TheraPRACTICE is our patented APP designed to be used by people with mild aphasia or by caregivers assisting people with moderate to severe aphasia. If you have developed difficulty with understanding speech and language, producing speech, or word finding, then you could definitely benefit from using our TheraPRACTICE APP. In fact, our TheraPRACTICE APP was designed with you in mind. The way you use our APP is up to you. You can use it as a complement to our TheraSESSION one-on-one virtual therapy sessions with one of our speech and language pathologists, or as a stand-alone tool for language and cognition improvement. You decide based on your personal preference and budget.
TheraPRACTICE software aims at taking you through sequential tasks related to various focus areas. Numerous games cover the areas of Speech Sounds, Language Processing, Understanding Speech, and Producing Speech. For example, in the area of Understanding Speech, the APP will produce a short phrase, such as “blue shoe.” You will see a picture of a blue shoe and a brown shoe, and click on the correct selection. You will hear corresponding game-style sounds and see an active point tally, both of which will call to your competitive spirit.
Other targeted games cover short term memory, sorting like objects or ideas, and directing attention. Four modules with thorough descriptions and numerous exercises create our robust and practical speech therapy tool. With repeated and regular use, people experiencing aphasia can begin to see improvement in their communication skills.
What makes the TheraPRACTICE APP so distinctive is the unique software we’ve created. Our inhouse computer engineer listened to our vision for how we see an online APP helping our speech and language pathology clients. There is so much variability in client needs that we faced a challenge. We met the challenge with innovative thinking by marrying technology with science and developing TheraPRACTICE. Our cutting-edge software is adaptive. What that means is that the software adjusts according to the user’s responses and response times. For example, if the person using the APP is responding quickly, and answering correctly, the artificial intelligence (AI) of the software will prompt more challenging material to be presented.
Conversely, if the user of the APP is feeling tired resulting in a slower response time or a tendency to respond incorrectly, the AI will adjust the APP to present material that is slightly less challenging, and allows for a longer response time. The goal of the APP is for each user to gain from repeated use of it, not to encounter further frustration.
We believe that every person who desires to combat aphasia in a proactive way deserves to have the means to that end at his or her disposal. That is why we were passionate about creating a computer APP to offer our clients as part of our suite of services and products. Our TheraPRACTICE APP is the tool you now have at your fingertips to take control of improving your speech and language problems. Ryan Joseph, our in-house computer programmer, says it best when he explains his role at TheraSPEAK:
“I know that not every individual with aphasia has the means to attend in-person treatment. My goal is to bring speech therapy to the web by creating an intuitive and comprehensive suite of communication and language training applications.”
Most recently, Ryan was employed by the Center for the Study of Aphasia Lab at the University of South Carolina where he collaborated with a team of speech-language pathologists to create a suite of teletherapy applications. These applications were designed for individuals with aphasia who were unable to participate in in-person therapy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, you don’t have to be a computer expert like Ryan to use the TheraPRACTICE APP. In fact, we wanted the APP to be user-friendly so that anybody, regardless of computer adeptness, can feel confident using it. Ryan’s innovative design achieved this. TheraPRACTICE is user-friendly, not to mention, colorful and engaging.
Another key cog in the people wheel that propels TheraSPEAK is Roger D. Newman-Norlund, who earned his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at Dartmouth College. Roger is interested in how the brain supports language production and comprehension. For this reason, his input in the creation of our TheraPRACTICE APP was vital. As another visionary at TheraSPEAK, Roger’s science-based contributions center around our target audience: individuals who for various reasons contend with the trials and frustrations of aphasia. Roger wants people living with aphasia to know that there is hope and there is help. He highlights that “when it comes to communicating, practice makes perfect, whether you are a poet laureate or recovering from stroke. Computer-based approaches to aphasia training should be science-based, easily accessible, ultra-engaging, and fun.” This thinking led to the creation of TheraPRACTICE.
We invite you to try the TheraPRACTICE APP for free on our website. You will begin by clicking on the Demo button (bottom right hand corner of your computer screen), and watching a short “getting started” video. You will then create an account by typing your chosen login name and setting your desired password. Finally, you will toggle over to your email to find the sign-up email confirming your account. (There is no fee associated with setting up this account, nor is there any obligation. This simply allows you to demo our TheraPRACTICE APP for free.) Next, click on the confirmation link in the email, and return to the demo to begin your free test drive of the APP.
TheraPRACTICE, the advanced speech therapy APP we have developed for you, incorporates features aimed at improving your speech and cognition skills. As you use the APP, you’ll encounter flashcards, spelling challenges, and games geared to offer various speech-related exercises. Our vibrant and sensory-driven computer design will keep you focused, and even entertained. You owe it to yourself to give our APP a try. This is speech-therapy help at your fingertips. This is TheraPRACTICE.