Naming TherAppy App!

I was fortunate enough to be provided with a code to test and review the Naming TherAppy app by Tactus Therapy Solutions Ltd. 

This app was designed for people with impaired word-finding abilities due to stroke, aging, or developmental delay.  It should be noted that all opinions and ideas are mine and was not from the company itself.

There are four different activities you can do with this app. For all activities, you can choose the categories you wish to work on.  It is also recommended by the developers to go into settings prior to using and set it into “child-friendly mode.”  You can also submit an email address for reports to be sent for data collection.

Naming Practice: In this activity, a picture is provided for the student.  The student is required to provide the name or label for this activity and can score themselves or you can do it for them by marking a check or “x.”  If the student cannot label independently, the app provides cues for the student such as a description, first letter, and the word written for them, a carrier phrase, a phonemic cue, or the presentation of the word for the student to repeat.  Each cue provides more and more help to the student.

I liked this activity because it was great for improving expressive vocabulary.  It teaches students how to retrieve difficult words by providing cues which could be carried over into the classroom.  They can take words they already know and think of cues to go with it as a follow-up activity.

Describe: The app provides a picture and the students must describe it.  The cues provided are kind of like EET cues.  I used my EET visual with this activity to remind them how to describe.  But if the student requires assistance, the app provides buttons for them to press to cue themselves.

Naming Test:  This is exactly as it sounds.  It is a drilling activity which requires the student to just label.  The student can score themselves or you can score for them as well. 

Flashcards:  Here is an activity that can be used to introduce or review the vocabulary in the other activities.  You can provide your own cues/questions, have students use words in a sentence, define, match to other pictures you provide, or give each other cues to have the rest of group guess.  This activity is pretty open-ended and can be used in a variety of ways.

Overall, I think this app is great for students with poor vocabulary and word retrieval difficulties.  It helps build vocabulary, provides cues to help retrieve, and practices describing and using vocabulary.  It covers all basic categories: animals, body parts, clothing, concepts, food, furniture, objects, people, places, and sports.  If you are an SLP working with adults AND students, this app is DEFINITELY worth your while since it is designed for both!  My students enjoyed prompting themselves, giving themselves scores, and competing against each other to determine who can provide the most descriptions!  You can make it into a game show and have them “buzz” or “ring” in to determine who can provide the label first.  I could go on forever in ways to use this app in speech and language therapy.  For more information, visit their website http://www.tactustherapy.com/naming.html. 

Have you used this app in therapy?  What do you think?  Did you think of other ways to make it meaningful and fun?  Feel free to share!