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The iPad and iPhone are valuable tools for acquired brain injury rehab. Our apps are designed specifically for this purpose, but other apps are also useful to target other goals or to support the therapist. A mobile touch-screen device loaded with the right apps can become a portable therapy toolkit all on its own! If you would like more information about using apps in adult neuro rehab, please contact us about continuing education options.
Publications:
 RCSLT Bulletin - February 2012, p 18-19
 CASLPA Communiqué - Fall 2011
Recommended Apps
Audio Memos SE
 Price: Free (ad supported)
Platform: iPad
Use: recording speech/language samples
Notes: Record "before" and "after" samples for outcome measures or play back to clients for self-monitoring and insight training. E-mail audio files to yourself or save. So much better than the old tape recorder and easier to navigate than digital recorders. Excellent sound quality! Useful in every assessment.
pdf-notes
 Price: Free with ads or $9.99 without ads
Platform: iPad
Use: therapist tool for writing on PDF files
Notes: Take traditional therapy workbooks that come on CD-ROM, extract the PDF file from the CD, and save it to your iPad (email, Dropbox, or import through iTunes). Open with pdf-notes and suddenly all those worksheets are viewable and MARKABLE on the screen! Now clients can circle the answer, match up answers, or write with their finger or stylus on the screen. A quick tap changes the color or thickness of the pen as well as erases the work so it's ready for the next client. Use it with journal articles to make notes, highlight, and save your annotations as well! iBooks made a shelf full of books portable, now pdf-notes makes a shelf full of workbooks portable and re-usable!
Conversation Cards
 Price: $1.99
Platform: iPad or iPhone (universal)
Use: expressive language, conversation starters
Notes: Random questions appear on-screen to start people talking. From "Who do you think is the greatest actor of all time?" to "What advice would you give to yourself 5 years ago?", the questions are thought-provoking and encourage discussion. Easy-to-read font allows for group members or individual clients to read the question aloud before answering. Easily flip to the next question with a touch when finished or if it is not appropriate for the client(s).
3D Brain
 Price: Free
Platform: iPad or iPhone (universal)
Use: education
Notes: A realistic model of the human brain with transparency to see subcortical structures. Spin, flip, and zoom as well as isolate on of 29 structures. Informative labels and extra information provide learning opportunities for clients and refreshers for clinicians. A valuable teaching tool from the Dolan DNA Learning Center in NY.
You're Only Old Once
 Price: $4.99
Platform: iPad or iPhone (universal)
Use: reading, speech
Notes: A fun book for adults, this Dr. Seuss best-seller allows speech clients to practice reading using the "Read it Myself" mode or practice comprehension using "Read it to Me" or "Auto-Play" modes. Reading from this book aloud is great practice for clear articulation, phrasing, and other motor-speech goals. Touch objects on the screen and the name pops up. Whimsical with great narration and images, guaranteed to entertain in therapy.
Bla | Bla | Bla
 Price: Free
Platform: iPad or iPhone (universal)
Use: promoting (loud) voicing
Notes: A variety of artistic faces react to noise, with bigger reactions the louder the sound. This is an amazingly simple app for encouraging loud speech (Parkinson's voice therapy), encouraging voicing (severe apraxia/aphasia), and even monitoring for quieter voicing (ataxic dysarthria). Totally fun, but not at all childish, this app will encourage any adult to speak with loud voice. A must-have for therapy.
iSwallow
 Price: Free
Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch, enlarge for iPad
Use: dysphagia
Notes: Password-protected for only qualified practitioners to use, this app provides clear instructions and videos of swallowing exercises, a personalized swallowing program set by the therapist, and a reminder system that takes the client rep by rep through the program at the preset time. Self-rating can be reported to the therapist. This app is meant to be installed on the client's iPhone if used as a reminder/coaching system. From the UC Davis Center for Voice and Swallowing.
SmallTalk Aphasia
 Price: Free
Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch, enlarge for iPad
Use: AAC, apraxia, aphasia
Notes: One of a suite of free apps for the iPhone from Lingraphica, the SmallTalk apps with videos are great for severe aphasic or apraxic clients to practice common phrases and words on their own. Intended as AAC, these apps do not provide any customization (except removal) and are too limited in vocabulary for conversation, but they are a great way for people to practice the days of the week or saying "I love you" without a therapist present.
