Monday, January 14, 2013

Speech Buddies- Where have you been all my speech life??


After you read this review, be sure to enter the raffle for a $124.00 speech buddy tool of your choice!  All entries automatically qualify for a free shipping code when the raffle ends!

If you are a Speech Therapist and work with clients targeting any of the following articulation of sounds: s, sh, ch, l, r, then you will be amazed by the Speech Buddy tools!  Each tool targets one of the above mentioned sound targets by helping the client identify correct placement of teeth, tongue and lips to accurately produce a sound.  I have been fortunate enough to use the s, sh, ch, and r tools with four different clients over the last few months.  Each child used the buddy once weekly for at least 20 minutes.  In a few weeks, a new student will be trialing the L speech buddy.  Besides making it easy for clients to produce these challenging targets, Speech Buddies makes data collection simple for Speech Therapists with their handy, data collection link!   Before I report my findings, I will review the data collection process.

First, you must create a profile by entering the client's name and age, and then you can select an avatar to visual represent the profile.  Note the cute picture in the upper right-hand corner in the image below.  My students LOVED choosing the avatar and operating the data collection system online!  The website does a fantastic job of introducing each sound target at increasingly difficult levels.  The beginning level includes syllable targets, intermediate levels are divided into target sounds in the beginning, middle, or final position of words, and the advanced level uses the sound target in a sentence.  In addition to choosing the level, you can also identify if the client will be using the speech buddy to produce targets.  Now, onto my data collections and results!


EXERCISE HISTORY GRAPH


RECENT HISTORY GRAPH


MT is an 11 year old 6th grader who is in his second year of speech.  When I first met MT in August of 2012, he demonstrated little success with the /sh/ target.  We worked on this weekly with minimal progress until I introduced the Speech Buddy. MT recently identified an error he made with his mouth opening that altered his target sound.  Basically, he connected that the Speech Buddy has taught him how wide to open his mouth.  MT is well on his way to independence with his target!   His baseline data collected on 10/23/2012  was as follows:

Beginning level- 70%
Intermediate Beginning- 100%; Middle- 50%; Final-30%
Advanced level-60%

By 11/13/2012, MT had already achieved these percentages:
Beginning level-100%
Intermediate Beginning-100%; Middle-90%; Final-100%
Advanced level-90%

CC is a 7 year old 2nd grader who prematurely lost THREE of his front teeth over the last year, making it VERY difficult for him to find a placement for his tongue to produce the /s/ sound!  His baseline data collected on 11/1/2012 revealed significantly low performance for multiple levels.

Beginning level-40%
Intermediate Beginning-20%; Middle-10%; Final-0
Advanced level-20%

Without the Speech Buddy, I would not have been able to help CC find a placement for his tongue to accurately produce his target.  Given that his teeth won't be coming in anytime soon, he could have easily seen a few years of speech therapy!  Here are CC's recent results from 1/10/2013:

Beginning level-100%
Intermediate Beginning-95%; Middle-95%; Final-95%
Advanced level-85%


BEGINNER LEVEL TARGET FOR CC

AK is an 8 year old 2nd grader who reportedly has shown exaggerated right sided lip retraction since birth.  Her mother was told that AK would "Grow out of it;" however, AK continues to demonstrate this retraction on /ch/ and /s/ targets.  These are AK's baseline results from 11/1/2012:

Beginning level-90%
Intermediate Beginning- 90%; Middle-  Did not collect; Final-50%
Advanced level-30%

AK no longer deviates her lips to produce the /ch/ target!  On 1/10/2013, she achieved 100% accuracy at all levels for /ch/ and is now addressing /s/ targets!


BEGINNING WORD LEVEL TARGET FOR AK


ADVANCED LEVEL SENTENCE FOR AK


EK is a 10 year old 4th grader who was just made eligible to speech services this school year.  She has been making good gains with a multi-sensory approach to remediate vocalic /r/, but required the speech buddy to produce the typical /r./  This January, she trialed the /r/ speech buddy and immediately noticed success!  Prior to the speech buddy, I could not help her successfully produce the /r/ even in isolation.  Now, we are working at the word level with the speech buddy and I anticipate that she will demonstrate similar success rates as my other clients!

I carefully selected clients for this trial by identifying individuals who were having the most difficulty maintaining proper placement for sound targets.  Traditional therapy had not made much difference for any of my subjects, but the minute they put the speech buddy in their mouths, they felt success!  I watched each week as clients eagerly grabbed their tools to get to work and I was amazed to see children practicing with the tool while others took turns for data collection!  After just a couple sessions, one boy commented that, "Everyone should have a speech buddy!"  Given the horrendous flu season, I opted to only use one Speech Buddy per client and I cleaned each thoroughly after the sessions too!! 

For more information on this product, visit their website at http://www.speechbuddy.com/slps

Please note that all opinions and information presented in this review are solely mine.  The generous people at Speech Buddy provided me with a complete set to trial.  In addition, they have offered me one tool of the winner's choice for the raffle below!!  This tool retails at $124.00!  Please take a moment to enter the Rafflecopter below.  If you win, then you get to pick which of the five speech buddies (s, sh, ch, l, r) you would like to own!  All entries are eligible for a free shipping code when this raffle ends!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

61 comments:

  1. I first heard about Speech Buddies from another SLP who also did a review of the product. Based on the reviews I would love to try this product out.

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  2. I have heard of this tool, but have not had the opportunity to see them in action. There have been some great reviews on the product! Thanks for a chance to win!

