VAST App Review- Autism Core 1

VAST App Review- Autism Core 1

By: SpeakInMotion 

    I love to use the VAST applications with every child that I work with. It has great use for children who are disabled and non-disabled. I recently have been using the app with two children who are considered non-verbal or are limitedly verbal. One of these children suffers from speech aproxia. After using the first lesson I was amazed at how engaged each child was to the app. After using the first lesson three times with the child who has speech aproxia, he was moving his lips as best he could mirroring what words were said on the lesson on my iPad. He has now able to say mama, pa, da, moo, boo and more. The results were incredible and he loved to keep watching the first video over and over again, trying so hard to make the sounds. Just from the first video. He is trying very hard with making the other sounds such as weee, la, oooo and pop. It is easy to see that he is so proud of his progress. He is happy and smiling and utilizing the lessons are not work but are more like a fun game. 

      With another child I have worked with again I saw amazing results. After seeing the video from the first lesson two times, he was able to go through and produce all of the syllables. We then moved onto the words. Right away with no problem started to open and close his mouth in the right way to form words. He also self corrected when he heard his that the word he produced did not match the word spoken. He navigated the program to replay the word he got wrong and kept trying until it "sounded" right to him. He has went through half of the words with 100% accuracy and still is using video to help him properly pronounce his sight words. Also, when working with children their parents were given a list of words from the app (that he did not master) to work on at home. This made for even further progress. After the second video, we went to working on the third video with this student. He was able to say most of the four to five letter words correctly. Since using the video he requests to use the app and watch the videos to watch and talk along. 

        With a third child that I worked English was her second language so she did not know many of words and sounds. After watching the video she started to make the sounds of the words. She had fun playing with the program and hearing the words. She went from words to sentences and now can say and understand simple sentences in English (she is fluent in another language). This app paired with pictures made an amazing difference in her ability to learn English and gain a knowledge of sounds and words. 

         All of the children loved the mirror feature. They laughed and giggled while watching themselves say words and their face appeared on the screen. They all at times moved closer to the screen to see their face closer on the screen. They rotated the screen, turned it upside down to get a feel of what the mirror (camera) really showed. All the children had fun playing while learning with this app. They truly enjoyed utilizing this app as I have enjoyed sharing it with others. I would say this app is good for every child. Any child learning to speak can greatly benefit from the amazing lessons on here. The proper placement of lips along with their movement is one of the most compelling features of this app, of course along with the ability to turn your iPad into a mirror. I plan to use the VAST apps with other children and give every child I interact with a chance to learn and grow. I can't wait to see more children happy and successful in learning by using the variety of VAST apps.