App Review – Speech Flipbook

There are some apps that you know you’ll be able to use over and over. They might be the same ones you jump at because you know they’re perfect for that kid who just has you stumped!

This is one of those apps.

I downloaded Speech Flipbook Standard – Articulation & Apraxia when it was on sale earlier in the month, but I have found such value in it, that I wholeheartedly recommend it – even at its full price of $9.99!

Visually, Flipbook looks like a spiral-bound book with single-syllable words, allowing you to flip each page in thirds, and resulting in a different combination of sounds with each flip! The sounds can appear as letters (uppercase or lowercase) or as IPA symbols (might need to quiz yourself on those!), but the real magic comes in the great settings TactusTherapy has built-in.

The app is described in iTunes as “deceptively simple”, and understanding how to manipulate the settings allows you to use open syllables or CVC words, real words or non-words, and even generate minimal pairs and word lists to your specifications.

Other perks include the ability to record productions, and the thorough YouTube playlist of Flipbook instructional videos put together by Tactus Therapy Solutions!

So what goals might you address with an app like this? Here are some of the first ideas that have come to me:

• high-repetition practice of non-words for the student with articulation or phonological errors – especially when a picture or a real word encourages the student to revert to old habits.
• practice for phonological awareness – you want a visual for rhyming?? Set the vowel and final consonant cards to “A-D” and flip through your choice of initial consonants, including non-words if you want!
• structured practice for students with motor speech disorders – combined with tactile cues, with the visual of the flipbook, or as a list-creating resource for the clinician.

There is little left to wish for in this app, but in the time I have been playing with it, I found myself wanting to save settings for a particular client, or create multi-syllable ‘challenge’ words with my target sounds. But those dream features will be left for another day, while I enjoy this easy, flexible, and extremely customizable app!