{Book Review} Clinical Workbook for Speech-Language Pathology Assistants by Robert Kraemer & Jacqueline Bryla

Posted on April 27, 2017 by OMazing Kids

{Book Review} Clinical Workbook for Speech-Language Pathology Assistants by Robert Kraemer & Jacqueline Bryla

This workbook is the first of its kind to feature treatment activities using iPad apps in addition to traditional therapeutic activities and materials. Each activity is explained with detailed, step-by-step instructions and supporting photographs. Includes activities for the following areas: speech (articulation, phonological disorders and childhood apraxia of speech), communicative intent, language, social skills, complex communication needs and AAC, voice, fluency, early literacy & positive behavior supports.
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Spiral-bound: 278 pages
Publisher: Plural Publishing, Inc.; 1 edition (February 1, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597568902
ISBN-13: 978-1597568906
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 8.8 x 10.8 inches
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I was thrilled to have the opportunity to provide feedback to Jackie as she spent countless hours writing this book and to now get to see the finished product for this review!

Here’s what I love about this book:

The activities ideas are easy to follow with step-by-step instructions and are enhanced by black and white screenshots from apps and photos of kids participating.
Includes ideas for individual and group sessions.
QR codes, App Store links and websites make it easy to find the exact app or materials being used for each activity.
Great ideas for targeting goals for early communication with the “Knock-Knock Box” program including objects to include in the kit, skills to target, and specific verbs and concepts associated with each object in the kit.
Fun ideas and activities for targeting core vocabulary for AAC users.
Several activities include printables from SLPs on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Awesome wire spiral binding will hold up well with repeated use and allows the book to stay open to a specific page when placed on the table.
Includes a wide variety of apps. Examples of apps included in this workbook are: Articulation Station, Secret Mission Articulation, Phono Learning Center, PhonoPix, Word FLiPS, Apraxia Ville, Apraxia RainbowBee, several Sago Mini apps, StoryToys Touch Look Listen My First Words, Question Therapy by Tactus, WordToob, the My PlayHome series of apps, Auditory Memory Club, Social Quest, Between the Lines series of apps by Hamaguchi, Social Norms by Virtual Speech Center, Proloquo2Go, TouchChat HD with WordPower, Avaz Pro, Clicker Communicator, Toto’s Treehouse by Dr. Panda, What’s in the Bag?, Pogg, several Tiggly apps, Word Wizard and Writing Wizard by L’Escapadou, Mystery Word Town by Artgig, Conversation Paceboard by Aptus, Fluency SIS, Decibel 10th, FluencyCoach, ChoiceWorks visual schedule and visual supports app, Custom Boards, Jigsaw Wonder Puzzles series of apps by Eggroll Games, Wellbeyond Meditation for Kids, Thinkrolls series of apps by Avokiddo, Winky Think by Spinlight Studios, Busy Shapes, Crazy Gears and Busy Water apps by Edoki, open ended play apps by Toca Boca, Touch and Write series of apps by FizzBrain, etc….
Although this workbook was designed for SLPAs, it would also be a great resource for SLPs who may have just gotten their first iPad and are looking for ideas to get up to speed quickly on apps and how they can be incorporated into therapy. Once you get inspiration from these examples you could easily apply similar strategies to other apps you may get. See this post for my list of apps for SLPs broken out by goal areas: https://omazingkidsllc.com/2016/12/31/the-ipad-the-slp-in-2017-app-list-for-slps-sorted-by-goal-area/.
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Sample pages (23 page PDF):
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Price: $59.95
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Where to purchase:
* https://www.pluralpublishing.com/publication_cwslpa.htm
* https://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Workbook-Speech-Language-Pathology-Assistants/dp/1597568902
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For ongoing ideas related to use of apps in therapy, be sure to follow Jackie on social media:
* https://www.facebook.com/ACTbyJackieBryla
* http://actbyjackiebryla.com
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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
Facebook Messaging for OMazing Kids: http://m.me/OMazingKidsYoga
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga
AppPeeps Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OMazingKidsAppPeeps/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/amoorad
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omazingkids
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/amoorad1
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/OMazingKids/
YappGuru: http://yappguru.com/user/omazing-kids/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110305433538768736741
Boardmaker Share: http://www.boardmakershare.com/Community/FriendsProfile/10916/Angela-Moorad
Blog: http://omazingkidsllc.com
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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 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.

{App Reviews} Polished Play apps

Posted on April 23, 2017 by OMazing Kids

{App Reviews} Polished Play apps

Always excited to add apps to my therapy toolbox. Here are some great ones from Polished Play:

Looking for a creative way to work on story telling language skills? Then check out the Puppet Pals apps. I like Puppet Pals 2 a bit better than the original app since it has a scrollable background, characters with moveable arms & legs, they can get in vehicles or on a horse, their mouth moves when you tap, hold and talk, etc.

