9 Best Speech Therapy Apps for Toddlers and Children

If you are a Speech Language Pathologist who works with children (or you’re a parent), you may be wondering about the best speech therapy apps for kids.

Since there are so many apps out there, it can be confusing to know which ones are effective and which aren’t. That’s why we have selected the best speech therapy apps with kids in mind.

Best Apps for Speech Therapy: Articulation

Children whose speech is impaired due to a physical issue—such as a cleft palate or problems with the jaw—can benefit from apps that help them practice articulation.

1. Speech Tutor

Speech Tutor is one of the best speech therapy apps to give a clear overview of what happens inside the mouth and throat during speech.

It offers 132 animations depicting both a front view and a side view of the mouth so children have an accurate, visible example of how to create sounds.

Speech Tutor app is available for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch and costs $9.99.

2. Articulation Station Pro

This app is a comprehensive tool for children with speech sound delays.

It offers exercises to practice 22 sounds at both the word and sentence levels, as well as the longer story level.

With colorful photos and a suite of tools including voice recording for auditory feedback, scoring, and data tracking, it’s easy to use by speech-language pathologists and parents alike.

Articulation Station Pro is available for the iPhone and iPad and costs $59.99.

3. TallyTots

One of the best speech therapy apps for toddlers who need help with verbs, two-word combinations, counting, and concepts.

Described as action-packed, this is one of the engaging speech therapy apps for iPad users. It includes 20 awesome mini-games that help kids have fun with numbers.

The TallyTots app is $2.99, requires iOS 8.0 or later, and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Talking Pierre the Parrot is a virtual pet who repeats everything your child says in a funny voice. Although this isn’t a dedicated speech therapy app, it’s a great way to motivate your child to articulate correctly so Pierre sounds good!

This app is lots of fun for kids because it is less structured. Consider using this app as positive reinforcement after more intense sessions.

Talking Pierre the Parrot is free, requires iOS 7.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

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Best Apps for Speech Therapy: Stuttering

Stuttering or stammering is a relatively common speech impediment in children. Fortunately, most are able to overcome their condition—only one percent of children are permanently affected.

5. Fluency SIS

Intended for school-age children who stutter, SIS (Smart Intervention Strategy) reshapes the approach to stuttering modification.

Its goal is to help the child become an effective and confident communicator by desensitizing him or her to feared stimuli, thereby reducing anxiety.

The award-winning Fluency SIS app is available for the iPad and costs $10.99.

6. Fluency Tracker

One of the best speech therapy apps for the parents of children who stutter and aims to increase children’s positive feelings about speech, as well as reduce avoidance behavior.

Users can enter data regarding how often the child stutters throughout the day, when and where this occurs, and with whom the child was speaking. They can also record when and why the child avoided speaking.

This data is processed to provide an ongoing overview of a child’s anxiety and attitudes toward speaking so that the speech therapist can better customize his or her therapy.

Fluency Tracker is available for $9.99 for the iPhone.

Speech Therapy Apps for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders can experience difficulty learning language and acquiring basic conversational skills. The following apps can help.

7. Keyword Understanding

Aimed at enhancing comprehension in children with autism and special needs, this is one of the best apps for speech therapy with exercises to practice auditory and written instructions.

With an easy to use interface, colorful photos, and 3D objects, users can create thousands of “tasks” for the patient to perform.

Eventually, when the child has mastered simple task comprehension, you can create a more complex task to perform.

Keyword Understanding is available for the iPad and costs $9.99.

8. Let’s Be Social

This speech therapy app provides exercises to practice pragmatic language or social skills.

Lessons depict “normal” interactions and teach the patient what the expected emotions and behaviors are in that interaction. This is shown through a video with thought bubbles to reinforce learning.

Users can also create their own lessons thanks to the intuitive interface.

Let’s Be Social is available for the iPad and costs $9.99.

9. iSequence

iSequences is an educational app for children with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome that enables them to practice 100 different sequences of everyday situations, such as:

Autonomous habits like brushing their teeth, washing their hands, getting dressed or going to bed
Fun activities like going to the beach, to the movies or do sports
Everyday situations like falling down, taking the bus, going the doctor, buying bread or getting wet in the rain
Emotions like happiness, sadness, surprise or fear

Talking along with the lead character in the app provide opportunities to practice speech.

The iSequence app is $3.99, requires iOS 8.0 or later and is compatible with iPad.

Of course, there are many more useful apps for a wide variety of speech disorders. Some will be more suited to younger children, while others are specifically for teens and young adults.

Try a few different apps to see which ones you like best and which bring the best results!