appsto.re/us/dv74Y.i

How it’s unique / What I like about the app:
* Includes over 50 short social stories organized into seven categories.
* Option to create your own customized social stories with your own pictures and recorded speech.

My wishes for a future app update:
* It would be nice if the info section of the app included some basic tips for writing social stories for those who are less familiar with the process and key elements.
* It would be nice to be able to access the camera directly within the app when making customized content rather than having to save all pics to the camera roll and then import them from there.

More info: https://www.virtualspeechcenter.com/app/social_norms_app
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Social Skills With Billy by Virtual Speech Center Inc.
https://appsto.re/us/de3q9.i

How it’s unique / What I like about the app:
* Lots of content to target a variety of pragmatic social skills. The illustrations are bright and engaging and the content is relevant to common social situations kids might encounter.
* Content is organized into seven categories:
Identifying correct responses in dialogue
Identifying wrong vs. right responses in dialogue
Stating correct responses in dialogue
Identifying feelings by following directions with pictures
Identifying feelings in a multiple-choice format with pictures
Identifying feelings based on short case scenarios
Stating feelings based on short case scenarios
* Option to select / deselect specific content within each of the seven categories.

My wishes for a future app update:
* Add pictures to the case scenarios with the option to toggle them on/off. Several of my patients had difficulty just listening to the scenarios even though they are short. Visual scene would be helpful to at least provide a setting for the scenario.
* It would be nice to have more specific details included in the data reports about specific items missed.

More info: https://www.virtualspeechcenter.com/app/social_skills_with_billy_app

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Disclaimer: I received all 4 of these apps via promo codes from the developer. No compensation was received to review them and my opinions are strictly my own.
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Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness & educational activities for kids of all abilities
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Angela Moorad is the founder of OMazing Kids, LLC and is an ASHA certified & licensed pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and Kids Yoga Teacher with over 26 years experience working in a variety of settings (early intervention, schools, teletherapy & a nonprofit pediatric rehab hospital for children with developmental disabilities). She is an app beta tester for educational & therapeutic app developers and loves sharing info about great apps, products, books & toys to use with kids of all abilities.
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