My Favorite Speech Apps for Toddlers with Speech Delays

Hey, there, if you are the parent of a preschooler or a toddler who has some language delays or articulation difficulties, I want to share some apps that you can use at home to help support your child's communication skills.  Before I get into that, however, there are a couple of things that I need to say about using technology with young kids...

If you've been a follower of mine for a while, you know that I am not really a fan of screen time.  I am always going to encourage parent to do interactive play with their little ones as opposed to using screens.  Screens are passive learning.  Children need to learn the back and forth of dialogue. We can't get that from a screen no matter how much we want to say that we can from Dora and Miss Rachel.  Plain and simple, it's not the same as interacting with a person.

As an Early Childhood Interventionist, I use apps very infrequently with families.   When I do, it is usually to gauge a child's ability to name pictures or to look at their sound production/articulation.  The apps that I will be sharing in a moment can be used by you as a parent to support your child's language journey.  The key is that you need to be there doing it with them.  It's not about handing them the tablet and letting them run off to play with it on their own. You need to be interacting with them for true learning to take place.  Think about it like reading a book:  you want to make the use of a tablet interactive just like a storybook.

Now, before I move on, I have put clickable links to the different apps in the description below.  I have no affiliation with the apps or their creators.  I'm just sharing them because these are the ones that my students have enjoyed the most over the years.  Oh, and I don't know if they're all available on Android because I am an Apple user.  So as I discuss this, I'm gonna be referencing the use of an ipad.

My First Words by Alligator Apps.  This is a nice app for working on labeling with kiddos who won't sit still for books. It has a large library of crisp, clean photographs making identification easy. I encourage parents to flip through the pictures with their child doing a hand over hand touch with their child's finger (a great way to eventually get to pointing).  I like to add a 'boop' as I have them touch the pictures making it fun and entertaining.  For example:  'carrot' -> 'boop!' as you touch to move onto the next photo.  To start, you are working on comprehension by doing lots of repetition of the words.  Eventually, you want to work on getting your child to imitate either the 'boop' and eventually the words when you say it.  When they've been repeating it for a while, you can switch to 'what is that' and wait to see if they can name it.  If not, model the word and encourage more imitation.  They will get there with time, practice and patience!

The app is customizable so you can go in and pull out the pictures that don't make sense for your child.  For example, if you don't live in an area with a lot of tropical birds, maybe you delete some of the more exotic pictures and go for a simple picture of a sparrow to represent 'bird.'  You can have sound turned on so a voice (you can record your own) names the pictures when touched.  Having said that, I recommend turning the sounds off as some kids get so focused on the cause and effect that it distracts from the learning.  You can also remove the picture names which I recommend as there are some kiddos who are hyperlexic who will read the word rather than respond to the question.

See, Touch Learn by Brain Parade.  This is a great app for working on identifying objects, identifying objects by category, understanding actions, pronouns and so on making it a great app for working on comprehension.  It is one of the more expensive apps at $24.99 but it is one that your child can use well into the lower elementary years.  You can work on things like sequencing similarities, opposites and word recognition. In addition to the app, you will need to purchase individual picture libraries but they are fairly cheap. I purchased the First 100 words library as well as the Actions Library and that has served me well for over ten years.  

You can also create your own lessons in the app.  I often start with identifying objects, giving a choice of between two different pictures.  If you decide to do this, make sure that you use pictures from different categories to increase the likelihood that your child will be successful.  For example, you don't want to have an apple and an orange and ask 'where's the apple?' They're both round.  They're both fruit.
You eat both of them.  Young children are still in the process of learning how to categorize and sort things. Make it easier for them by using objects from different categories, e.g., an apple and a shoe or a cat and a couch.

As they get better at identifying the correct object, you can add more pictures.  You can start with two and build to four, six, etc.   When they get really good at identifying those pictures and then naming them, you can move to the next level by putting things from the same category such as all farm animals.  You see how you can use this app for many learning opportunities as your child grows?

They do have some pre-set lessons, but many of these get increasingly more difficult with each screen.  I would suggest starting out with some simple lessons that you create yourself.  They have a great tutorial within the app on how to do that.

Finally, like the other apps, See Touch Learn allows you to use a pre-recorded voice or record your own for the questions that are on the screen. The only sounds that I use when I'm doing this app are for a correct response or an incorrect response which is a buzzer sound. But be forewarned, some little ones get very focused on the buzzer sound and continue to just push it over and over. So in that case, you might want to turn the sounds off. 

My Playhome.  This app is SUPER fun and kids love it.  When using this app, I do typically leave the sounds on because they are so much fun. This is a great app to work on labeling, identifying objects and following directions.  I like that the learning environment is a house.  You can use the arrows to go through different areas of the house, e.g., outside, upstairs to the bedroom, into the bathroom, etc.  What makes it so great for learning is that it's all familiar objects -- things that your child should be familiar with.

