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Editor's note: This article is part of KSL's App of the Week, which features a different app with Utah ties each Friday. Send tips for future articles to ddewey@ksl.com. SALT LAKE CITY — Sometimes it's hard to keep young kids focused during traditional speech therapy. So, Heidi and Chris Hanks decided to make an engaging speech app that would be fun for kids.
It all started in 2010 when the Hanks bought a new iPod Touch to entertain their child while traveling to Disneyland.
"Immediately, the first time I looked at it, I was just so impressed with the potential that it had for working with kids with special needs," Heidi Hanks said. "I just thought about how I spent so much time in therapy trying to maintain a child's attention in order to maintain progress at all."
Heidi Hanks, a speech-language pathologist, started her own private practice, called Little Bee Speech, in 2004. During that trip to Disneyland, the Hanks talked a lot about how to get her program onto a device like the iPod to help children with speech.
The Hanks made the app tactile, visual and auditory so that it would be fun for children.
"The kids were immediately more engaged in the activity, and I didn't have to use a lot of external reinforcers to keep them going," Heidi Hanks said. "I could probably get the child to say 100 target words now, when I used to only be able to do 20. Kids are making more progress at a faster rate."
They have now released four applications: Articulation Station, Articulation Station Pro, Articulation Test Center and Articulation Quick Screener.
The Articulation app is free but only comes with one sound program. Those who are interested can buy additional programs, starting at $4.
"We gave the option to buy individual sound packets so parents could spend only the minimal amount just for what their child needs," said Mark Suman, director of product development for Little Bee Speech. "Then they could use that at home for homework practice while the therapist uses the pro version in a therapy setting."
The apps have been downloaded in countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
"It's really fun to get emails and to be in contact with some of these people throughout the world and to get their take on this product that we created here in Utah," Chris Hanks said. "It's been a really neat experience for us to see that."
The Hanks say they have more apps in the works for the future and will continue updating their current apps to keep the as relevant and useful as possible. Currently, the apps are only available on Apple's iOS.
