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{App Reviews} The Zones of Regulation & The Zones of Regulation : Exploring Emotions apps

Most of the patients that I see have Autism or other special needs that make emotional self regulation challenging for them. It’s the main reason that I sought out training in kids yoga several years ago and why I am always looking for additional tools in this area. When kids are experiencing either extreme of the zones, it is very unlikely that they will learn or gain much benefit from anything I may have planned for that session. Here are two new tools that I’ve recently added:

The Zones of Regulation by Selosoft, Inc.
https://appsto.re/us/GzayK.i, $5.99

This older app is a nice overview of the types of emotions, situations, triggers & tools associated with each of the four zones of regulation. I love the inclusion of self regulation breathing techniques (lazy 8 breathing & six sides of breathing) and that you can go directly to each of them. I also like picture studio and the game-like feel to the app. The match the face activity was helpful but also a little frustrating at times since it seemed a bit too rigid on emotions that could really fit in more than one zone. I was excited to see wording about expected vs. unexpected responses and info about “size of the problem” but then was disappointed that there was no way to directly to the “size of the problem” illustration and explanation later. It would be very helpful for this to be added either to this app or to their more recent app since that is a very frequent issue that I have to address with patients. It should also be noted that this original app doesn’t have any voiceovers so a child either needs to be able to read or have an adult read the content to them.

More info about the app: http://www.thezonesofregulation.com/the-zones-of-regulation.html

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The Zones of Regulation : Exploring Emotions by Selosoft, Inc.
https://appsto.re/us/l0CN9.i, $9.99

I really liked this second app as an extension of the concepts introduced in the original app. This newer app has bright graphics, high quality voiceovers, explanations of all aspects of the app, a less rigid interpretation of where certain situations might fit within the zones and often gives examples of how they would fit in multiple zones, the ability to set up multiple users, the option to add or delete tools to fit individual needs, a fun basketball game that can be easily unlocked by playing through other areas of the app, and is full of common situations that kids may encounter and several convey the importance of helping others and feeling empathy. I also liked that you can tap a star in the corner of many scenarios for a reference of where to look for additional information and the ability to graph zones across the day. I especially liked the repeated message that all zones are a natural part of life. A wish for a future app update would be the ability to toggle off the food fight scenario, skip past it or to have it replaced with something else. I also hope they add content regarding “size of the problem” since it was briefly mentioned in the original app and this is a very common issue that I deal with in sessions.

More about the app: http://www.thezonesofregulation.com/the-zones-of-regulation-exploring-emotions—available-now.html
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Since the majority of the patients on my caseload have Autism, the combination of these two apps will be very useful tools in my SLP toolbox. I will be watching closely for future app updates to continue to make these tools even better.

FYI… at the time of this post you can get both apps in a bundle for $12.99: The Zones of Regulation : Complete Bundle by Selosoft, Inc., https://appsto.re/us/YVxaab.i

Learn more about The Zones of Regulation: http://www.thezonesofregulation.com/index.html

Follow them on social media: https://www.facebook.com/pg/zonesofregulation

Teaching tools: http://www.thezonesofregulation.com/teaching-tools.html

I love this post “All the Zones are OK! Tips for Managing the Zones You’re In”: https://www.socialthinking.com/Articles?name=all-the-zones-are-ok

And this one: https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/October-2016/emotional-self-regulation
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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 27 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.