This is another app that can grow with your child.  I usually will start with labeling. You can work on labeling as your child touches or moves objects on the screen.  After that, you can work on naming asking 'where is the ___' to see if your child can find it.   Next, work on 'what is that?' when your child is touching an object working towards the skill of them being able to independently name objects/pictures.

From there, you can start to work on some simple directions like 'feed mama.' You can then work on actions like jumping, sleeping.  As your child's comprehension and understanding grows, you can work on prepositions like 'put that on the table' or even pronouns such as 'give the apple to her' instead of saying give the apple to mama.

Again, a really great app.  Anytime you can sneak in learning and have fun at the same time, I'm on board.  

Articulation Station.   I use this app primarily to target sounds with little ones who are struggling with sound production.  You'll see that there are three different colors for all of the different phonemes within the app.  The blue phonemes would be the first to work on, then the green and then finally the red.   I don't use this app so much to get kids to name objects as I do to get them to practice imitating the sounds of the words. It is nice that you can upload your own pictures into this app.  

Another nice feature is that it allows you to record your child while you're doing the app together allowing you to monitor their progress.  Sometimes I think it's nice as a parent to be able to listen to your child's speech from three months ago to realize that they really have made a lot of progress and sound so much better!  It's sometimes hard to see progress when you are with them 24/7!  I will sometimes use the record feature with kiddos that are scheduled to be re-evaluated that are really shy and timid.  They're really vocal with me during visits, but when they get around new people not so much.  A handy feature if you are planning to have your child see a therapist and worry that they won't 'perform' during their sessions.

And finally, you can set it up as matching game if your child is getting bored with flashcard style learning.  I don't get to do that very often with little ones because it's really kind of complex to understand the process behind a matching game.  But it is really fun for some of those kids who are able to understand.

Autism Apps. The last app that I want to share with you is Autism Apps. This is where I find all of the apps that I do use. And again, I don't use a lot of apps with kids, but all of the ones that I've mentioned I found in Autism Apps.  Many of the apps featured inside it are created by therapists who have extensive experience working with children with communication and learning difficulties.  It's nice because you can filter by age, topic, and so much more.  I like that the apps are rated and there are reviews from parents and other therapists.  It's a great resource for finding language apps.  

So there you have it.  Those are the apps that I have used the most with little ones over the last fifteen years.  And before I wrap things up, I want to give you some tips for success when using tablets with your child.

• Set boundaries around the technology. You want to establish with your child that tablet time is something that you do together. You have to find the right balance between keeping it fun and engaging while maintaining some control over the device itself. Lots of little ones want to just take that device and go off on their own just like they do with books sometimes. Whenever I'm introducing the idea of the ipad to a little one, I hold on to it.  If they decide to walk away, then we're just going to be all done. 
• Always follow their lead. If they want to try a different game, then do it. If they want to be done, then end it. Just remember that neurons that fire together wire together, so if your little one is frustrated because you keep asking them over and over to say 'more' they're not going to want to have anything to do with you and that ipad together.  Make it fun, make it silly and keep it playful. a
• Ask, don't tell, your child to say words. If you want your child to imitate or use words that you know they can say, avoid TELLING them to say the word and instead ASK them to say it.  For example, 'can you say ball?' instead of 'say ball.'  Little kids are all about power.  Telling them to do stuff is a sure fired way to get them to do the opposite.
• Incorporate motor actions and cues with words to increase imitation and sound production. Make sure that you're using motor actions and cuing during tablet time.  You have to turn the ipad to increase the likelihood that your child looks at you during play.  Give verbal and physical prompts such as 'Can you at my face?' while pointing to your eyes.  
• Use the tablet at a communication temptation.  So, to piggyback on that, my next tip is for those kid who are HIGHLY motivated by tablet time.  You can use the tablet as a communication temptation to model or encourage your child to ask for more. For example, do a couple of rounds on a game and then say 'we're gonna be all done.'  If they protest, ask if they want more using a sign or cue encouraging your child to do it with you. Go ahead and do the game for several more round or five minutes or so before closing it again.  You can use it as a way to entice them to try to communicate that they want more or whatever word you are targeting.
• Keep tablet time short.   I would suggest keeping it between 10 and 20 minutes. Your child will have enough time for screens as they get older. Focus on  interpersonal interactions while they still enjoy it! Tablet time should be a supplement, one additional little strategy, that you can put in your pocket to work on communication with your little one.
• Practice the strategies that you use during tablet time in other play routines.  So if you were working on the sign 'more' during tablet time, you want to make sure that you're carrying that over into other routines for stronger learning.

I hope you found this information helpful!  Do you have any apps that you think I missed?  I'd love to hear about them!  Drop me a line here if you have any questions or suggestions.

If you have a toddler that isn't talking yet and you are looking for tips and strategies that you can do at home, you need to check out my How to Get Your Toddler Talking DIY course for parents!   Until next time my friend!