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  3. I have heard of this and am so glad to read a review on it! I would absolutely LOVE to get the /r/ Speech Buddy as several of my students could benefit :-)
    Nicole Allison
    allisonspeechpeeps.blogspot.com

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  4. I have heard of Speech Buddies from other therapists. I could definetly use the /s/ Speech Buddy as I have students as young as four working on that sound and others who are missing their front teeth, too!
    Thanks for the giveaway!
    Margo

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  5. I would love to try the Speech Buddy for /r/ - which is the one sound where it can be hard to get stimulability. Seen them mentioned in blogs and on Pinterest.

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  6. I would love to try Speech Buddy for /r/! I have read about this tool on several blogs, and it looks and sounds wonderful! Thank you for the opportunity!

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    1. You are welcome! I was so excited when Speech Buddies donated this raffle item so someone else could try it out!!

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  7. I have been hearing about Speech Buddies through many SLP blogs. I looked at the Speech Buddy website for more info. I would love to try these out!

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  8. I work with students in grades 3-5 and many of them have difficulty correcting the vocalic /r/. I would love to try the Speech Buddy! I really enjoyed reading the review above and specifically liked the involvement the kids have with tracking their progress, the easy data collection to track progress over time, and the fast results. Thank you for a chance to be the lucky winner :)

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  9. I heard about Speech Buddies from a colleague. I work part time doing telepractice and think this would be a great tool! (BTW, speech2me I'm Speech2U)

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  10. I came across a video for Speech Buddies earlier in 2012... I've wanted to try them since!

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  11. I saw Speech Buddies advertised somewhere a few months ago. I had the opportunity to see them in person at a conference. I would love the /r/ tool to try with many of my students!

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  12. I think I first heard about speech buddies from a facebook ad and it made me curious. I also heard about them from SLP blogs.

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  13. Oh my gosh, this would be an awesome tool! Great review!

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  14. I honestly can't remember where I first heard of Speech Buddies. I saw an advertisement somewhere - possibly in Advance or the ASHA publication and have been intrigued ever since.

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  15. I first heard about them a couple of years ago at an ASHA conference but didn't know anyone using them. Now that I hear about so many people using them I really want them!

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  17. anything that makes data collection easier is a must-have in my book! crossing my fingers I'm the lucky one picked :)

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  18. I would love to see how these work for some of my r kids!

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  19. I can't wait to try these Speech Buddies! I came across them while looking online for some effective /r/ artic strategies for one of my older child clients who is starting to get made fun of because of his speech.

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  20. I don't remember where I heard about them first, but I have been in love with the idea of them for years! Winning one would be awesome!

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  21. I'm trying to talk our department into purchasing Speech Buddies! I'd love to try it. :)

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  22. I heard about Speech Buddies from another SLP! I would love to win one!

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  23. I would love to try these. I have heard about them from a fellow coworker but have yet to see them in person or try them myself.

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  24. This is the first time I've heard of this program! Thanks for sharing the resource with us!

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  25. This is the first time I've heard about these. What a great product!

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  26. I heard about Speech Buddies through Jeremy the Speech Guy.

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  27. I heard about Speech Buddies through this site for the first time!

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  28. I heard about about Speech Buddies through Pinterest. Thanks for posting more about this product! Best, Sheila

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  29. I heard about Speech Buddies through your Facebook page. Thank you!

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    1. You're welcome! Glad that my Facebook page brought you here!

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  30. I saw an advertisement for Speech Buddies. I would love to try them!

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  31. I heard about speech buddies through an e-mail from my district! I would also love to try them!

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  32. Hi Speech2Me! I heard about ppech Buddies a few years back and I've been wanting to try them out ever since! I want to thank you for sharing your giveaway with us readers

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    1. You are welcome! I am thrilled to be able to hold this raffle for such an amazing product!!

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  33. I would love to try this on a hardcore /s/

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  34. I heard about Speech Buddies from a post by an SLP on Facebook. They look awesome!

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  35. This is the first I have heard of this! Looks great!

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  36. I keep hearing bits and pieces about Speech Buddies, but no one in our district can get the funding to purchase them. Sounds like they work!

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  37. I heard about them awhile ago but learned more with this review. I didn't know about the data tracking. Thanks!

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  38. A review posted a few weeks ago...have heard positive comments thus far. Would love to try it out for myself.

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  39. I heard about Speech Buddies from my supervisor during my externship. She told me that the hospital where she did PRN work had them and she loved them. I would love to try these out with my own kiddos in the school :)

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  40. I heard about Speech Buddies sometime last year, first through an email, I think. I immediately looked at the website because they sounded like a great idea, and anything to make an /r/ easier is worth a try!

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  41. I also only recently heard about Speech Buddies! Using the /r/ buddy could take years off my therapy!!!! jk.....lol

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  42. I heard about Speech Buddies for the first time when they did a giveaway on Facebook!

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  43. Speech Buddies have been popping up in speech blogs everywhere, I would love to have one to try out in therapy!

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  44. Pinterest and they have been on my wishlist since!

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  45. My colleague at school had read about them. This is definitely on my wishlist. If I could try it and see how it works, I'd have a better shot at getting the school district to invest in it!

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  46. Thank you all for participating in this raffle and for following speech2me! I was so excited to share my findings with you and hold this raffle!! I promise to email those who entered the giveaway the code for free shipping by the end of this week!! Congrats again to Kristy!! Nanette

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