Puppet Pals HD Director’s Pass, https://appsto.re/us/J35IB.i, $3.99
Puppet Pals 2: School Edition, https://appsto.re/us/G0ipH.i, $5.99

Or get both in this bundle for $7.99: Puppet Pals Pack, https://appsto.re/us/RFxI9.i

Brand NEW app: Commander Amazing by Polished Play, https://appsto.re/us/OuRw-.i, $2.99. I love the combination of kids getting to be the characters, that the hero can be male or female, getting to take up to 10 emotion face pictures, funny story & game. Excited to hear that this developer will be releasing a new app in the PuppetPals StoryBooks series at the end of each month and that user pictures will be available across the series of apps. What a fun new concept! http://www.polishedplay.com/storybooks

They even have the character heads synched with their new Yarn Spin app (https://appsto.re/us/GkPeeb.i). to send funny animated stickers starring you.

See more info about all of their apps at: http://www.polishedplay.com
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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
Facebook Messaging for OMazing Kids: http://m.me/OMazingKidsYoga
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga
AppPeeps Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OMazingKidsAppPeeps/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/amoorad
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omazingkids
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/amoorad1
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/OMazingKids/
YappGuru: http://yappguru.com/user/omazing-kids/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110305433538768736741
Boardmaker Share: http://www.boardmakershare.com/Community/FriendsProfile/10916/Angela-Moorad
Blog: http://omazingkidsllc.com
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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 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.

{App Review} Care for Our World – an amazing app for Earth Day (or any day)

Posted on April 22, 2017 by OMazing Kids

Be still my heart! Care for Our World, one of my favorite books and play sets, is now also available as an interactive app for the iPad. It’s perfect for Earth Day and any other day.

Here’s what I absolutely LOVE about this app:

Intuitive interface, options to toggle on/off several options separately (autoplay, narration, music, sounds and “learn words”), all interactive elements make sense and add to the story, the nature sound effects are amazing and relaxing, the voiceovers are very well done, text is highlighted as it is read, pages have forward and back arrows in the bottom corners making it very clear how pages are turned and the ability to jump to a particular page.
The beautiful rhyming words flow easily as you read or listen to it being read to you & inspire kids to think about all the gifts of nature and living creatures from forest, jungle, or sea that live in our world and a plea to take care of them.
The illustrations by Alexandra Ball are breathtaking! Really more works of art than just illustrations. This app brings them alive in an amazing way.
I love the gentleness of both the words & illustrations. Both evoke feelings of calmness & kindness. I love that the message of caring for the earth is done in a kid-friendly way.
Includes a coloring book activity section with “fill” and “draw” options, three brush size options in “draw” mode”, the ability to zoom in on a particular area of the picture to easily color small details, and the option to save to an art gallery and view it later.
Includes a virtual playset with 4 backgrounds, interactive characters and animals that can be added/removed, resized, flipped, layered and moved (wonderful to use to work on vocabulary, following directions, spatial concepts, adjectives, etc….) and the option to save to an art gallery and view it later. I hope they add an ocean background in a future update. It would also be nice to have the option to have the background nature sounds on while in this part of the app (the music could still play but the nature background sounds did not)
I liked that pictures from the coloring book and playset are all saved within the app rather than filling up your iPad’s Camera Roll.
Includes an Animal Encyclopedia area with kid-friendly facts, animal sound effects and real photos. My only wishes in this area for a future update would be voiceovers so kids could tap and have the facts read to them.
The story and illustrations have lots of opportunities for kids yoga: mountain, ocean breath, fish (sign), crab, shark, frog, snake, flower, buzzing bee breath, sloth, apple picking stretch, forward fold picking veggies, raccoon (gyan mudra mask), sheep, bear, tree, bird, squirrel, owl, spider (partners pose), butterfly, ladybug (child’s pose + wings), cricket (palming w/ chirp), cat, upward facing dog, bunny breath, turtle, camel, elephant, giraffe, lion, monkey (chest thymus taps), gyan mudra looking binoculars, koala self hug, kangaroo, penguin egg (child’s pose), discuss ways to be kind to: myself, other people, animals & our planet Earth, coloring relaxation (using the calming nature sound effects from the app and free printable coloring pages below).

This app is an amazing bargain at only $2.99 and is highly recommended!

App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/care-for-our-world/id1097364668?mt=8, iPad-only

App Developer: https://www.facebook.com/SunbreakGames/

Publisher: https://www.facebook.com/liveinspiredeveryday/

Author: https://www.facebook.com/karen.robbins.589?fref=ufi&rc=p

Illustrator: https://www.facebook.com/AlexandraBallIllustration

Here is a free printable 6-page PDF coloring booklet to go with the book, playset and app: care for our world coloring sheets and peace pledges – OMazing Kids

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness & educational activities for kids of all abilities
Facebook Messaging for OMazing Kids: http://m.me/OMazingKidsYoga
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga
AppPeeps Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OMazingKidsAppPeeps/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/amoorad
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omazingkids
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/amoorad1
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/OMazingKids/
YappGuru: http://yappguru.com/user/omazing-kids/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110305433538768736741
Boardmaker Share: http://www.boardmakershare.com/Community/FriendsProfile/10916/Angela-Moorad
Blog: http://omazingkidsllc.com
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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 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.

