The iPad & the SLP in 2020 and Beyond: List of iOS apps, Boom Cards, Teachers Pay Teachers materials, Teletherapy Resources and Online Resources – organized by goal areas, themes and topics Welcome! I spent the past 8 months creating this FREE resource to help fellow SLPs and parents. This is a fresh list with resources that were all verified as being available and links verified as working at the time they were added. My iPads are by far the best tools in my SLP toolbox. Best purchases ever! I bought my first iPad Air 2 in December 2012 with Christmas money and quickly bought a second one the following February with birthday money realizing that I needed one iPad to be an AAC and therapy device and another one with “fun” well designed kids apps that kids could request or work for as reinforcers (not fair to take away the “voice” of a patient while playing in language rich apps). A few months later I won an iPad Mini 2 in a giveaway and it was a valuable tool to trial AAC apps on a more portable sized “talker”. The most recent addition to my iPad toolbox was a 2016 iPad Pro 9.7" with 256GB memory. I bought it specifically for the four speakers and faster processor. It was amazing to use for AAC and as a way to play videos and music in groups and in sessions with kids with hearing impairments. I retired in June 2018 but have stayed up to date on apps that would be useful in therapy and on AAC apps so I can do some consulting in the future. An iPad is only as good as the apps that you load on it. Think of the iPad as being the toolbox & the apps within it as tools. Many high quality apps specifically designed by SLPs for SLPs allow you to do in-app data collection, look at data over time, e-mail reports, and swipe through stimulus cards rapidly which allows you to get in more reps. Plus many kids are highly motivated by anything presented on an iPad. Having most of the major robust AAC apps at my fingertips to try at any moment was life changing for many of my patients. I saw countless patients who had meltdowns at the sight of traditional flashcards but when shown similar activities on an iPad were immediately engaged. I also had kids who were so impulsive that flashcards were constantly either getting ripped or flying off the table. Of course I also had patients who viewed the iPad as a “toy” but most learned that my main therapy iPad was for “work” or to be used as a “talker” (AAC device). When needed, I locked it into Guided Access and NEVER let anyone see the secret code to unlock it and almost always have a firm grip on one of the handles of the GripCase (any “builder” would be protective of their costly and important tools… right?). I also never left my personal iPad lying around in a treatment room. It was always in my possession. By strictly following these “rules”, I never had a cracked screen or had an iPad stolen. I had a second iPad in a different colored GripCase with high quality kids apps that kids could earn time playing for a couple of minutes at the end. Of course I still used traditional flashcards, worksheets, toys, crafts, music, books, games, etc. as other “tools” in my well equipped speechie toolbox (my toolbox was overflowing with stuff… confession from an SLP Hoarder. Those who participated in my in-person and online retirement garage sales can attest to the vastness of my collection). Being a good “builder” of speech & language skills requires making good clinical judgments in selecting the right tools for the job at that moment. During 2020, there has been a significant increase in Speech Language Pathologists and parents asking for app recommendations in the midst of this pandemic and so many doing distance learning / teletherapy. A big shift has taken place in the iOS App Store kids and therapeutic app market since I posted my big app list on 12/31/16 (https://bit.ly/3js1CA7). Created by Angela Moorad, SLP @ OMazing Kids / Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Si6k7Y / AppPeeps Group: https://bit.ly/3q3v5nx / 11/30/20 What's different? ● There are far fewer new apps released now and it's especially rare to see new therapeutic apps released. ● Lots of apps are no longer available for purchase and many have totally disappeared … even gone from the Purchased area. The beloved Speech with Milo apps and ColorCards apps have all disappeared. I’ve mentioned several of my other missing faves in the sections below. Unfortunately when Apple released iOS 11 and subsequent operating systems they made it very hard for small app developers to stay afloat. So it's even more important now to get an iPad with as much memory as you can afford so you don't have to choose to delete apps to make room for others. Always check to make sure an app is still available for purchase and there are no warning signs that apps are disappearing from that app developer before deleting an app off your device. If you own Tiggly apps be sure to keep them installed. ● There is a trend in app developers of all sizes focusing on subscription-based apps and in-app purchases (IAPs). Which is sad since many schools and state run facilities can’t / won’t purchase IAPs and subscriptions but would be able to purchase a fully paid app up front. Hopefully most app developers will find a way to offer a mix of fully paid apps and those requiring a subscription or IAPs. ● Some apps that we previously purchased switched to requiring an IAP or subscription when an update to that app was installed. There is also a trend in app developers choosing to “sunset” particular apps that have not sold well enough to support continued updates. Sometimes those apps remain in the Purchased area but will not have any further updates and thus will eventually become unusable at some point in the future when it becomes incompatible with a future iOS. Other times those apps totally disappear. I appreciate app developers that are transparent about these processes and give enough heads up to customers via e-mail and social media posts for us to make sure we have that app installed before it disappears from the App Store and to have info to make an informed choice as to whether or not we want to install an update for a particular app. Want to find high quality apps and Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC resources? I invite you to join me on my Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Si6k7Y OMazing Kids social media sites. I post AppPeeps Facebook Group: the most frequently on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/OMazingKidsAppPeeps/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amoorad1/ and the AppPeeps group. Be sure to Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/amoorad “like”, “follow” and “join” and adjust your Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/OMazingKids/ notification settings. Blog: http://omazingkidsllc.com I am posting and blogging frequently again about high quality apps that are either free or a great deal that day and am also doing highlights on more expensive apps that are particularly helpful and well worth the price. I’ve been making a conscious effort to balance my posts between those in order to do my part to help support the kid’s app developers. Trying to help shift the expectation that apps should be free. I love a good freebie as much as the next person but it's not sustainable for app developers. I look for well designed apps that are priced affordably. For general kids book or play apps, I consider $.99 – $4.99 affordable (what you might pay for an item from the Target Bullseye’s Playground, a latte from Starbucks, an item on Teachers Pay Teachers or a Boom Card deck). For apps that are therapeutic in nature and often designed by SLPs, I look at what the app offers and compare that to what materials covering those same areas would cost. AAC app “affordability” is more complex given the licensing fees app developers pay for symbol sets and high quality voices. Created by Angela Moorad, SLP @ OMazing Kids / Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Si6k7Y / AppPeeps Group: https://bit.ly/3q3v5nx / 11/30/20 This is a “vetted” list. With very rare exceptions, I only share info about apps that I have actually downloaded and tried and only post about those that I see as being either helpful in therapy, classroom or to parents of kids with special needs. There are thousands of apps in the App Store so it can be difficult to find ones to best meet our needs as SLPs. ● This recommended apps list is not all inclusive and is subject to change as apps are updated, new ones are released & others unfortunately disappear (a sad but true reality in the world of apps). See the last page in this PDF for the Terms of Use and other important info. ● Of course every app that I share will not be a good fit for every child so it’s up to you to determine the ones to use with your child or patient. I provided services for kids, teens and young adults (birth – 21 years of age) so I have a vast collection of apps targeting almost every goal and theme you can think of.