App Review: SpeechTutor by Synapse Apps, Llc

I love my ipad. I try not to let technology rule my life but it's hard when there are so many great apps that help our students become more engaged in their learning.  I have been using "SpeechTutor" for nearly one year and I love it.  I'm going to give it four stars (using the itunes rating system) out of five.  Here's the pros and cons of this app:

                           PROS:

Teaching placement of certain sounds, especially the ones produced in the back of the mouth, such as the /g/, /k/ and /r/ sounds is a challenge we face as Speech Pathologists.  Many of our  students are visual learners and SpeechTutor  gives the child a clear view of what the "speech helpers" or tongue, lips, teeth and palate are doing for these sounds!  They can now SEE what their tongues should be doing for the posterior sounds.  Here is what the screen looks like (side view) when the "mouth" is at rest or not making a sound.

SpeechTutor by Synapse Apps.

I like the simplicity of the picture.  The child is not distracted by any other part of the speaker's face.  My students find it helpful to see what their speech helpers should be doing for these posterior sounds!  So many of our students learn using more than one of their senses.  SpeechTutor  not only gives the accurate visual representation but you can hear the sound too!

Check out the still photo below of the animated "speaker" producing the /s/ sound.  I love how  the airflow is depicted using the "puff" of air coming from the speaker's mouth!

Speechtutor (side view) in action making /s/ sound.

SpeechTutor has 132 animations of the following speech sounds: P,B,T,D,K,G,N,M,ING, F,V,S,Z,SH,CH,J,L,R (retroflex and bunched) and TH (voiced and voiceless).  The sound productions can be viewed at three different speeds.  I tend to use the slow speed the most!  There is also the option of  taking a video of  the child producing the sound as they are watching the speech tutor produce it.  I use this app with  many of my students with articulation and phonological  delays.  I think it would also be helpful teaching clients learning English as a second language.   I've also used it to teach my fluency students about some (it doesn't show the larynx or lungs) of the speech helpers too!  

CONS:

Here is my biggest negative with SpeechTutor, the frontal views of the sounds are confusing to my students.  The animation for the  frontal view isn't as clear as it is for the side views.  I don't even use the frontal view for the s and z sounds.   I've had some students comment that it's scary, ("Is that a zombie?") or just plain confusing particularly for certain sounds. Check out the picture below of the  frontal view of the speechtutor "speaker" at rest.

SpeechTutor frontal view

It's hard to differentiate the tongue from the bottom lip.  My other beef with SpeechTutor is that it doesn't visually represent "voicing."  I think it  would be a more effective tool if it included some animation of the larynx to help students differentiate between voiced and voiceless sounds.

BOTTOM LINE??

Check out the SpeechTutor Free for the iphone and ipad by clicking on the link.  It only contains animation for the "s" sound but you will get a good idea of whether or not you will find it useful in your practice.  As of this writing, the full app is $4.99.  Even though I don't use most of the frontal views, I still find this app very useful with my speech students!

I should mention...I am in no way affiliated with the developers of the SpeechTutor app and I have not been paid to review this app.

**** SpeechTutor App:  4 stars

                                                         Thanks for  stopping by,

                                                                      Donna