Leaping Leo Review and App Goals

We got a question from a blog called Speech MaterialGirl about the goals of the Leaping Leo app, and we thought it'd be good to cover this issue here. For SLPs who are used to voice-activated apps, it may be pretty obvious, but for others it may not, so let's get to know Leaping Leo together!

Voice-activated apps are used to encourage kids to play with their voice and to produce sounds of varying length and intensity. When we designed Leaping Leo, we meant it to be a tool for kids to produce long vowels, but there's no limitations! For example, Kayla SLP suggested practicing the r-sound there (read her blog post here).

Moreover, every level of Leaping Leo has a specific purpose that you can use in speech therapy sessions. Some levels focus on the number of sound repetitions, some — on the right timing in producing the sound, some — on duration or controlling the volume. Read our level guide here.

Finally, SLPs often ask us what age group is this app for, and the answer is whatever age the patient that needs it is! The most important thing is that the kid thinks playing with Leo is fun, then the exercises will give the best results.

Here's what Speech MaterialGirl shared with us:

I took a quick look at the app and it's quite interesting. I like the voice activated aspect a lot. It would be helpful for those students that need to project their voice and perhaps those with selection mutism. It would be great for stuttering to practice keeping their voice on and voice control. For articulation, they can maybe practice their sound as in /g/ "go" or /s/"so".... What words were you anticipating they would use or did you think they would use a continuous vowel sound? I did see one glitch where I selected "exit" and it did something unexpected (I think it stayed on that screen). I found the 3rd level difficult but most kids do like a fun challenge. My students enjoyed the app, but had a difficult time controlling with their voice

When we hear about someone having difficulties with controlling Leaping Leo with their voice, we say: Don't give up! It might be that you just have to get used to it and take your time to learn to control your voice. But it might also be that an SLP should calibrate the app, and the game will be activated by the voice of a different intensity! Check out how to calibrate Leaping Leo here, on the pages 2-3.

Hope that was helpful! Download the app for iPad here and help someone speak outloud!