Introducing Speech4Good, A Revolutionary Web 2.0 Speech Therapy iOS App

Aug. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- We at Balbus Speech are excited to announce the upcoming release of our new iOS application, Speech4Good. Speech4Good is an interactive speech therapy mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. The app combines several features that have been proven to help people who struggle with speech disorders through unparalleled sharing mechanisms. It is our hope that Speech4Good will make speech therapy more engaging, accessible, and effective than ever before…

Features:
Speech4Good was developed with a focus on tools that are proven effective by speech-language pathologists. The primary feature of the app is our customized SpeechCenter. When using SpeechCenter, users can visualize their speech in real time on a digital speech graph, or oscilloscope, that charts the user’s voice across time. The app also features a delayed auditory feedback (DAF) setting that can be applied when the user is utilizing headphones or ear buds. DAF allows users to select the level of delay on their audio feedback (between 20-300 milliseconds) as heard through their headphones. This feature has been shown to increase fluency for stutterers up to 70-90% of the time. Speech4Good also allows users to record their sessions, which are stored in a custom-designed library within the app’s interface, along with any notes added to each recorded session. Finally, the feature that facilitates all other elements is our social sharing feature. Social sharing allows users to take their recorded speech files and email them, with notes, to any contact on their device. The sharing feature also allows users to update Twitter and Facebook about their recent activity on Speech4Good. This feature adds a new dimension to our users’ speech therapy experience, while allowing them to engage their existing social community.


For Speech Therapists:
Speech4Good gives speech therapists an unmatched tool to help communicate with their students between sessions in order to maximize the effectiveness of each session. By adding notes and sharing each recording via email, you can easily send comments back to your students so they can get practicing. Through Speech4Good, you can share your student’s sessions with parents and educators to develop a more coordinated approach towards addressing each student’s unique needs. What’s more, our custom-built library stores and saves your sessions so you can easily track your students’ progress and where you have shared this progress. You can gain deeper insight into your students’ behaviors by monitoring our digital speech graph and delayed auditory feedback settings. Above all, we want to give speech therapists the tools to lead a “speech therapy 2.0” community. So Speech4Good allows you to share your activity on both Facebook and Twitter. By updating your friends and followers, we believe that speech therapists can develop a more connected and resourceful community.

For Students:
With Speech4Good, students are able to monitor their speech like never before. On our engaging iOS platform, you can record your voice and delay its playback with the help of DAF. You can visualize your speech across an intuitive digital speech graph in real time. The graph works to grow your awareness of moments of disfluency compared to fluency or under-articulation to articulation. The app’s social sharing feature allows you to own your speech therapy. By emailing your session to your speech therapist, teacher, or parents, you can receive fast, useful feedback. Above all, Speech4Good gives you an incredible practice tool to connect and enhance your speech therapy.

For Parents:
Speech4Good gives parents unparalleled access to their child’s speech therapy. The app is designed to allow your child to maximize his or her potential by providing all the tools for successful communication when away from each speech therapy session. Just think, when your child is given practice exercises in the time between sessions, he or she is now able to record, take notes, and share this practice with his or her speech therapist in order to get immediate feedback. The app’s core component, SpeechCenter, is a complete dashboard to monitor speech practice. As a parent, you are able to send your child’s recordings with questions to his or her speech therapist from within the app. Furthermore, your child’s speech therapist can keep you up-to-date on your child’s progress by sharing his or her sessions with you. In all, Speech4Good makes the parents’ role in speech therapy more informed and connected.

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At Balbus Speech, we help people in speech therapy find their voice. We build mobile and web platforms that use social media to help the speech therapy community.