{App Reviews} Great special needs apps from Inclusive Technology / HelpKidzLearn

Posted on April 10, 2017 by OMazing Kids

{App Reviews} Great special needs apps from Inclusive Technology / HelpKidzLearn

Looking for very well designed apps for kids with special needs? One of my “go to” recommendations are all of the apps from Inclusive Technology. Their apps always have an intuitive interface, excellent graphics (many on a high contrast solid black background), high quality voiceovers and sound effects, fun themes, immediate activation for teaching cause & effect, and many are switch capable but can also be used via touch on the iPad screen. Many are very affordable at $2.99 each. The apps priced higher than that include features that are well worth the price. See their website for in depth info about each app: http://www.helpkidzlearn.com/us/apps. They also offer Android versions for all of their apps on the Google Play store.

Here are the 6 most recent additions to my iPad app collection:

* Five Superboys by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/PvGJcb.i
* Five Big Dinosaurs by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/3AGJcb.i
* Five Little Firefighters by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/11FJcb.i
* Five Players by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/5xGJcb.i
* Five Girls in the Ring by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/UoGJcb.i
* Racing Cars by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/fTdJI.i

This one is always FREE:

* Finger Paint With Sounds by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/aIS9I.i

I also have and love:

* Big Bang Pictures by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/irX9I.i (fabulous high contrast app that is especially great for kids with visual impairments)
* Bumper Cars by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/sgmqH.i
* ChooseIt! Education by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/bcrb7.i (bundle of 3 apps)
* Counting Songs 1 by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/XGOe1.i (includes 10 song apps)
* Five Little Aliens by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/3ImqH.i
* Hidden Grid by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/TWInD.i (fabulous high contrast app that is especially great for kids with visual impairments)
* Inclusive Smarty Pants by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/71RnD.i
* Matching Cards – Snap by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/unp9Q.i
* Memory Pairs by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/Dlp9Q.i
* Shhhh! by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/RSfJI.i
* Splat The Clowns by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/7pgJI.i
* Train Tracker by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/IurMF.i
* Treasure Island by Inclusive Technology Ltd, https://appsto.re/us/fZhJI.i
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Be sure to follow their Facebook page to see when new apps and online games are released: https://www.facebook.com/HelpKidzLearn

See app previews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp3TLuJeSj3dZsPlBVQofzw.

{App Review} Photo Buttons by Software Smoothie

Posted on April 5, 2017 by OMazing Kids

{App Review} Photo Buttons by Software Smoothie

Photo Buttons is a simple, bubble-popping style cause and effect app that you can customize with personal pictures and recordings. Touch anywhere on the screen to show a button. Interact with the buttons by touching and dragging and tapping them to reveal images and sounds. Tap the buttons again to “pop” them. I imported screenshots of CV (consonant-vowel) words from one of my other apps and used a solid black background. The app was very simple to use and it was motivating for my patients to have a different way to practice those sound combinations.

App Store: https://appsto.re/us/fouPz.i, $1.99

More info: http://www.softwaresmoothie.com/app/photo-buttons/

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness & educational activities for kids of all abilities

Facebook Messaging for OMazing Kids: http://m.me/OMazingKidsYoga

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga

AppPeeps Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OMazingKidsAppPeeps/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/amoorad

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omazingkids

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/amoorad1

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/OMazingKids/

YappGuru: http://yappguru.com/user/omazing-kids/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110305433538768736741

Boardmaker Share: http://www.boardmakershare.com/Community/FriendsProfile/10916/Angela-Moorad

Blog: http://omazingkidsllc.com

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 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.

{App Review} Communication Adventure – An app for communication training for caregivers of children with complex communication needs by Avaz, Inc.

Posted on April 5, 2017 by OMazing Kids

{App Review} Communication Adventure – An app for communication training for caregivers of children with complex communication needs by Avaz, Inc.

This app from Avaz provides several scenarios to practice opportunities for encouraging and expanding communication. The tips are pretty universal and could apply to any robust AAC system or even general language development. There were a couple of items that I might have coached a parent a little differently in but overall the app has good info and would be a fun and very affordable way to train parents, teachers, aides or other caregivers on ways to encourage & expand communication. After you complete all the modules you then have access to an area with additional tips / ideas.

App Store: https://appsto.re/us/ByWF8.i, $1.99

[FYI… if you have the Avaz Pro – AAC App (https://appsto.re/us/19nrH.i) then you have similar scenarios in the “dashboard” area but they take longer to unlock there since that is contingent upon practicing sentences]