Scene Speak
 Price: $9.99
Platform: iPad
Use: AAC
Notes: A programmable visual scene display AAC system that offers self-recorded or automated speech applied to self-selected hotspots in a few included room drawings or any photo/scene you import from the camera, photo album, or Internet search. Set it up so that when looking at the bedroom image, touching the light says "Please turn off the light" or touching the bed says "I'd like to go to bed now." The functionality is there for a powerful AAC system, but it requires a lot of set-up and programming before it's fully usable.
Awesome Memory
 Price: Free (ad supported)
Platform: iPad
Use: memory, attention
Notes: A classic memory card game for up to 4 players using a field of 12, 20, or 30 cards with fruit pictures (other pictures available as in-app add-ons). Have the client say the names of the fruit as they play for additional naming practice and memory strategy use. There are several memory card apps available; also try Memory Game! and Memory Matches.
iMazing
 Price: Free
Platform: iPad & iPhone (universal)
Use: problem solving, visual scanning, attention, executive functioning, initiation
Notes: A multi-level maze game (14 levels!) with no annoying sounds or animations - just pure, simple mazes for adult users. A red line shows where users have back-tracked. Great for brain-injured adults who need practice scanning, planning, self-correcting, and attending independently or with a clinician giving prompts.
MakeChange
 Price: $1.99
Platform: iPad
Use: money management, problem solving, math
Notes: A money counting app with US, Canadian, and Euro currencies. The photo-realistic coins make great sounds as you flick them below the line to come up with the target amount. Customizable for maximum amount with an optional on-screen tally of the amount counted so far, this app is great for adult rehab therapy as well as for kids learning money skills.
Dexteria
 Price: $4.99
Platform: iPad & iPhone (universal)
Use: fine motor therapy
Notes: An app developed for Occupational Therapy, this app is therapeutic practice for finger isolation, pincer grasp, and writing letters (lowercase and capital) and numbers. The app records reaction times and has muliple levels of activities to keep clients challenged and engaged. Results can be emailed. A great addition to a therapy iPad for multi-disciplinary use.
Intro to Letters
 Price: $4.99
Platform: iPad & iPhone (universal)
Use: writing letters
Notes: There are several tracing apps, but this one is very polished with nice chalk-board sound effects and no kiddie graphics. Ideal for clients with apraxia or learning to write with a non-dominant hand, this app teaches letter formation without the pen as a tool that interferes with the motion. ABC Easy Writer - Combo HD Lite is a free alternative for iPad that has letters and numbers but with less polished graphics.
Dragon Dictation
 Price: Free
Platform: iPad & iPhone (universal) - requires Wifi or 3G
Use: written expression (dictation) or clear speech
Notes: For those who cannot write but can speak, this app turns voice into text with pretty good accuracy. A more speechy approach is to use it with clients with mild dysarthria or apraxia to encourage slow, precise speech with immediate feedback on accuracy. The major drawback is the need for Internet connectivity.
Maps
 Price: Free (included)
Platform: iPad & iPhone
Use: conversation, non-verbal communication, verbal expression
Notes: Use the hybrid mode to look at satellite images and street names to navigate around a client's home neighborhood. Use street-view to look at their house and favorite places around town. Great for eliciting meaningful conversation from low-level patients or organized directions and narratives from high-level clients. OTs can use it for a "virtual home-visit" to assess entry into the home too!
Notes
 Price: Free (included)
Platform: iPad & iPhone
Use: written expression, memory
Notes: A digital yellow notepad with ability to save or email notes. In landscape mode on the iPad, the keyboard is almost full-size, allowing for quick writing assessments for clients who prefer to type (or have an impaired dominant hand) . Use for writing exercises, assessment, or therapist support to type up notes on the go.
Calendar
 Price: Free (included)
Platform: iPad & iPhone
Use: memory, executive functioning, therapist support
Notes: Schedule appointments and set reminder alarms. Useful for therapists scheduling their work as well as patients scheduling their lives with reminders to aid memory. Day, week, month, and list views are useful for planning.
Skill Game
 Price: $2.99
Platform: iPad or iPhone (universal)
Use: problem solving
Notes: Progressively harder game of connecting the numbers without crossing any lines - harder than it sounds! A challenging game for people without brain injuries, but great for high-level clients who can repeat easier levels to build reasoning, planning, and memory skills.
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