The Next Level of Data Collection for Speech Pathologists
Collecting data is an incredibly important aspect of data tracking for speech therapy by speech-language pathologists. However, it should always be secondary to actually make progress in therapy. This paradigm creates a catch-22 for speech-language pathologists. In order to know whether or not a child is making progress, data must be collected.
Let’s give an example of when a child is evaluated for determining the need for speech and language services. During the evaluation, the speech-language pathologist was able to determine a list of skills that are expected of that child based on a norm for that child’s age group. If that child demonstrated limitations when it comes to his or her ability to understand pronouns, the SLP might create a goal to target that skill in therapy.
At first, she will determine the accuracy of understanding pronouns. There are many ways to track this data. But the SLP may simply check for how many times the child was correct when they were prompted to select the picture in response to the question “Show me he”. The child may only have selected the correct picture in response to those pronouns 3 times during 10 attempts. This would the called a baseline. We would expect that after every therapy session in which this goal was targeted, we would hope to see an improvement.
One of the upsides of many apps, from speech therapy apps collection, that include data tracking for speech therapy is allowing the therapist to focus on the child instead of the data. The data being tracked provides important information for the therapist in deciding if a specific approach is working.
Smarty Ears apps have always had a data tracking system. This is no different for Smarty Ears comprehensive platform: Speech and Language Academy. The data tracking setup will be different depending on the skill targeted.
Data tracking for Receptive Language skills
Receptive activities allow programs such as Speech and Language Academy to automatically track the data based on the child’s response. On screen, the child has a prompt to select the correct answer. Once they select, the system starts calculating the accuracy for receptive understanding. An example of this can be seen from the image below:
Speech and Language Academy tracks data per child on a dashboard. The dashboard includes data from every individual session. It also tracks data over time. This data tracking process makes it easier for the therapist to share progress with the child’s caretakers. The screenshot below shows a child’s performance on Reading Comprehension Camp. The SLP did not have to worry about keeping a paper tracking as she was teaching the lesson. She was able to focus on the lesson, and the game organized the questions based on the area it was targeting. This is a big win!
Data Tracking for Expressive Language Skills
Data tracking for expressive language skills on Speech and Language Academy work differently. When working on expressive language, we need a qualified adult, in this case the SLP, to be the judge of the response. We can achieve that by tracking the data directly on Speech and language Academy.
The SLP will click on one of the three existing buttons to mark performance. The green button will signal to the system a correct response, the yellow button can serve as a cued or almost correct, and the red but a wrong answer.
Depending on the child’s abilities, the speech language therapist may allow the child to be the judge of their own answer.
Once the data is tracked by the SLP, the data is automatically save on that specific child’s profile.
Progress Report Overtime
The beauty of Speech and Language Academy data tracking is the ability to have detailed, yet functional data. The data is shown per child with color coded graphs. The graphs make it easy for families to understand and visualize progress.
If you want to join other SLPs who have taken their data collection to the next level. You can get an account with Speech and Language Academy today!
You can even join free speech therapy webinars by the CEO Barbara Fernandes to have an idea about the powerful impact of this platform.
