hi my name is Lynn Carahaly and I'm a pediatric speech language pathologist

and i'm going to be discussing some best practices when using your iPad

Having an iPad to do therapy for SLPs and parents

is very very exciting. It's a very motivating tool

There's a whole world of apps on the market that are

uh... fun

and motivating and educational

and uh... it's just become a wonderful tool for both slps and parents.

that being said there are some points i would like to make

First, apps

are not replacement for speech therapy

or

the s<u>l</u> p

so that's very very important point to make because

when we have this world of apps- all these tools and resources at our

fingertips

it becomes very easy to

rationalize how much we can now do therapy at home.

for whatever reasons that maybe he whether it be financial reasons; not

having to go to therapy has as much uh... or the convenience of its some

some families

are driving a half-an-hour to even an hour to even get to therapy

uh... or just the frequency of it. Going to therapy three to four times

a week

can be inconvenience to the idea of having these apps and devices

for home use is very alluring.

and

considering cutting out the s<u>l</u> p or reducing the

therapy sessions with an slp but I really urge you that that is is not

uh... what we'd want as as SLPs and as a developer my self, it's not the

intent.

um... these tools are are just tools

and are not meant to replace the SLP

or even cut back on on therapy and really has to supplement whatever you're

currently doing & to provide you with some resources

to work with your child at home

but by no means are they designed to

uh... reduce therapy or or replace the s<u>l</u> p

so the next point that i would like to make - kind of along that line

is the idea that these apps and devices

uh...

really cautioning you that that they are not to become the instructor

so

very very important point is that

these are wonderful tools and they're very very educational and motivating

but don't rely on that app or the device to instruct your child

and at making an and hoping that they're going to make substantial progress

without that s<u>l</u> p

and then the last point that i would like to make

is that um... but very important is is because of these apps and the devices

are so fun and motivating

kids do want to get their hands on them

so it's very very tempting and for us to think, oh Wow, they love the iPad

they're requesting it

What you don't want to do is just hand the iPad over to the child

and have them go to their speech work or have them play uh... indeed

that's a really important point to make because the two in a child's mind

it does seem like a game it does seem like they are playing

but keep in mind that these apps that are developed as speech therapy tools

are not to be self directed by the child.

you really need to be sitting down with your child, working with your child and

giving them feedback and support and not expecting them to just sit on the couch while

you're making dinner or washing the dishes, to do their speech homework

Kind of along that line to is we

are very

encouraged by the device when we see that the child is having fun.

uh... another point that i'd like to make is that these apps are not

necessarily meant to entertain your child

uh... it's again not a game or toy but a tool

so we do want to get

the most out of our our apps, specifically the ones that are designed

to help in speech therapy

but again it is very tempting to want to download

uh... apps are are just

fun an entertaining to the child

so with speech therapy that's not always the case so really to make sure that

that parent is sitting there with them. perhaps using some other apps that are

fun and rewarding

uh... in between as a little reward or a little break is a great idea but

uh... just really kinda searching for apps that are just

fun and ... game like

that uh... that is of word of caution too. So those are some best practices that I

encourage you to implement

when you're working with your child

and uh... and having

this whole world of apps at your fingertips

and to be able to really make some sound choices

Thank you very much and I wish you all the best.